Off Limits 🔞

My bank app has become the last thing I want to open in the morning, but I check it anyway, sitting at my desk with a coffee going cold beside the keyboard.

The balance hasn’t changed since last night. My credit cards are frozen, the minimum payments on two of them are already overdue, and another loan payment is due in a few days that I still don’t know how I’m going to cover.

I lean back in my chair and rub my forehead. This is getting ridiculous.

I have a good job; I get paid well, and I don’t spend money on stupid things, yet every month ends the same way… more going out than coming in.

"Fuck," I say quietly, locking my phone and setting it face down on the desk.

I look around the office instead of staring at the number any longer. This is where I spend most of my time, surrounded by security reports, client schedules, training records, and incident reviews. I know how to deal with a threat I can see coming.

Money isn’t like that. There’s no target to watch, nothing to stop before it hits me.

My phone buzzes with another notification from the bank. I don’t open it. I’ve had enough for one morning.

I get up to make a second coffee, weaving between desks where people are on calls or arguing quietly with each other near the front entrance, the usual noise of a Monday morning.

Everything about the office looks completely normal, which makes it strange that I’m the only one sitting here wondering how to pay rent next month.

I’m halfway to the coffee machine when my phone rings again. My supervisor’s name is on the screen. I answer.

"Emma," he says.

"Come to my office," he tells me before I can even respond.

"Now?" I asked.

"Now," he says, and the call ends before I can ask why.

I leave my coffee cup on the counter and head down the hallway, going over the last few days in my head, trying to think if I missed something or made a mistake he needs to address. His door is closed when I get there. I knock once.

"Come in."

He’s behind his desk when I open the door, and he looks up at me. "Close the door."

I do and sit down across from him without being asked. "If this is about the report from yesterday, I already sent it."

"It isn’t." He leans back in his chair and takes a moment before speaking again. "I have a private matter I need to discuss with you."

"Private?" I say, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes."

He reaches for a folder on his desk but doesn’t open it right away, and I wait for him to continue.

"I know you’ve been having financial problems, Emma. I know about the loans and the payments you’ve fallen behind on."

I stare at him. "How do you know that?"

"Because I had to look into it before bringing this to you. I’m not saying this to embarrass you. It matters what I’m about to offer."

I sit back, arms crossed, and wait for him to get to the point.

"You’re one of the best people we’ve trained. You don’t need someone reminding you what to do, and I’ve never had to worry about you losing your composure when things get difficult. That’s why I thought of you.” He pauses. “If you accept this assignment, you’ll be making three times your current salary."

The number takes a second to register. "Three times?"

"Yes."

I do the math without meaning to. That kind of money wouldn’t make the debt disappear overnight, but it would let me pay it down instead of watching it grow every month, and for the first time in a while, I let myself imagine what that would feel like.

"You wouldn’t offer that much if you didn’t think the job was worth it?"

"I don’t."

"So you think I’m worth it?"

"I know you are." He says it without hesitation, and something about that steadies me a little.

I sit with it for a moment. The money is tempting, more than I want to admit out loud, but I haven’t heard enough yet to let it make the decision for me. “I’m listening.”

"That’s all I needed to hear for now." He finally opens the folder, angling it so I can’t see the page.

"For now? You called me in here, offered me three times my salary, and that’s all I get?"

"I haven’t told you enough for you to decide anything. There are things you’ll only find out once you’re further into this." He taps the folder once. "Right now, I need to know if you’re willing to hear the rest."

"You’re asking me to consider something I know almost nothing about?"

"I’m asking if you’re willing to listen before you decide that."

I glance at the folder, then back at him. I hate how much the money matters to me right now, and I hate that he clearly already knows it does.

"You know I don’t take jobs just because they pay well?" I ask.

"I know," he says.

"Then you know I’m not agreeing to anything until I understand what I’m walking into," I tell him, watching his face for any reaction.

"That’s exactly what I’d expect from you." He turns a page, still keeping it out of my sight. "If you take this, you’ll have to leave the country, and not for a short trip. The assignment is protection work for a client with a level of exposure higher than anything you’ve handled before. You’d be responsible for his safety around the clock, wherever he goes."

"His safety. So it’s a person, not a location?" I ask.

"Yes. A public figure."

"And you’re not going to tell me who?" I press.

He shakes his head. "Not yet."

I almost laughed. "Most people would get up and leave right now."

"Most people aren’t you."

"That’s vague."

"It means you don’t need someone checking on you every five minutes, and you don’t walk away the moment something gets complicated." He closes the folder. "Take tonight. I want your answer tomorrow."

"And if it’s no?"

"Then nothing changes. You keep doing your job, and this conversation stays between us."

That part makes it easier to breathe, knowing there’s no cost to saying no if I need to.

"I’ll think about it," I say, standing and reaching for the door.

"Don’t let the money decide this for you," he says behind me.

I glance back at him. "You’re the one who told me the number."

He almost smiles. "Fair enough."

I leave his office and head back to my desk, and my phone starts ringing before I even sit down. Ryan’s name is on the screen. He’s been calling all morning, so I already have a guess at what this is about. I let it ring twice before I answer.

"What do you want, Ryan?" I ask.

"I need to ask you for something," he says.

"If you’re about to ask me for money, save us both the time," I cut in.

There’s a pause before he speaks again. "I need five thousand dollars."

I actually laugh, though nothing about it is funny. "Five thousand?"

"I’ll pay you back."

"You still haven’t paid me back from last time."

"I know. Emma, please."

I close my eyes for a second before I answer. "No."

Silence on the other end, then his voice comes back tighter than before. "You’re really not going to help me?"

"I can’t, Ryan."

"You have a job."

"So do you," I say, and I don’t raise my voice, because I’ve had this argument enough times to know it doesn’t get me anywhere.

He doesn’t say anything else, and after a few seconds, I end the call. A text comes through almost right away.

Please don’t do this to me.

I stare at it for a moment before locking my phone. I’m done covering for his mistakes, done hearing the same promises, done watching my own finances fall apart while he keeps asking me for more.

I get up, grab my jacket, and walk straight to my supervisor’s office without giving myself time to think it through again. His door is still open. He looks up when I step inside.

"Emma?"

"I’ll take the job."

He studies my face for a second. "You’re sure?"

"Yes."

He slides the contract across the desk toward me. "Read all of it before you sign."

I go through the last page carefully. Nothing in it changes my mind. I sign at the bottom and set the pen down.

He picks the contract back up. "So that’s your decision?"

I meet his eyes. "I accept."