64. Home sweet home

"Good night, Cap." Surjo waved at Olivia as she alighted from the car.

She nodded at her friends and walked off.

After a few minutes of walking, a huge gate appeared in front of her bearing a name plate saying Basu Mansion. As she got closer, the gate opened wide automatically without making a single sound inspite of being enormous and heavy.

Olivia, with her hands in her pocket, sauntered inside. And the moment she went passed them, the gates closed on their own.

A stone carpeted path led to the mansion from the gate. On either side of it were huge gardens which were full of different kinds of trees — big, small, tall, dwarf, each of which was neatly trimmed. They encircled the mansion covering a massive area. At the foot of the high wall surrounding the mansion, were several big bushes cut in beautiful shapes. Two magnificent gigantic fountains stood in the middle of the garden on either side of the path. The garden on the right had various orchids while that on the left had a big swing and many wild plants.

Fun fact was that all of these were part of the front garden only.

As soon as Olivia's foot landed on the first stone slab of the path, a network of white laser beams shot out from its edges. She calmly walked through them and stepped on the next slab. The beams on the first slab turned off and immediately, the rest of the slabs as well as the wall surrounding the garden lit up.

Olivia kept walking until she reached the main door of the mansion. The light in the garden went off again. As she stood before the door, her watch vibrated slightly. Lifting her right hand, she pressed something on it and the door opened automatically.

As the bright light from the interior of the mansion assaulted her eyes, Olivia squinted and blinked a few times before pacing inside. This time too, the door shut on its own once she had stepped inside.

When she entered, the people inside turned towards her and bowed slightly with a polite and respectful smile on their face. Olivia nodded at them and everyone went back to their work. Just then, a man who seemed to be in his fifties came over with a respectful yet happy smile on his face.

"Mistress, you're back. Would you be sleeping in the guest room or your own?" He asked.

"My room," Olivia pointed her chin to the second floor.

"But I don't know if it's still clean or not..." He trailed off knowing Olivia always cleaned her own room and never allowed anyone to go in.

He had seen her room a few times from outside but he never noticed anything special, which could be the reason she forbade anyone from entering. What puzzled him more was that those few times when Olivia had called for him outside her room, the door was wide open. Anyone could see the interior, which to him, looked nothing out of the ordinary. And not just him, but other helpers too. Yet, she never ever allowed anyone to go inside. When he had just started working there, he found her behaviour peculiar but gradually, he decided not to be nosy and focus on his job which was to assist her in her work. If she was fine with others looking at her room but touching it, then that was her business not his.

Olivia waved her hand saying, "It's fine, Manna Kaku."

The butler nodded.

"Mistress, we're done with today's work," he said, checking the to-do list on his watch.

"You're dismissed." Olivia looked at the helpers who stood in a line before her.

"Good night, Mistress." They said together with a light bow and went to their quarter which was on the other side of the mansion.

The butler was the last to go.

He stood there till everyone left and said, "Mistress what about tomorrow's schedule?"

When Olivia was not in the house, he took care of the day's work and made the schedule. Now that she was back, he wanted to know if she would be following the existing one or making any changes.

"I'll get to it tomorrow. You can retire to bed now," Olivia said.

The butler nodded and left.

Olivia walked up the stairs to the second floor. The lights on the ground floor went off while those on the second floor got illuminated. She then slowly strode to her room and locked the door. The lights on the second floor also went off. Now, the main section of the mansion was in complete darkness except the few lights in the workers' quarter that were yet to go out.

When Olivia stepped inside her room, the lights flickered to turn on but stopped when she commanded, "Lights Off."

"Curtains out." She said.

The curtains covering the big window parted, allowing the moonlight to trace the room.

It was very spacious, about as big as five regular rooms combined. A queen-sized bed lay near the window. There was also a long sofa, a single divan, a floor-to-ceiling mirror, a walk-in closet, two bedside tables and a bathroom.

Olivia lay on the divan and closed her eyes, exhaling heavily. She stayed like that for a while listening to her heartbeat and the faint sound of the ceiling fan. She was about to turn to her side when something poked her.

"Arh." She groaned and put her hand in her back pocket, feeling something.

She brought it out and saw a keychain with mini figurines of three boys. One with a gentle smile, another with an aloof look and the last one with a goofy grin. They looked beautiful even as cute figurines. Olivia's eyes stopped on the figure at the left. Curly hair, gentle smile and enchanting eyes. After staring at it for some time, she got up and kept it inside a drawer on the bedside table before heading to the bathroom.

As usual, the lights turned on after she entered. When she touched the tap, it turned on and started filling the bathtub, and once done, it turned off on its own. Olivia looked at the inviting pool of water, stripped her clothes and slowly lowered herself in. Feeling the cool water on her skin, she sighed in relief.

Just then, a buzzing sound rang in her earpiece followed by her friends' voice saying, "I'm home."

Olivia hummed softly and the call got disconnected.