Protecting the Presidents' Daughter

Two

The remaining of the dinner went by normally, her father sharing various stories that he shared at nearly every dinner party that he hosted in the past. Gwen quietly kept to herself and ate her food, counting down the minutes in her head that she would be able to leave. 

She was also wondering why she had been invited in the first place, it hadn't even seemed if her father had realized that she had come. He rarely ever even looked down towards her end of the table and she was sitting next to his prodigal son.

                  Eric kept his attention mostly to his long-time girlfriend, Emma who seemed to be equally as nervous to be here as well. The faces at the table were only vaguely familiar to Gwen, not enough to converse with and no one felt inclined to socialize with her. 

Once her father announced that the dinner party would be carried over to the cocktail room Gwen suddenly realized the type of event, she had managed to get herself tied up in. This event looked as though it was a going to be a party in which at some point she would have to socialize.

                  While moving towards the cocktail room Gwen ran into her longtime friend, Laurel Fitzpatrick socializing with a group of younger girls. She could tell by how all the girls hanging around her that whatever she was telling them was equally as enthralling as she was. 

Laurel was a tall skinny girl who had skin so pale it was nearly transparent, making her look like a porcelain doll. He deep red hair was a color you could only obtain from genetics; no bottle could replicate. Her skin was covered in freckles that had always seemed to become more prevalent after a day in the sun.

                  Laurel and Gwen had met each other when they were both six years old and their mothers forced them into the same dance class. Neither of the girls were interested in dancing, but they both quickly bonded and had been inseparable ever since. 

Over the years they had figured out the ins and outs of each other and it had led them to the point where both had known it was only each other that they could truly depend on.

                  Gwen walked up to her friend, calling out her name in excitement. Laurel immediately stopped her conversation and turned towards Gwen, a smile lighting her face up like the Fourth of July.

                  "Oh my God! I can't deal!" Laurel shouted, her voice louder than the reasonable chatter in the room. She nearly skipped over to Gwen, her long black sequin dress sparkling in the light. The two girls hugged tightly before pulling away from each other, "I never thought I would actually see you here."

                  "I didn't think you'd come to something like this without me being here." Gwen responded with a smile. Laurel led them away to a corner for more privacy.

                  "Well, my parents insisted, you know they love your father." Laurel said sarcastically, by love she meant, they work for him.

                  "Well, I am here because I was asked to be here for once." Gwen said with a smile, knowing Laurel had already known the full story.

                  "And now you see why. You are now the daughter of the president of the United States of America." Laurel teased.

                  "He won't win. Not in this lifetime." Gwen said and Evelyn let out a light chuckle.

"As chaotic as this night has been, I am glad I came. I met someone." Laurel said, her cat like grin slowly spreading across her face. 

"Who?" Gwen asked, both eyebrows raised in shock. Laurel has never been the type to date. She was always very content in herself, focusing only on work and living life as the best version of herself. It was far and few between when she entertained a man and whenever she did, they were always extraordinary.

Laurel raised her eyebrows and gave Gwen a slow grin. "I will tell you later." 

Gwen rolled her eyes, "You're going to make me wait?" Gwen was always more of an instant gratification type of person; without an answer the thought would circle her mind for the rest of the night. 

"People are watching." Laurel said, "this place is crawling with press. We can go get lunch tomorrow after my meeting." 

Gwen still wasn't satisfied but didn't get much more to say before her brother walked up to the pair with a small grin. "Seeing you both together gossiping like schoolgirls, some things never change." Eric said, opening his arms to give Laurel a hug, "It's good to see you, Laurel." 

Laurel smiled, hugging him back, they were nearly the same height as Laurel gave him a small peck on the cheek. 

"Hello, President Junior." Laurel said, causing Eric to roll his eyes. 

"Not likely." Eric said, "But it is a good day."

Gwen knew Eric was over the moon about his new promotion. He had spent his entire life planning to take over the business, busting his ass to make sure that out of all the amazing people his father knew, he was the best. 

All the hard work paid off; Eric had finally gotten what he had wanted. It was amazing to see this much joy on her brothers face but she felt a minor pang of jealously at his joy. She had been spending years struggling, creating works not even sure if they would make her enough money to get through the month. 

It often felt like the more she worked to perfect her craft, the less money she ended up making. Even coming here today required her to jump for than a few hoops. Luckily, her mother was a strong supporter and had been helping her over time. While she wasn't a billionaire, she was well off, well off enough that she could support her starving artist daughter. 

"Congrats on the promotion." Laurel said, "Drinks are on you forever, right?" 

"Just charge it to the tab." Eric poked back. 

Gwen wanted to leave the conversation as it turned further into boring polite banter. If it was one thing Gwen hated more was polite banter. None of the words ever felt genuine to her, even when it was coming from two of the people, she was most close to in life. 

Straying away, Gwen walked upstairs. Though they were closed off with ribbon, she stepped through, glancing back at one of the security guards near the base. The guard only nodded his head politely at her as she went up. 

The sound of the music and loud chatter faded out the further from the foyer she got. Gwen made her way down the long hallway and opened the door to what used to be her bedroom. The room was still the same, pink Victorian wallpaper, large gaudy furniture that she had picked out at the age of seven. 

Her favorite part was the large French doors that opened to the back of the house, a patio equipped with seating gave a view of the New York hills, changing colors by season. Gwen couldn't count how many times she had painted it, but it was her start. Whenever she tried to free paint and let herself get carried away, this was always the picture she circled back to. 

Gwen opened the doors and stepped out, the party remained indoors, keeping it still peaceful in the yard. Gwen walked to the edge and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. As privileged as it sounded, she missed it. 

The grind for the past few years had caused Gwen to gain an enormous amount of strength and character. If she wasn't working, she was giving back to her community now that she had been able to get off her high horse and meet people. Through that time, she began to feel more and more alone when with her friends and family. 

All of their complaints seemed so small, jokes so stale, and charisma so fake. She sighed, reeling in her rampant thoughts. 

I shouldn't have come here... Gwen thought. 

"Scorpio, all is clear." Gwen heard a deep voice from behind her say. She jumped and spun around quickly, shocked to see one of the guards in the doorway of the French doors. 

"Jesus Christ," Gwen exclaimed, "You scared me." 

The man laughed, stepping into the balcony. Gwen recognized him immediately as the guard she had seen when she had arrived at the house, waiting for her sister. As his face came into view Gwen tried her hardest not to swoon, he was even more handsome in person. 

"My apologizes, Mrs. Titus." he said smoothly. 

"You can call me Gwen." she said, embarrassed to say that to a temporary, by the hour security guard. 

"My apologies m, Gwen." He said, "We just got notification that one of the upstairs doors were open and I had to make sure everything is alright." 

"It's alright." Gwen said, "You're just doing your job and I'm not supposed to be up here anyway." 

"It's fine, it's your home, I'll be outside the room door." He said before turning. 

"Why the room door? Are you guarding my room?" Gwen asked.

"Secret service, Mrs. Titus, when a candidate runs, they're entitled to protection." He said. 

"Gwen."

"Pardon?" He asked. 

"You keep calling me Mrs. Titus, I'm not my step-mom." Gwen chuckled softly. 

The man only smiled before stepping away, fading away into the darkness of the room before Gwen could ever catch his name.