26. Favourite flower

Rory noticed Derek's unusual silence. Okay, she had heard that he was a man of few words, but she loved asking questions and the silence was a bit suffocating for her. But she didn't want to push anything. She would have been worse if she had gone through a pinch of what he went through. It would take time, she thought.

But he wasn't eating.

"Are... you okay, sir?" She hesitantly asked. His food was probably cold now. What was he thinking?

Derek lifted his gaze to her face. He was thinking about her. And he was asked not to fight his emotions.

"I was thinking..." He hesitated. Why couldn't he add the last part?

"What are you thinking about, sir."

Should he just tell her he didn't like being called sir?

"I had two sisters." He said out of nowhere. He indeed thought of his sisters whenever he saw her.

Rory stilled for a moment. Was he going to tell her about his family?

"You did?" She decided to follow his pace.

Derek nodded and looked down on his plate.

"Where are they now?" She wanted to hear it from him. Hopefully talking about it would help.

"They are in heaven." He simply replied.

Rory's heart ached. She had heard his story, but hearing him say this brought a different kind of feeling. Her eyes stung.

"I'm sorry." She said, and Derek looked back at her face.

"They were killed."

Oh no! Rory didn't want to cry but he wasn't helping it. She didn't even know how to respond to that. Tears rushed to her eyes but she tried hard to fight it back. She shouldn't cry. Not now.

"I'm really sorry about that." She said again. Gosh! Her heart was bleeding.

"My mom... And my dad... They were also killed." Derek's voice was calm. His face held no emotions. He sounded like he was just talking about the weather. "That same day."

One stubborn tear slid down Rory's cheek and she quickly wiped it away.

Derek's face muscles twitched and his jaw clenched. She was crying again. He didn't like that one too. Another point.

"I want to find those who killed them." Derek continued. He didn't know why he was saying all these. Telling her all those things. Why?

Rory fixed her gaze on his. Another tear slid down, then another. She was extremely emotional she couldn't stop those stubborn tears. The dam probably broke.

To her surprise, Derek lifted his hand to her face and wiped the tears off her cheeks.

"Don't cry." He calmly said with a frown. "I... don't like that."

Rory's eyes widened. But the tears kept pouring. She wanted to stop them badly. Now who was supposed to be crying in this case? She should be consoling and not crying.

"I'm sorry." She whispered and tried calming down by taking deep breaths. Finally after a few deep breaths, she was able to put her emotions in check. But she wouldn't want him to continue talking about it. She would start crying again. She tried changing the topic.

"Did you paint all of these?" She asked, looking around.

Derek looked around as well. "Yes."

"Why are they all the same thing? It looks like... is it... a cross?" She weirdly looked at the biggest of them all before turning back to look at him. His eyes were fixed on one of the paintings.

"I saw this on the wrist of one of them." He replied and returned his gaze to her face.

"One of them?" Rory thought out loud.

"Those who killed my family."

No! Not again, please.

Their gazes locked on each other. Rory didn't know what to say to that. Derek seemed to be thinking. She wished to get something better to talk about and not this tragic incident. But tonight it was all about him. She should brace herself to hear all he had to say.

"Do you know who they are?" She asked.

"I am looking for them."

She nodded. She looked back on her plate. She had completely lost appetite now.

Derek sighed. He must have lost his appetite too, Rory thought. Who wouldn't?

Derek felt like taking a walk outside. He shouldn't fight his emotions. Right. He would go for a walk.

"I'll go for a walk." He said, standing up.

Wait! He was shirtless. Was he going to go like this?

"Can I... come with you?" Rory boldly asked.

"Yes." Derek replied after a short while. He grabbed his shirt which he left on the bed and threw it on. He passed his hand through his tousled hair, an action that threw Rory in a daze. But she was quick to recover and turned around quickly to hide her burning face. She started clearing the table and packing all the plates on the tray. She would just send it to the kitchen on their way out.

"Leave it there. Hayford will come for it later." He said when he saw what she was doing.

"Don't worry, sir. I'll just drop it at the kitchen on our way." She said.

Derek tried ignoring the sir thing. But he wasn't supposed to fight back...

A knock came in right when he was about to speak. It was Hayford.

"I came for the dishes, Boss." He said. Derek didn't say a word, and Hayford walked to the table and picked up the tray, not sparing Rory a single glance. Rory was oblivious to his actions and didn't notice any change in his behaviour. After all, he was not all too friendly with her. He left after a slight bow at Derek.

Rory walked up to Derek.

"Where would you go for the walk, please?"

"At the backyard." He replied.

It was sunset. The sky was beautifully coloured with gold, orange, purple and red hues as they silently walked along the pebbled path at the backyard. The nice fragrances of different flowers filled the air, and the cool breeze swayed the flowers in a soothing manner.

Rory looked up at Derek. He was looking ahead at the breathtaking view.

"Have you watched sunset before?" She asked.

"This is my first time."

Rory smiled. "Me too."

Derek turned to look at her. She was smiling. That smile... His heartrate sped up. Wait, what was this feeling?

Happiness? Anger?

"What is your favourite flower, sir?" Rory asked, looking at the flowers as they slowly walked side by side.

"Derek." He suddenly said. He couldn't hold it any longer.

Rory turned to him and blinked. Derek? Was that a flower? She had never heard of it before.

"Wow! Derek? I didn't know there was a flower called Derek." She was curious to see which flower that was.

Derek turned to her and frowned. Rory stilled. Did she say something wrong?

"I'm not a flower." He said.

She blinked again and averted her gaze. What did he mean? His favourite flower is Derek and now he wasn't a flower?

"I'm not sir. I am Derek."

Rory tried to understand, and when she did, she suddenly burst into laughter.

"Wait! Your name is Derek?" She asked amids laughter. "I thought that was your favourite flower's name." She continued laughing.

Derek kept looking at her as she threw her head back and laughed. She was happy. He was... happy.

He was happy.

Yes! He was happy!

But his heart was beating fast again. What did that mean? Was that a sign that he was happy? He would note it down. He had so many things to write for Dr Suarez now.

Rory's laughter had died down now, and she realised Derek was looking ahead with a straight face.

"That's a nice name." She said. Derek turned to her, and she smiled at him before looking ahead.

Derek stared at her for some seconds before turning away. His heart was still beating fast. Nice name?

"What does that mean?" He asked.

Rory looked at him. "Um... What?"

"Nice... I want to know why you said my name is a nice name."

Rory thought for some time. "Do you know what it means? Your name?"

Derek shook his head. "No." He calmly replied.

"It means a gifted ruler." She smiled. "That's what your name means."

Derek nodded thoughtfully. Gifted ruler?

"How did you know?"

"I don't remember how." She replied honestly. She just knew. Strange.

"Do you know what your name means?" He asked, curious to know.

And she smiled again. Why was she always smiling?

"Yes." She replied. She wished to hear him say her name. "What is my name?"

"Aurora." Derek said.

Her face burned and she quickly turned away to face the view before them.

"My name means morning. Dawn. Gold." She said, the smile still lingering on her burning face.

"My name has only one meaning." Derek said, "And yours have more."

Rory laughed. He sounded cute.

"You are a gifted ruler, sir. So it means you can even rule over the dawn." That smile again...

"Call me Derek."