6. Meeting again

The day went by with Aurora still in the underground room. She was feeling a lot better now, after she woke up from that long nap, and Esther had been a good company, just that she tried to avoid conversations. And she was an excellent cook, for that, Rory had to admit. All the meals she brought to her were highly nutritious and very delicious. She had slept off again after Esther came to serve her a meal, gave her some drugs again and helped clean her wounds. After a long while, she woke up to a knock on the door.

It was Esther with her radiant smile, as always. She had packed her hair up in a bun, revealing her slender neck with some of her hair falling on her neck and face, and since she had curly hair, the bun looked bulky and messy, but it made her look stunning. She came in black jeans and grey princess vest and it looked like she had slightly moist pink lips, maybe some lip balm...

"Good morning, Rory." She greeted, pulling her from her thoughts.

Oh, it was already morning? Wow, how long did she sleep?

"Good morning, Esther. You look stunning this morning." She complimented with a smile.

Her smile broadened. "Thank you." She replied.

Esther came in to prepare a warm bath for her. It was like she was not supposed to set foot in any other part of the house aside that room. She gave her some few simple clothes and undergarments and materials for her bath.

"I'll be waiting outside, let me know when you're done. I'll help you get dressed." Esther said calmly and left her.

Rory took a deep breath and carefully got out of the bed. Taking off her clothes, she soaked herself in the warm bath.

A quiet sigh left her lips when her body was slowly lowered into the warm water. It felt very relaxing after the rough day she had. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth for some few minutes before she gently scrubbed her body clean.

She was contemplating whether to wash her hair or not, at the end, she did, and wrapped herself up in a towel after slowly stepping out of the tub, being extra careful not to slip. She took another towel and wrapped it on her wet hair.

After drying herself, she put on some undergarments, which were a bit undersized, considering her curvy figure, but she was thankful it was just a set, and not many. It would have been a waste. The panties pressed tightly around her bruised hip, but she had no option.

She checked the clothes and chose a blue midi dress with short sleeves and a v-neck, that assentuated her figure. She then went to the door and knocked from the inside to let Esther know she was done. It was left with her damp hair. Maybe Esther knew where to find a dryer.

Esther came in shortly, and as if she knew, she came with a hair dryer.

"Sit, let me help you dry your hair." She said, as she led Rory towards one end of the room and pulled a heavy material off a vanity mirror. Rory blinked a few times.

She had not even noticed it. She sat on the stool in front of the mirror while Esther stood behind her and wordlessly started drying her hair.

Their eyes met a few times, but Esther would just smile at her and she'd smile back. Rory had observed that she was friendly but didn't want her life to be pried into.

Not like she wanted to. How and why she was living here was the one question she wanted to ask. But that was the conversation she was avoiding so that was it.

After a long while...

"Umm..." Rory cleared her throat to gain her attention. Well, she was a bit chatty, so she couldn't stand silence for that long.

"Rory? You want to say something?" Esther asked as she met her gaze in the mirror.

"Yeah, uh..., I was... just thinking about school." She almost teared up after saying this. Esther just smiled and turned off the dryer since her hair was dry now. She took a large-toothed comb to loosen her hair a bit and preceded with a brush to smoothen it out.

She had ignored her question. Okay, that was not a question, but she had completely ignored her, and she felt bad. Her eyes burned and she quickly blinked rapidly and tightly pursed her lips.

Esther parted her hair in the middle and braided both sides in cornrolls to her back. She looked like she was enjoying working on her hair. Rory was broken inside but she tried to put up a straight face. If she won't mind her, she would just keep quiet.

Soon, Esther was done. She quickly went out and came back with breakfast. While Rory was at it, she started clearing the place. Rory wanted to help despite her injuries, but Esther refused politely and told her to enjoy while she did it. She wasn't used to being served.

Though she was an only child, they didn't have any maids, so she did most of the chores with her mother back at home. Well, except cooking. She did know how to prepare simple meals and bake simple things, but she wouldn't call herself the best in the kitchen.

Her mind drifted to school again. She had only spent less than two weeks in the university, but she got a few new friends and she missed them already. She would probably miss the rest of the week in school, since the invasion of Mr. Dangerous Man happened on a Thursday and now it didn't look like they were talking about her going back anytime soon.

Remembering all these, her eyes glistened with unshed tears, but fought them back.

Esther stole glances at Rory from time to time. She would lie if she said she didn't hate this girl for what Fernando, her father, did to their organisation. But, just like Derek, she was not expecting to see such a vulnerable and innocent person.

But that even made her hate her more, just that, she was an expert in hiding behind her charming smile to make you feel at ease with her. Well, that was her greatest weapon. Her charm. It had brought great men down on their knees. With her stunning beauty and her curvy nature, coupled with her innocent round face and her cute smile, anyone could easily be fooled.

She saw no threat in Rory and it made her a bit annoyed. She enjoyed the fight more if the person tried to play smart and difficult. But this girl right here was doing none of those. Perhaps that was why Derek was having a hard time in dealing with her.

She was surprised when Derek told her to be nice to Rory. Well, surprised was actually an understatement. She was shocked.

Be nice? To an enemy's daughter? She had wanted to laugh.

This was strange. Perhaps it was because of her innocent aura. Well, she was watching her closely. Rory wasn't anyone she should be alert when with her, but she would not let her guard down either.

"You'll be meeting the boss this morning." Esther said, putting the last item in place and turned to face her.

Rory stiffened.

Meet... Mr. Dangerous Man?

"Don't worry. He won't do anything to you, so relax." Esther added when she saw her shifting in her seat in nervousness. Rory glanced back at her.

"R..really?" She stuttered.

"Yes, so get ready. We'll be leaving together. How are you feeling though? How's the pain?"

"Much better now, thank you."

Rory could not help but think. Why was she meeting him? She couldn't come up with anything other than a punishment. I mean, what was she here for, in the first place? Was it not because her father owed a dangerous man and she was taking hostage till the debt was paid? What else should she expect? Or was she going to work?

"Let's go now." Esther said and Rory's eyes snapped towards her. Right. She was meeting him. She had no option, did she? She just had to calm herself down.

As they walked through the corridor, her heartbeat picked up speed. The closer they got, the more harder it was for her to breathe. She felt a lot better in terms of pain, she could walk without limping now, but her nervousness had increased now that she thought she would start feeling pain all over again if they torture her.

This time, they went outside the house. The sky was blue and bright, with a few light clouds scattered here and there. The sun was out high, but not very scorching, just the right weather for a great day of outing, she thought.

She took a deep breath and released it silently before casting her eyes around, taking in the calm ambience of the place. The surroundings looked a bit desolate, far away from other houses around, with some thicket around the wired wall. The outside did not look anywhere close to the inside. And she could smell, wait... she sniffed to be sure... flowers? She frowned.

They went around the house towards the backyard. And again, what she saw left her speechless. She gasped, wide-eyed.

The backyard was a beautiful flower garden!