Chapter 91

Olivia

One day, a restlessness gripped me. I couldn't shake it off.

The tension in the house, the lingering awkwardness with Nathan, it all drove me crazy. So, I decided to take a walk, clear my head. I needed to get out of that villa for a little while and get some fresh air and space to myself.

Of course, I wasn't allowed to go alone. The escort, Levi, a tall young man with a stony face, was to accompany me. I didn’t have any choice in the matter; not since I had seen that “monster” while walking home from Angela’s party.

I let out a soft sigh of relief as I walked out the front door. The spring weather was clear and sunny, and the flowers had fully bloomed on all of the trees and bushes, shrouding the world in pastel pink and yellow. The ocean breeze was cool and calming, and I couldn’t help but smile a bit as I slowly started to make my way down the street.

However, something sullied my enjoyment of my morning walk. Levi.

He followed at a distance, his gaze never leaving me. It was awkward, to say the least. I felt his eyes burning into the back of my head, heard his footsteps as he walked several paces behind me. It was… uncomfortable.

After a while, I couldn’t take the silence anymore. I stopped, turned around, and stared at him with my arms folded across my chest.

“Something wrong, Miss?” Levi asked, stopping a few feet away from me with his hands behind his back.

“Yes,” I said, eyeing him up and down. “There is something wrong. You’re making me feel uncomfortable.”

The young bodyguard’s square-jawed face betrayed no emotion. “What can I do to make you feel more comfortable, Miss?”

Miss. Even the way that he referred to me was too formal, too awkward. I hated it.

“Walk with me,” I finally said, dropping my arms back to my sides. “If we’re gonna be stuck together for the foreseeable future, we can at least talk to each other. And… Hell, call me Olivia. Don’t be so formal.”

Finally, the young bodyguard’s face seemed to betray a little emotion. I couldn’t quite read it, but it seemed like a mixture between surprise and confusion. He stiffly walked up to me, and I wasted no time in continuing on my path.

We walked for a little while longer, still in silence. The only sounds between us were those of our feet hitting the pavement and our breaths floating up into the cool spring air. It was early in the morning, so the air was still cold enough so that we could see our breaths forming in front of us; but it wasn’t too cold. It was comfortable.

Eventually, we reached a bend in the road. The silence still hung heavily over us, and I decided that I had officially had enough.

“So,” I said, shoving my cold fingers into my pockets, “you’ve been a bodyguard for how many years?”

“Five, Miss— I mean, Olivia,” he corrected himself. “Five years.”

I nodded, choosing to ignore his near-transgression. “Do you have any interesting stories?”

Levi frowned slightly. “I’m sorry, Olivia, but I’m not at liberty to discuss my previous clients. It goes against policy.”

I couldn’t help but frown a little, too. “Aw, c’mon,” I urged. “You don’t have to be so uptight; use fake names or something. I won’t tell anyone.”

There was a silence. We walked for a little bit longer, and eventually I took my chances and glanced over at Levi. A ghost of a smile seemed to be flickering back and forth across the corners of his lips. He seemed to be trying—and failing—to hide it.

“Alright,” he finally said, shaking his head slightly. “Um… Last year, I worked with this one client… I’ll call her ‘Mary’. She had a fear of going to the bathroom alone.”

I clapped my hand over my mouth in surprise and stifled a laugh. “Really?” I asked. “You’re joking.”

Levi shook his head. The stoniness of his face seemed to be fading away, replaced by a youthful, almost boyish expression. “I’m serious,” he said, laughing. “She made me go with her every time. Every. Single. Time.”

My eyes widened. “Even when…”

“Yes,” Levi replied, nodding. “Even when she went number two.”

Our laughter floated up into the air and dissolved above our heads.

As we walked, I realized that Levi was actually quite nice. He was a good listener, his occasional input making our conversation even more enjoyable. His stories of past clients were interesting and funny.

It felt like we could be friends—a thought that made me smile.

We reached the house just as the sun began to rise higher in the sky. It was almost lunchtime now, and I was hungry and my legs were tired. We had gotten so absorbed in our conversation that I had completely not noticed how far we had walked; it had to have been a few miles at the very least.

“You hungry?” I asked, turning to glance at Levi as I ascended the porch steps. “I’ll make lunch.”

He looked surprised but quickly nodded, a small smile playing on his lips. “That would be nice, if you wouldn’t mind,” he said. He jogged up the stairs, but then stopped, and sat over on the bench by the door. “I’ll wait here.”

The young bodyguard’s actions made me laugh. “I’m inviting you inside,” I said, chuckling. “I know I said that I don’t want you inside, but I’m inviting you for lunch. You don’t need to wait outside.”

Levi hesitantly nodded and followed me inside. I prepared us a refreshing lunch of sandwiches and iced tea, and actually, as the sun warmed the house, we wound up eating our lunch on the front porch after all. Our conversation flowed easily, and by the time our plates were empty, I was beginning to feel as though I had made a new friend.

We finished eating, and then headed inside to clean up. Levi helped me with the dishes, and when they were finished, I walked him to the back door so he could head over to Clint’s cottage for the rest of the day.

“Thanks for talking to me, Levi,” I said, smiling as I opened the door for him.

Levi flashed me a warm smile. “Thanks for lunch,” he said.

With that, I waved goodbye to Levi and watched him leave.

Just as I turned back around to head inside, I saw Nathan standing there, an odd look on his face. I couldn't quite place what it was.

“Hey,” I said, closing the back door behind me. “I just went on a walk and had lunch with the bodyguard. He’s actually pretty nice. We should have him in for dinner sometime.”

“Oh.” Nathan scratched his head, avoiding my gaze. “Sure.”

Something was odd about the way that Nathan said that, though. His mannerisms seemed awkward, stiff. But he didn’t say anything else about it, and instead walked past me and into the living room.

I watched Nathan walk away, chewing my lip for a moment before I shrugged to myself and headed upstairs.

I felt oddly lighter, as if the walk had worked its magic. I smiled to myself. Maybe this escort thing wasn't so bad after all. Maybe I could get used to it.

But then, I caught sight of Nathan's face again in my mind. Why had he looked at me like that? Shrugging it off, I decided to let it be. I had made a friend today, and that was all that mattered.

And so, I climbed the stairs to my room, a smile on my face. I had survived another day, and for the time being, that was enough. The complications could wait for tomorrow.