FINDING THE TRUTH

      Two days later, Faith was standing in front of Douglas' office building again, looking at it. She needed to tell him what she was going to do and see if she could get another chance at forgiveness. When she got to the reception, the grumpy woman was no longer there, she was replaced by a beautiful, sweet-smiling woman with lighter makeup, who reminded her of Charlotte. 

      "Hey," she greeted the receptionist. 

     "Hi, good day ma'am, how can I help you?" the receptionist asked with a smile. 

       "I'm here to see Douglas Foster." 

       "Oh, do you have an appointment?" 

       "No. Tell him Angel is here." 

       "Alright, ma'am." The lady dialled the phone and it rang twice before Douglas answered.  "Hello sir, a woman is here to see you... She said her name's, Angel... Alright." She dropped the receiver and looked up at Faith with another smile.   "You can go ahead." 

        Faith smiled.  "Thank you." 

       "You know where his office is right?" 

      "Yes," Faith replied cheerfully and hopped towards the elevator. 

      A slim girl with long, fringed, brown hair came up to the receptionist, looking at Faith.  "She is the reason you are here," she whispered. 

  The receptionist looked at her in askance.  "What do you mean." 

       "Rumour has it that she is the boss's girlfriend."

     The receptionist gasped and covered her mouth with her palm.  "No wonder, he let her in without a hassle." 

       "Mhm, you're lucky you're nice."

      When Faith went into Douglas' office, he was standing by the window, his back was to the door and Faith took time to study his features. He was an attractive man with broad shoulders and a hunky body too. Why are all the guys she knows hunky? She sidelined that thought immediately, that was not the reason she came. She walked towards his desk and wondered what it would have been like if they had grown up together. 

       She wondered how it would have been.  Would he have grown to be an overprotective brother? A cute one or a careless one? She doubted the last option because Joshua loved her so much to be indifferent about her affairs. Did Ethan not say that he didn't like him and had threatened to get her an apartment once she was out of the coma? She almost snorted at that thought. He still played the big brother's role, angry or not. Maybe, she wouldn't have even dated Noah if he had been present in her life or maybe he had changed with his name. Where in heaven's name had he dug out the name Douglas from? Joshua Prescott sounds better than Douglas Foster, Douglas was so...so…Douglasy... Uhhh, If that was even a word. 

      He turned to face her and she was a bit startled when she became conscious of the present again. Without saying anything, he gestured for her to sit. He was always looking like he was sombre and very quiet. Would he have grown differently if they had grown together? She knew he laughed a lot when he was with her as kids and as teenagers, it was like she was his only source of happiness. Was she ever going to be able to reinstate that bond? Have they not grown into strangers now, with different choices, different likes and different life views? Were they ever going to be able to work it out and become close again? 

       "What are you doing here?" he asked. 

Because she had thoughts running in her head, she didn't get what he said.  "Huh?" 

      He stared at her steadily for a while without saying anything. Faith searched for what to say first. She can't just jump into what brought her here. She just wanted to spend a little time with her brother, she wanted it to work out again. 

      "Uhmm..." she pointed behind with her thumb. "I saw that you fired your former receptionist." 

      "She didn't sit well with customers," he answered briskly. 

       "Oh, right. I think she deserves it, but the new girl is great." No response from Joshua, he just stared at his desktop and Faith watched him for a while.   "So, how did you come up with the name Douglas Foster?" 

   He kept his focus on the desktop. "I'm sure you didn't come all the way here to ask about my name." 

      "Just tell me..." 

      "What do you want?" he interrupted her, looking sharply at her. 

     She huffed.  "Alright." She threw her hands in the air. There is never going to be a 'cool' between them again. Douglas was as unforgiving as she had ever imagined. Tears stung the corners of her eyes and she fumbled in her purse to get a kerchief or a napkin, whichever one she had carried. Then she looked up at him.   "Why can't you let go, huh?" she asked in a cracked voice. 

       "Let go of what?" he asked coolly. 

     She blinked severally and looked away from him.  "Nevermind. I came here to tell you that I am serious about finding our mother and if you maybe have any messages for her or if you can help me with a hint. I told you last time." 

        "I don't know anything..." 

       "Well, you should be able to know something, you are the older one right? And older ones always have something to say in situations like this," she snapped. 

      He watched her for a while and she just kept her gaze on the back of his desktop. 

        "In this case, I'm afraid I don't have anything to remedy the situation since I already know the truth." 

     She looked sharply at him.  "What do you mean?" 

   He pushed back on his chair to a chest on his right-hand side and opened one of the safes. He took out a large manila envelope and pushed back to his desk and placed it in front of her.  "I searched for her too." 

     Faith felt her heart begin to pound. She wasn't ready for the truth as she had thought she was. She stared at the envelope with a racing heart for a while. When she finally managed to calm her nerves a little, she took the envelope with shaking hands, opened it and took out the sheets in it. 

    The first sheet said that Mrs Celina Prescott was dead and the second said that Celina Childress, no such person existed. She never knew her mother's maiden name, but she guessed it was what was written on the second sheet. Tears suddenly ran down her cheeks and she didn't know why. 

       She yelled and clutched her chest, not understanding If she was hurt that she didn't get to see her mother again or the fact that she wouldn't get the truth about what happened? 

      Douglas could stand anything but not his sister's tears. Right from when they were kids, her tears hurt him so much and it still had that effect on him, especially when he knew that this could have been so important to her. He stood up quickly from his chair and went over to her and placed her head on his abdomen, consoling her as she wailed. 

       "Angel, it's alright, I'm sorry you didn't get to see nor hear from her again."

        Faith wept bitterly in his office. That day, she felt herself twenty years back, she felt the warmth of her brother, the genuineness of his love and how safe she was in his arms. 

         "Joshua already searched for her and she is dead," she said to Ethan a few hours later when she had gone back home. 

         "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about that," Ethan said and shifted closer to her. 

       She leaned closer and placed her head on his chest. Ethan held her tighter to him. 

         "I feel all my efforts have gone to waste. I miss her and I have been missing her for the past twenty years and then I really thought she would come back." She sniffed. 

      Ethan wiped her tears.  "So what are you going to do now? Are you going to also give up on finding out the truth about what happened because she is dead?" 

        "Why else will I find out the truth? They are dead and I don't have anyone to talk to. No one knew what was going on in our house, well, except for maybe Father Bernard and only him could have known where my mom went to. I wanted him to tell me where my mother was so I could hear it all from her mouth."

     "I'm sorry about that. Sometimes, secrets don't really stay secret you know, especially in a small town where everyone knows everyone." 

        "We lived on the outskirts our house was the only one for miles, so no one knew what was happening in there. We always presented a stable front in public." 

      Ethan shrugged.  "If you say so. I just think you should just get it all over and done with and I am willing to support you in any way." 

     She wrapped on arm around his neck.  "I don't know what to do." 

      He rubbed her back.  "Don't worry, you would be alright. Talk to your doctor about it." 

       "I will," she said in a petulant voice. 

      The next day, Faith sat across from Dr Adriana, looking all sullen, Ethan was seated beside her and the doctor stared at her for a while. 

        "I think the essence of this whole hypnotherapy was to find out about your mom's departure from the house?" 

       "Sure it was but my mom is dead now. I don't think I am ready for the truth as much as I thought." 

       "Faith, darling, no one is ever ready for the truth. You should know what the truth is, that way you can be free from all the stress of wondering what really happened." 

      "That place must have changed a lot now. I don't even know anyone around there. We relocated to San Francisco four years later, after Josh left." 

       "It doesn't matter. You mentioned a Reverend Father and you mentioned one Ms Rose whom your mom called her friend." 

      Faith took a deep breath.  She remembered Ms Rose vividly, she owned a bookshop then and her mother was always going there with Joshua and her sometimes when they came back from school. She and Joshua would have to seat at the store while her mom would go into the office with Ms Rose and they never knew what the two women ever discussed. 

      If Ms Rose was her mother's best friend then, that means she must know something. She was suddenly overwhelmed by a new eagerness. Ms Rose could know it all. She looked at her doctor and looked at Ethan and a relief smile broke out on her face. 

      "Father Bernard was my father's friend and he would tell me my father's side of the story while Ms Rose was my mother's friend and would tell me my mother's side of the story then from what I know I could find out who was the real bad egg. I doubt it's my mom because she was ever so sweet."

    "Then go grab the truth. But I would advise you to go with someone you trust, maybe your brother because you might not know what you will find out." 

         "What if Josh is not willing to go?" 

         Dr Adrian's eyes shifted to Ethan.  "Would Ethan be willing to go then?" 

          "Sure. After all, I'm on a three months vacay." 

             They all chuckled. 

        "Alright," said the doctor intertwining her fingers.  "Go get that truth girl and good luck with that." 

             "Thank you," Faith said. 

   When Ethan and Faith left the office and were going to the car,  Ethan hung his hand on her shoulders.  "It's almost coming to an end, you will rest from it all." 

     Dr Adriana walked up to the balcony and stared at them until they entered the car. She shook her head and smiled to herself. 

         "They would make a perfect match though." 

        That evening, Ethan went to the mall to pick up some groceries, while Faith went over to Nora's for the wedding plans. He bumped into Douglas there buying groceries. They had wanted to pick the same products together and had looked at themselves. 

       "You," Douglas said. 

       "You? Are you still stalking us?" 

      "Stalking you?" Douglas turned to face him.  "What do you want from my sister." 

        "I think you know what I want from her, why are you asking me?" 

     Douglas grabbed his collar and folded his hand into a fist.  "I don't know what you want, why don't you tell me?" 

       Ethan smirked and raised his hands.  "I thought you were a gentleman?" 

        "Well, not so gentle when it comes to my sister." 

         "Why don't we talk about it over some bottles?" 

   Douglas released his collar and eyed him.  "Don't mess around with me." 

      Ethan didn't say anything, he just smiled at the man. Douglas kicked the floor. 

        "Shit! I can't even protect her properly!" 

       In a few minutes, they were seated at a bar, bottles of drinks in front of them and they stared at each other for a while. 

        "Are you going to ask me some questions or not?" Ethan asked. 

      "You don't strike me like someone who is serious and I don't like you." 

       "The feeling is mutual, but I think we should get to know each other first." 

        Douglas uncorked his bottle of beer and poured it into his glass. He took a long gulp and looked steadily at Ethan. 

       "I don't have that time." 

       "Neither do I, but if we are going to make this brother-in-law thing work, then we should get along." 

       "Brother-in-law?" Douglas chuckled sarcastically.   "You must be a joker." 

       "But unfortunately, I'm not." Ethan uncorked his beer.  "I intend to marry your sister so I would like you to give us your blessings." 

        "If you were so sure about this, how come my sister has never said anything about you? She talks about other things but she has never mentioned you to me." Douglas squinted his eyes. 

         "Well, that's because you never give her any chance to tell you things about herself. You don't know who she is now, you don't even know what she wants. You wouldn't have known about her ulcer if she had not haemorrhaged." 

       "You don't tell me anything about my sister. I knew her right from the cradle." 

    Ethan guffawed.  "No, you don't. Change is always constant. She is not the self-serving bitch you assumed her to be. She grew into a strong, fine woman." 

        "I told her to be a strong woman. Look, that's not what we are to talk about now. Angel and I would one day come to an understanding, for now, we are very distracted by a lot of things going on in our lives. What we are talking about is you." He pointed at Ethan. "I don't know why Angel chose you, but I would want her to live her best life, you know, not for me, but herself. I want her to be able to get whatever she wants, I don't want the situation where she would be unhappy because she has huge debts to pay off... "

      Ethan chuckled. "You are worried about the money? You don't have to worry about it." 

       "She is a self-made woman, but if you get married to her eventually—if she doesn't come back to her senses—she is going to have kids and working might just be too much for her, I don't want her to break down. Angel is proud and stubborn, she won't want to ask for my help."

      "You've got the right to be worried, but if it is where your animosity towards me lies then I'm afraid we are friends." He put his hands in his pocket took out his card, placed it on the table and pushed it towards Douglas.  "Look this company up and the next time we run into each other, we would have this conversation again. Ciao, Douglas." 

       He stood up and left the table. Douglas sat there staring after him until he go into his car.