Denise walks into the garden, looking around as if she is looking for something or someone. Her eyes perks up, when she notices the person she was looking for, seated on a bench, his back turned towards her. She smiles and walks over to him. She sits beside Harold, and he almost jumps up.
"I knew I would find you here. Why are you sitting here alone?" she asks, with a smile on her face.
"Denise! How did you find me?" Harold asks her, ignoring her question.
"Let's just say I followed you one time, and saw you coming in here. And for your information, this place is my favorite spot too. I used to come here with my father to spend quality time, together."
"Oh, I see. Then I guess I'm the one who is intruding in your space. I will leave now. Sorry ma'am," he said and stood up. Denise stood up and grabbed his wrist, making him turn to look at him.
"Don't go. Please stay here with me. I don't want to be alone here. Will you? Please?" Denise looked at him, with some softness in her eyes and voice.
That alone was doing too much to Harold. His heart was beating fast again, especially with Denise near him like this, holding him. He regained himself and smiled at her. "Sure ma'am, whatever you say, I will do."
"And please, stop calling me, ma'am. Just call me by my name. Ma'am, makes me feel so old, like my mother."
Harold laughed. "But, I don't think I will ever be able to call you by your name. You are my boss, after all."
"Yes, and as your boss, I am asking you to call me by my name. Don't call me ma'am anymore."
Harold let out a shaky breath after Denise had let go of his hand. He smiled at her, even though it looked weak. "Okay, ma'am, I mean Denise, if that is what you want."
"That is what I want. My name sounds really good on your lips." Denise quickly closed her mouth with her hands after she said that. Her eyes were wide open with embarrassment. She suddenly looked away. Harold just smiled at her.
"No need to feel bad about what you think, Denise. If you like how your name sounds on my lips, I don't think you should feel shy about it. Besides, you and I are friends, apart from us being the employer and the employee."
Denise looked serious all of a sudden. Her back was still turned to Harold. There was silence between them for a while. The birds could be heard loudly chirping and the water fountain in the middle of the garden was overflowing with water. This garden was filled with beautiful flowers, all kinds of flowers, and they attracted a lot of beautiful birds into the garden and butterflies too. The mansion is huge, with a huge piece of land around it. From the gates to the main house was a long distance, yet there was a huge backyard behind the house.
Mrs Wilson decided to use the place as a flower garden. She grew all kinds of flowers there. When her husband, Director Wilson was alive, he would sometimes come home from work and watch her work on her garden. Mrs Wilson was a very busy person yet, she had enough time to work on her garden. Soon, her hard work paid off, and the place became the second most beautiful place of the house.
Mr Wilson built a fountain in the middle, to make the garden more beautiful and attractive. Mrs Wilson said she made her garden for Denise. She wanted it to be Denise's refuge, her spot. And now, here she was, sharing the place with the most caring man she has ever seen.
"There is something I need to tell you. It's about last night," Denise began and turned towards Harold, who was looking down on her, due to their height difference.
"Last night? I don't understand," Harold answered, looking a bit confused.
"The incident that happened last night. I-I wanted to keep it away from my mother, but she found out."
"How did she find out? Because I did not tell her anything."
"She found the guns, the guns that belonged to those men. You kind of forgot it in the car, " Denise admitted.
Harold slapped his forehead for his forgetfulness. "Oh my God! I can't believe I forgot about those guns. I guess she was furious when she saw them?"
"Yeah, she was. She came straight into my room with them, even though she knew Elena was with me. And asked me what those guns were doing in my car. I had no option than to tell her."
"Okay, no problem. So, what did she say after you told her the truth?"
"My mother suggested something. She is going to find me a personal bodyguard."
"Wait, what? Why a bodyguard?"
"My mother had once suggested getting a bodyguard for me because she was scared something like this might happen to me once she accepted to be the parliamentary candidate for this constituency. And now that this happened, she decided to force the bodyguard down my throat." Denise looked sad.
"That does not feel like a bad idea. But, why do I feel like you hate the idea. What happened?" Denise looked down, trying to hide the tears that were threatening to fall away from Harold.
Harold raised her chin with his fingers and raised her head to face her. "What's wrong, Denise? Tell me." He looked deeply into her eyes, calming Denise immediately.
"I only accepted because my mother threatened that if I don't she won't let you drive me exclusively anymore. She used you as a means to get to me. I can't allow anyone to take you away from me. I know this is selfish, but I don't want you to work for anyone apart from me."
Harold was really surprised with Denise's declaration. He looked at her with a shocked look on his face.