Mermaid stone

ERIKA P.O.V

After seeing Mr.stone and caroline in an intimate position. I immediately left the juice there and ran to the pantry ..after a few minutes I saw caroline coming out of Mr.stone's office furiously. I didn't understand anything because few minutes before she was fine so I immediately went to her but she walked away without saying anything.

Did Mr.stone hurt her?? I immediately went inside Mr.stone's office to check what might have happened but a big fat book immediately hit my forehead knocking me down.

"shit.." I heard Mr. Stone saying and saw him rushing towards me, I saw the worry on his face so I held my head immediately and said "sir..i..i am ok" but he looked still worried and said"just...just let me see, move your hand" I slowly removed my hand.

"oh no..you are hurt.." he said looking worried but why?? he doesn't seem like a person who cares about anyone...

" Is it hurting ??" he asked examining my forehead, I shook my head and smiled "I am fine sir..don't worry, I should have knocked before coming inside, I am sorry" I said trying to get up but he stopped me.

He examined my forehead and sighed shaking his head and about to say something but stopped seeing Mr. Richard coming inside

"Again you huh?? girl you have really been a trouble maker from the starting, now what did you do?? why are you sitting on the ground like an idiot" he said walking towards me, he was about to hold my hand but Mr.stone held his hand looking seriously at him.

"Touch her ..and you will never be able to touch anything in your life because I will chop your hands and feed them to my test subjects" Mr. Stone said in such an intimidating manner, that would give nightmares to anyone.

"But..but sir..I thought she was giving you trouble" Mr. Richard said nervously, he looked like he would pass out any minute.

"My Assistant is my responsibility ..now get lost" he said in a warning manner and Mr.Richard literally ran away.

Mr.Stone looked so angry but why is he angry? it's not like he cares about me or something right!! because he insulted me more than anyone since I have started working here, he went inside the bathroom attached to his office and brought a med kit.

He crouched near me and held my head with his left hand and sprayed some pain reliever on my forehead at which I winced and held his hand tightly, then he looked into my eyes,I immediately left his hand with fear,I have waited for him to leave but he didn't.

"umm..sir, thank you but I guess I am ok now" I said trying to get up.

"wait..." he said helping me get up and steadying me, he still looked worried, maybe he was worried that I would hold a grudge against him for throwing that book at me, but it was unintentional so I am not angry with him.

"sir..don't worry, it's just a small scratch, you know when I was a kid I often fell while playing and hurt myself" I said trying to assure him.

"who's worried about a nobody like you..any of my employees gets hurt I would do the same, now get out "he said and turned around.

"o..ok... I will go and prepare your lunch then" I said and left his office and went to look for caroline because she didn't look ok when she was leaving Mr.stone's office.

I saw her sitting alone in the pantry, I went to her and sat beside her observing her face for any scratches like I just got from Mr.stone.

"Hey are you ok?? why did you run away before?? you looked like you were about to cry"I asked worriedly but she smiled confidently and said"no darling, I was not crying, I was just feeling shy, you know how it is between couples right" oh so she was feeling shy huh...

"But when I went inside Mr. Stone's office he was also angry ..i...I don't get it" I asked confused

"you never had a boyfriend did you??" she asked at which I shook my head in a no, she smiled a little " huhh..not hard to guess that, he was angry because I didn't let him continue what he was doing to me" she said winking,I understood what she meant by that and nodded in understanding.

"oh..I am sorry caroline, I am really dumb in these matters, now tell me why did you ask me to see you before preparing his lunch??" i asked at which she handed me a small piece of paper.

"It's a list of his favorite dishes, cook them and give them to me, I will take his lunch to him" she said smiling and I nodded in understanding and saw the list.

"But these dishes are really difficult, it will take a lot of time to prepare these items and I don't think there are any herbs in the pantry which we need for these dishes" I said looking at the list.

"now that's not my problem dear..you take care of it" she said and walked away without a glance, leaving me worried, I went to one person who was cleaning the pantry and asked him where I could get the herbs in this area.

"There's a local tribal market nearby you can get whatever you want from there" he said and resumed his work,i don't know the directions to the tribal market so I thought to ask Daniel for the directions and went to the lab.

I saw him working on something seriously,i cleared my throat gaining his attention, he saw me and asked "hey ..you want something".

"umm..do you know the way to the tribal market around here" I asked him, he thought for a second and smiled saying "yeah .. I know if you want I will take you there once I finish this report"

"Thanks, Daniel ..i was really worried you know," I said smiling gratefully at him.

"Why do you wanna go to tribal market ??" Mr.stone asked suddenly entering inside, i saw his serious face and I almost forgot why I am here in the first place after hearing his voice but I composed myself and said, "I need some herbs".

He observed me and Daniel for a second and said "I have some work at the market, I will take you there" with that he started walking out but I stood in my place without moving, shocked to see him speaking normally for the first time.

"Are you gonna stand there like a statue all day or are you coming??" he asked standing at the doorway, I nodded my head and ran towards him, I thought he would walk away but he just stood there making me bump into his chest, I immediately stepped away and said"s..s...sorry sir" at which he smirked a llittle and walked away.

why he's being nice to me, am I going die??, I thought worriedly checking my pulse and followed him outside ,he walked to his jeep, and i went to my scooter "what the hell do you think you are doing" he asked sitting in his jeep,i showed him the scooter keys and said"driving ..sir, I will follow you".

He walked to me and took the keys from my scooter and said"The roads to tribal market are not good, now come along and don't waste my time" with that he walked to his jeep with shoved my keys in his pocket.

I looked back at my scooter pouting and said"sorry girl..next time" then I turned towards the jeep and saw Mr. Stone smiling a little, definitely he is not ok I thought and went to his jeep and sat beside him.

He started driving through beautiful forest roads, for a moment I felt like I am in heaven, with the cool breeze, beautiful view, lonely road, and the steady silence, I closed my eyes listening to the nature around me, I felt the wind blowing gently so i opened my ponytail letting my hair fall loosely behind, then I suddenly felt the jeep stopping all of a sudden and opened my eyes to see Mr. Stone who is shaking his head like he is having some conversation with himself.

huhh..this man is thinking about his experiments even when he is driving, maybe that's why he is successful at such young age, but we will be late if he keeps doing this brainstorming session with himself i thought

"umm..sir, I am sorry to disturb you but we will be late" i said nervously, he looked in my direction for a moment he stared into my eyes and lips for a second and looked away starting the vehicle.

What's wrong with him today?? so too much studying makes a person like this huh..poor caroline she will have to tolerate this all her life I thought and noticed we were passing by a field of wildflowers" stop..stop..sir pls stop the vehicle" I almost screamed at which Mr. Stone stopped the vehicle and looked at me worriedly "sorry sir..did I startle you, I just wanted to collect those flowers" I said showing him the flowers around us.

He didn't say anything for a few seconds,i almost gave up asking him but he finally said"ok..make it fast, otherwise i will leave you here" i smiled excitedly and ran towards the field with my open arms and enjoyed the beautiful view for a few seconds, I have collected some wildflowers and turned to see Mr.stone with a camera,it looked like he was taking pictures.

"isn't it a beautiful view Mr.stone,i guess you were taking the pictures of this beautiful view right!!" i asked walking back to the vehicle he didn't say anything and sat in the driver's seat with his usual serious expression.

while he was driving I made a tiara with the flowers I have collected and wore it, we have reached a small beautiful tribal market decorated with different wildflowers, there were small stalls with local people selling vegetables, seafood, hand made artifacts, herbs, and many more.

we went to a stall with different herbs and saw an old woman selling them, she smiled at Mr. Stone at which he smiled heartfully, I saw him smiling heartfully for the first time since I met him, she spoke to him in some native language gesturing towards me at which he smiled a little looking at me and shook his head and said something to her in the native language, were they talking about me??

I saw the list and took the herbs I wanted and was about to pay but stopped seeing Mr. Stone already paying her, he gestured me to move along holding my hand, I looked at him confused but he didn't let go of my hand and said

"There are some thieves around here, I am holding your hand for your safety, don't flatter yourself" he said looking around.

I got scared at what he just said and looked around nervously, I saw a few rough-looking people and held his hand tightly with herbs bag on my other hand and nodded my head in understanding, he smiled a little and started walking.

why is he smiling a lot today, is he doing any experiment on facial expressions or what?? i thought and walked closer to him through the narrow paths, one older lady approached us and started talking with Mr.Stone and I didn't understand what they were talking so I looked around.

I saw few stalls selling bangles and bracelets, I went to buy some stuff for Jenny, I bought some bracelets and bangles then I saw one ring with an aqua blue color diamond placed in a beautiful wooden box in the middle of the market near a mermaid statue, I went there to check it and was about to touch the ring but an old man came and stopped me.

"Sorry dear it's not for sale" he said with an apologetic smile, he didn't look like a native but he was wearing native clothes and jewelry.

"it's so beautiful sir, I really liked it, is it sold already?? " I asked him at which he shook his head and said

"perhaps you didn't understand me clearly dear, this ring is not for sale, we don't sell this ring" he said and I felt disappointed hearing that.

"if it's not for sale then why is it displayed here sir" i asked curiously at which he smiled and said

"In a few days, we will hold a competition for this ring, the man who wins the competition will get this ring " he said looking at the ring.

"A competition for a ring huh..this ring must be really special" I said observing the beautiful ring.

"True ...this is not a normal ring dear, only a true lover can get a hold on this ring" he said at which i nodded in understanding.

"local people here say that a mermaid who fell in love with a man from this island waited for him at the shore but he couldn't reach her in time as he died in the hands of some evil villagers, so she waited for him for 100 years and turned into a diamond, this ring is made with that diamond, so it's really rare"

I was so amazed by the beautiful story but got a doubt and asked" sir how do you decide that someone truly loves his partner or not to give this ring"

He smiled and said "people say that every year during winter the mermaid searches all over the world for our island to wait for her true love at the shore but couldn't due to heavy snowfall, so whoever reaches that high hill and lights the lamp over there will show her the way to our island and she will bless that person with true love who showed her the way and he will get that ring, but dear only a man with true love in his heart can reach that cliff, from 50 years no one has got the chance to touch this ring".

"wow..what a beautiful story, whoever the girl gets this ring will be really lucky" I said looking at the beautiful ring one last time and turned to see Mr. Stone watching me intently, I immediately lowered my head under his stare and said"sorry sir..i.. I am done with buying herbs".

He held my hand and said"didn't I tell you that there are thieves here, why did you leave without my permission huh.."

I was about to tell him but the old man said "true son, don't leave her to thieves, she really needs your protection in coming days" he said at which Mr. Stone nodded and walked to his vehicle holding my hand, I got confused at the old man's words and asked Mr. Stone"umm...what was he saying, Mr. Stone? I don't get it"

He didn't say anything and started driving, ok.. so now he is back to his angry mode i guess, i also didn't say anything and sat silently.

we have reached the research center and he left without saying anything, I hurriedly went to the pantry to prepare lunch for Mr.stone because it was already getting late, so I finished cooking the dishes in the list as fast as I could and informed caroline.

"Thank you so much Eri..once I get engaged to Chris my place in the team will be yours" she said clapping her hands looking excitedly at the dishes.

"ok now go hurry up,you don't wanna serve him cold food do you??" i said handing her the tray, she took the tray and went inside Mr Stone's office, I waited outside to know the result.

After a few minutes, she came outside with a sad face and said " he's asking for you ..go" with that she left.

I nervously knocked on his door and entered inside and saw him sitting in his chair with a serious expression, the tray of food i sent was before him, I slowly went to him and asked "Did you ask for me sir??"

He seriously looked at me and asked "why did I hire you, Ms.Williams??"

"To cook for you and assist you with your daily activities," I said looking down nervously, my hands and legs shaking.

"Then what are you trying to do by sending my lunch with Ms.King huh??" he yelled scaring the shit out of me, he looked so serious that I am sure he will send me back home today.