Dead Flower

Chapter 20

My lips were still tingling from the kiss that we shared last night and I could barely wipe off the grin eating up most of my face, but I don’t think anyone thought too much of it because I am always smiling. I was taking my time walking through the botanical garden that I had asked the driver that Gregorio had assigned to me and his guards. I now realised that I was always given the same group of men and that made it easier for me to get to know them and get used to their faces and different type of energies. Even though they didn’t speak to me and only answered me if there was a question that I asked, I was warming up to them. 

My men trailed behind me and gave me the space that I wanted as I smiled and looked at the various plants. Lush green plants met my eyes and I was in paradise, the air felt clean and clear and I could shed a tear at how well taken the place was. I prayed that I would some day own a botanical garden much like the one that I’m walking through but I would like a bigger one than this one. That’s not to say that this one wasn’t big enough because it was but it would be a dream come true if I could own a botanical garden that was the size of a zoo so that I could grow all the different kinds of plants that there is. 

There were signs posted around that warned not to touch the plants but I was of course an exception because as soon as I entered the place, my hands were sprayed with what I would assume to be hand sanitizer or something that would clean my hands of bacteria and germs and was told that I could touch any plant that I wanted because none were poisonous. These were the perks of being Gregorio’s “woman”. 

I may be somewhat naïve but I’m not stupid and I know that this new found lifestyle of mine was all thanks to Gregorio. I enjoyed the benefits that with being Gregorio’s “woman” because it wasn’t as though it was all new. I was already used to the life of having a bodyguard or two and a driver chauffeur me around, I had hoped to escape it but I guess money has a way of coming back around. I was once the invisible girl in this town but now I’m known everywhere I go even in surrounding towns. 

The botanical garden wasn’t in Balerno but in a neighbouring Italian populated town. I kind of missed walking into a restaurant and just blending in with a people. While I did stick out in Balerno because I was the only black person there, people had begun to tune me out and most didn’t care because they were used to me. I was now the centre of attention. If I walked into a restaurant, everybody had to walk out and I would be the only one left to enjoy whatever seven star treatment I was given. If I am to walk into a grocery store like I do every morning to buy myself snacks for the day, the grocery store is emptied out and I have to walk through the aisles all by myself. If I want to be driven somewhere, two Cadillac Escalades or Range Rovers secure me in between them so that no harm comes to me. 

I looked up while I was turning the corner to continue walking along the aisle of plants, touching and feeling them and then leaning down to smell them, when I was met with a pair of dark brown eyes of an employee. The man who was older, was wearing a pair of brown khaki pants and green shirt that was tucked into the waistband of his pants that I saw two other employees wearing when I first entered the garden. He gave me a nervous smile and quickly looked at my feet as he approached me. When he was about two feet away from me, one of my men stepped forward and stopped the man from moving any further. 

I placed my hand on the bodyguard’s bicep and smiled up at his tall figure, “it’s alright, he’s just a worker here.” I tried to ease the situation because really, it was alright and nothing would happen to me. They take their job way too seriously in such a town because there didn’t seem to be a need for this much security for anyone. I know Gregorio is an important man to the people but all there was in these towns were small petty crimes. 

The guard did as I told him to and put his arm back to his side but stayed close enough to me so as to stop the employee from coming any closer. The employee looked nervously at the guard before he looked back at me and quickly took my hand into his and began to kiss my knuckles. It made me uncomfortable but this seemed to be the way that everyone greeted me now and even though Giustina had told me that it was a sign of respect, I really hoped that they would respect me a little less because the feeling of peoples lips on your knuckles is definitely in the top two of worst feelings.