A Time To Come Home

"Dear Marianne, I am free now, I can come back temporarily. I believe I passed my first examinations in style. I will make way for home as soon as possible because I've missed you more than words can explain. See you soon love"

Yours Truly, Peeta.

Two days had passed and Marianne's father had just returned on a sailing ship which had just completed distribution of all its goods, he was of course a merchant. The man was distant from his family emotional and physically. They only got to see him the better of once a month or a year, so he was basically never around. A middle aged man, the same age grade with Mikael, Peetas father, a major physical difference of height evidently shown in the blonde beauty's stature. He made way home all dressed up in fine garments, clothes of a rich man. Luckily, his house was not too far, they lived close to the docks.

       Marianne was actually thrilled of her father's return. What she didn't know was Peeta was on his way back too. The letter hadn't reached her hands just yet, everything she considered in pieces was beginning to take shape again once more, as if a jigsaw puzzle. Considering she was going through a tedious time in her life maybe seeing her father return from work for the first time in a year would  release some joy back on the surface of her cheeks and that it did. He always had a peculiar way of making his presence felt when he returned. He would scream his daughter's name with an ecstatic tone so loud that that it would probably echo across countries.

"Marianne!", he shouted with a gentle and yet joy-filled voice.  "I'm home!"

She would recognize the bass of that sound anytime.

"Father is that you?!" Marianne asked in rhetorical excitation  whilst opening the front door.

"I'm home dear"

"I have missed you dear Father". Those were the words that could possibly come out of her mouth that instsnt because all she could recollect of him was the duration of his absence, how long she hadn't seen him and the absence of a father figure, this in turn stimulated an affectionate hug right at the doorstep.   "I have missed you so much".

Feeling his daughter in his arms reminded him family mattered too and not everything was about work. The trivialities came to and end as Marianne helped her father unpack and move in with somber delight

"It must have been a long travel, would you like to eat something?" She asked.

"Oh dear not to worry, perhaps a glass of wine. I do like my drinks."  He responded with a sharp smirk.

The French family like most comfortable French families had a wine cellar. Theirs a miniature one no doubt considering the house wasn't the biggest of houses. Marianne trudged off to get a vintage from the store. This setting was actually needed for the next thing to come. Her father didn't know much about her emotional relationship like Mother and she saw this as a window to discuss her bond with Peeta.

They each sat respectively beside an Accent Table(a small round table used for wine drinking). Her father, wine in hand sitting relaxed whilst she sat with a leg on top of the other, as If posing for a portrait, a common type of painting from her native land.

"Father I want to tell you something" Marianne said calmly.

"Okay Mari, I'm all ears." he said with a calm reply

An untraceable tension arose in the room. She started explaining in details how she got entangled in a love affair with her neighbor, who he actually knew by face but not by name. The conversation went on for a long period of time, two hours at least. She didn't miss anything. 

"...and I love him very much but he's away on education studies and I can't bear it anymore as he's away. It's like a constant blow to my heart father"

"And are you sure he shares what you feel ,Mari?" He asked inquisitively

"I wouldn't want some boy wounding my daughter's heart. I will kill him." He said with a bittersweet smile

Marianne nodded her head in certainty and assurance that her love was a requited one.

"He loves me very much father. I know it. I feel it everyday. It's like a connection of love with beautiful sparks."

Picturing Peeta whilst talking to her father gave her a soft and calm smile he saw. Her Father came to the realization  that instant she was head over heels for him and supported her actions and her love for Peeta.

   Much later that day, towards a cool evening; the sun was just coming down after a steamy afternoon, a messenger had just arrived from the Capital straight to her doors. It was to deliver a letter from Peeta to her. The joy on her face could almost come out from her wide smile and perfect teeth and say to her "feel happy." She was in joyful awe and reading it gave her much more to look forward to. The contents of the letter explained his success in his first exams, why he had lack of time and paramount than all, his immediate return back home. He hadn't forgotten her in just a year, he was wrapped around time constraints, a factor he didn't realize would come into fruition before leaving. Marianne's  father had just returned after a long time and her lover was about to follow suit with a return back to her. She felt contented and all she could do was smile.