Avery's POV
It's the day when Arturo and I are about to go pick up some plants for the garden. He said he'll pick me up so now I'm waiting anxiously on my front porch. I took my phone out of my pocket and checked to see if Arturo sent me a message. A while later, his truck pulled up the driveway. He rolled his window down and waved for me to come over. I walk to his truck and got inside the passenger's seat.
"Any particular plant you want for your garden?" He asked as he drives off.
"Tulips. They're my favorite, and so was my mother." I replied and he gave a soft smile.
"We could work on that. Anything else?" He asked and I just shrug.
In all honesty, I didn't know much about plants. All I know was that I wanted tulips. They're the only flowers I can take care of. We soon reached the plat nursery and flower shop and we both got off the truck. Arturo led me inside and pointed out all the different kinds of plants. I was fixated on how Arturo was knowledgeable about all the different kinds of plants and their specific needs.
My eyes couldn't leave his face as we walk around the nursery with him picking out plants that would fit in the garden. I didn't even realize that I was blatantly staring at his face until he snapped his fingers in front of me, making me snap out of my stupor.
"You okay?" He asked with a smile on his face.
"Y-yeah." I stuttered, my face turning red.
"Anything that caught your eye?" He asked.
I looked around and saw some brain cacti that Arturo pointed out earlier. I walked over to them and picked up three different varieties before handing them out to Arturo. Arturo then put them in the cart.
"We'll just need to pick up some tulip bulbs and then we can go." He said and I nod.
I just followed behind Arturo as he picked up the tulip bulbs before paying at the cashier. I got inside the passenger seat as he and another worker loads up the truck with all the plants. Arturo got in the driver's seat a while after and offered me a water bottle. I thanked him as I took the water bottle.
"Do you want to go for lunch? My treat." He said as we drive off.
"Uhm, sure. I don't really have anything planned today anyway." I replied.
Arturo nodded and we sat in comfortable silence until he pulled over to a small diner. He parked the car and we both got out. The diner could only fit around thirty people. He led me inside and we took a seat at a booth. A waitress came over and took our orders. I ordered some chocolate chip pancakes and Arturo raised his brow at me.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing." He said before saying his order to the waitress.
The waitress gave us our drinks and Arturo took some straws, unwrapping it before placing it in our drink. I watched as he folded the wrapper into a small little rose. He took my hand and placed the rose on my palm. A smile appeared on my face as I twirl the little rose in my hand.
"That's cute. Wouldn't expect it from a guy like you." I said.
"There's a lot of things you don't know about me." He replied.
Suddenly a man wearing a black suit approached our booth. He stood in front of the table and placed his hand on the back of my seat. I immediately felt uncomfortable in his presence so I moved closer to the window, away from the man.
"Oh, Arturo. Who's your cute little date?" The man drawls out.
I look over to Arturo and he was glaring daggers at the man. "He's not my date. He's my client." Arturo replied.
"So you still do that gardening stuff, eh? If he's just your client then maybe he's available for me." The man said before reaching out to touch my shoulder.
I watched in shock as Arturo suddenly grabbed his wrist, pulling him away from me. The man's face twisted in pain and Arturo let him go.
"Calm the fuck down, man. I was just joking. Enjoy your fucking date." The man said, shaking his head before walking away.
"Who was that?" I asked Arturo.
"Just some nuisance." He replied.
"He was creepy," I whispered to Arturo, making him chuckle.
"I know. Sorry about that." He apologized.
"Do you have another job? That man seemed confused as to why you're doing gardening services." I asked before taking a sip from my drink.
"I do, I just don't like talking about it." He replied and I decided to let it go.
The waitress came back and brought us our food. We conversed about life as we ate. I learned that Arturo's an only child, just like me. His mother passed away when he was very young, and he and his father weren't very close. I didn't get to know who my father was and I didn't bother asking my mom. She was enough for me.
We finished our meal and Arturo paid for our meal. I thanked him as we walk back to the truck. I felt someone staring our way so I looked around, but found no one. I decided to just ignore it and walked straight to the truck. Arturo drove me back home and I helped him bring the plants back inside. As he was working in the backyard, I decided to clean up inside the house. I haven't vacuumed in a few days so I took the vacuum out and cleaned the floor. I also changed my sheets and put on a load of laundry.
It took the rest of the day for me to finish my work so I decided to check on Arturo. Arturo was standing shirtless as he chugs down the water bottle. His sweat was glistening in the sun and I couldn't help but stare at his adam's apple as it moves while he drinks the water. Arturo put the water down and met my gaze. I let out a shocked gasp and turned my back to Arturo, embarrassed that I was caught staring again.
"If you want to stare, you could just tell me and I'll give you a better view," Arturo said behind me, almost making me jump.
I slowly turned around and kept my gaze on the floor. "Sorry. That was rude of me. I shouldn't be staring."
Arturo chuckled. "No worries. I just need to finish a few more things here and then I'm done with the garden, but I can't do them today. I'll message you the instructions on how to take care of them so just call me when you have questions." He said.
"Okay. I'm not sure when you'll be able to come back and we haven't talked about the payment yet." I replied.
"We can talk about it once everything is done. I trust that you can keep the garden alive, yeah?" He asked and I just nod.
"Thanks," I mumble in reply.
"I'll get going now," Arturo said as he puts on a shirt.
"I'll message you when you can come back," I replied.
"Sure." He said before finally grabbing his things and leaving.
I let out a sigh and went back inside as I hear Arturo's truck outside leave the driveway. I decided to read a book so I took one from the shelf and took a seat on the sofa. As I was reading, I spotted an unfamiliar car outside with a man standing beside it. I decided to go to the window to get a closer look and saw the same man from earlier standing there.
Our eyes met and he gave me a wide smile while waving his hand in the air. I immediately closed my curtains and called Arturo. I sat on the floor as I wait for him to pick me up, too scared to be seen by the man. Arturo finally answered the call.
"Hello, miss me already?" He teased.
"Arturo, the guy from earlier is in front of my house," I whispered through the phone.
"I'm coming back." He replied, his voice suddenly turning serious. "Don't drop the call."
"Okay," I replied and crawled over to my door to lock it.
I just hope he gets here before anything happens.
Arturo's POVAs I was driving my way back to the mansion, my phone suddenly rang. I pulled it out from my pocket and saw Avery's name in the caller I.D. I immediately answered the call and brought my phone up to my ear."Hello, missed me already?" I teased through the phone."Arturo, the guy from earlier is in front of my house." He whispered. "I'm coming back," I replied, immediately taking a U-turn. "Don't drop the call.""Okay." He replied.I pushed down on the gas pedal, speeding over the limit, but I didn't care. It didn't take long before I reached Avery's house and saw Christopher standing in front of Avery. I got out of the truck and walked over to Christopher. He turned around and his face quickly fell upon seeing me."Hey, Arturo. I was just checking on your boy." He greeted.I dropped my hand on his shoulder, giving it a hard squeeze. His face grimaced in pain, but he quickly tried to hide it."Why are you really here?" I asked."I was just wondering what got your attentio
Avery's POVArturo agreed to stay the night. He offered to sleep on the couch but it was honestly too small for him. I insisted that I would sleep on the couch instead and he could take the bedroom, but he refused. There was only one bedroom available since I've used the other room for storing my mother's things that I haven't organized until now. We decided to just sleep on the living room floor together so I laid down a thick comforter on the floor along with some pillows.Both Arturo and I laid down on the floor after I turned off the lights. There was a good amount of space between us, but part of me wants to move closer to him. "Goodnight." He said."Goodnight," I replied, before closing my eyes....The next day came and I woke up alone in the living room. I stood up from the floor and tried looking for Arturo in the house and even in the backyard, but didn't find him there. I stopped in my tracks when I saw the garden. It looked absolutely beautiful with a variety of flowers a
I sped through the streets as quickly as I can, I needed to get out of there. I'm hoping no one saw me or recognized my face. Fear cropped throughout my body at the image of Arturo killing a man. Maybe that's why he left so suddenly. It scared me how much I don't know about him.I finally reached home and I dragged my bike to the backyard. I went inside and locked all the doors and windows in paranoia. I checked my phone to see if anyone contacted me and sighed in relief when I saw no notifications. I don't know how to cope with what I've seen today, I could only wish to forget it. That memory is something I do not wish to be stuck in my head....It has been a few weeks since I last saw Arturo and the incident. I've woken up a few times in the middle of the night because of the nightmares. Even at work, I would flinch at sudden sounds. Elisse noticed this, but I had to keep to myself what was bothering me. The garden was even back to square one. I was too scared to be out and alone i
The rest of the car ride was way too silent. It was mostly because I didn't want to talk to anyone. "Do you want to take a nap? We might take a while." Arturo asked but I shook my head."I'm fine," I replied.Arturo seemed hesitant to accept that answer but nodded anyway. The window tint suddenly turned dark and we could barely see the outside."What happened to the windows?" I asked."We just blocked it out," Arturo replied."Why?" I asked, but Arturo just shrugged. I sighed and decided to just let it go. Suddenly, a yawn escaped my lips. Arturo chuckled as my face turned a light shade of pink. He didn't say anything as he tapped his shoulder, offering it for me lay down on. I didn't fuss as I lay my head against his shoulder. Arturo put his arm across my torso, resting his hand on my thigh so I used his arm as a pillow as I close my eyes. I could hear some of the men faintly coo, but I tried my best to ignore it. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep. The next thing I know, I
"Arturo," I called out to him as we walk to his office."What is it?" He asked."How long do I have to stay here?" I asked."I don't think I can give you a definite answer," he said as he opened the door to his office.I was surprised by the sheer size of it. It was almost as big as my home. The walls were covered with shelves filled with hundreds of books. There was a large desk in the middle and a leather chair. There were two leather seats in front of it and there were two leather couches on either side of the entrance.Arturo closed the door behind me as I got inside. He took a seat on one of the leather chairs and asked me to sit in front of him. I did as I was asked and sat in front of him. "What you saw last night and that day, I need you to tell no one," He said in a low tone.My eyes snapped to him in shock."I knew you saw that, but no one can know that you did or else you'll be in even more danger than you already are," He said, but there was no threat in his voice. He sai
I ended up spending the rest of the day putting away all the things that Arturo bought in the closet and the bathroom. I had to force him to give the other ones away to his staff or anyone but me. Nobody needs this copious amount of clothes, shoes, and perfumes. Although I was glad that I did not have to pay for all of it, I still feel guilty being spent so much money on, for no reason. I lay on my bed, tired from all the packing up then Arturo laid down beside me and slipped his arm under my neck."Why did you buy me all of this stuff?" I asked as I turned my head to face him."I don't know," he mumbled."Will you tell me what your job is?" I asked."I can't tell you that. I'm sorry," he replied."Is it illegal?" I asked.Arturo paused for a moment, not sure whether to answer me or not. I turned my head to face the ceiling, taking his silence as a yes. We lay there for a moment, not talking, just enjoying being beside each other. Arturo sat up and looked at his phone before turning t
Arturo's POVAvery was quietly eating dinner as I sat beside him. He tried to feed me a couple of times but I didn't have the appetite so I let him have all the food. Avery was lost in his own world as he eats. I'm guessing the food is really good. I reached out to his face and wiped the sauce off of the side of his lips. His face flushed pink as he shoved a bunch of food into his mouth and I couldn't help but chuckle at him. I was suddenly reminded of how young and naive he is. My existence in his life suddenly flipped his world upside down simply because I chose to be selfish. I brought the tray back down to the kitchen before going back to Avery.He was sitting on the edge of the bed, browsing through movies on the TV. I sat beside him and he laid his head against my shoulder. He chose a horror movie before scooting back on the bed until his back reached the headboard. I followed beside him after taking off my shoes."I'll be taking advantage of your Netflix while I'm here," he sa
As soon as I got home, I quickly went to my room to change into casual clothes and hide the bloodied clothes from Avery. I looked for him in his room right after, but he wasn't there. I texted Leo, asking where Avery is and he replied that they were hanging out in the garden. I let out a sigh of relief and went to the garden. Avery was crouching in front of the tulips we planted out in the garden.Leo turned and saw me approaching. He stepped backward to give me and Avery space. Avery's head snapped towards me and his face lit up as soon as he saw me. He stood up from the ground and dusted off his knees as I approached. "Hey," I greeted.As much as I wanted to pull him into a hug, I know I couldn't. Not out in the open at least."Hey," he greeted back, giving me a sweet smile."What are you doing here?" I asked."Oh, I just wanted some fresh air and then I saw the tulips and got mesmerized," he chuckled.My heart started to beat faster at the sound of his voice. "I, uhm, have you ha