The room fell silent again as Anthony reflected on their more than two-decade-long friendship.
“I suppose the angriest I have ever been at you was when you and Kenneth thought it would be funny to abandon me during our game of hide and seek. I kept up the search for hours and hours. I don’t know why, but I had interpreted it as you somehow choosing Kenneth over me.”
His friend smiled. “I remember that. It’s several years too late now, but I would like to offer an apology for making you cry.”
Anthony waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, come now. It feels like it happened centuries ago. It actually is quite funny in hindsight.”
“Is that all?”
“Sorry, what do you mean?”
“Is that really the worst you have ever felt about me?”
Anthony took another moment to make sure. “Yes, I think that’s it, really. Of course, there were other similar instances of practical jokes and banter that you and Kenneth occasionally found more amusing than I did at the time, but it’s all more of the same, really. Why? What’s with series of peculiar questions?”
Rather than give him a straight answer, Colin sucked in a breath and stared earnestly into his eyes. This action reminded Anthony of Shakespeare’s astute observation regarding how the eyes are the windows to one’s soul.
At this very moment, he was unsure whether Colin was trying to examine his soul or if it was the other way around and in fact he was offering his soul to be examined.
Either way, I’m not finding myself particularly enthusiastic about the direction in which this conversation is heading.
And that was the second time he had that exact thought today.
Colin finally ended the awkward silence with a speech that proceeded to make him feel even more embarrassed and self-conscious.
“Tony, your friendship has seen me through the worst of times whilst also resulting in the best of times. You have been a better friend and brother than I ever deserved.”
“Regardless of what happens next, please believe me when I say that our bond was real. I am grateful for the time we have had together. I treasured the days we spent together, whether we were in school, or in forests or on trips to the countryside or wherever else. I want you to know that. Ineedyou to know that.”
He nodded his head slowly, “I have not a shred of doubt that everything you have said is true. What on earth has gotten into you?”
This time, his question went unanswered. Instead, Colin solemnly rose from his chair and said, “Come on, then. Let’s go talk to Miss Meyer.”
* * *
As he pushed open Cecilia’s bedroom door, Anthony was quite surprised to see that Meredith still hadn’t returned to her side. But to be fair, his sister seemed to be peacefully asleep for now. A sudden pang in his heart reminded him that this was his first time seeing her in roughly two days.
I am just now realizing how much I have been missing her.
He closed the door as quietly as possible and whispered to Colin, “She’s not inside. She must still be in her own bedroom.”
As he started to move towards the opposite end of the hallway, to where Meredith’s room was, he stopped in his tracks, realizing that Colin wasn’t following him.
“Come on! Her room’s this way.”
Colin looked over his shoulder and said, “Yes, but I don’t think she’ll be in there.” He was completely ignoring Anthony’s beckoning gestures at this point.
“If my memory serves me correctly, this door leads to your bedroom while…” he stopped outside the master bedroom, “…this door was your parents’ room, right?”
Anthony was growing increasingly tired of Colin’s strange behavior.
“Yes, yes. But not now. Let’s find Meredith first.”
“Don’t you get it, Tony? She’s in here.” He placed a hand on the doorknob.
“What? Don’t be absurd. Of course she isn’t. Not even I have entered that room in several months now. The only people who ever go in there would be the maids to perhaps do some sweeping or occasional dusting.”
But Colin insisted, “Come on, Tony. If you don’t believe me, then look for yourself.”
