Coming Home

Years passed by without noticing it.

She's no longer a thirteen-year-old girl who was always afraid of her father. She grew up. She also has her own established life in Paris. She finished her studies. 

All her life in Paris, she never saw his father's face. He never tried to visit her. She's hurt, but she kept it all to herself.

He called, yes, but never asked how she was doing. He only called to tell her that he sent her allowance. She's already paid for the semester. He cared for her studies but never her.

"Theresa, are you going home with me, or are you staying here?" She asks her nanny.

Theresa is her ever-loyal nanny, who remained single because her boyfriend dumped her when she agreed to go with her to Paris.

He could see the fear in Theresa's eyes when she mentioned going home.

"You know very well that your father will be very angry when he knows your plan of going home," Theresa reminds her.

"I know that, Theresa, but that was before. I'm not a small little girl anymore. I'm not afraid of him," she replied. Determined.

"I have no one to see in Australia anymore, Shiloh. I have no family," Theresa said.

"But you have me, Theresa. I'm your family. I have no family too. The family that I have is only by name, not in the sense of being a family. My father doesn't want me. Because if he did, he would let me come home or even give me time to visit. But for fifteen years, Theresa, I never saw even his shadow." She said, full of hurt.

"Okay, I'll go home with you. But how about your office here?" Theresa asks.

"Claire will manage that." She's talking about her assistant. She has talked to her already about taking a vacation.

"Okay then. When are we going?" Theresa asks her.

"The day after tomorrow. I will finish the last project, and we will leave," she replied.

"Okay." Theresa agrees.

She's an interior designer. She has many well-known clients, and it's doing good. She's not sure if her dad knows that she has it. But who cares? Her father doesn't care.

Boarding the plane with her nanny, Theresa, Shiloh has this unexplainable feeling about her decision to come back home. She couldn't pinpoint it, but she could feel it. There's something that is going to happen. Hope it's not bad.

"Shiloh, you're agitated. Are you alright?" Theresa asked her worriedly.

"I'm fine, Theresa. Maybe it's because it's been fifteen years already. I don't know if I still can remember our place. I'm sure there are many changes in fifteen years." She said, brushing off what she felt.

"For sure it has, but maybe your dad's mansion is still in the same estate where it was when we left," Theresa replied.

"I don't have any idea about that. Daddy never mentioned anything about life. We never had our conversation," she said bitterly.

"I understand. In case he moves to other places, where are we going?" Theresa asks worriedly.

"Don't worry, Theresa, we have a place to stay. I'll make sure of that," she replied. When you have money, finding a place to stay is not a problem.

"Okay. We can go back again to Paris if in case, right?" Theresa asks.

"Yes, Theresa, we can," she replied.

Fifteen years ago she was in an invisible cage under her father's power.

"If you want, when we land, I'll check out the mansion first. You can stay at the airport. I don't want you to get hurt. Your father may not harm you physically, but ignoring you is more painful than hitting you." Theresa pauses for a while. 

"Hundred percent sure that your father will be very angry when you show up." She continues. 

"I don't know, but I have this feeling that what happened to your mom many years ago, there's something wrong with it." She pauses, looking at her. 

"I'm just saying, at least if your father sees me, he will get angry, that's for sure, but he will not do anything about me." Theresa stops, maybe because she's not talking.

She could sense that Theresa was not happy with this abrupt decision she had made. She's like a mother to her since her mom died. She knows her inside out.

"Thank you, Theresa. I think you're right. If anyone sees you at the mansion, you can tell them that you're there because I asked you to get something in my room." She remembered her things in her room. She asked her dad many times if she could have the red box that contained the photographs of her and her mom and also the gifts from her. He told her that he would be going to send them, but he never did. Right, this will be a good reason. 

"You know that red velvet box in my wardrobe? I want you to get it for me. Dad knows how badly I want those." With a twinkling hope in her eyes.

"Yes. I know that box. It's the photographs of the two of you and her gifts. Her last gift for your birthday hasn't been opened yet because we're forced to leave the house," Theresa supplied.

"That's right. Mom had told me before I left for school that day that she put her gift for my thirteenth birthday in my box, but I didn't have a chance to check it because of that terrible thing that happened." She paused. "In case you've got a chance to get in the mansion if it is still there, never mention to anyone that I came with you. Just take the box. I've changed my mind, Theresa; I don't want Dad to know I came. I don't want to see him right now, not this time." She said, holding Theresa's hand. 

"Okay. So when we land, just stay at the airport," Theresa told her, looking into her eyes. 

"Okay. I'll wait for you at the airport. But in case you can't see me, don't stay at the airport; I'm afraid that Daddy will send an eye to check you out. Buy a ticket back to Paris." She pulls out her wallet and gives Theresa some cash. She had it changed into Australian dollars while they were still in Paris.

"Thank you! I'll get your box, and if I can't see you at the airport, I'll buy a ticket back to Paris." She repeats what she has just said.

"That's right. So we're settled," she said in confirmation.

"Are you going back to Paris?" Theresa asks.

"Yes, but you don't need to go back with me," she replied.

"Just make sure you'll be back," Theresa said.

"I will," she replied.

"Take care, Shiloh," Theresa said after a while. 

"You too, Theresa. Leave your luggage at the airport; that will be easier for you to move," she suggests to Theresa.

"I've been thinking about that. Because if I have my luggage in tow, they won't believe I came for the box only," Theresa replied.

"You're right." She agreed.

When the plane touched down on the runway. They are both in silence. They both lost in their thoughts. 

When they finally came out from the airplane, they went to the immigration counter. Shiloh couldn't decide whether she needed to exit or stay inside and wait for Theresa. But if she won't exit, how can she enter again later?

"Are you not going to move Shiloh?" Theresa wakes up her sleeping mind.

"Yes, sorry. I was thinking I could wait for you here, but I still need to exit," she said.

"I'll go now so I can come back immediately," Theresa said, walking towards the queue at the immigration counter. She followed through.

Theresa walks directly to the conveyor for baggage claim and waits for her luggage after the immigration. She stands beside her. When Theresa finally gets her luggage, she walks over to customer service to ask where she could store her luggage while doing an important errand. They give her directions to the luggage storage. She goes there, and after a while, she's good to go.

"I'm off to go now." She looks at her.

"Be careful, Theresa; I'll pray that you will get there in safety and will come out with my box," she said, hugging her nanny.

"I will. God will be with us," Theresa said, hugging her back. 

After Theresa left the airport, she walked towards the exit. She will find a place to sit. She's unsure if she will be going to wait for her nanny or if she will go back to Paris as soon as possible.