With his hand still held to his face in shock, Damien turned towards the direction of the voice. Same as his assailant. Damien wondered who the tall, beautiful woman was. She looked so sophisticated in her short-fitted, peplum gown with red pump heels. Her red hair rested gloriously against the white of the clothes she had on, curling at the edge as if it had a mind of its own, the contrast so sharp that he blinked to be sure that he was not imagining the vividness of the colour.Damien looked behind her to be sure that he didn’t get it wrong. And yes, he was right, she was coming from the direction of the Azalea garden.Damien hoped she wasn't a trespasser that decided to check on the gardens. He was sure that the Head Gardener would not take it lightly with her even though she was….“Mum?” Damien turned back towards Sybil when he heard her incredulous question and he turned back to look at the woman.This young-looking woman was the mother of this hellcat? The mother of Andrea? His
Leticia looked at Damien again, and tilted her head “It depends on my mood and your attitude during my stay. On the other hand, why should I? Come, drive me to the house. I craved the walk moments ago but not anymore” she said as he went to her daughter’s car.“You are leaving soon, aren’t you?” Sybil asked, distracted for a moment as she looked at her mother who only shrugged and climbed into the car. “Of course, you are” she answered herself then gave Damien a deadly glare. “What are you gawking at, freak? You better don’t get comfortable because I will make sure that you leave!”She spat at Damien before she moved towards the car.“You said it depends on my attitude, right?” Damien heard her say as she entered the car. “You had better don’t …”Her voice faded as she drove past.Damien had no idea what to think of Sybil's mum’s attitude. Was he about to be sent away? Will Aliamin be in trouble? Will the butler be scolded because of him?Uncertain of what his fate will be before the
Head Gardener Salem had two workers drag Damien behind him to the butler’s allocated office. Everything within Damien rebelled against the injustice. Not only because he was accused of doing what he did not do but also for the fact that he was being rough handled like that by people who would not even be able to lift his finger if he decided to show the extent of his power.“Sir, I was not the one,” Damien said again with the hope that the man would believe him or at least listen to reason.He wondered why he even bothered when the man turned back to him and yelled at him to keep his mouth shut unless he wanted to increase his punishment.“One more word from you and you will be rue the day you were born. You criminal!!” HG Salem shouted before ordering the men to get a tighter hold of him.They pulled him along and Damien was momentarily mesmerised by the difference in the structure that housed the HG office and that of the butler as they approached. Not only that, he could see the ma
“You can start talking” Butler Shawn’s voice was heard as he entered the office. Damien could see that the room was more like a mini library as he caught a glimpse of shelves and shelves of books before the door shut. He did not know what to make of HG Salem’s last look before he entered the butler’s office but he knew that it couldn’t be something good. What should I do? He thought to himself in anxiety as he saw the men with him discussing about how he was a goner for sure. “I did not do it” he repeated for the umpteenth time and the one that met him at the garden scoffed. “You really believe that anyone would be stupid enough to believe that? Who else would be stupid enough to destroy something so precious to madam except you, the stupid newcomer?” “I know, right?” the other man said in agreement with the one that was talking. “Crazy expensive too!” he said with a near shout. “Even if I was given ten livers at once, I would never dare to go close to those flowers not to talk
“Okay, now she will definitely kill me!” Andrea said anxiously beneath her breath but Damien heard her clearly.“What did you say?” Butler Shawn tore his eyes away from the devastation in front of him long enough to look at the wide-eyed young mistress beside him.“Uhm, eh?” Andrea swallowed hard, her eyes huge on her face as she looked at the butler incomprehensibly. “What did I…oh, I did not say anything. I mean I did not expect it to be…well, I did not say anything” she completed weakly as she looked over at Damien as if to say “Why didn’t you tell me?”Damien could hear her thoughts clearly in his mind anyway and he knew that she already regretted speaking for him even before she saw the destruction. He wished she had listened when he tried to tell her on their way to the garden after Butler Shawn told her that he would have to see what she had done first before he would know if her mother would truly kill her or not.Everyone could see that the man had merely said that in part je
“You,” Smith Macmillan, gay and only son of the Macmillan’s said again as he moved towards Damien. Damien quickly brought his chin down again “I think we have… Look up when I am talking to you, you dimwit!” he yelled when he couldn’t see Damien’s face again.“You what?!” Leticia’s high-piercing shriek was heard from the house just as Damien was raising his head to face Smith.Smith’s head jerked towards the door then he grimaced as he turned away from Damien, losing interest in the identity of the nobody before standing with his head bowed before him.“Well, whatever that is. I am not getting caught in the middle of it. See you later, old Shawn” he said as he got inside the car in a hurry and the driver started the car. “You can tell my old man that I am not coming back anytime soon. His female's shrieks and yelling could try a saint and we all know that I am no saint, don’t we?” he said as he thumped the driver on the shoulder and the latter drove away at a high speed down the drivew
“What are all these noises about? Can’t a man come back to a quiet house after a busy day?” A voice said from the door and they all turned to look as an imposing-looking, man with a slight budge in his mid-section entered. “Sybil is that…oh,” He said as he entered and he saw those in the living room.“Darling, you are back,” he said with a small smile as he took in his wife’s presence.“Yes, I am back” Leticia replied in a snappy tone. “And I am pissed too! This place had turned into something else in my absence. My daughter is destroying my flowers and I have a stupid, uncouth worker who does not know that he is not supposed to open his mouth when his betters are talking. Yes, I am back and I am about to kill somebody. Right when I decide on who to start with!” Leticia said in a rapid-fire tone.“We can’t have that now, can we?” Ambrose Macmillan, President of Macmillan clothing chain and second richest man in the whole of Santa Eyre, excluding the untouchable King Saldus of course.
Damien stayed away from the staff house throughout that evening. That was after he ducked out of the way when he saw Leticia stalking back to the main house with a fury more intense than what she could feel rolled off her when she left earlier.The could see her muttering something in anger even with the distance between them and he wisely chose not to pick up on what she was saying. He knew that none of it could be favourable for him anyway. He was already on the path that led to the staff house when he remembered the look that the staff housekeeper had given him earlier and he thought that those two young men that bundled him to Butler Shawn’s office might be there at the moment too.“Better to steer clear for now,” he thought to himself. Especially since he could picture Head Gardener Salem’s forbidden look in his mind’s eyes. He took the next path that led away from the staff house and he smiled at himself when the outhouse came into view. “At least, I was left to myself here,” h