"Excuse me?" I shouted at the woman in the chair, who frowned at my behavior.
"What do you mean I am your new job?" I asked, clutching onto the sheets, offended by her. She sighed as she placed her phone in her pocket.
"I'm assigned to protect you from any harm," She explained, crossing her arms over her chest, and I rolled my eyes.
"Another one, great," I breathed out sarcastically. I'm not sure if she noticed my tone or not, but she didn't seem to care anyway. But then I tilted my head as I realized it's a woman, and she looks younger. Most of them are males over forty. So why has my father sent a woman?
"How old are you?" I asked as I kept staring at her features, pale skin, spots of scars on the side of her neck, and a strong jawline.
"It's none of your business," She responded, and I raised my eyebrows. Who the hell does she think she is.
"You work for me, and you don't talk to me like that," I said harshly as she sat back in her seat.
"I work for your father, not you," She said calmly, and I clenched my jaw as I gritted my teeth.
"Your father wants to meet you for lunch, so you better get ready," She told me; no, she commanded me.
"You do not tell me what to do," I said and noticed that my hands are holding the sheets so tightly. I could tell that her lips twitched, almost as if she wanted to smile. Clearly, this woman is not going to be like every other guard that I have had before.
"The car leaves in forty-five minutes," She looked at the watch on her wrist.
"And if I decide that I don't want to go?" I asked with a grin, but she only glared at me with no response.
"Fine, what do I call you?" I wondered, raising my knees to lean my chin on top.
"You can call me Miller," She told me.
"What's your first name?" I asked this time.
"Rylan," She answered, and I smiled.
"Okay, Rylan, you and I are going to have fun," I grinned and got out of the bed, butt naked. Rylan stood up at the same time, and I looked right up into her blue. Not once did she look away from my brown eyes, and I felt like I couldn't move as if it would be a loss if I did. Yet I'm not sure if it's her height that it's intimating me or if it's the coldness in her eyes. But then she lifted her arm and looked at her watch.
"Forty minutes," She said, and I groaned out loud as I went to the bathroom. I leaned on the sink as I looked at myself in the mirror, brown hair up in every direction and brown eyes clinging onto the little sleep I had during the night. I saw my cheeks turn red in the mirror, and it's not easy to see, considering my skin is slightly tinted brown, which comes from my father.
I didn't get much from my mother, her perfect gray eyes, and light blond hair. No, I got everything from the man I hate the most in this world. I frowned as there was a knock on the door, and I left to open it, butt naked again because I know it's Rylan.
"What?" I asked impatiently as I looked up into the empty blue eyes.
"You might want some clothes," She said, lifting the bag in her hand. I grabbed the bag slowly out of her hand. I gazed down at her slim waist, yet I can tell she is strongly built underneath all of those layers.
"How did you find me?" I questioned, and like before, she didn't look anywhere else besides in my eyes.
"I have my ways," Was the only thing she said before she found her seat again. Stunned, I closed the door.
***
I sighed as I sat in the limo across from Rylan, who kept watching her phone. Being told that I have to go to lunch with my father doesn't really light up the day. It's like I can't live my own life and make my own decisions. Treated as if I don't have a mind of my own, and when I use my head, it's all wrong.
"What are you doing?" I asked as we started to move through the traffic in New York, knowing very much what it is like. It might take a while before we reach the restaurant for lunch with my father.
"I'm looking through your profile," She replied, her blue eyes stuck on the screen. It's really frustrating to talk to someone who doesn't look at you.
"I don't have a profile," I scoffed.
"Your father sent it to me this morning," She said, and I crossed my arms over my chest as I tilted my head.
"What now?" I leaned forward, which made her look at me with annoyance but remained silent.
"What's on it?" I wondered, leaning back in my seat.
"It stands that you are twenty-two of age. Your birthday is on the 19th of April. You have your apartment in the middle of the city. You don't work but love to draw and paint," Rylan seemed surprised when she read that, which wasn't easy to spot, but it was there.
"You are in no relationship, but you do enjoy the company of a woman from time to time," She said it so casually as if she didn't give a damn that I'm sleeping around with strangers.
"You are one meter and sixty, brown hair, and dark brown eyes, which is wrong because they are golden," Rylan said, locking her phone and placed it in her pocket; I could feel the heat on my cheeks of how she had noticed my eyes like that, but then again she has been staring into them non stop.
"So you know every little detail about me?" I said, and she nodded. I sighed as I stared out the window. The feeling of people knowing every little thing about you like that is exposing and embarrassing. Yet, they don't understand how it feels like to be in this position.
"So Rylan Miller, since you know me so well, why don't' you share something about yourselves?" I said, finding the woman in front of me interesting, however, a pain in the ass.
"You have my name, that's enough," She responded, and I rolled my eyes as I leaned my head on the door, staring into the cloudy day. Men and women rush through the streets with kids who have smiles on their faces with no concern for the world.
Once again, I'm stuck with a babysitter. If my mother had been alive, she wouldn't have allowed dad to treat me the way he has done since she passed. Avoiding me so deeply to the point it would go months before I saw him. But when he is there, all he does is complain about everything I do wrong. Sometimes I wonder if it would have been better if he wasn't there at all.
When we arrived at the restaurant, I found my father sitting all the way in the back corner as he always does. He is too paranoid, believing he is in danger all the time. Dad goes to the same places each time. Where he knows he is safe, and he has a whole security team around him.
I don't blame him, though, considering he owns one of the government's biggest weaponizing companies. Most of the factories are placed all over the country to make arms for different organizations that request them. Jorge Fernando Castillo, the man my mother foolishly fell in love with.
"Morning," He said, stuffing his mouth with an omelet, which he also ordered for me. I looked at it, wanting to throw up. I hate it, and I have told him that every time we have lunch or breakfast. I push the plate away and grab the cup of black coffee instead.
Rylan stands a few meters away from me, scanning the area with her hands hidden behind her back. Mario smiled when he sat down, but it faded when he saw me, and I grinned at him teasingly before I sipped off my coffee. He breathed loudly through his nose and stole my omelet. He knows I don't like it and always ends up eating it for me. I don't even think dad notices it, or he doesn't care. Doesn't matter.
I looked up at Rylan as I could feel her eyes on me, but then she turned to stare at the front door. It's her job to be aware of everything around. Interestingly enough, I think she is the only one who has actually taken the position this seriously.
"I need you to do something for me," My father said, pointing his fork at me.
"What?" I asked, trying with all my might not to sound angry, but I couldn't help it. He has that effect on me every time he opens his mouth.
"I need you to go to Europe, a few places to make a name for the both of us," He said, and my mouth fell open.
"What?" I placed my cup on the table roughly and it spilled a little. I caught Rylan's attention as she looked at the mess I had created.
"I can't go, Hadley, and I need someone to take my place," He explained and leaned back in his seat to set the knife and fork on the plate. I have taken a lot of crap throughout my life, but this has gone over the line.
"You are aware that I have my life right?" I tried to remind him because obviously, he doesn't understand that.
"I need you to do this for me, it would only take a couple of weeks, and you get to go places that you always wanted," He shrugged as if that would make it better.
"Yeah, on your terms!" I shouted.
"Don't you raise your voice at me," He pointed his finger in my direction as if I was a child he couldn't control?
"You haven't done anything with your life. No education, because you get too bored. No work and you waste your time trying to play hide and seek with the guards I place on you," He said, and I clenched my jaw as I kept my mouth shut.
"And not to mention how you are screwing around with people you don't even know," He sighed in disappointment. I turned to the side and saw Rylan staring at me, but I couldn't look her in the eyes after hearing how my father embarrassed me in front of them all.
"I'll send Miller all the information, and she will go through them with you," I heard him say, but I didn't want to look at him.
"Fine," I stood up and left before he could tell me anything more. Tears were on the way to leave my eyes, while I found my way back into the limo. Eventually, Rylan sat down across from me. I leaned onto the door and stared into the depths of nothing. Right now, it feels as if the silence is what I have left to control.