11. New room

The day went by smoothly. Derek left the mansion to the barracks for some work, leaving with some of the guys. Esther and the rest were left back.

Rory helped Esther clear the table after lunch and also helped her do the dishes.

"The flower garden..." Rory spoke after some time, "who made It?"

"The boss." Esther simply stated.

"The boss..." Rory whispered, nodding and thinking at the same time. He actually made that garden? As if Esther could read her mind,

"We all helped. Some of us." She said. Rory nodded.

"Is it for commercial use?" She couldn't help but ask, and Esther turned to her sharply with a raised brow but a smile on her face.

"Why would you think that?" She asked and turned back to focus on the dishes. Rory shrugged.

"Well, I've never seen such a huge flower garden like this before. And the flowers look very healthy and beautiful. So I thought maybe you sell them." Esther smiled and shook her head.

"They're not for sale. But we harvest them from time to time and the boss takes them somewhere."

Somewhere?

"Where?" Rory couldn't stop that from coming out. Where would he send flowers from time to time?

"To his parents and sisters." Esther said as she wiped the plates and placed them on the rack to dry completely.

To his parents and siblings? Oh, so he has a family, Rory thought. Then why was he not staying with them? Or was it because of his work? She had a lot of questions, but she kept quiet instead, not wanting to piss Esther off with her questions.

"I want to relax a little in my room." Esther said after they were done with the dishes. Rory smiled and nodded and watched as Esther left. Now she was left alone, what should she do? She didn't feel like going back to her room. She decided to go back into the garden for a walk.

She walked further into the garden this time, touching some of the flowers and crouching at times to smell their wonderful scents. She walked in the afternoon sun and enjoyed the fresh breeze, forgetting her problems for some moment. She felt like a free bird, with no restrictions, relieved, refreshed...

She went further till she reached an empty bed. She wondered why there were no flowers on that bed. Or maybe they were harvested recently... Anyways, her eyes lit up as a thought came to mind. She would plant tulips. She smiled at her idea but later frowned, remembering this was not her home. She couldn't possibly just walk into the garden of this dangerous man and start planting.

And besides, she wasn't allowed to move out, how would she get the seeds or seedlings to plant? She felt bitter again. She wasn't a free bird after all. Her life was restricted now. She went around for a while, uprooting the weeds

She made her way back into the mansion after some time and made her way to the underground room. She saw her chest and rushed to it. She had almost forgotten about it. She reached for it to open it but paused when she saw the box next to it. She went ahead and opened the box. It contained her books and her school bag. Yes, she would be going back to school. If she had thought of this earlier she would have come inside sooner to prepare for school.

She crosschecked her books to be sure she had all she needed. And Charlotte did a great job, because she picked even her jotters and rough books. Everything was here now. She quickly reached for her bag and started checking through her time table and schedules for Monday's lectures. Thankfully, she had only missed some few days. She wouldn't be lagging behind that much.

She finished quickly and went to look for something to wear. That was her routine every time, she would prepare everything the day before so that she would not miss anything.

She opened the chest and she saw how her mother had organised some few essentials. She made sure to pick her favourite clothes, knowing she won't be able to bring all her clothes. She had packed a few shoes, her favourite coconut milk shampoo and body wash as well as her other cosmetics. There were some few hangers, and she quickly looked around.

Where would she hang all of her clothes?

Well, she would just leave them in the chest. Everything has changed now and she had to start adjusting. The earlier she adjusted, the sooner she would become acquainted with it. She was glad she wasn't treated like anything she had imagined. Speaking of, where was the bulkiest guy? It's been a while she last saw that creepy guy. Shaking her head to discard the thoughts, she continued checking her stuff. That guy mistreated her in the worse possible way. He was not worth her thinking.

Night soon fell, and Rory was surprised again by Esther's call to join them for supper. She was in no position to protest, so she nervously made her way to the table. She dreaded the fact that she would be sharing the table with the boss again. But much to her relief, he didn't show up for dinner.

Or maybe not so relieved.

Rory felt somehow odd that he didn't join them. She badly wanted to ask Esther where he was... Wait, what was going on with her?

Strange, she thought. Why would she feel that way? His presence made her uncomfortable and now his absence too was doing certain things to her? She must be going crazy now.

She finished her food and helped Esther again with the dishes. They didn't talk much and then both went their ways after that. Rory went back to her room and decided to do some recap on her school works. They had not done much before she got absent so there wasn't much to do. Or maybe she should call Lola, her closest mate, and ask about what she had missed. But then she realised she didn't have her phone. Sighing, she took out her books and sat on her bed to read through.

Some minutes into reading she stopped with wide eyes as if she just realised something.

Oh no! She was not an early riser. It was her alarm that woke her up most of the time. Sometimes she wouldn't even hear the alarm and her mother would come and wake her. How was she going to get up now? God! She was going to be late. She didn't even have her phone to keep track of time. Maybe she should ask Esther to wake her.

Getting up, she made her way to the door. Just as her hand reached the door knob to turn it, a knock came in.

She nearly toppled over in fright. That was unexpected. Who could it be? She hesitated for a while, contemplating whether to go back and respond or just open it.

The knock came again, and she almost jumped out of her skin. Gosh, she was such a fearful person. She took a few steps back and pretended to be walking towards the door for the first time.

Wait, why was she even scared? Could be Esther. But then again she knew Esther would have just entered after two knocks.

Okay, maybe it's one of the guys...

With this assurance she opened the door ever so slowly and came face-to-face with the one he least expected.

"B..bulkiest guy?!!"

Hayford raised a brow.

Oh no! Rory flinched a bit when she saw his expression. Did she say that out loud? But it was just for a fleeting moment, and his face went back to his usual straight face.

Hayford nearly laughed. Bulkiest guy? That was what she called him?

"I'm Hayford, and come with me now." He said and stepped back a bit but still remained standing with his straight face.

Hayford...

Rory echoed the name in her thoughts. And why did it look like he was being nice today? He even mentioned his name. And he was waiting for her?? She didn't know what to think of all that. She just went inside for a slipper and followed him as they made their way to the first floor.

No! To the boss??!!

She started feeling nervous. A whole lot of scenarios started flooding her mind. Maybe they have waited for her to recover from her previous injuries then they would inflict another? Oh no! Now her heart started drumming against her chest.

They got to the familiar door and expected Hayford to stop there, but he didn't. He led her further through the hallway and passed about two doors till they got to the last door and he stopped. Opening the door, he gestured with his chin for Rory to get it first, and she did so nervously. This time, Hayford came in too, and closed the door behind them. Rory opened her mouth to ask what they were doing there but Hayford beat her to it.

"This will be your new room."