Hey Mr. Kidnapper

(Chapter 16)

“Oh, did I introduce you? This is Cameron. He’s one of the guys I hired seize your kidnapper.”

I smiled at him, but I was distracted.

“Do you know who kidnapped me?” I asked. My throat closed up, and I took another sip of my water. “Did you find out who it was?”

“No,” Dad said, looking concerned. I relaxed. “We did get some footage of him, but unfortunately it was too blurry, and his back was turned to the camera. Did you see who it was?”

“No,” I said, trying to sound stricken. “Sorry.” I made eye contact with Cameron, and he stared at me, with his lucid green eyes. I think he knew.

I miss you, Josh. I really do.

“I really think you should get a bodyguard,” my Dad said, breaking through my reverie. “After what happened…before, the guys were all amateurs. This time…”

I wanted to smile, but it would’ve given it away. Josh, professional?

Josh. Josh…

 “Hey, Cameron,” I said, looking over my Dad’s shoulder, to the boy looking extremely uncomfortable. “You said you owed me, right? Well, do you want to be my bodyguard?”

He looked surprised. “I…oh…okay.”

“There you go, Dad. Sorted.”

When Dad, and my new bodyguard left the room, and I was alone, the feelings I’d been trying to repress came out, and the tears starting falling. I squeezed my chest, trying to stop the painful throbbing of my heart.

Josh.

***

Two Years Later

***

(London)

I took out the poster I’d bought, and slowly, stuck down the four corners with blue-tak. I looked back, and smiled. Josh smiled back at me.

Josh, or Jack as he was now known in the entertainment industry, was practically the fastest-rising actor in the history of Hollywood. His first movie, Dark Abyss, was critically acclaimed, even though horror movies were normally looked down upon by the public. Because, you know, they were scary and violent.

“London?” Cam asked, from my dorm door. “How are you settling in?”

I rolled my eyes. It was completely typical for my bodyguard to worry about me. He was the worrying kind of guy. Cold and professional at times, but he was a good at heart.

“I’m fine, Cam, calm down.”

He eyed my poster of Josh.

“What happened to your old Chris Pine poster?”

I smiled.

“I threw it away. It was time.”

Cam was one of the guys who’d beaten me up, two years ago, in the warehouse. I didn’t blame him, at all. It’d been his job. He was really sweet afterwards, visiting me in hospital every day, with flowers. He never stopped worrying, never really seemed to leave me, and now he was my bodyguard.

I don’t know if he made the connection between the boy who’d kidnapped me, and the movie star’s poster. Even if he did, he wouldn’t rat Josh out. I trusted Cam.

“What do you have tomorrow?” he asked, sitting himself down on my bed.

“English literature in the morning, Journalism in the afternoon.”