Falling for My Bodyguard

Harmoni

My usual technique to get rid of my bodyguards consisted of four steps:

Step 1: Be rude.

Step 2: Be spoiled.

Step 3: Be mean.

Step 4: Give up.

William was still here, meaning I needed to move on to step 2. Since clearly, the first step hadn't gotten me anywhere.

"You know what I think we should do next weekend?" Em asked as her eyes twinkled, once we were seated at our usual table for lunch on the right side of our school cafeteria.

"No, but I'm sure you're about to tell me,” I teased, knowing full well that this was precisely what was about to happen.

"We should go to Cindy's party,” she continued, rolling her eyes at my previous comment.

"No,” I immediately answered. Parties and crowds were just not for me. I had avoided them all high school, so why would I suddenly go?

"Come on, Har, live a little; you haven't been to any party. It's our senior year. Soon enough, we'll be heading to college; this might be one of our last chances to go to one of these legendary parties together,” she tried to convince me.

"You know how I feel about crowds and parties," I said while crossing my arms. Crowds have always awakened my anxiety, and I didn't feel like relapsing into my PTSD. Yeah, that tends to happen when you lost one of the most important people of your life in a crowd.

"But Har, how would you know if you can move on if you never try? You never attend parties or go clubbing with us. Plus, you don't get any panic attacks when you go to the gala at your dad's company anymore,” she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

The evident difference which she had apparently missed was that the gala was structured and formal while high school parties were wild and chaotic.

Looking at my best friend, I could see how much she yearned to go to this party. Would I really be the one to deny it to her? I knew she wouldn't go without me since she hated being alone.

Plus, Cindy's party was always widely talked about. She always invited the entire school, freshmen and seniors alike. Her parties were said to be legendary, and seeing as she was also a senior this year, this party would be the last one ever hosted by her. It was our last chance to get an inside glance at it.

"I don't know, Em. This could go wrong in so many ways,” I said, already feeling a knot build in the pit of my stomach.

"If you feel uncomfortable once we are there, I promise we will go right back to my place and watch Hawaii Five-O. Please, Har, please!" she begged, grabbing onto my arm as she gave me her best puppy dog eyes. I needed new friends; she knew exactly how to play her cards. I always fell for those eyes of hers. The things we do for our best friends.

"Fine!" I finally agreed, earning me a cringe-worthy squeal from my best friend and a bone-crushing hug. Yet, I couldn't shake the chilly awareness that had come over me.

"You won't regret this, I promise! This is going to be so much fun! We could get ready together and then have a sleepover at my house. I could do your make-up...,” I tuned out her rambling and focused back on my food. I had a bad feeling about this.

What had I gotten myself into?

William

Today was the first day I would be working as Harmoni's bodyguard. Mr. Pearson had been kind enough to adapt to my busy SWAT schedule, meaning I didn't need to be there when she was in school and would start when my shift ended. Luckily for us, it usually coincided with the end of her classes.

I headed to Everlight High, where she studied. Parking my car, I joined Benjamin and David near the school field.

“Hey guys, how’s it going?” I asked, trying to be friendly. You could hardly tell, but I used to be hard to approach, but I was getting better at getting to know my coworkers.

“All good, how about you? Not too tired?” asked Benjamin. Everyone knew I came here straight after my shift with SWAT. It wasn’t the easiest, but during the week I would only be working a few hours in the evening, which was about the same as taking on extra hours at SWAT, so I didn’t mind.

I was glad they were more friendly and chatty than when I met them at SWAT HQ. I really wanted our team to have a good dynamic and a great working atmosphere since I had grown to understand how important it was for a team to perform well.

“I’m used to it,” I answered, earning me a smile. Everyone in the security business knew that the hours were long. If you didn’t want to have long hours and continuously work overtime, then a desk job was a better option. “Where is she?” I asked them, noticing Harmoni wasn’t with them.

David pointed to something behind me. I turned around just in time to see her spinning in the air while she was being lifted on one foot. Her hair swirled around her face as she smiled brightly. She really was beautiful, too bad she only showed me her ugly side.

They were both very friendly, and they opened up quite a lot. Benjamin had joined the family business as soon as he was able to. His family owned the security company that provided most of the bodyguards in the city. No wonder he was so young. He had been trained his entire life to serve and protect. He could have been disgusted by it from the pressure his family was putting on him, but instead, he fell in love with the job. Didn’t we all?

David, on the other hand, had joined the game quite late. He used to be a teacher, but a tragic event he did not want to elaborate on made him change his life entirely. He started training, going to seminars; he soon became an impressive bodyguard. Once he had proven himself ready, Benjamin’s family company hired him and assigned him to the Pearson family.

And now here we were protecting the daughter of the wealthiest man in the city.

“You’ll be taking Harmoni home today,” David informed me. Did he even realize the double meaning his words had? Get your head out of the gutter Wil! I chastised, internally rolling my eyes.

“Doesn’t she have her own car?” I asked, slightly confused.

“She does, but one of us usually rides with her. Harmoni rode to school with us today, and since you came straight from work, you won’t have to leave your car here this way,” he explained. They made a valid point. Two people followed in the van, and one person rode with Harmoni. That’s what Mr. Pearson had insisted on.

About half an hour later, I heard the cheerleader’s captain end the practice and turned around waiting for her. I watch as she laughed at something the ginger girl standing next to her said. Perhaps she did have a heart after all.

The moment her eyes landed on me, her smile disappeared replaced by a frown. She went closer to the bleachers and gathered her belongings. Guess not.

“Bye Harmoni,” a few girls said before walking past us and heading towards the parking. She waved goodbye before finally holstering her sports bag onto her shoulder and walking to us. Some of her team members were walking with her as they made their way towards us. Why did I have the feeling she was plotting something against me?