The Bodyguard

Good morning, New York City! It is a beautiful sunny April morning! Traffic is slow and steady as everyone is starting their morning, so don’t go anywhere as our weather report is coming your way in a few short minutes. We bring you live breaking news this morning as we have just learned that our latest reports confirm that the son of Max William, CEO, and owner of William Enterprises, Steven William, has been reported missing. News of Mr. William’s disappearance from public view has driven heated speculation across social media in recent days. The whereabouts of the millionaire entrepreneur remain unknown...

Blah, blah, blah. I was never one to watch or read much of the news as I turned off the television mounted on our kitchen wall and continued to munch down on my breakfast while my father sat in the seat next to me.

So many negative stories. Journalists were always drawn to reporting the bad and sudden disasters of the world to draw in their audience. I was one not drawn to such headlines. My father could clearly see the impassive look on my face as the room went quiet. As displeased as he was by my reaction, he brushed it off with a shake of his head.

“Seriously Addilyn,” my father began to converse with me, “if you are to be the heir of the family company, you need to pay attention to our city headlines. Stories like these are very concerning to people like us.”

I then rolled my eyes indifferently at his comment. People like us. There he went off again, always categorizing us in a completely different class than the rest of New York City. Well to be fair, my father, Bernard Jones, was a multimillionaire CEO of his own insurance company. He did have a very strict reputation to uphold; and when I meant reputation, it was with the complete inference of his wealth. My name is Addilyn Jones and I’m his one and only child; twenty-one years old, in my final year at New York University earning my Ph.D. in finances at the Stern School of Business, which was one of the finest and most competitive programs in the world. I always portrayed my father to care more about his money than me, seeing as our relationship was very aloof. There had been a kidnapping years earlier; the daughter of a very close business mogul of his, had been snatched and the girl’s father had ended up paying several million dollars to get her back. Since then, my high and mighty father had made sure that situation wouldn’t happen to him. Yes, him.

This now brings us to the next interesting fun fact about Bernard protecting his precious assets. Ever since I was seventeen years old, my father had hired bodyguards for my protection; to drive me from my everyday point A to B destinations. At first, it was quite embarrassing to be chauffeured around the city. After all, teenagers at that age enjoyed the luxurious freedoms of getting their own driver’s license, driving their own car, and being able to go about freely. Nope, not me. Day in and day out, I was picked up from our five-million-dollar mansion to my various destinations such as the New York University, appointments, and leisure activities. The kidnapping was also the reason why I still lived at home while still in school. No dorms, no apartment of her own. Bernard was making sure to keep me shielded for as long as possible until it was time for me to be on my own. I also juggled my studies with working as well, as I had been working part-time in the finance department at my father’s company. I was responsible for obtaining and handling any monies on behalf of the organization, controlling the income and expenditure in addition to ensuring effective business running with minimum disruptions. I absolutely loved what I did and was good at it too.

To be honest, it wasn’t all that bad having my chaperone. My main bodyguard throughout the years was a middle-aged man named Simon. Tall, disciplined, and an overall friendly married man working to provide for his family. He was always quite pleasant to talk to.

“Well as you know, I’ll be graduating in a few months. Then I will be working for you full-time. Maybe it’s time to discuss finally letting me make my own decisions. An apartment of my own. A vehicle I can drive. If you still want to stick a bodyguard on me for lookout, then fine, but I think I deserve to leave the nest!”

Clearing his throat when I didn’t respond to his last comment, Bernard decided to continue. “Listen, Addy… I know. I know you want to go on your own, and you will. Soon. New York can be very dangerous, especially when we have creeps like these thugs kidnapping young women. I wouldn’t want you to ever experience something like that because of our status.”

You mean your money. I raised my eyebrows.

“Anyways, Simon is being reduced to part-time weekends for the time being as he needs to attend to family matters. So, during the week, I’ve actually been able to bring in another familiar face to watch over you.”

Familiar face? Oh no, was he going to say what I think he was going to say…!?

“Finn Adams will be watching over you from Monday to Friday.”

Crap. Well, that was my first thought. I hadn’t seen Finn in almost three years now. To be completely honest, I’d had a crush on him during our time together, but he wouldn’t give her the time of day. Jerk. He was much younger than Simon; younger, single, and most importantly very attractive. I could never get more than two words out of him during their rides, but perhaps that could change this time around. After all, I wasn’t a teenager anymore, I was a woman.

“Are you comfortable with this arrangement?”

I must have fantasized for a brief moment when thinking about all of Finn’s physical attractions and what he may have looked like underneath his suit before snapping back and looking over at my father with a shrug of her shoulders. “Yeah, sure. He’s okay to deal with.” I was then going to proceed with the whole ‘is this really necessary’ conversation but already knew it would be a lost cause. What my father decided, I already knew that there was no choice but to abide. What freedom.

“Good. He should be here soon to pick you up. I have a meeting in Manhattan to attend to then I will see you at the office.”

Learning that I would be seeing Finn again gave me the tight feeling in my stomach that most would describe as ‘butterflies.’ He had chauffeured me during my senior year of high school and first year of university. Ugh, high school. What an embarrassment that was. As one of the top and most popular students in my grade, you could only imagine how it felt dating the lead football jock, known as Bradly, only for him to cheat on you and find out about it on prom night! Total humiliation! Luckily back then Finn was not one to ask questions; so, when he went to pick me up early that night, it was a simple quiet ride from the school to back home. After that night, it was never in question to talk about. In fact, I could only hope that he never remembered that unpleasant night. During my first year of university, it was pretty much the same with only being able to get two, maybe three words out of Finn’s mouth. Back then, he was certainly not much of a conversationist.

Ugh, enough about Mr. Insensitive. Moving on! It was time to get ready for work. Hair, makeup, outfit – check, check, double-check. Looking at my reflection in the mirror definitely gave me the poise to look perfectly alluring. Hey, I had a reputation to uphold as well; looking absolutely stunning and down to business as the future CEO of their family insurance company. While finishing up in the bathroom, I heard the faint sound of their doorbell ring and it sent a rough feeling in the pit of her stomach. He was here. Oh no, why? Why!? Why did I feel so nervous all of a sudden? Jeez, get a grip, Addy! You haven’t seen him in THREE years. He probably got fat or has some awful disgusting scars by now. Nothing to stress over! Splashing some water on my face and then patting it dry with a cloth, I took in a deep breath to go out and become acquainted with Mr. Adams once again.

Walking through the foyer, at first glimpse stood a man by the front door with his back to hers as he watched out the window with his hands neatly folded behind him. He was wearing a pure sharp-looking and well-fitted black suit complete with black bregman dress shoes. Very sleek and stylish. Oh boy, if he was looking this good from behind, I already knew I was going to be in trouble when he turned around. As I approached closer with the sound of my heels against the ceramic tiles of the floor, he then turned around to face me.Fuck. Complete in his black-tie suit, faux hawk haircut, and clean-shaven face, I found it quite difficult not to look away. His jet-black hair shined off the sunlight that peeked through the main window as he removed his sunglasses and revealed his hazel-colored eyes. So much for obesity and scars; Finn was undeniably handsome.

It was then I knew there was no escaping this arrangement.

Finn Adams. What a background story for this young man. Growing up in a military personnel home was hard enough, but being the youngest of three boys gave him the added pressure of striving for the excellence his father expected from his children. He had two older brothers, Derek and Wesley. Both had training serving in the United States Armed Forces and helped their father build their company, Adams Protection Services, or APS for short, which served bodyguards and private investigators in New York City and its surroundings.

There was a lot of added pressure for Finn to follow in his family’s footsteps. After graduating from high school, he pursued and earned a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice at New York University. Now at the age of twenty-five, he works for his father at APS, taking on assignments and clients. Finn remembered the brief time he was hired to escort Addilyn Jones around; a young sophisticated high maintenance high school senior. Back then there wasn’t much to it. He was only on duty for her during weekend shopping splurges, friend get together, and drinking parties. What fun. He never had any interest in striking up any type of conversation with her during that time.

Now, three years later. he had got the call from his father for his next task.

“Finn. I have your next assignment. It will be Monday to Friday but with flexible hours. I would have had one of your brothers take it on, but both are busy with current work. Also, I hear that you know this certain client.” His father spoke in a non-chelate tone over the phone with him. “Addilyn Jones.”

It had been three years since seeing Addilyn, and to his first assumption, she probably wasn’t so much different than her high school self. “Yes sir. Consider the duty assigned.”

At first thought, this job should be what people describe as a walk in the park. Pick her up from home and drive her to work, school, and occasionally an appointment or other errand. Easy. Plus, the added wage of the job, would help pay down his student loans with ease while he awaited his big news. Several months ago, he submitted his application to join the FBI, the Federal Bureau of Investigation. New York division. It was a year’s waitlist or less to find out if accepted or not, and during that time, Finn took on any jobs available to occupy himself while keeping active.

When he began to think about the last time he saw Addilyn, not much wasn’t said between the two then, and even behind her preppy, obstinate, tenacious lifestyle, something awoken in him. Perhaps it could have been something different between them; nothing beyond their contract, of course, but perhaps something more than two or three word conversations.

Sure, she was cute back then. But at all interested? No, definitely not. If she was at all like before - chatty, pubescent, daddy’s little rich girl - this job was going to be easy money. The schedule was perfect, the pay was definitely good, and prepared for the next chapter in life. What else did he really need?

Monday morning. On the first day of working with his new client, he was instructed to meet her at her home and introduce himself before heading off for the day. Driving up to their home, he was quite surprised he remembered all the details of the exterior. As part of the job, Finn was also given a brand new vehicle for him to use for the duration of the job, which was delivered to his residence the day before. A beautiful top of line brand new sleek black Chevrolet Suburban SUV. Could this job get any better!? Having a client like Bernard Jones definitely showed class.

As he parked in the driveway and stepped out of the vehicle, he made sure to button his blazer up and proceeded to the front door where the maid had escorted him inside. The main foyer was absolutely stunning with high ceilings, two large staircases on both sides of the room attached with one another on the second floor, an elegant seating area in the middle of the room, porcelain tiles throughout, and lots of natural light from the many large windows. This is what it felt like to be a millionaire.

It was then he realized she would be there to greet him any minute. Turning away and towards one of the two windows beside the front door, Finn folded his hands together behind his back and stared out at the scenery outside. During the few minutes of free time, he had a lot to consider about where he was in life right now. To hopefully be accepted into the FBI Academy, his days of guarding, escorting, and chaperoning could soon be over. It was then he heard the sound of an approaching individual and turned around to find himself completely caught off guard, and was sure his heart literally skipped a few beats. No way was that her! Addilyn Jones. She wore low black heels, a black pencil skirt, and a low-cut violet blouse. Her hair was a beautiful shoulder-length autumn brown, light makeup looked absolutely stunning. For his sake, he was lucky that he was wearing his sunglasses so she wouldn’t notice that he completely checked her out from head to toe. His unconscious wouldn’t allow his eyes to fixate on anything else but the perfect figure that walked up to him. Sure he had his fair share of dates and girlfriends, but none of them compared to the woman in front of him at that moment. She had muscles where it was attractive and curves where it counted and knew how to compliment every bit of her God-given beauty with her attire. Fuck, he was in trouble.

It was then he knew there was no escaping this arrangement.