Carla was the first one to be look at him, more like she was drawn to the voice. As for Ella she didn't need to know who it was as he would be disturbing her in her nightmarish dreams.
"Oh hi! You must be the boyfriend. I get it you can't stay too long away from her." Carla's flirty voice made Ella glare daggers at her friend, which unsurprisingly she definitely ignored. Her friend continued, "I was just letting her know what thongs to buy to please you. We wouldn't want our customers to be unsatisfied now, do we?"
"Carl! Pack me my usual right now." The stern voice made Carla pout at her friend and she went along to pack some pairs of undergarments for her friend, being in flow with the show. Ella had still not turned to him but she did feel him coming closer to her, too close to breathe down her neck. Was it even allowed for someone to come this close to each other, to talk? She pulled away from him to move forward and away from him when he grabbed both of her arms and smashed her against him. This was the second time he was doing that since she had landed in London.
"You seem to be too indulged in your shopping that you had to run off to do it alone. What, for a pair of panties?" It didn't help that she was blushing profusely at his remark. She hoped he didn't see that.
"I need some privacy to buy me some things." She said sternly trying to strain her neck away from him, hoping to create distance between the both. Horrifyingly he went along to put his chin on that side of her neck.
"Even from your boyfriend?" Any remark she was going to throw at him paused in her mouth.
"You're not. I just needed to convince her the reason of my stay here. After all can't have people know that I'm being kept hostage by the CEO of the most renowned company in the world, can I?" This time he lifted his chin from her neck and let go of her arms, which relieved her a bit until he turned her around with his hand clutching the back of her neck and the other clutching her hips. She ensured to not make much noise as her friend could still hear her even though she was on the other side of the shop with her back to them; rather looked up to him with fire alight in her eyes saying, "I'm not some doll for you to twist and turn whenever you want." She said gritting her teeth with complete annoyance.
"Should have known that before running off like that. I've been hunting the whole mall for you and you just happen to disappear off like that. Was there anything else here Ella? You were doing something else?"
"You should stop watching a lot of movies. It has cramped your mind to think any and every thing suspiciously. As I said, I can't have you watching over me while I'm buying stuff here."
"It better be that then. I don't have to mention it to you what could be the repercussions in case its anything else. You know I don't watch such things; our own lives are enough of a drama to live in, don't you think?" Yes she knew that, but she had to distract his mind from scanning back the entire mall to find anything suspicious. He stared hard at her, while she calmed her berating heart from what exactly; from being close to him or from being almost caught by him?
"I won't interrupt. In fact this pose is actually bringing a lot of them here. Carry on!", Carla said while handing over the bag in front of Ella. Ella looked over to him saying, "You are making a scene Roy. Quit it."
"Why, don't you enjoy it? Or should we take another pose?" Her glare was the answer as she struggled to get away from him in order to let off the other customers in. They were practically blocking the entrance with their so-called pose!
"Let go Roy", she whispered angrily which seemed like a cute thing for the bystanders. Finally! after what felt like hours Roy pulled back and snatched the bag while grabbing Ella's hand and dragging her away from the shop. The last thing Ella heard was frantic 'goodbye' and 'have fun with protection' from her friend. She swore to murder her friend the next time she met. It didn't help the whole floor was looking up to the source of noise and some were whistling at her being dragged away possessively by this man.
As the couple reached the parking lot, Ella was the one trying to walk away from him, but he still had her hand in his grasp. All this for her leaving his sight! How childish! He only let go of her hand when they reached the car. The whole ride was too angry to bestow upon. Both of them angry at each other for their own reasons. The charade went on till they reached the palace. Ella was the first to get out of there, not bothering to look back and angrily stomped on the stairs giving not much of a glance to Daisy who was smiling at her like a flower just bloomed only to wilt at Ella's expression; she went in the garden to put her mind at ease. It always helped her, whenever she felt low or high, she would come up to observe this green soothing environment which would calm her down eventually. And it did, with her eyes closed and taking deep breaths she calmed down slowly and surely. As she opened her eyes slowly, the wild lilies were in her sight. A smile formed on her face and she sighed looking at them. Mr. Walker had surely taken good care of it. If only it would have been possible to solve all her worries just by looking at these.
The entire day Ella stayed in the garden, skipping her lunch while avoiding a certain individual clearly. But some things had to end, even her hunger; she treaded to the palace and into the kitchen just like she used to when she stayed here. She wasn't the one to wait up for the others to bring her what she wanted; she always went and fetched it for herself. When Ella entered the kitchen, she was greeted with three shocked women. She ignored their expressions and carried her legs to the fridge, feeling thirsty for having a cold drink. Before she could open up the door, the eldest one among them said, "Mistress, do you need anything?"
"No, I'll do it myself."
"Let me help, miss."
"It's alright. You all can carry on with what you were doing. I won't bother."
"No mistress. You don't bother. Please let us help." She sighed loudly, not wanting to argue with them, but not even liking that she can't do anything on her own here. The maid opened the fridge door and looked up at her questioningly.
"That's why I said I'll do it. I like to do it myself."
"But Mis-"
"Enough." Just what she wanted now. The one thing she had been avoiding the whole day was again welcomed by these ladies. "If the Mistress wants something to do, she shall do. Do I have to teach you how to follow orders?" The women bowed their head in apology and he said, "Leave." All of them hurried out of the kitchen.