"Do you have anything to do with the disappearance of Lily?"Mr Red asked Daniel plainly. He had a bottle of water in his hand, and his feet on the desk.
"Lily is missing? But I saw her just..." Daniel decided to keep quiet.
"So you've been paying secret visits behind my back?"Mr Red casually asked. Daniel looked at his feet.
"It was for a good cause, Mrs Red had an attack..."
Mr Red was a bit shocked to hear that news but carefully concealed his worry.
"Have you tried contacting her?"Daniel asked.
"Am not so worried, I know she'll come back, but I also know I have a lot of enemies. And they would be pleased to know my daughter is on the streets....unguarded"Mr Red said.
Daniel knew that Mr Red had a soft spot for his little princess. He knew that no matter what he always put her in mind before he made any decision.
"I'll inform the police"Daniel quickly said, grabbing his phone from his pocket.
"No need, it will raise too much attention, I have my people looking into it. But for now, just inform me if she calls you"Mr Red said.
"Why do you think she will call me?"he asked puzzled, knowing fully well that was the exact thing Rosey texted him.
Mr Red stood up to leave, his bodyguards swarming around him.
"Simple, you're the reason she ran away in the first place"he vaguely said and let himself out of the room.
Daniel was expressionless, how exactly was he expected to react to that.
Lily?
Ran away?!
His fault?!
In a flash he took his phone in his hand and placed a call through to Lily hoping she would pick up.
He tried once, twice, but no answer on her end. He tried again, not giving up on her. He listened to the ring, hoping to hear her voice.
"Pick up the damn phone!"he said in anger.
"Daniel..."she heard in a tender like voice, he knew it was her. His heart melted, he sighed in relief.
"You crazy girl! What thoughts were roaming through your mind that made you...."
*Crash!*
"Lily....Lily...." Daniel desperately called out to her, but the other side was dead silent. He heard some leaves rustling, but he could hear nothing after the bang.
Without wasting time he dashed out of the office, and made his way to Mr Red who was in the parking lot, about to enter his car.
He bolted towards him, his phone tightly gripped. "Mr Red!"he said, practically yelling.
His call took Mr Red by surprise for a brief moment, but he quickly retained his indifferent demeanor.
"Why are you running around so..."Daniel cut off Mr Red.
"I called and I think Lily is in danger"Daniel said without waiting to breathe first.
That statement ignited something in Mr Red, something that made him take the phone from Daniel and speak into it.
"Lily...Speak Lily..."he said, holding the phone close to his right ear.
No response.
"I was talking to her but the other end went dead after a sound"Daniel said.
In seconds Mr Red and his entourage were in the car and out of the hospital premises with Daniel following behind.
**********
"Is he not coming?"Mrs Red asked Rosey, she was taking her vitamins from a maid.
"He takes his time getting groomed"Rosey unconsciously babbled loudly.
"Groom?"Mrs Red inquired rather confused for a second. Rosey waved off the idea and dug into her breakfast greedily.
"Won't you wait for our guest?"Her mother asked.
"Him? He's a slow turtle, the food will get cold. If I were you, I'd dig in."Rosey said. Oblivious to the fact Acker had just arrived.
Rosey shoved a spoonful of her breakfast into her mouth carelessly.
"See! Delicious....no..."she stopped to drink milk. "No need to wait for...for...him...let's eat"Rosey said.
Her mother raised a brow at this attitude from Rosey, and opened her mouth to say something but Acker beat her to it.
"Am no more sluggish than you are, thank you very much"Acker said.
"Holy shit!"she yelled in shock, almost choking on her breakfast, she drank some more milk to help herself.
"Are you alright dear? It must be the sluggish chewing"Mrs Red said, and high-fived Acker. Both sat together, across Rosey grinning from ear to ear.
Rosey could hear a chuckle out of the bodyguard close to the dining room.
"Very hilarious mother"Rosey dryly said.
"I didn't know I raised such a joy kill, loosen up"Mrs Red said and drank some juice.
She tilted her head to the side to analyse the features of Acker.
He had striking and outstanding facial features, such as his beautifully pointed nose, his green eyes, his well defined jaw line. Up to his well clefted chin, he had such a beautiful pair of lips...
"I finally get to meet you in person and thank you for saving me"Mrs Red said. Acker hadn't touched his food yet, he politely waited to be queued to eat.
"I couldn't wait to see you, Acker"she said.
"And I same. I wanted to see you back to life, am glad you're doing just that"he said. He looked into the breakfast bowl and took a spoonful.
"Mmh"he said, then took another spoonful.
"This is quite exemplary, I must commend the food of this generation"he said unknowingly.
"What was that?"Mrs Red asked, trying to process what he said.
"He was just saying the food was good"Rosey said in his defence.
"That it is"Acker said in support.
"From now on, just say the word and I'll have this dish made especially for you"Mrs Red said.
"Such a generous offer, thank you for the thought"he said.
"It's no issue, anything for the man who saved me, Rosey how did you meet Acker? Did you see him at the hospital?"her mother asked.
"No, we met previously, under... unusual circumstances"Acker said, and a smile spread across his face.
"Really..."Mrs Red stopped to cough, the cough was light, but it shook Rosey to the bones. "Are you alright?"Rosey asked almost standing up.
But Mrs Red held up her hand to signify that she was alright. She was attended to by her nurse and in moments the cough died down.
"Are you in need of any assistance?"Acker asked her. She smiled brightly,"am okay, such a sweetheart"she said.
"I asked the same thing but didn't get any compliment"Rosey thought whilst she toyed with her spoon.
"Tell me more about how you two met"Mrs Red said, she had not forgotten the topic of conversation. She was rather fully interested by it, since it concerned Acker after all.
"It's nothing much, just a simple..."Acker cut her off.
"I opened my eyes to behold Miss Rosey in front of me, I remember being held captive against my will, and I felt very...limp?"Acker's narration made her sound like a maniac.
"I think we have to go now, Me and Acker have plans today and we cannot be late. I'll see you later...."Rosey said while getting up and landing a kiss on her mother's forehead.
"Come on you"she said pulling him out of his chair awkwardly.
"The meal was simply a pure work of art, delicately crafted to my preference... I appreciate the effort..."Rosey cut him off by pulling him away.
"See you soon sweetheart!"Mrs Red called out hoping she was heard.
Once they left, her countenance fell.
"Where are you Lily? Rosey is so damn worried, we all are"She said under her breath.
"Slow down! You will send us both crashing down if you maintain this pace"he said and broke out of her grip.
"Now that we're alone here...Where have you hidden my spell book?"Acker asked.
A/N: Love to Opearl!. Love to artkitty_dee.