Damien stopped himself from assuaging his urge as he hoped desperately that he wouldn’t be sent away. If his crime was too high, it might affect Alamin who had spoken up for him. “A million dollars?” how much was that? He wondered. He knew it had to be a lot though because of the way the man gave him a triumphant look when he said the amount out loud.He could see that the man was looking uncomfortable now as well and he knew that he wouldn’t mind devising other ways to torture him soon.“Sir should we send him away?” the assistant blurted out when he couldn’t take the tension anymore.“What do you mean by sending him away?” the Head Gardener said so suddenly that Damien almost jumped. “Have you forgotten that he was employed by the butler? What would you say happen to him when you are asked? I can see that you wouldn’t mind losing your job”The assistant was confused. Was he not the one that said he should look for all means to make sure that boy was off the land within two days?“Y
Damien looked at the lady as she stood some distance away from him with a shopping basket held to her waist. She gave him an aggrieved look and he could see that beneath the meek, unassuming demeanor was a lady with spunk. One wouldn't have thought she had such a clear, confident voice the day before when she was pushed to the floor by that rude man, Damien thought.Her body was turned away from his and it could be seen that she was truly on her way without an intention to stop before Damien’s seeming insult stopped her.“You are not going to apologize?” she asked even while Damien was wondering how he could explain himself and make it believable that he had not been talking to her. He was sure that he wouldn’t believe him if he was in her shoes.Apology. That was easier. “I am sorry”She gave him an accessing look “You don’t sound sincere” she said quietly.What does she mean? How was he supposed to sound sincere? Damien asked himself as he racked his brain to see if there was any w
The following week was hell for Damien. If it was to be a lesser man or one without his special abilities, he would have broken down. None of Damien’s tormentors had any idea of who he was though and his nemesis, the assistant gardener couldn’t but marvel at the resilience of the young man. Torturing Damien became an obsession for him because now he wasn’t just acting on the Head Gardener’s directives, he was intent on making sure that Damien broke and finally gave up. The Head Gardener on the other end would pretend to be nice to Damien after which he would scold his assistant for not doing what he sent him to do right. “Just to send that young man away! You couldn’t do it. Of what use are you to me here then?” he could be heard shouting at him in one of the greenhouses one day. Mrs Macmillian was a lover of flowers who had no green thumb of her own and she was known for her wild love for anything flora. It doesn’t matter how much the flower could be, she would make sure she gets
A redheaded young girl of about eight years old, dressed in an expensive flora-patterned jumpsuit and golden sandals stepped out with anger on her face as she gave the assistant a derisive look that would have been more at home on the face of an adult.“Did you just call me an idiot?” she repeated.“No, no!” the assistant said in a rushed plea as he waved his hands frantically.“Now you are calling me a liar!” the girl said petulantly, swinging her hands in anger. “He called me a liar!” the girl said in a high-shrieked tone.Sweat filled the assistant’s face as he knew the implication of what just happened. “No, I wouldn’t do that. I didn’t know that you are the one. Please forgive me”He cried in desperation as he went on his knees before the girl. “I am so sorry, Miss Andrea. I do not know that you are the one. I couldn’t call you an idiot if I had known” the man cried out as his polo became sodden from his perspiration. Snot started coming out of his nose when the girl did not answ
Damien couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw Alamin. The man was totally different from the smelly, sweat-ridden man he met about a week ago. Of course, the man’s bad eye was still very glaring as it had an ugly extra flesh on it that looked burnt like a natural eyepatch and the limp in his leg couldn’t be overlooked as well but beyond that; he was different.Gone were the old clothes and even his formally gaunt looks had taken on a roundness that promised to flesh out as time goes on. He was dressed in an inferior version of the butler’s wear. Pristine shirt and expensive-looking trousers with a pair of gleaming shoes that made him look almost handsome.“You” Andrea pointed at him as the pair got closer “I know you”Alamin bowed slightly in greetings as he had been taught in the past days “Good afternoon, miss”“Butler Shawn,” Andrea said in excitement as if she was truly fond of the butler.The latter chuckled as he greeted her then he added “Have you been up to any mischief, miss?”
The assistant was busy pleading “Sir, please. Don’t send me away, I don’t want to lose my job!”“Oh, you should be sure that you would lose it alright. If you would be punished further by having to pay for those flowers or be locked up till your people have enough money would be another issue, you idiot” Butler Shawn said absentmindedly as he picked the scissors up. Recognition showed on his face and turned to Damien “This looks familiar and it is something that should have been anywhere near here. What is this doing here?”For the first time in Damien’s existence, he felt a strange feeling he never thought he would feel; guilt; as he said “It was used to cut the flowers”The Butler’s eyes narrowed on Damien’s face and it took all his willpower not to look away when the man asked “You mean this was what he, a gardener, used to cut a flower?”The word came a bit easier this time around “Yes,” Damien said, averting his gaze from the assistant who was busy yelling “Liar! He is a liar! I
“Err, what?” Damien was momentarily confused as to why she was back with such fury and why she had even heard him at all. He had been angry but he did not speak up and she was already leaving when he said what he said.“You will throw who into an abyss?” she said as she moved closer to him and pushed him on his chest with her two fingers, tapping him as she asked “You will what? Who do you think you are? You are just a common gardener and a liar too. You have not even set a foot in the main house yet, whereas I live in the staff house and you think you can talk to me like that? Who will you throw?”Damien was confused by a lot of things going on at the same time. Surely he had been touched by these humans before but they had been men. Sky was so used to grabbing him when he wanted to share something with him or teach him about something or whenever he was just fooling around. He had been touched by Michael before even Mathew and at least one or two of the elders.The girl’s touch was
Damien heaved a deep sigh after escaping the Head Gardener’s presence.The man was so surprised when Damien repeated what had happened to him. Andrea’s version anyway. “He did what?” Head Gardener Salem said as he looked sharply behind Damien as if he was expecting the assistant to jump out to tell him that it was a prank.“How did you become friends with miss Andrea?” he asked and Damien blamed himself for adding that information. He had initially intended not to say anything to the man but after he told him about what happened at the gardens, HG Salem was just looking at him as if he couldn’t comprehend what he was being told. Damien blurted out that last part in his nervousness. He regretted it immediately but the deed had been done.“She was passing by,” Damien said after a pause. “Passing by?” HG Salem asked in disbelief and Damien nodded in reply.“You reply to my questions when I am talking to you, boy!” the man bellowed and Damien quickly responded.The man gave him a disbel