Chapter 349: Chasing in the garden

In Noah's mansion.

Aria was going crazy as every minute passed by. Her man had decided to stick to her for the next two days and right now, Noah had become her slave. He had shifted all his work to his house and had made sure that Aria would not leave his gaze. What if something were to happen to her? 

Even Ronnie was not home and he could not allow only Oliver to take care of her. What if she fell sick again and she had to be taken to the hospital? Oliver could not step out of the house lest he got noticed. So, the only option left was for Noah to work from home.

"Noah, I am fine. You can go do your work." Aria suggested for a hundredth time, hoping against hope that the man would agree and allow her some alone time. He had been her shadow since the time she had gotten up and this was getting on her nerves.

"I am fine, love, and don't worry. I am fine working here." The man's eyes left the laptop and settled on Aria who could not help but fume at him. Seeing him smile at her, her anger rose all the more. However, she knew that it was no use convincing him. So, she gave up and stood up to leave their room.

As expected the man went on hyper alert mode seeing her stand and he dropped his laptop on the bed. "Where are you going, sweetheart?" He immediately rushed to her support as though she was a fragile doll.

"I want to take a walk in the garden." Aria declared trying to break free from the man's clutches. But he only held her tighter, ignoring her weak attempts to push him away. 

"Let me help you then." Not waiting for her to respond, Noah gently led her out of the room, towards the garden downstairs. Meanwhile, Aria tried to think of all possible ideas to send the man away from her. Although she was touched that her boyfriend cared about her this much, she still wanted some space which Noah was clearly invading too much.

Aria and Noah reached the lawn and nobody spoke a word. The man made her sit down and he sat down beside her. However, the next second, Aria stood up startling him completely. Before he could even comprehend what was happening, Aria had dashed forward, away from him.

Now that Aria had finally made it out of the mansion, she wanted to enjoy the fresh air. To her, even a few seconds would do. So, she had made up her to run away from Noah the moment he had made her sit.

"Aria, what are doing?" He shouted from behind, panic taking over his entire form seeing her run. Laughter was all he got as his answer and he chased her to catch her before she hurt herself. Ian had advised her not to take much stress and Noah did not want her getting tired. "Sweetheart, wait for me."

"No way," Aria shouted back with a giggle. 

"Why are you running away from me in the first place?" Noah yelled back, trying to find Aria in the huge garden. He had no idea where she was right now. But from her voice, he could deduce that she somewhere on his right. So, he changed his direction and went in the direction of her voice.

"I am not running away from you. I just want to enjoy some fresh air."Aria replied moving away from her hiding place when she sensed Noah to be nearby. 

"You could have done that even when you were sitting. Why did you have to run?" Noah reprimanded her gently, his eyes observing everywhere around him. He smiled lightly when he saw the garden shrubs shake. He padded towards it without making another noise. However, when he looked around, he found nobody.

Aria started laughing when she saw Noah's stunned face. She had been watching him from where she was. Seeing him turn around, she could not help but speak up. "You cannot catch me that easily." She teased and she changed her spot once again.

"Are you challenging me, love?" Noah questioned back, his eyes wandering around, trying to find where Aria could be.

"Not at all. But if you are provoked, we can take it up as a challenge." Aria replied and again, she switched her hiding place. She was making sure to keep an eye on the man from where she was. 

"Then, I will take it up as a challenge. What do you want to bet?" Noah was now near her previous hiding spot and just as before, he could not find her. Just at this moment, he noticed a silhouette move behind him from the corner of his eye. But he did nothing. He stood in his place waiting for her to answer. He did not want to catch her this soon, not when it had become exciting all of a sudden.

Noah wanted to see what Aria would put forth as the conditions. His eyes were trained on her movement while he made sure that she did not find out about him knowing where she was right now.

"If you cannot find me within five minutes, then you will not follow me like how you are doing since morning."

"Why? Does it annoy you?"

"Not exactly. But you are being too overprotective and anxious and it is making me a little suffocated." Aria's words stunned Noah. He had never known that he was suffocating her, but he could understand what she wanted to convey. Maybe he was going overboard with his concern. It was true that she was weak, but she was not fragile. He had to give her space.

He made a note to correct himself when he heard Aria's next words. "Are you up for it?"

"Wait. You did not hear my condition." Noah complained while he went to her previous spot she had been before she had changed her hiding place. 

"What is it?"

"If I win, then you will listen to me until you recover. Alright?" Noah suggested and Aria groaned in her place. She had no idea that Noah had realized his mistake, but was only playing along with her.

"Fine." She agreed reluctantly.

The duo continued with their game with Noah making sure that Aria did not know the truth. He dilly dallied until more than four minutes had passed. When he noticed that only a few seconds were left, he gave up playing and went to the spot where Aria was hiding right now.

'Only a few seconds more and then I'll be done.' Aria was secretly gloating in her mind when she felt someone pull her from behind. She crashed right into Noah's chest and he held her securely in his arms. "Caught you."

Aria was too stunned by the sudden pull that she forgot to even speak. She stared at him dumbly while man just chuckled seeing her cute look. "Now, that I have won the challenge, you will have to listen to me until you recover." Noah then leaned in to give her a light peck before he led the stunned girl back to their place where they were sitting before. 

He then made her sit down and covered her legs with a blanket. Aria noticed that there was a mat now along with a basket. She had no idea how these two things had ended up here when she had clearly seen Noah chase her around.

Noah then peeled an orange and handed it to her which she took without any complaints. While she popped one into her mouth, she ran her eyes around. But could not see anybody in the vicinity. She was then reminded of their time in Kyoto Garden in London when she had gone with Noah. Just like now, there was no one around and she had had had a good time.

Noah observed her lost gaze and he patted her lightly on her shoulder. "What are you thinking about?"

"Our beautiful time in Kyoto Garden. Doesn't it feel exactly the same?"

"It sure does," Noah replied wholeheartedly. To him, every day would be a pleasant day if Aria was with him. However, if she was not, then the day would be miserable for him. 

"I wish I had taken photographs. The place was beautiful." Aria sighed lightly, regretting not taking any good clicks. 

"I have pics with me. You can take a look you want." Noah handed her his phone along with a glass of apple juice. 

"When did you take them?"

"Secret." Noah winked at her making her narrow her eyes. "There are a lot of photos."

Aria started to go through his gallery and found the pictures he was talking about it. There were a lot of them, more than she could even comprehend and more than half of them were hers. Her eyes widened seeing her photographs and wondered why she did not sense him taking pictures. But then realization struck her and she stared at Noah. "Who took these pictures?"

"My guards," Noah was honest this time as he had nothing to hide from her. 

"Your guards were following us?" Aria had an incredulous expression hearing the truth.

"Yes. It is their job to protect me at all times. I cannot order them to leave me alone. I have enemies. It is better to be safe than sorry." Noah explained to her even before she could ask her next question.

"Oh. I see." Aria went back to looking at the pictures even though the fact that somebody had taken her photos without her permission was not sitting well with her. But the next second, she found a photo in which she was sleeping soundly, and from the looks of it, she seemed to be on a plane. 

Her eyes widened automatically and something snapped in her. "Noah, what the hell is this?"