𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲

𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄

Hope Ashford

"I need you to come over, we need to talk as soon as possible," I say. Since I couldn't go out to meet up with Leo because I don't wanna be seen with a stupid bodyguard, he has to come to my place.

"I'll be there in a few minutes babe, love you bye!" Leo says before hanging up. Did he just say he loves me? Gross, gross, gross. I've never said 'I love you' or 'love you' to someone in a non-platonic way. Maybe because I've never been in love. Perhaps that's a good thing, that way I don't get hurt by a man.

After ten minutes, Leo called me letting him know he was outside. I walk downstairs and open the front door.

"Where to?" I jump out of fright. I turn around to be met with Adrian Newman. He's standing there with his arms crossed. Creep.

"Letting someone in," I respond. "Am I not allowed to?" I ask him in annoyance. Leo walks in and examines Newman.

"Babe, whose this?" Leo asks me. Hearing him call me 'babe' makes me want to puke. Thank God I'm breaking up with him today. I seriously can't stand him anymore. I'll die if I have to deal with him for another fucking day.

"I'm her bodyguard," Newman replies before I can. I roll my eyes and nod.

"Okay whatever," Leo says before turning to look at me. He leans in for a kiss but I swerve my face away.

"I need to talk to you in the library," I say as I grab his hand and lead him to my library. We walk inside the library but I make sure the door stays kind of open.

"Hope what is this?" Leo asks.

"The library, I'm pretty sure you've been here before,"
I reply.

"No not the library," Leo aggressively grabs my wrist. "You've been rejecting all of my kisses ever since your graduation dinner," Leo says angrily. He grabs my face and tries to kiss me.

"Get the fuck off of me!" I shout as I try to push him off of me but he doesn't stop. He continues trying to kiss me and tries to remove my shirt. "Leo stop it!" I yell as I try getting him off of me. He suddenly gets pulled away from me.

"She told you to get off of her," Newman says to Leo as he aggressively pushes him at the wall.

"This is none of your business," Leo says as he walks towards Newman.

"Newman please get out," I say as I fix my shirt. "Leo and I have something to discuss alone," I state.

"I'll be right here if you need anything," Newman says as he walks out and leaves the door open. I walk over to Leo and slap him.

"Don't you ever fucking touch me again," I snap. "Listen, I don't like you anymore okay?" I admit. "Or maybe I never did and I had to convince myself I did because of how sorry I felt for you," I laugh a little.

"Oh really?" Leo scoffs. "Don't boost your ego because if anyone felt sorry for the other, it was me," Leo says as he grabs my wrist."No one else will put up with your ass like I did, the reason you even have friends is because your parents are owners of the biggest company in the state." I try to walk away but he only tightens his grip on my wrist. "That's your problem Hope, you can't handle the truth and that's why no one takes you seriously," Leo says before letting go of my wrist and storming out of the library.

Adrian Newman

Leo walks out of the library and looks at me. I heard everything they said to each other. Maybe they're soulmates, they definitely have the same attitude.

Leo leaves and I peek inside the library. Hope's standing there silently leaning on the piano while staring at the ceiling and taking deep breaths. It looked similar to what I would do whenever I heard my parents fighting and I wouldn't wanna cry, but there's no way she's hurt over what Leo said to her.

I walk back to the kitchen and see Nina sitting by herself, knitting.

"Hi Newman," Nina says as she smiles at me.

"Hey Nina," I reply. "You don't have to call me Newman, you can just call me Adrian," I remark. She smiles and nods her head.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Nina asks. "I'm just wondering because you know, being a bodyguard is like a full time job and—"

"No I don't have one, I don't have time for girls other than my sister," I state. "Dating's just a waste of time," I say with full honesty.

"Maybe you just haven't found the right person yet," Nina says.

"Maybe, but I'd rather not talk about this, I'm sorry,"
I say.

"Yeah I get it," Nina replies. "Here I'll change the topic," Nina clears her throat. "How old's your sister?" Nina asks.

"She's thirteen," I reply. "And—" I look at the window and see someone duck under. Shit. "I'm sorry I'll be back," I say as I walk out from the back door. Hope tries to hide behind a bush. "I can see you."

"You know what?" Hope says as she gets out of her hiding spot. "I need to go out so just stay at least six feet away from me while you follow me okay?" Hope demands.

"Fine," I reply. Hope starts walking to the front gates of her house. How can she get bored inside a house this big? House. Mansion. However you call it. "Where are we going?" I ask her.

"I need to go buy a necklace that goes with my dress for my party that's later today," Hope replies. She turns around to look at me. "Six feet, back up a bit," she says. I roll my eyes as I back up.

"Why are you so embarrassed of having a bodyguard?" I ask her. "It's dumb if you ask me," I say.

"Well good thing I'm not asking you," Hope replies. Her attitude is kinda funny. Now that I look back, and even though I don't like to think about it, Brenda; my past client who I once was in love with, her and Hope are very different. Hope may be a spoiled brat whose mean to me for no reason, but in no way is Brenda better than her.

Brenda wasn't mean to me when I worked for her, I'll give her that. She was nice to me, too nice that we became friends and she led me on to the point where
I was madly in love with her.

She helped me get over Zoey; my first love. Eventually her and I started dating in secret, but one day when we agreed to stop keeping it a secret, I introduced myself as her boyfriend to her friends.

Brenda humiliated me in front of them. She said these exact words; "Excuse me? Don't flatter yourself, just because we've kissed a couple of times, that doesn't make you my boyfriend. I'd rather fall into a ditch than be with a nobody like you." That day, I quit. I got over it a year later, and now I'm here. Hoping to never see her again.