BODYGUARD'S HEART.

THE UNEXPECTED JOB

Sera poured herself a cup of coffee, gazing out the window of her cozy living room. The morning sunlight cast a warm glow on the room, illuminating the comfortable furnishings and the few personal mementos she had collected over the years. Her friends, Leoba and Adriel, lounged on the couch, engaged in a heated debate about the latest tech gadgets.

"I'm telling you, the new X5000 processor is a game-changer," Leoba said, her eyes shining with excitement.

Adriel rolled his eyes. "You're just drinking the marketing Kool-Aid, Lee. It's not that revolutionary."

Sera smiled, familiar with their banter. She had known Leoba and Adriel since their military days, and they had been a team ever since. They had started their own security consulting firm, taking on various jobs that utilized their unique skill set. They worked primarily as bodyguards and sometimes moonlighted as package escorts. Package escorts meaning special types of packages like guns and people across states or countries sometimes, your typical everyday classified work only being done by freelance agents whose loyalties were not tied to any singular individual or country. Sera was tall, 5 '11, chocolate skinned and had a face that seemed as set in a full out serious look. Leoba was shorter around 5 '8, had skin like glowing milk with auburn hair and was always having a quip or tease for everyone around her while Adriel was golden chocolate skinned, tall 6' 02 and had beautiful black hair he kept short and in a curl. He was a mix between an asian mom and a black father.

The doorbell rang, breaking the morning calm. Sera's instincts kicked in; she wasn't expecting anyone. She approached the door cautiously, peering through the peephole.

A suited woman stood on the porch, holding a briefcase. Sera's gut told her this wasn't a social visit.

"Can I help you?" Sera asked, opening the door.

"Good morning, Sera. My name is Rachel. I represent a...private client. We've heard about your team's exceptional skills in security and protection."

Sera's curiosity was piqued. "What kind of job are we talking about?"

Rachel hesitated before answering, "We'll discuss the details with my boss. He's expecting you. It's a matter of utmost importance and discretion."

Sera exchanged a look with Leoba and Adriel, who had joined her at the door. This sounded like a job that could put their skills to the test.

"Let's hear what “your boss” has to say," Sera said, her mind racing with possibilities.

Rachel nodded. "I'll lead the way. Please, follow me."

Victoria and the others got in Victoria's car following behind Rachel. “Where do you think she's taking us and I do hope she isn't planning to kill us once we get there” Leoba jokingly said while resting her back feet on the other passenger seat. Victoria and Adriel were seated at the front with Victoria driving. Every time they went out in the same car, they made Victoria drive. It was like their little way of saying she was in charge of them. “Well, atleast i know you'll be the first to die” replied Adriel, “It's fun teasing you, you always get your frowny face on when you don't know what the job is about”. “We'll see how it goes, i think this neighbourhood belongs to the political class though, look how quiet it is”, Victoria said, that made Leoba sit up immediately, “You're right, you know, so which particular one has a child not toeing the line?” “I suppose we're about to find out”, Victoria replied as the cars slowly pulled into a big compound with a mansion sitting pretty at the end. It was a standard mansion but with a glass wall at the front, which meant anyone and everyone could see into the front rooms of the house. “That's not very smart, it's like you're just inviting me in now”, Adriel said whilst climbing out of the car.

Rachel turned around and looked at them as they came out and around to her side of her car. “Can you try to keep this location to yourselves once you leave? We are not quite in the habit of hiring freelance people for this but circumstances have led to this moment”, “sure, we can”, replied Adriel “but you still haven't told us the nature of the job, you just dragged us halfway across town to some rich man's house. We have a procedure we follow before taking a job, we only came with you because you seemed trustworthy”. “Everything will be explained shortly, just try to keep an open mind about things” Rachel said. “Let's go and see what the mystery is all about” Victoria told the others, then with that, Sera, Leoba, and Adriel followed Rachel to the house, wondering what lay ahead.

Rachel led them into the house and down a corridor to an office, knocked and walked in. Behind the desk sat an older man who looked a bit askew like he'd been through a wringer or something, Sera noticed. It was Senator Johnson, Sera realised, the senator was a man not used to crowds or people and was only seen during the campaign periods. He was known for being somewhat of a reclusive but he had a son that was always in some scandal or the other. “Senator, these are the people I told you about,” Rachel said. “Good morning, do not mind the appearance of the office too much, as you can see things have been a little hectic around here” He said while getting up to shake hands with them, “please, do come in and have a seat, Rachel says i can trust you to be discreet”. Adriel entered after Sera and Leoba and sat down without even returning the senators handshake “we were not told the details of the job, only to see you and make our judgements” he said. “Yes, it is imperative you understand exactly what you are getting into while helping me” senator Johnson replied while heading back to his seat and arranging the papers and taking a seat facing them. The office becomes quiet and they all face the senator, “please do tell us why we are here and why the secrecy” Leoba says, “My son has got himself into some predicament, you see, he holds in his possession a valuable piece of information that could literally get him killed, i have asked him multiple times to hand it over but he won't listen. He thinks i can't help him, i want to but there's very little i can do except he hands the information over. I want you to look after him until he decides to give it up himself, i can not very well force him to hand it over if he doesn't want to” Senator Johnson replied. “Let me understand this properly, you want me and my company to play babysitter to your son” Sera said incredulously, “not just him, him and his two best friends” senator Johnson replied, “oh, so it's not just one, its the whole crew, got it” Adriel said sarcastically. “What makes you think this is a job I will put my team at risk for? obviously, your son only needs to hand over whatever he has that is about to get him killed, why do you need a babysitter for him and his friends?”

Senator Johnson turned to look at Adriel and shook his head then said sardonically “ you've never met Christopher that is why you think it seems simple, wait till you meet him then make your judgements”. “Well, where is he? i would like to meet the job so i know what i am dealing with”, Sera said exasperatedly, to be honest she was bored with the whole conversation and wanted to meet th son and decide if this was a job she wanted to be involved with. The job sounded exactly the way Adriel put it, like a babysitting job and she did not want to babysit a grown man who didn't know better than to get himself in dangerous situations. The door to the office opened at that moment and sera turned to look back, so did leoba and adriel, a tall, lanky man about six foot, with curly blonde hair walked in wearing a suit shirt and trousers, the shirt had been unbuttoned to his chest region and he walked with like someone with purpose. Sera found herself drawn to looking over him once more, like she had to make sure he was okay, like she somehow knew him even when she knew that there was no way they had met previously before. “Christopher, you're here” senator johnson said, “this is my son Christopher, i was just telling them about you and the problem we are having. I have it on good authority that they can help”, “can they?, they look like a bunch of kids out of their depth, i told you not to hand over my problems to incompetent and inefficient people”. Sera's temper flared, well the papers were obviously right about him being an obnoxious prick with scandals under his belt. "Listen, kid, I've had enough of your attitude. We're here to help, not to babysit. If you can't handle that, then maybe we're not the right team for you." She turned to the senator “we came, we listened but your son obviously seems to have plans of his own that'll most likely get him killed but i suppose you can handle that”. Christopher's face reddened, he didn't know who she was but she most definitely was not allowed to talk to him like that. "How dare you! You're just some hired guns, for crying out loud. You don't know anything about me or my situation."

Sera stood up, her eyes locked on Christopher's. "I know enough to see that you're in denial. And I know enough to see that you need our help, whether you like it or not."

The room fell silent, the tension between Sera and Christopher palpable.

Christopher's jaw clenched, his eyes blazing with anger. "I don't need your help," he spat, before turning on his heel and walking out of the room.

The door slammed shut behind him, leaving Sera, Leoba, Adriel, and Senator Johnson in an uncomfortable silence.

Sera's eyes narrowed. This was going to be a long job, and she could feel a headache coming on.