Banking On My Bodyguard

chapter 21

I woke up to the sound of Frank Sinatra piano music tinkling from downstairs, which could only mean one thing.

It was officially Christmas day.

I smiled to myself and jumped out of bed, quickly changing into some proper clothes and pulling on the woolly socks I wore every year.

When I was finished I left my bedroom, following the sound of merriment until I reached the living room. As I entered I noticed everyone was already gathered, wearing various assortments of pajamas.

Of course my mother was dressed properly as if she'd been awake for hours, although she probably had. Christmas morning was usually a busy affair for her, getting things together and ordering the staff around in preparation for the afternoon meal.

I smiled at them all and went around giving hugs and wishing them a merry Christmas. Once I reached Kingsley he grinned down at me and shoved the Santa hat he was wearing onto my head.

"It looks much better on you."

"Well anything would." I teased and he laughed.

I turned my attention to Artie who was sitting in front of the tree, eyeing the presents with curiosity. I was impressed he'd managed to refrain from opening any yet. I wandered over and sat down next to him, crossing my legs under myself.

"Do you want to open your presents buddy?"

He nodded eagerly and began grabbing packages from his pile, tearing off the pretty paper and ribbon. I realised he'd probably been waiting for me to start and ruffled a hand through his hair affectionately.

My father and Isaac began handing out the other gifts, exchanging presents between our families. Maria was delighted with her dress and gave me a kiss on the cheek. Isaac seemed ecstatic with the supercar driving experience I'd bought him too and I was relieved I'd made the right choices.

My mother was easy, an assortment of perfumes and jewellery from Gucci had made her happy and the vintage Prince records I found for my father kept him satisfied.

I turned my attention back to Artie as he struggled to get the new action figure I'd bought him out of its packaging. I took it from him and untwisted the ties, freeing the soldier. He grabbed it from me excitedly and began running around the room, pretending the toy was flying and shooting imaginary bad guys.

I rolled my eyes in amusement as Kingsley placed himself next to me. We smiled at one another as the adults chattered around us.

I grabbed his present from under the tree and handed it to him, most nervous about his reaction for some reason.

"Here, I hope you like it."

He took it from my hand and began to carefully unwrap it. When he saw the contents of what was inside, he smiled widely.

"This is perfect, where did you find this?" He looked at me in surprise.

"I have my ways." I tapped the side of my nose mischievously, relieved I'd gotten it right. After Harrods had been hopeless, I'd resorted to other methods and eventually managed to find an original signed copy of the script for Forrest Gump, his favourite film.

He pulled me in for a hug and I rested my face into the crook of his neck. His cologne was even stronger now and I sighed contentedly from the pleasing scent.

We eventually released one another but he rested on one arm, leaning into my shoulder as he handed me his gift. I smiled to myself at the poor attempt at wrapping, there was something endearing about knowing he'd tried hard to make it neat.

I unwrapped it tentatively to reveal the gift inside. There was a small notebook laying in the crumpled paper, it had a beautiful swirling pattern on the cover in a rose gold metallic material. I opened it carefully and began flicking through the pages. On the right side of each page there was a different flower that had been pressed and covered under a protective clear sheet. On the opposite page there were blank spaces for you to write the type of species and a sketching box.

I glanced over at him, "did you press these for me?"

He nodded and I smiled at him. It was the perfect gift, he'd known that I didn't want something expensive and that this meant way more. I couldn't help but feel slightly emotional as I held the book carefully in my hand, I'd never received a present that felt so personal.

The thought of him choosing each flower specimen and placing it carefully amongst the pages touched something in my chest. I leaned closer to him before speaking again.

"Thank you, I love it."

"You're welcome." He stared at me for a moment and I could feel his eyes tracing the features of my face. Before we could say anything else, Rose came bustling into the room, bringing a tray of warm drinks with her.

She offered them to me and we wished one another a happy Christmas as I took one of her signature hot chocolates. They were one of my favourite parts of Christmas, with a hint of caramel flavouring and little gingerbread men stuck into the cream.

Artie came running over to us, automatically sitting on Kingsley's lap. I offered my little brother one of the tiny ginger men and he munched on it happily.

"Did you like your presents champ?" Kingsley asked.

"Yeah! Santa got me loads, my favourite is Mr Ben though. Vee Vee chose the best present."He pointed to the action figure that he'd placed on the back of the sofa our parents were sitting on.

"Do you want to see what I got?" I smiled and put the mug down on the coffee table nearby.

Artie nodded in response and I pulled the flower book from beside me and opened it, holding it in front of him. His eyes went wide as he stared at the page in awe. His little hand reached out carefully, tracing the shape of the rose on that page.

"It's really pretty. Did King King do this?" He glanced up at him.

"I certainly did. Pretty girls deserve pretty flowers right champ?"

Artie nodded and I felt a blush creep into my face from his words. Kingsley had never called me pretty before and I was suddenly very aware of how close we were sitting.

I placed the book back down and stood up, taking Artie from my bodyguard's lap to distract myself from overthinking.

"Come on, let's go get you dressed and then we can come back down and play with your other toys okay?"

"Okay but I want to bring Mr Ben."

I smiled to myself and walked us over to the sofa, letting him grab the toy. I glanced back towards Kingsley as we headed towards the door, he was staring at us with an unreadable expression on his face and I had to turn my gaze away before I blushed again from the intensity of it.

We left the room and headed upstairs, all the while Artie chatted away about the flowers and Mr Ben's gun.