Chapter one
(Lily)
Have you ever felt like you are falling into a dark abyss with no end in sight? That was exactly how I felt in that moment.
The sound of organ music filtering through the large cathedral fueled the desperation that threatened to spill out of me. The building reminded me of the set of every horror movie I’d ever watched- stained large windows, old squeaky pews and sand-brown walls that had seen better days.
But it wasn’t the prospect of getting gutted like a character in those horror movies that made my stomach turn unpleasantly. It was the thought of starting over and going for job interviews that were mostly never in my favors.
“A penny for your thoughts,” someone whispered beside me.
I sighed, turning to meet my sister’s amused face. “I hate funerals, Rose. You know that.”
“Then why the hell are we here?” she said a little too loud, earning more than a few disgruntled glares.
“Because she was my client. That’s why. And if I’m lucky enough, I can make one or two valuable connections and maybe get hired by someone in the congress man’s circle.”
“Yeah. But is that what you want? To get hired by yet another arrogant and narcissistic politician who will confine you to being his old mother’s caregiver.”
I shook my head. “Bodyguard.”
“Yeah. Right.”
I sighed and fixed my eyes towards the picture of the late old woman until little dots danced in my vision. Rose was right. The past six months have been one hell of a rollercoaster ride and I hated how I felt. When I made the decision to pursue a career in my line of business, I hadn’t really given much thoughts to gender discrimination as a factor.
Honestly, I hadn’t even given much thought to anything outside the fact that I wanted to prove that bastard wrong. Even in that moment, thinking about him made me want to punch something. Anything.
“Are you okay?” This time, Rose’s voice was laced with concern.
“I’m fine. I just don’t think I can bear another second of this organ music,” I muttered under my breath.
“It’s the only reason I agreed to come with you.”
At that, my lips lifted in a faint smile. “Thanks sis.”
“You’re welcome. Now, imagine you’re in a slasher movie and let’s get through this torturous service so you can find yourself a new client.”
“I mean… that, I can manage.”
“Slasher or Poltergeist?”
I rolled my eyes. “Dear God, not this argument again, Rose. Both are great.”
She had a playful grin on her face. “But?”
“Add church with the creepy organ music to Poltergeist, and you get a good scare. Keeps your blood pumping.”
She tipped her head to the side and shrugged.
I smiled as she squeezed my hand reassuringly and we both silently endured the rest of the service.
After what seemed to be the longest two hours of my life, people began to file out of the large cathedral to the cemetery behind. I remained in my seat until Rose and I were the only people left in the church then we waddled out and stood behind the large crowd.
“How’s mom and dad?” I asked, breaking the silence.
“Still the same goofy, annoying couple. The other day, dad came home with a nice dress for mom and asked her out to dinner. It didn’t end well.”
I snickered. “Did I miss something or has mom suddenly grown averse to romantic gestures?”
“Dad got her a dress two sizes smaller.”
“Oops. That must have been really dramatic.”
“Oh, it was. Mom went off badly, talking about how dad has stopped paying attention to her and how his actions could be interpreted to mean he was body shaming her. Then dad gave a lecture about how she didn’t even appreciate the thought, and then she went, how would I when you bought me a dress I cannot fit into. It was chaotic,” Rose recounted, her face lit with a huge smile.
A sudden wave of loss washed over me. I missed my family. We used to be a really close-knit, traditional family from a small Bohemian town in California. But everything went to s**t when I announced my intention to enlist into the army after my parents had struggled to put me through business school. And when the army didn’t work out, I did the next best thing despite my parent’s disapproval.
They didn’t quite disown me or send me away. It just sort of happened that my decision created a gap that I didn’t know how to bridge or overcome between us and it became really awkward to be around them. When the opportunity to take professionally pursue a career as a bodyguard opened up, I travelled to Los Angeles and just stopped going home altogether.
They’d call every now and then and send word through my sister. But I didn’t need a soothsayer to tell me that things would never remain the same again.
“Oh My God!” Rose suddenly exclaimed, yanking me out of my temporary reverie.
I followed her gaze towards the back of the church where an entourage of sleek black cars had pulled up and parked. I was about to ask her why she exclaimed when I saw the reason for her exclamation.
The sight of him knocked the breath out of me as he gently pulled his mom by hand and approached the funeral crowd. He had on a black suit that clung to his body, outlining his built frame. He ran his hand through his hair as one of the men ushered his mom to a seat.
He was flanked on both sides by men who looked ready to pounce on anyone who as much as stared at him the wrong way. My chest tightened painfully as memories of that night assaulted my senses.
I considered turning around and walking away but it was too late as his eyes met mine across the distance. His face remained expressionless, but I could tell that he’d seen me. His eyes remained trained on me as he began to walk in my direction.
I remained rooted to the spot weighing my options. I could make a run for it, but that would be too dramatic. Or I could stay and talk to him. But what would I say?
Just when he was a few feet away, a man stepped in front of him, obscuring his sight. That was all the nudge I needed as I pulled my sister frantically with me.
“We have to leave, Rose.”
“But sis, your networking…client—”
“I don’t give a f**k about any of those. We have to leave. Now!”
As I walked away from him, a thousand questions raced through my mind.
“Why now? Why him? And why the f**k was my heart racing?”
