Chapter 7: The maze bushes

'I knew it was too good to be true. He's such a good actor.' she scoffed at his attitude. 'For a moment there, I thought he was concerned over my well-being but what can I say? It's just a wishful thinking.'

Damian sat back on his chair and watched Ivy as she brushed the broken pieces into a dust pan. He didn't touch his meal at all. Once he was done with watching her, he took a sip from the coffee and stood up, leaving the meal behind.

"You're not going to eat?" Layla asked, seeing him leave.

"Throw it all out." Damian commanded and Layla gave out a weary sigh and shook her head.

"Yet another day of wasted food." Layla said. "Well, you heard him." She said and the maids started packing the untouched food.

"So you're just gonna throw it all away?" Ivy felt confused.

"Of course. It's his orders." Layla said.

"I'm so sorry. If I didn't mess up, he wouldn't have lost his appetite." Ivy apologized.

"It's alright. It's not your fault, besides, it happens a lot of times and food is always wasted." Layla explained.

"Can't you guys eat it instead?" Ivy asked, being too naive.

"If that boss says throw it away, you'll have to obey no matter what." Layla stated.

"But there's no way he'll know." Ivy persisted.

"Believe me, he will." Layla said and Ivy lowered her head, feeling down. "Come on, cheer up. I'm sure there's something you can do."

Though she said this, she couldn't come up with anything.

"Uh, why don't you go down to Anisa? She's in the garden." She suggested and Ivy's face lit up.

"I love gardening. I'll go right away." She said and made to go but retraced her steps. "Direct me to the garden please. I might have forgotten a few routes."

Layla directed her and she gladly went down to the garden.

The gardeners were done with the watering and Anisa just stood, surveying the large land of beautiful flowers. Ivy met her with a white rose in her hand. She sniffed it with her eyes closed to enjoy the beautiful perfume scent coming from it.

"Hi!" Ivy said and Anisa looked back to see her approaching.

"Hey! What are you doing down here?" She asked.

"Well, I didn't have much to do inside so I came out to see if I can do something over here." Ivy explained.

"There's nothing left to do here either. The workers already primed, trimmed and watered the flowers. Nothing else to do." Anisa said and Ivy gave out a lazy sigh. "You can walk with me if you like."

"That would be fine." Ivy said and Anisa beaconed her to come along. They walked through the garden of perfumed flowers.

Ivy was so caught up with the scents that she didn't know the time they had gotten to the maze bushes. The scents were so familiar that she didn't know whether it was the scent of home or somewhere else she had been to.

Anisa's attention got caught up, causing her to look away from Ivy. She forgot Ivy walked with her to the maze bushes and didn't know when she walked in.

The maze bushes were green and tall. Ivy got in but didn't know how to get out. She hadn't realised it was a maze until she got to the middle of it.

There was an open space there and she saw what looked like a gravestone. She was scared to go close because she had already gone too far away from the house but something moved her to take a look.

"I'm lost, I need to head back. I can't let Anisa worry." Ivy said to herself and moved back in the direction she came. The bushes were so tall that she couldn't see a single sign of the mansion.

After series of walking through the maze taking one route or the other. She got exhausted, tired and drained of water. She was so thirsty and at the same time mad at herself for taking a route she knew nothing about. She decided to try her luck again.

"Why me?" Ivy cursed as she emerged in the opening once more. She had tried her luck but it led her back to the grave stone. "Why do I have to stumble on this familiar spot? What does this mean?" She asked herself loudly and pulled a strand of her hair to assure herself that it was all reality and not a dream. "Ouch!" She exclaimed and shook her head. "It's definitely not a dream." She told herself.

Meanwhile, Anisa was wondering where Ivy had gone and decided to check the house if she had gone back.

"Has anyone seen Ivy?" She asked the others except May.

"I thought she was with you." Layla said.

"She was but then I lost her. My thoughts are maybe she came back to the house." Anisa said.

"Anisa, did you take her to the maze bushes?" Clover asked.

"We got there but didn't go... " Then it dawned on Anisa that Ivy had gone missing since they got to the maze bushes.

"Anisa, say something!" Layla urged impatiently.

"The maze bushes. She's in the maze." Anisa finally answered.

"Oh no! How's she going to her out? And, Flora, Flora's grave stone's there?" Clover asked, feeling a bit anxious now.

"She is Flora!" Layla stated.

"But still, we can't let her see the grave stone." Clover said.

"There's a possibility she haven't even reached it yet." Layla said.

"Layla!" They all exclaimed.

"Just saying." Layla rolled her eyes and pouted her lips.

"Come on, we'll split up." Clover instructed and they all split up.