It's been almost five years since James passed, and his family seem to still be stuck five years ago before the fatal accident.
Emily, his daughter, still keeps up with some of their routines, like their early morning run, evening stroll in the park and ice-cream threats on Sundays.
Suzan his wife still has his belongings intact as letting go was difficult for her too…
Emily is a big girl now and set for college. As she packed her bags, she couldn't help but imagine how her dad would have been so excited and proud of her.
Whenever Emily graduates to a new class, the father often performs the rose ritual to always remind Emily that she is loved at home and will always be his one and only little girl, regardless of where she goes.
“Mom! I'm all set, and the cab is parked outside, hurry already.” Emily called out to her mother at the top of her voice.
Emily continued in a frustrated tone as she dragged her big box aggressively to the door, “Common mom! We need to beat the traffic, don't do this now.”
Her mother was still nowhere in sight, and Emily was losing her patience.
After taking her boxes and every other of her belongings outside for the cab guy to load it in his trunk, Emily stormed upstairs to her mother's room.
At first, she was angry that her mother wasn't even responsive to all her calls, but as she progresses upstairs to Suzan's room, she started recollecting she hadn't even seen her all through the morning she was preparing for college.
Suzan didn't even make breakfast, which was very unusual.
As Emily progresses to her mother's room, she became sweaty as her legs became heavy to lift. Her heart beating ever so loudly and pumping fast as she calls out, “mom? Are you alright?" But got no response.
Finally standing at her mother's door, she pushed it open with all her might, but the door wasn't even shut, and she almost fell, exerting all that energy.
On seeing Suzan standing by her father's reading table, backing her, she took in a deep breath and exhaled calmly.
“I was so worried not seeing you around or hearing from you, mom, I thought….”
Just then, Suzan turned to face Emily holding a rose. From where Emily was standing, she caught a glimpse of her father's favorite scented candles.
“Omg mom! You remember?” Emily questioned as she quickly covered her mouth with both hands. She was so overwhelmed that her emotions were about getting the best of her.
“Shhh, it's ok my love, just because he's no more, doesn't mean he stopped living in our memories.” Suzan said calmly to Emily as she dropped the objects on the table to give her a tight squeeze.
Since James was no more, Suzan did the ritual by lighting the candles and kissing Emily's forehead. They both inhaled the scent from the candles that has engulfed the room, and both women breathed out slowly.
Suzan then handed Emily the scented artificial rose flower, and they hugged themselves one last time. As they hugged, Emily couldn't help but drift back to the past, the good old days where her dad was still alive.
She was a daddy's girl and had daddy doing everything for her. Every time the candles come up, she knew she had made daddy proud.
Their life was so filled with light, laughter, and love, but with the passing of James, he seemed to have taken their happy moments with him as the light in their lives was struggling not to dim out.
“We need to get going, mom,” Emily said in a teary voice as she wiped off the tear that had trickled down her cheek.
“Just give me a sec baby,” Suzan turned to the dressing mirror as she used a face wipe on her face and applied some light makeup to brighten it.
The ladies soon arrived at college and Suzan helped Emily settle in. Afterward, they bid each other farewell.
Life in college was nothing Emily was used to, she got so caught up with her school work that she could no longer keep up with the routines she shared with her late father, and this angered her.
With each passing day, she looked forward to the holidays, she looked forward to the morning runs, the walk in the park, and the ice cream Sundays.
Soon, exams came, and her first exam was a general course, so basically all freshers from various departments were to partake.
Like the first exam, the others went well for Emily and as the exam came to an end, she started making preparations to go home for the holidays.
On the day she was to leave, she heard a knock. She wondered who it was as she wasn't expecting anybody and her roommate had gone home already.
“Come on in, the door is not locked,” Emily yelled. She hoped whoever was at the door heard her, as she wasn't ready to pause on her packing.
The door opened and Emily gasped, a young man who was a spitting image of her late father was standing just in front of her.
“Hello Emily, my name is Emmanuel” he said, smiling while extending a handshake.
Emily was too stunned to reciprocate the handshake, as she was too shocked for words, but she managed to pull herself together.
“First of all, how did you know my name, who are you and why do you look so much like my dad?” Emily questioned as she was agitated.
“Pardon my manners, my name is Emmanuel, Emmanuel Grandeur.”
At the mention of the name Grandeur, Emily went cold, she didn't know how to react. So many things were running through her mind. Grandeur is a name that is peculiar to her father's ancestry, and her father is an only child.
She was even more worried because she would rather not come to the conclusion that her late father had another family. The moment such a thought crossed her mind, she got aggressive and hostile.
“Is this some sort of joke? Is this a prank?” Emily questioned in a coarse voice. She continued authoritatively, “Young man, state your business or leave my room now!”
“Can I at least get a seat?”
“No! You will talk while standing” Emily snapped at him.
Emmanuel took a deep breath to calm himself down then continued, “well, like I told you before, my name is Emmanuel….”
“State your business” Emily cuts in rudely.
“Ok well, I am as confused as you are,” Emmanuel said as he rubbed the side of his neck.
He continued, “I saw your name on the attendance sheet during the general exams, and I was hoping maybe you could…. I don't know, make the whole thing make sense?”
“I don't have time for this, you need to leave.” Emily walked to the door and opened it.
“Well you are right about the timing, my dad will be here anyway, sorry to be a bother.”
As Emmanuel made his exit, Emily held him back, "wait!, your dad is coming?”
“Yes, why?” Emmanuel questioned with a creased brow.
“Can I meet him?” By now, Emily was calm and suddenly had an interest to also knowing who Emmanuel was.
Emmanuel agreed for Emily to meet his dad, he waited for Emily as she hurried with her packing. She got done and they both went to the school parking lot to meet with Emmanuel's dad.
The moment Emily saw Emmanuel's father John, she couldn't control herself, she ran to him, grabbed him and called him dad. Both Emmanuel and his father were confused, but they let Emily have her moment.
Emily was so deep into the moment before she realized he wasn't her father.
She let go of him and cleared her throat, “I'm sorry, it's just you look so much like my dad.”
“James! You are James girl” John muttered out as he looked at Emily. He was surprised to see her as well.
“Dad, whose James?” Emmanuel questioned.
“He's my brother….” Emily couldn't hold her tears as she sobbed uncontrollably.
“Where have you been? Where have all of you been?” Emily questioned amidst tears.
She continued, “My dad has been gone for 5 years and none of you showed up, we didn't even know he had a family, how could you!.” Emily's emotions ran wild.
In the midst of the tension, her phone rang, it was her mom already at her hostel to pick her up. She directed her to the parking lot.
When Suzan arrived in the parking lot and saw John, she froze. The last time they met, a fight broke out between his family and James, as they didn't want him to marry her because she was an orphan and not of wealth.
John was the one adding fire to their predicament, and this caused a serious fight between him and James. After the whole thing, James left with Suzan, never to return to the family.
When Suzan got done narrating to Emily all that had transpired between her and the Grandeur, John was apologetic and wanted to make it right. But Suzan wasn't having it, as she dragged Emily away.