7. Mother-daughter

What the... a flower garden??

Why were they hiding all the beautiful sceneries from first view?

She loved flowers, a lot, and seeing this garden right now made her heart flatter. She remembered her mother. She loved flowers too. She smiled and looked around, forgetting her fears and worries for a moment.

She closed her eyes and took a deep, long breath. She was about to release it slowly when Esther's voice echoed.

"This way."

Rory nearly choked on her breath. For a moment she had forgotten she was there with someone. So the sudden voice really jolted her nerves.

Oh, Esther!

Rory straightened up and followed Esther towards a pavilion. She was on tenterhooks all this while, as they walked down a pebbled path to the pavilion till she saw him. Mr. Dangerous Man, in all black, his broad back facing them, with one hand dipped inside his pocket, his tall figure leaning against one of the pillars, his head bowed, and one leg crossing the other at the ankle.

"Boss..." Esther called and he slowly turned his handsome face towards them.

Fuck! Even with ruffled hair? How?

Rory gulped. She had to dig her fingers in her palm tightly to distract herself with the pain from looking too much.

Derek nodded towards Esther and she bowed slightly towards him and walked away, sparing Rory a bright smile.

"How are you doing today, Aurora?"

Oh God, the way her name rolled on his tongue...

"I'm doing well, sir." Rory managed to reply without stuttering with her pounding heart. Something must be wrong with her. How can she see him in that way when he's a dangerous man? She fidgited with her fingers while looking everywhere else but his face. She needed to stop that crazy thoughts.

"Your mother brought you some..." His voice came through, pausing and glancing towards his right, at a chest. "She brought that. For you."

Rory turned to that direction and saw her chest sitting at a corner. Her mother came there? Where was she now?

"Please where is she? Did... did she go back?" She asked.

"She seemed to be in a hurry." He simply answered lazily and strolled deeper into the pavilion, towards a couch at the centre.

Rory stood in place and pursed her lips. Should she follow?

"Come." His deep, sultry voice came in, and she took careful steps towards him, now seated on the couch. He tipped his chin towards the other seats, gesturing her to sit. She obediently did, and bent her head, fiddling with her fingers. She didn't want to look at him and get distracted, no, not now.

Silence reigned between them, and Rory could not help but steal a quick glance at Derek. His face, as usual, was blank. She couldn't tell what he was thinking. And her mother... why was she in a hurry? To where? It boggled her mind that her mother had come all the way to this place without looking for her. It didn't make sense. Charlotte would never, ever do that. Or did Mr. Dangerous Man send her away? He didn't lie about her being in a hurry, right?

"You'll be going back to school on Monday." Derek finally broke the silence and Rory's train of thoughts. She quickly lifted her gaze to his face, her eyes lightening up with the information. She opened her mouth and closed it again like a fish out of water, not knowing exactly what to say.

Derek turned to look at her. When their eyes met, he stilled for a split second before composing himself and looking away. Those large blue-green eyes of hers was so distracting. He had warned himself, after the first time he looked into her eyes, never to look for more than two seconds. He nearly lost his tongue when he saw her for the first time. And even now, he didn't know what else to say. He was just...

"Thank you... sir." Rory said, cutting Derek's thoughts. He turned towards her again, his mistake, because this time, a smile lingered on her cute pink lips. Her cheeks flushed a light pink when their eyes met and her eyes quickly darted, looking down at her fingers on her lap.

Derek cleared his throat and turned his face to the side, from her.

"I told your mother about it and she hurried back home to get your books. I'm sure she'll be back." He smoothly said.

Oh, right. So that was why she didn't wait to see her...

Rory nodded in understanding, forgetting the fact that he was not looking her way. She was happy that her mother would come and see her soon. And she was overly happy that she was going back to school. She was so happy she couldn't hold back the smile that threatened to break on her lips, thinking of all these things. At least, something good happened to her in these past few days.

Soon, she heard a car enter the compound. Since they were at the backyard, she couldn't tell who it was, but she hoped it was her mother.

And it looked like the heavens were on her side today, because a few minutes later she saw her mother coming towards them. There was one of the bulky guys following behind with a big box in hand.

Rory shot up from her seat. Her face brightened up instantly. She wanted to bolt towards her mother and fall into her warm embrace, but she held herself after glancing to her side and saw Derek. A broad, bright smile was on her face, and her eyes glistened with tears as she held unto her dress tightly, waiting for her mother to reach her.

Charlotte had a strained smile on her lips. It looked like she was holding back tears as she approached her sunshine. God, she missed her daughter so, so much! It had been hell staying without her these past few days when they have been living their whole life together. She didn't think she could survive till that point.

She got there and wrapped her arms around her daughter, blinking rapidly to put her tears at bay that were threatening to fall. Rory wrapped her arms around her waist, hugging her back and closing her eyes tightly.

"I'll give you two a moment." Derek said, getting up and walking away towards the mansion.

"Thank you..." Charlotte's voice broke in, sounding a bit stiff, like she wanted to maintain a clear voice which she failed miserably. She had broken free from Rory's arms to thank him for letting her see her daughter, but she couldn't say a word other than thank you. She was so emotional she felt like any other word that would leave her lips would come with her tears.

Derek caught the emotions in her voice. He could see both of them holding themselves back, probably because of him. He knew those two needed some time together so he stood and left them.

When he was some few metres away from them, Rory threw herself heavily on her mother, grabbing her tightly like her life depended on that hug. Her one arm went around her mother's neck and settled on her own mouth, covering it tightly to prevent her sobs from coming out. But she was vibrating as she shed her tears freely now. Oh, how she missed her dear mother!

Charlotte stroked her hair and back as her daughter held unto her tightly, and cried with her. Rory's sobs seemed to increase by the second, so Charlotte dragged them towards the couch and helped them both sit, with Rory still not letting go. What had they been doing to her daughter? Why did she look so shaken?

"Oh, mom..." Rory's voice came as a whisper as she cried. She finally broke free from her mother's arms and held her face in her hands, kissing her all over her face. Her mother chuckled through her tears at her daughter's actions.

"It's alright, Rory, I'm here now." Charlotte held her face in her hands too and brushed away some strands of hair that had fallen on her face and kissed her cheeks. "I missed you so much, baby. I thought I would die."

Rory shook her head as more tears flew down her cheeks. Charlotte caught the tears midway with her fingers and hugged her again.

"Mom... I missed you..."

"It's okay, stop crying now." Rory nodded against her mother's neck where she had buried her face. She slowly lifted her teary face and looked at her mother, who quickly wiped the remnants of tears off Rory's face and kissed her cheeks again and again. Their faces were flustered with all the crying. But now they both smiled at each other and the next minute, they both chuckled at their silly act.

"I missed you, mom." Rory smiled, meaning it from the core of her being. Charlotte smiled back. She could not put her feelings right now into words as she stared into her daughter's eyes.

"I missed you more, sunshine."