Chapter 14: 14. Followed

The next morning came rather quickly. Thankfully, Rory was able to wake up at the nick of time, and rushed through her morning duties. She wore a white tank top with a baby pink loose pants matching sleeveless long coat. She wasn't really good with hair styling, so after drying it, she just let her wavy hair loose and touched her lips with some nude lip balm. She did no makeup, and just slid into her white sandals and made her way out to the dining table.

When she got there, the table was already set, but there was no one seated. She looked around and, seeing no one, she dropped her bag on one of the chairs and went to the kitchen to look for Esther. She found her brewing some freshly roasted coffee. The smell was amazing.

"Good morning, Esther." She greeted to gain her attention. Esther looked over from the coffee and smiled.

"Good morning, Rory. How was your night?"

"Much better." Esther smiled at her response.

"I see you're ready for school. Why don't you go and start eating? I went to call boss so maybe he'll join soon, I don't really know."

"Oh." was all Rory said. He would join? Well, then guess she should hurry over and finish hers before he gets there, she thought. "Can I help though?"

Says someone who wants to hurry with her breakfast. What if she says yes?

"I'm almost done, don't worry. You go and have your breakfast. I'll bring your coffee shortly." Rory nodded, thanking her stars inwardly and left.

Yes, she would just hurry and eat her meal before the boss arrives.

Or maybe not. He was already there.

Rory heart skipped when she saw him already seated and having breakfast. She cursed inwardly before making her way towards her bag.

"Good morning, sir." She greeted.

Derek's jaw paused on chewing when she greeted.

Sir? Why was he not liking it now? Can someone just call his name for once?

"Mmm" He replied with a nod without lifting his eyes to her face. After last night, he had known better not to get so close to this lady. Especially looking into those blue-green eyes of hers. He had been so much affected by her.

Rory picked her bag and sat down. She placed her bag on her lap and took a plate to serve herself with some scrambled eggs and toasted bread. And there was also rice pudding. Esther was really a great cook. She should learn something from her, she thought as she enjoyed her meal.

She stole a quick glance at Derek. He was looking on his phone with a serious expression while he slowly chewed on a toasted bread in his hand. His dimples were slightly showing as he chewed, and Rory almost got lost in his beauty. Luckily, he spoke, and it snapped her out of her daze.

"The car is waiting outside." Derek said. "What time will you close?"

Rory blinked several times to clear her mind. What time do they close on Mondays? Oh no! She can't forget now.

"Um...My last lectures ends at 5pm." She just guessed. She couldn't remember. How could she be flustered to that extent? Get a hold of yourself, Rory, she chided inwardly.

"Okay. Hayford will send you and he'll be there to pick you up by 5pm. Have a good day." Derek said and got up, leaving her behind as he made his way outside. He got into his black sports car and sped off. He was going to see one of the private detectives on his family's case. They called him this morning that they found some useful information.

Rory finished her meal and went outside, where she saw Hayford leaning against one of the cars in wait. She apologized for keeping him waiting and got inside at the back seat. Hayford got in and soon the car revved up onto the road. The drive to her campus was a silent one until they got there, when she had to give some directions to where her faculty is.

"I'm to pick you up around 5pm. I'll be right here before you close." Hayford said and Rory obediently nodded. Hayford face was more relaxed than the other times she knew him. And she liked it. At least, she felt relaxed that he had no plans on hurting her.

Rory made her way towards her lecture hall, taking a deep breath as she neared. She had really missed it here.

"Rory!!!" A familiar voice echoed behind her and she turned towards it.

"Mabel!!" Rory half squealed as they both crossed the distance between them and crushed into each other for a hug.

"I missed you so much, Rory. What happened?" Mabel spoke against her ear, still engulfed in the hug. Rory broke free and looked at her with a smile.

"I'm fine. And I missed you too."

"What happened? I've been trying to reach you when you couldn't come on Thursday but your line is still not going through. Even this very morning." Mabel's soft, worried voice almost made Rory chuckle. Mabel was known for her very soft, calming voice.

Rory stilled at the question. She hadn't thought of this obvious question. So she had not prepared any answer yet. How was she supposed to answer?

"Let's get inside first, Mabel. We can't possibly talk when lectures is about to start." She coaxed her and swung her arm around her shoulder and led them into the hall.

Mabel was the closest among all the friends Rory had in the school. As a matter of fact, she was her only friend. Doing the same course, they sat together in the hall and mostly had lunch together. They shared some secrets and teased each other so many times.

They made their way into the hall, and as expected, some of the mates started asking her about her absence and if she was okay. Rory had to keep smiling and nodding to show that she was okay. Then they went ahead and took their seats beside each other.

"Did I miss a lot?" Rory asked.

"Oh, nothing important. Since its our first week, most of the lecturers just gave brief intros to the courses and gave out the course outlines. So you didn't miss a lot." Mabel explained. "So tell me what happened. I was so worried but I don't know where you stay so I couldn't come and check up on you." She was really worried.

And here comes the dreaded question. How was she supposed to answer that?

"We were attacked by some robbers." That was the only explanation that sounded plausible enough. Or else how would she explain to her how she lost her phone?

Mabel's eyes went round from shock.

"Oh my God, Rory, are you okay? What happened? Wait, how's mum? Did they..."

"Relax, Mabel." Rory said with a chuckle. The platora of questions seemed to have no break. She understood her worry. Being attacked was something very scary.

"That's not funny, Rory." Mabel chided with a glare. "Tell me, are you really okay?"

"Come on, I'm fine. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't. And mum is fine. And... what was the other question? You should have asked them one after the other, now I don't even remember." She joked and they both giggled. But Mabel's face turned serious again.

"Did they hurt you or mum?"

"No, we're both fine." She couldn't give the details now. Maybe when they were out of the mess.

"Thank God. So..." Mabel was about to say something when a lecturer entered the hall. "We shall continue this during lunch."

Rory giggled and they both readied themselves for the lecture.

During lunch time, Rory was able to distract her friend from asking too many questions about the incident. She didn't want to keep lying. Thankfully, they went through the rest of the day normally and soon, it was their last lecture, which was actually ending around 4pm. She forgot the actual closing time and now she had to wait for an hour for her ride. Mabel had wanted to stay till she was picked up, but Rory insisted she would be fine.

Rory decided to take a walk around the campus to pass the time. She wasn't really familiar with some places, so that was the best opportunity she had. She made her way towards the park and around the other halls and then to the library and then towards the volleyball court and football pitch, enjoying the feel of being out alone and free, at least for some time. She knew she was soon going to go back to her life as a prisoner.

She checked her time and it was 15 minutes to 5pm, so she decided to go back to the packing lot to wait. As she went, she got the feeling of being followed. She quickly turned around and checked. People were walking around and none of them seemed suspicious. Well, how was she supposed to know who among these many people was trying to follow her? She thought. Or maybe she was over thinking. She brushed off the thought and made her way to the packing lot and was surprised to see Hayford already there waiting.