Anthony took a quick glance at the room to confirm his suspicion. It seemed Mary was alone, just as he was told. Anthony noticed slight changes had been made in the room, since he last visited which was more than a decade ago. The sofas were ,as usual, in the middle of the room. The dinning table was closer to the kitchen. Book shelves, table at the center, the carpet, the painting on the wall, were the same and were at the same position, if his brain was not messing with him. The only thing that had changed was the style of the sofas, the television, the fridge and the aroma diffuser which weren't present the last time he had visited. He sat down, and placed his elbow on his thigh and rested his head on the back of his hand, wear his taunting smirk, staring intently at Mary.
"You're not going to welcome me home?" he asked trying to annoy Mary. He knew that alone was never enough to irk her but he didn't mind.
"What do you want?" Mary asked softly. No matter how much she despised Anthony, she still had a soft spot for him and he was fully aware of that. She couldn't bring herself to hate him more than she did even after all the pain he caused her, because he was her first child.
"A meal will do" Anthony replied.
"I only have milk, bread and fried chicken available. Let me warm them up for you." Mary said as she headed towards kitchen.
It was obvious Anthony was not hungry. He only missed her cooking. He smiled when he smelt the brewing tea. Mary couldn't hate him enough and that alone made him mad at himself. He raised his head and looked intently at the ceiling, lost in his thoughts.
"Here. You can come over here. I brewed tea for you" Mary said suddenly snapping him out of his stupor.
"Chrysanthemum tea, my favorite" Anthony said as he drew a seat for himself. "It's wonderful how you still have my 'favourites' imprinted in your mind. Even though, you claim to hate me. What a viable enemy i am. Anyway, i missed you Mary. Did you miss..." Anthony said much to Mary's chagrins.
"Why are you here?" Mary cut in.
"I missed you. Just wanted to pay you a visit "
"At night?" Mary asked
"Would you have preferred it to be in the day?"
"Don't mess with me, Anthony. Just go straight to the reason why you are here!"
"Owww! I forgot i lost my right to miss you. Sorry, my bad. But why am I here?" Anthony asked playfully yet with a scary aura which was enough to make anyone cringe. No wonder he was famous for his kind. But another issue was, Mary never cringed not matter who it was that was before her. And that was why she wasn't even affected nor bothered about his sudden change in demeanor which didn't go unnoticed by her.
"Anthony, your presence alone screams..."
"Danger. I know. You don't have to remind me about that" Anthony replied wearing a sardonic smile and began to eat.
"You're not afraid I'm going to poison you?" Mary asked puzzled.
"Are you capable of that?"
"Don't underestimate me, Tony" Mary replied using his pet name.
"I never did, Mary Ann"
"Why are you here, Anthony?"
"Because I missed you. It seems you're alone. Oh! what fun it would be to have him here"
"Don't you dare Anthony!"
"I'm not a fun of 'dares'. I just do whatever i want, no need to be dared"
"Anthony, it's been more than a decade. But guess what, the pain still skyrockets whenever your name comes up, let alone your presence"
" That's an underestimation of the power i hold, Mary. How's the little girl? What's her name? It always skips me. Aida! I finally remembered. What a beautiful and adorable girl. Such a pity she's not my daughter "
"Anthony, don't dare touch even a strand of her hair. Or i will rip you apart"
"My bad, dear Mary. I touched her all over. I'm sure Vanessa is going crazy by now"