Camila opened her mouth to thank the bodyguard but just at that moment, her friends came looking for her.
"Camila!"
The bodyguard had stepped back, putting respectable distance between them and Camila turned to Normani who was first to get to her. "Hey."
Normani gave the bodyguard a polite smile before turning back to Camila with questions in her eyes. "We were wondering where you went and Ally got worried so we came out to look for you."
"Sorry, I came out to talk to her," Camila replied, jerking her head at the bodyguard.
"She your friend?"
"Yeah, I'm her friend," Lauren answers quickly, moving forward to wave a hello to Camila's friends.
At this point, Lauren's friend had come out looking for Lauren too and they were introduced. So, it became a group of six, Camila, Normani, Dinah and Ally, with the addition of Lauren and Lucy. Lauren explained that she was from Seoul too when they asked about her and so was Lucy who happened to be on a job assignment here in Singapore. Meanwhile, Camila remained silent, privately unhappy about how things had turned out. If her friends noticed anything, they didn't mention it. Instead, they chatted and laughed merrily with Lauren and Lucy for the next hour till Lauren and Lucy bade them goodbye.
Back in their hotel room, Ally washed up and fell asleep as soon as she crawled under the sheets but Camila stayed awake. It was a dilemma for her; a stalemate. Letting her friends know that Lauren was really the bodyguard hired by her father was not something she wished to do, but neither did she want her friends to tell Lauren too much, thinking the bodyguard was her friend. It wouldn't have been a problem she had to worry about if Lauren hadn't accepted Dinah's invitation to go out shopping with them the next afternoon. But it was a problem now and she had to decide what to do about it.
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Camila woke up feeling a little less enthusiastic about the day ahead. She had decided to come clean with her friends. It was time to stop the lies. But the trouble with her decision was putting it into action. Admitting the truth was never easy.
Come to Room 3981. ASAP.
The pop up on her phone displayed the message from the bodyguard. There it was again. The cold instruction, ordering her about when she was the employer. Nevertheless, she wanted to tell the bodyguard about her decision, so she got out of bed and got ready to go out.
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The bodyguard opened the door and welcomed her. She entered, looking around the smaller room. There was no one else in it.
"There's no one else here. I came back alone," the bodyguard said in a tone with a mocking edge.
It riled Camila. "It's none of my business who you spend the night with but you're in my father's employment and you're on duty."
The bodyguard cocked her head to the left. "You seem angry with me but I haven't done anything that warrants it."
Ludicrous. This bodyguard was ludicrous. "There's no reason for me to like you, much less welcome you."
"I agree. But you've been trying to get rid of me from the beginning. Maybe you don't like having a bodyguard around you, but don't you think you're taking it out on the wrong person?"
Camila bristled. "I did not get out of bed and come all the way down here to get scolded by an arrogant bodyguard."
A hand grabbed her wrist and prevented her from leaving the room. "We need to talk about what we tell your friends about us."
Shaking her hand hard didn't work. "Get your hand off," Camila minced out each word with a hostile glare.
The bodyguard released her wrist but moved swiftly around her to the door, obstructing the only way out. "We need to talk about it now that your friends have met me. Lucy doesn't know about my job either so we really have to get our story right."
"I've decided to tell my friends the truth. I don't want to lie to them."
"It's not to your advantage."
Irritation boils in her blood. "My life isn't in danger, okay. I don't need a bodyguard. I don't know why my father insists on hiring one but there's nothing I can do about it; he won't listen to me. So just stay out of the way. I don't want to see you at all."
"Then you shouldn't have come to me last night. Your friends would never have met me if not for that."
"You're saying it's my fault?"
"Yes." The bodyguard's returning stare was stoic, almost unfeeling, and it got under Camila's nerves.
"Fuck. I don't know what possessed my father to hire you. You're the worst bodyguard I've ever had."
"Your father hired me because I'm the best and you know that."
"Arrogant and proud, that's what you are."
"Camila, I need to do my round of patrol so we have to wrap this up quickly. If the question pops up, you got to know me through your father. Tell them I used to be work in your father's company and you met me when I supplied you with some clothes for an event. As for Lucy and I, we were classmates in middle school. This is not a lie, we really were classmates. I would apologise for Lucy but it really isn't her fault or mine. If she knew that I was on duty last night, she would never have danced with me. But she doesn't even know I'm a bodyguard. She thinks I'm working for an event organiser."
Camila sneered. "Why are you so secretive about your job? Are you ashamed of it?"
"I'm ashamed of nothing. Being secretive helps me to do my job better. If nobody knows what I do, they'll be less careful around me. This means I can assess their threat level more accurately."
"My friends are not threats."
"I know. But people around you and your friends might be."
"You're being paranoid like my father."
The bodyguard took a deep breath. "Your father cares for you. I care for my professionalism."
"Why can't you just give today's shopping a miss?"
With a shake of her head, the bodyguard replies, "I will be following you around and it's a matter of time before one of your friends spot me. Better to face the problem head on."
All the fight in Camila had evaporated by now. But she didn't want to accept that she had lost the quarrel. Neither did she want to admit that the bodyguard was right. "Whatever," she said at last. "I'll let you do the talking."
"Thank you, Camila ."
"Let me out."
The bodyguard opened the door and smiled. "I'll see you later."
Camila didn't like the sound of that but there was nothing else she could say. Damn it. She hated that the bodyguard was right. She really hated it.
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Shopping was a less enjoying with the bodyguard and her friend but Camila managed to buy a few things regardless. A hoodie, a comfy cotton long-sleeved top she could wear on colder days and a pair of workout pants. She noticed that the bodyguard had not bought a single thing so far, merely browsing the racks in each store they visited. It was probably because of the prices. Bodyguards didn't make millions. But when they stepped into a candle shop, the bodyguard seemed to be more interested. She sniffed at the candles and read their descriptions and Camila was surprised when the bodyguard asked her friend to pick one. As she watched them, a dash of the devil popped into her mind and she found herself walking to the bodyguard, initiating a conversation for the first time since they started shopping.
"Is it your treat?" she asked brazenly.
The bodyguard looked at her and smiled. "Yes."
Putting the sweetest smile on her face, Camila asked, "Do I get one too?"
Two blinks and a slight hesitation later, the bodyguard widened her smile. "Sure. Take your pick."
Gifts always made Camila happy and she grinned as she browsed the shelf of scented candles. It was only right that the bodyguard bought her a present for tolerating her pretend friendship all day long. She deserved it. She totally did.
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"You know something?"
"What?"
"Your friend is a bit of a bitch," Lucy whispered as they walked behind the group of four.
Lauren grinned at Lucy. "Just a little."
"Why are you friends with her?"
"She isn't as bad as she seems."
"She's a rich little spoilt brat."
"Hey, that's my friend you're talking about."
Lucy sticks her tongue out. "I just don't like how she literally demanded you buy her a present when she—"
"Lucy."
Arms looped around her arm and squeezed. "Sorry."
Grinning again, Lauren ruffled Lucy's hair, provoking a high-pitched squeal from her friend. "It's okay, kiddo."
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The group of four had come to a standstill in front of a ride that had a weird capsule-like cage hanging on thick rope. Some people had paid for a ride and the group of four watched as the cage was shot into the sky like a catapult and fell back down, dangling by an elastic rope that held its sides. It went up and down several times before the ride ended and it seemed fun. Lauren and Lucy caught up with them by then and learnt that the group was interested in trying the ride out. Only three could go at a time so they agreed that Camila would join Lauren and Lucy as a trio for the ride. Lauren could see the reluctance in Camila's eyes but the rich girl couldn't voice her objection without raising all sorts of questions.
"We'll go first," said Lauren , preferring to get it over and done with, and the rest agreed so they stepped up, paid for the ride, and got themselves strapped it.
"Oh my God," Camila shrieked when they were shot into the sky and Lauren felt her hand grabbing hers. She screamed too, not because it was scary but because it was more fun that way and by the time the ride was over, the three of them were a laughing and giggling mess. Camila had seemed to forget to dislike her and Lauren was amused. But amidst the laughs and giddiness from the exhilaration, Lauren's senses pricked up and went on full alert.
There was a car along the road a decent distance away from them. There was a driver behind the wheel and it looked just like any other car. It could have been just another car. But Lauren remembered seeing it yesterday night as well. The same colour and make. Of course, she could be wrong, but after years of doing the work she did, she had learnt to trust her instincts. So, she noted the license plate this time. She would know if she saw it again and that would mean they were being watched.
But by who?
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