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D
ing dong.... I waited with still breath and a rising heartbeat. I began to count the seconds. One, two, three, four, five, the door opened. “May we help you?” A lady with a short, stoic build answered the door. She looked to be in her late thirties with dark brown eyes and hair matching the color of burnt coal. She looked to be well-maintained and gave off a confident aura.
She wore an emerald skirt paired with a cream high neck and a red apron on top of it. Her hair was in a bun, and her glasses looked to be fogged. I guess she was cooking. Is this Hannah? "Hi, sorry to be of bother at this hour. My name is Victoria Frietz. My father used to own this house, and I spent my childhood here. I was just passing by and hoped to have a look at it." The lady smiled at my answer and then warmly said, "Sweetie, sure, of course, come in.
Now that you are here, please have dinner with us. And feel free to look around!" My initial impression of her was cold, but the way she talked made me feel all warm and loved inside. She had a wonderful voice. I hope she is Hannah or my mother. She opened the door wider and spread one of her arms as a gesture for me to enter. I scraped my shoes on the mat before entering to get rid of any dirt. The entry hallway looked clean enough to have been freshly constructed. The house smelled wonderful, like freshly baked cinnamon rolls.
I took my shoes off and put them in a rack right beside the door. The lady, whose name I still did not know, took my coat for me and hung it on a hook beside the rack. The house was even noisier once one entered it.
Just entering it made me feel warm and happy, like being part of a family. If this was my mother, she should have taken me with her instead of leaving me with Dad. What about the other baby in the photograph album? Is she here too? I felt a pang of resentment at that thought.
Why did she take her and not me? Snap out of it, Victoria! You don't even know who this person is. I walked down the well-lit hallway to enter a living room. It had multiple sofas, a chandelier, plush carpet, hardwood floors, a TV, and paintings and tapestries hung on every wall. It led to a dining room, a play area, and a kitchen. "We changed the layout a little and converted all of the rooms on this story to a playroom and converted the terrace upstairs into the remaining rooms," she said as she saw me observing. "It looks quite stunning, Ms...?" I asked as a way to get to know her name. "Oh, silly me! I forgot to introduce myself. I am Mrs. Geller, but please, call me Anne," she said with a smile on her face as she motioned for me to sit down. It’s not her; it’s not Hannah.
I did not know what I felt more, disappointment or relief. Disappointment because I still had no leads, relief because I was not sure I was prepared to meet her yet. I sat down as a kid, who looked to be about 10, came running into the living room. "Mom, Tom is teasing me again. He says as soon as you go to work tomorrow, he will switch off the breaker. He knows I am scared of the dark." The kid looked close to tears. Anne affectionately ran her hand through his hair and then said, “My sweet boy, what do we say when we have company?” It was then that he turned around and finally acknowledged my presence. He gave me a once-over as if judging whether I should be allowed into his house. He then pushed out his hand toward me and said, “Hello, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Jack!” I guess he got his enthusiasm from his mother.
I smiled as warmly as I could as I shook his hand and then said, “It’s nice to meet you too! My name is Victoria.” He looked to be in deep thought as I said that. His small nose scrunched up, and then he said, “Can I call you Vic?” I was taken aback at the quick change of mood but quickly composed myself and nodded my head. He ran off yelling, "TOMMY, I MADE A NEW FRIEND!" His mother’s chuckle forced me to turn my gaze back to her.
We all sat in the dining room. I had insisted that I did not want to trouble them, that I was already grateful for them letting me see the house, but Anna told me I was being silly and must have dinner with them. Anne had a small family. She had two kids, Tom and Jack, a housekeeper, and her husband. Her husband was working late, so it was just us.
The dining room was also well-lit due to a small chandelier adorning the ceiling. The dark wood table presented a perfect contrast with the pearly cutlery and maroon-painted walls. The hardwood floor was uncovered and clean, as it shone like a mirror. The housekeeper, Mary, brought the food as Anne, Jack, and one other kid, I am assuming Tom, entered the dining room. Tom and Jack were identical twins.
The food consisted of roasted chicken with rice, cucumber salad, a honey glaze, and apple juice. The dessert consisted, as I had guessed, of cinnamon rolls. All of us had a nice dinner, with occasional bickering between Tom and Jack. After dinner, Anne gave me a tour of the house.
We sat in the living room drinking tea as I asked, "If I may ask, who did you buy this house from? My father sold it long ago, but that was to another lady. I forget her name...." "Hannah. Her name was Hannah." Bingo. “Yes, Hannah! I'm forgetting. Did she live here alone, or did she have a daughter?" "She had a daughter. I think she would be about your age.
However, I never personally met the daughter. Hannah was very protective of her. I only know about her age, not even her name." Could this child be Sophia? "Do you know where she lives now, Hannah? She used to be a friend of my father's, but they lost contact when we sold the house and moved away from here. I wanted to inform her about Dad's passing." Anna took a sip of her tea and thought for a moment before saying, "I do not have her number or her address, but my husband might have it.
I remember he wrote it down when we bought this house from her. Some of her stuff was left behind because she sold the house and left in a hurry, so my husband offered to drop it off at her new place. At first, she said no, but we insisted, so she wrote down the address and then left." Why would she leave in a hurry? I wanted to ask Anne that, but I was worried she would grow suspicious. I decided to ask her husband once he got home.
The door to the house opened as we were finishing up our tea. Mr. Geller was here. Anne went up to greet him at the door as I sat in the living room. I could hear them having a conversation, but the voices were too far away to make out what they were talking about.
Mr. Geller entered the living room as Anne said, “This is Ms. Victoria. Our house was originally owned by her father. She came to revisit it while passing by.” Mr. Geller looked at me and extended his hand for a handshake. "It's nice to meet you, Victoria; please call me Frank. I will join the two of you after freshening up."
“So, your father owned this house before Hannah? What was his name?" "Jacques Frietz." "Jacques Frietz? Are you kidding me? He is like my hero!" Frank's eyes instantly lit up when he talked about my father. It made me realize how many lives my father had touched without even knowing.
He then asked me to join him in his study so he could get to know about my father. His study, like the rest of the house, exuded elegance. Rows and rows of books neatly lined the shelves of the bookcases. A desk and chair, a lamp, an armchair, a coffee table, and a small bean bag chair made up the entirety of the furniture in the room. I sat down on the armrest as he stood, taking out some books from his shelf. They were my father's books. “Your father was a brilliant man, Victoria. May his soul rest in peace.” After talking about my father for a while, the conversation shifted back to the house, and thus, Hannah. "Anna said Hannah left this house in a hurry back then.
Do you know what happened?" "Hannah never told me anything, but the neighbors talked. They said Hannah used to run a nursery here, but a child went missing. Police were involved, but no trace was found of the baby. I heard she got really traumatized by the whole incident, and because of the safety of her daughter, she left the neighborhood." So, it was Hannah who ran the nursery. But how does my father connect with all of this? "Do you have a way through which I can contact her? She was my father's friend, but we lost contact, and now I wanted to inform her about Dad's death personally." So many lies.
My entire premise on entering this house is based on a lie. Frank said, "I have her address from when we moved here, but I cannot present any guarantee that she still lives there. Here." He showed me the address written on a piece of paper. This is odd. The address seems familiar. I tried to wrack my brain, but it was like hitting a blind spot. I could not figure it out. I thanked Frank just as Anna entered the room and began to take my leave.
"Victoria, you should stay the night. You make excellent company, and it is unsafe to drive on these roads at this hour of the night. Besides, Frank is a fan of your father's; it makes you an honored guest at our house," I heard Anne say. I tried to convince them that I needed to go back, but Frank flat-out refused and said, “We do not want to hear any excuses. You will stay with us tonight and may take your leave after breakfast tomorrow. It is settled then. Anne, ask Mary to freshen up the guest room.”
