Undercover Werewolf

Next Encounter

Rosa turned towards Palmer, eying him.

"What?" He asked, trying not to squirm in his chair. When they'd been kids, Rosa had always been able to get him to talk with that look.

"Don't you 'what' me. You like him, don't you?"

"Who, Bailey? Of course I like him. He was a nice guy back in school even when the other jocks made fun of his name. I'm just glad that he's still a nice guy. Makes it all the easier to be around him."

"That's not what I meant and you know it. You like him."

Palmer squirmed, trying not look at her. "Well... maybe. You have to admit that he's good-looking. Especially now."

"Palmer Euan Russell."

Palmer winced when he heard her. "Really, Rosy? My middle name?"

"You're evading the question."

"Fine! Yes, I like him. Happy now?"

"Yes, I am. Though, you know, if anything happens between you both, you'll have to keep it discreet. People look down on employee and employer relationships."

"Good thing I'm not his employer then. You are."

"He's your bodyguard, Palmer. They won't care who is technically his employer."

Palmer sighed, looking at her. "What makes you think anything will happen? I'm pretty sure he's not gay."

"Sweetie, I saw how you two were looking at each other. If he's not gay or bisexual, I'll eat my briefcase." Rosa replied, gaining a snort of amusement from him.

"Even if he is, it's not a guarantee that he likes me, Rosy."

"Well, you won't know until you talk to him. You should ask him out. You've never had issues with talking, don't let this be the first time."

"You just said we'd need to be discreet if anything happened between us!"

"You'll need to but that doesn't mean you shouldn't go for it."

Palmer groaned, looking over at her. "Are you trying to live through me, Rosy? Because it seems like you are."

"Well... perhaps a little bit. It's been so long since Aiden left after all."

"She'll come back to you, Rosy. She's just trying to understand you better, give her some time."

"Yeah, well, if she has questions about witches, I wish she'd just ask me instead of running around the world to find out."

Palmer reached over to pat her hand. "That's not how she works and you know it. Aiden has always liked to do her own research, not rely on anyone."

"Yeah, yeah." She waved her hand at him. "Enough of this romance talk. Have you decided if you'll do that movie?"

"What, the vampire one? I haven't read through the sample yet."

"Well, get reading then. And make sure you stay safe. Lewys is still out there after all."

"Yes, I might have heard something about that." Palmer replied drily.

"Smartass. Why did I choose to be your agent?"

"Because you love and adore me and want the very best for me. Plus, you're my cousin."

Bailey walked back to his house, thinking back on the meeting. It had been nice to see Palmer again, though he hadn't expected to see him. He hadn't even been expecting to hear that his job would include him.

Rosa had seemed nice as well, not that he was surprised. Everyone he knew had told him that she was a nice person and an even better boss. The only thing that really threw him off guard was the reveal of Palmer's stalker. Lewys Romero seemed to be a typical celebrity stalker though something bothered him. The man had escalated pretty quickly from admiration of Palmer to wanting him dead, especially in three years. What had changed?

As he let himself into his apartment, he felt admiration for Palmer. He had had no idea that he'd been dealing with a stalker during his career. The man always appeared calm and collected during his public appearances, always with a cheerful smile, as if he was genuinely happy to be there. It seemed to be a rare quality these days.

"Hey, little bro, have a nice day?"

Bailey jumped when he heard the voice, leaning against his door. "Geez, Saffi, give me a warning next time you decide to drop in.

Sofia gave him a look from the stove she was standing at, flipping a couple pieces of chicken. "We made plans, remember? It's not my fault that your memory sucks. And stop calling me Saffi."

"Too grown up for that nickname?" He asked, walking inside to set the folder down on the counter. "You liked it last week."

"Well, this week I don't."

"Would this be because of a certain werewolf you're dating?"

"Drop it, pipsqueak." Sofia growled, sprinkling garlic over the chicken as it cooked.

"Why should I? It's fun to tease you." Bailey replied, a playful smirk forming on his lips. "Besides, I'm not a pipsqueak anymore, Saffi." When she still didn't answer him, the smirk faded away and he looked at her, seeing how tense she was. "Seriously, though, what's wrong? You're not usually like this."

Sofia stood still before she sighed, turning around. A strand of curly blond hair streaked with green fell over her eyes and she blew it away. "Mom keeps bugging me about Anthony. She wants me to marry him and have werewolf grandchildren."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"I don't want to have kids, you know this. I don't even want to get married. That's what Sylvia wants."

"Yes, but Sylvia is currently dating a vampire. They're not known for marrying werewolves."

"Yeah, well, for my sake, I hope they do get married. Mom will have someone else to fuss over then." Sofia muttered, turning around to flip the chicken again.

Bailey eyed her for a moment. He'd always had suspicions about Sofia but had never asked her. Now would be a good time though, with them being alone. "So, Saffi, you don't want to get married. Does that mean you're not ready for that yet or...?"

Sofia tensed up again before she turned the stove off, taking a couple plates to place the chicken on. He didn't think she would answer him as she turned around to place the plates on the table but then she turned to look at him. "You've always been too perceptive, Bailey. Even as a kid."

"That doesn't answer my question." He replied, getting silverware and walking over to the table.

"I know." She huffed, sitting down. "But I'm guessing you already know the answer."

He thought about his answer, pulling out a chair to sit down before he replied to her. "You're aromantic."

"Yes." She replied, sitting down across from them.

They both ate in silence for a moment before Bailey looked over at her. "Does anyone else know?"

"Anthony does. He's pretty sure he's aromantic as well."

"No one else?"

"Sylvia might know."

"She's your twin, I'd be surprised if she doesn't know."

Sofia reached over to poke him. "You always were jealous of us. Anyways, what's that folder you brought in?"

"Oh, that has my contract in it as well as..." Bailey trailed off, unsure of if he should continue or not. But this was Sofia. She was the sister he always confided in. "Promise you won't tell anyone? I don't think this is supposed to be public."

"I promise. I won't even tell Sylvia."

He sighed, leaning against the table. "Palmer has a stalker. Recently he's sent him a death threat so I'm being hired as his bodyguard."

Sofia stared at him for a moment. "I see. Well, cheer up, Bay. If you accept this job, that stalker won't have a chance. You're one of the best bodyguards out there. Even Anthony says so."

"Because I'm a werewolf." he replied morosely. "I have advantages that human bodyguards don't."

"Stop feeling sorry yourself. Supernatural bodyguards are so popular specifically for those advantages. Now show me your contract. This Cervantes woman had better know just how special you are."

Bailey woke up at six am the next morning, slapping his alarm clock to shut it off as he resisted the urge to go back to sleep. He'd never been one for early mornings even as a child, always preferring to sleep in if he could. As he'd gotten older, the benefits of getting up early outweighed the benefits of sleeping in but he was always tempted.

Finally he pushed himself out of bed, padding into the bathroom to splash cold water on his face to help wake himself up. Peering into the mirror, he got his razor out to shave off the morning stubble, leaving his jaw and chin smoother before he took his clothes off to get into the shower.

Once the bathroom was foggy and warmed up enough to keep him warm, he got out and dried off, hanging up his towel to dry before he went back to his bedroom to get dressed. Picking out a black tank top, he paired it with a pair of black pants, pulling on socks and shoes.

Grabbing his jacket, he slipped it on, grabbing his phone and keys to lock the door to his house before he left. He'd walked to Cervantes Industries yesterday just so he'd know where it was but today, he felt like riding his motorcycle there.

Slipping the folder with his contract inside it into one of the bags, he put on his helmet. He straddled the leather seat, starting the bike before pulling out of his parking spot and driving down the street towards his favorite bakery. Ten minutes later, he left the bakery with a couple cinnamon rolls and drove to Cervantes to find a parking spot in the employees' parking lot.

He shut off the bike, taking off his helmet to take a bite of one of the cinnamon rolls just in time to see Palmer getting out of his car to walk over to him. "Hey, Bailey! Nice motorcycle. It's a Splendor, isn't it?"

Bailey wiped his mouth, feeling impressed. "Yeah, it is. I'm surprised you recognize it; most people don't."

Palmer shrugged. "Well, I like motorcycles. Don't think I'd ever own one myself though."

"Cinnamon roll?" Unable to think of anything to say to that, Bailey offered the second roll to him, holding out the container.

Palmer groaned playfully. "Sonja's? You found my weakness, Bailey, I love Sonja's Bakery." He replied, taking the container to eat the other cinnamon roll, licking the icing from his fingers when he finished.

Watching him, Bailey swallowed and looked away to finish his own cinnamon roll before getting off the motorcycle and taking the folder out of the bag he'd placed it in. "Um... shall we go in? I'm sure Ms.- Rosa is expecting us."

Palmer nudged him with his shoulder. "Can't wait to get away from me, eh? Too bad you can't. As my bodyguard, you're going to be with me a lot."

Oh, don't I know it. Bailey bit his lip, following Palmer inside Cervantes. "Well, that's usually how it is."

"How long have you been a bodyguard anyways?" Palmer asked, walking around the elevator to a set of stairs that Bailey hadn't seen, starting to climb them.

"Since I was twenty-one."

"Twenty-one? Isn't that kind of young?"

"Well, yeah, but I haven't been with many people, just Maci. I was recruited after one of my competitions. Someone who worked with Maci and her father saw me and was impressed enough to tell them about me. They hired me and that was that. They didn't have any need of me after Macis' stalker was captured but they made sure I was taken care of. But I'm not really one to just sit around so I got another job."

"As my bodyguard."

"As your bodyguard."

Palmer paused on the landing, turning to him. "Seems kind of odd, doesn't it?"

Bailey frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I was a jock in school while you were the kid everyone picked on. Now, you're my bodyguard. It's like the plot of one of my movies."

"Right, Stalkers' Obsession."

Palmer smiled. "You've seen it?"

Bailey felt his face turn red. "One of my sisters made me watch it with her."

"Ah. Let me guess, Sylvia?"

"Yeah, she's always had a soft spot for you."

"Ah. It's too bad I don't like women."

"Yes, I'm sure every woman was disappointed the day you announced you were gay." Bailey replied with a chuckle.

"Well, of course they were. Don't you know that I'm the amazing Palmer Russell?" Palmer teased.

"You mean the amazing Palmer Eua-"

"Shush!" Palmer reached over to cover his mouth. "No one shall ever say my middle name, Bailey."

Bailey pulled away, feeling his cheeks flush at the touch. "At least you weren't named Bailey Aaron."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Think about it. Bailey is generally considered a female name. What feminine name sounds like Aaron?"

"Ah, right." Palmer looked sheepish. "To be fair, I knew you were male all through school."

Bailey snorted. "So did the other jocks but that didn't stop them from making fun of me. It was even worse once they found out my middle name."

Palmer was about to say something when the door to the landing opened and a young woman walked through, pausing briefly before walking between them with a quiet "excuse me".

Bailey glanced at him, his eyes widening when he saw the clock behind him. "Shoot, I'll be late."

"Wait a minute," A hand on his arm made him pause, turning to meet Palmers' gaze. "Did you... did you review everything last night?"

Review-? Comprehension dawned on him. "Oh, you mean about Lewys? Yeah, I read up on it before I went to bed. Why?"

"Well, no reason. Just want to make sure you won't be underestimating him if you ever meet him. He can look perfectly harmless when he wants to."

"Don't worry, I can handle it." Bailey told him. "I know about stalkers, remember? And not just because-" Realizing what he'd been about to say, he shut up, looking away from Palmer.

"'Not just because'...?" Palmer sounded confused, his voice trailing off as he looked at Bailey before comprehension showed in his eyes. "You were stalked too."

Bailey clenched his jaw, looking back at him. "My ex. He couldn't get over the fact that I broke up with him and thought that following me and constantly asking me out again would get me to come back to him."

"Why did you break up with him?"

"Well, there were various reasons... Remember that registration law that was brought up a couple years ago?"

"Yeah, the one that would force every supernatural to register on a list."

"Yeah. He supported it and I didn't. He also said that supernaturals should register because w- they are less than human." Bailey replied.

"What happened to him?" Palmer asked carefully.

"Oh, he tried attacking me after I told him to go to hell. Had to break his nose before he realized I meant it. Got a restraining order on him the next day."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. You didn't deserve it."

"No, but now I have a certain understanding about stalkers and stalkees so I suppose I'm grateful in a way." Bailey replied carefully. "I think we've pushed our luck enough though. Let's get in there before Rosa sends a search party out for us."

"Rosa won't care if we're late."

"You mean she won't care if you're late, right?" Bailey replied with a chuckle. "You're her client. I'm just some stranger to her."

"She's also my cousin. Plus, she likes you." Palmer admitted.

"She- what? She's your cousin? And what do you mean she likes me?"

"I talked to her about you a lot as we were growing up."

Bailey blinked, unsure of how to take that. "Um, why would you talk to her about me?"

"Oh, well, I thought you were cute when we were younger. That was back before I knew I was gay though so I talked to Rosa about it. She's the one who helped me come to terms with being gay."

Palmer had thought he was cute? He felt like his head was spinning at the idea. If someone had ever told him that when he was in school, he'd have thought they were crazy. But now? If it had been anyone but Palmer who'd told him that, he'd still think they were crazy.

"-ley? Hey, Bailey, did I break you?"

He grew conscious of a hand waving in front of his face, drawing him out of his thoughts. "Huh? Oh, sorry, just... processing."

"Processing? I thought you were a bodyguard not a computer." Palmer teased him.

Bailey felt his face flush at the teasing words but was saved by the door opening again. This time it was Rosa who stood in the doorway.

She eyed them both, hands on her hips. "Are you two done flirting with each other yet? If so, get out of the stairwell and come talk to me."

Palmer turned just as red, stepping away from Bailey to walk around him. "Sorry, Rosy, I'll stop distracting him."

"That would be quite helpful. Flirt on your own time not mine. Let's go, you two. Bailey, stop staring and follow us."

Bailey blinked, nodding his head as he followed behind them both as Rosa led them to a different room and sat behind the large desk against one wall.

"Please, sit." She motioned to the chairs in front of the desk.

"Oh, great. She's President Cervantes today." Palmer groaned, sitting down in one chair as Bailey sat in the chair beside him.

Rosa ignored him. "Bailey, did you look over everything I gave you yesterday?"

"I did." He replied, handing the folder to her.

She looked at him in surprise. "You didn't have to return everything. The information on Lewys was just copies."

"Oh, I know. That's all at my house. This is just the contract."

"I see." She replied, opening the folder to look at the contract, picking up a pen to sign her name where it was required. "Did you have any questions about it?"

"No, I didn't." Bailey answered.

Palmer leaned forward to read the contract as she flipped through the pages. "What, no relationship clause? No rules about fraternizing with the cute actor?"

Rosa smirked, looking at him. "It's not too late to put one in, Palmer. Would you like me to do so?"

"What? No way, I want him to fraternize with me."

Bailey groaned, covering his face with his hands. "What did I get myself into here?"

"A friendship with me, of course." Palmer reached over to tug his hands down, sticking his lower lip out in a pout. "Don't you want to be my friend, Bailey?"

Bailey couldn't resist the look he was receiving, looking back towards Rosa. "Yeah, yeah, I'll be your friend." He murmured.

"Good. Now that that's covered." Rosa put up the contract and handed Bailey another sheet of paper. "This is Palmer's schedule for the month. I expect you to be there with him for all his events, no matter how small they may seem."

"Well, of course." He sat up straighter in the chair, taking the schedule to look it over. "Will it just be me or will there be others?"

"For the smaller events it'll be you and one security officer. He or she will be watching the crowd while you watch Palmer. For bigger events you'll have a team of twelve security officers as well as another bodyguard to help you watch him. Palmer can be... slippery."

"She's right. I'm always trying to get away from my bodyguards." Palmer explained cheerfully. "Though, with you? I might be trying to get closer to you not further."

"Please stop flirting with Bailey while we're in the office." Rosa told him calmly. "At least wait until you're out of the building."

"You're no fun. Once we're at the press conference, I won't have time."

"Press conference?" Bailey scanned the schedule he held. "There's nothing for today on the schedule."

"Quite right." Rosa smiled at him. "It's not on the schedule because we're introducing you to the press."

"Why?"

"So no one tries and guesses who you are. The last thing I want is for the both of you to be splashed across every newspaper with a headline guessing that he's your newest fling."

Palmer looked over at Bailey, studying him. "I wouldn't be adverse to that though."

"Do I have to turn a hose on you, Palmer? Leave the poor guy alone. He looks like he's going to explode."

Bailey felt his face turn red, though he knew she was right. He felt like he'd explode if Palmer kept it up. Or even worse, he'd flirt back.

"Oh, alright. I'll behave." Palmer groaned playfully. "Tell me more about this press conference. How long is it? How many people will be there?"

"It'll be thirty minutes, just long enough for the press to ask a few questions. It'll be you, Bailey and I as well as members of Sita News and the Sita Star."

"Ugh, the Star? They've never liked me."

"Probably because you called their lead reporter... How did you phrase it. Oh right, 'a money-grubbing s*x-chasing alcoholic'."

"Well, he was." Palmer grumbled. "He was drunk when he chased me down in that bar. And he kept groping me. I wasn't going to just stand there and take it."

Rosa nodded her head. "You're right, you shouldn't have to take that kind of behavior. But you are at fault for ditching your guard, they could have kept him away from you."

"It is what we're here for." Bailey told him. He'd heard about the incident with the Star reporter. Palmer had been described as a violent drunk for days until another scandal - a CEO of some famous company having an affair with their secretary - came along.

"Are you going to protect me on my next trip to a bar?" Palmer asked him, smiling coyly.

"No, because there will be no more trips to bars, Palmer." Rosa told them both. "Not for a while anyways. You'll be busy enough."

"Why's that?"

"Because I got you a role in The Sygrid Chronicles."

"Wait, seriously? What role?"

"Karnas, the evil wizard."

"What's The Sygrid Chronicles?" Bailey asked, feeling confused.

Rosa and Palmer stared at him before Palmer spoke up. "You don't know about The Sygrid Chronicles?"

He shrugged. "I don't really watch TV."

"The Sygrid Chronicles is about this powerful witch named Sygrid. Everyone wants her for either her looks or her powers." Rosa explained. "But-"

"But she's not a nice person." Palmer cut her off. "Like, she's mean to anyone she comes across. Except animals. She loves animals and will help them out. Humans though... She doesn't like them."

"And people like that?"

"Well, yeah. Because you see that she has the potential to be a nice person but she's not. She doesn't even have a reason to be mean, no tragic backstory or anything. She's just mean. And witty, though it's at the expense of others. It's something different, something people don't really see often."

"So, who's Karnas?"

"He's a powerful wizard, except he's in league with the villain Rhovius. And Karnas is meant to be the complete opposite of Sygrid. He's ugly but he's charming and sweet and very helpful until he gets what he wants."

Bailey shook his head. "I see. If it's all the same, I don't think I'll be watching the show."

Palmer grinned. "That's alright, you'll see plenty when I go to film my role. Karnas has a pretty big role from what I hear."

"Let's get back to the press conference." Rosa told them both, drawing their attention back to her. "Bailey, don't take this the wrong way but do you have clothes that aren't in shades of grey or black?"

Bailey grimaced, realizing he hadn't told her about his color blindness.

"He has red-green color blindness." Palmer told her instead

"I didn't think you knew." He admitted, looking over at the other man.

"I may have been quiet back in school but I paid attention." Palmer replied. "Especially to you. I thought you were cute, remember?"