Chapter 19

MAY

I opened my eyes slowly. I slept like a baby last night next to Nicholas. I turned to his corner but I didn't find him there. Once again, he had woken up before I did. Now, I wondered if what Mama told me was right. Maybe he really had trouble sleeping. It made me worried.

Like the other night, Nicholas appeared from the bathroom but this time fully dressed already. He winked at me and sat down and went to the mirror to check himself out.

“Let me see…” I offered. He turned towards me and I checked him out. I stood up and helped him adjust his tie. He looked good now. I gave him a smile and that was enough for acknowledgement. Nicholas might have not fully trusted my judgment as he still proceeded to look in the mirror. I didn't mind that.

“I'm sure you have plans today,” Nicholas told me.

“Yes, I should go to my family home. I should meet Sherlyn and make her uncomfortable…” I said excitedly.

“Yesterday was our wedding. I think she might mock you concerning that. We should be on our honeymoon by now, you know,” Nicholas explained. I nodded in understanding.

“Now that I know it's a card she might play, I won't let it bother me at all…” I replied. “Meeting my dad is important and I have to meet Sherlyn to do that.”

“I don't trust her!” Nicholas told me firmly.

“Neither do I,” I replied in order to put him at ease.

“I spoke to one of my friends already. He has a security company and he will get you a bodyguard. Since I told him how urgent it was, he accepted that the bodyguard could start work today,” Nicholas informed me. I wondered when he did this. As much as I remember, he fell asleep before me last night. Perhaps, he woke up right after.

“Okay,” I replied. I wasn't enthusiastic about the offer. Nicholas must have known that just by hearing my voice.

“You promised me, darling…” His words sounded like a threat, just that it was covered in a thin veil. “You said I could hire fifty bodyguards for you if I deem fit! That is why I spent the whole night looking at his website to make the right pick. I finally chose one for you. Just one.”

“You stayed up all night?” I was alarmed. “Why would you do that? You must be sleepy.”

“I only sleep three to four hours daily. It's become a habit. Yesterday, I slept for two hours. That was below normal…” Nicholas shrugged.

“You should know better. Your health is important!” I exclaimed.

“I know,” Nicholas replied. “That's why I take a series of supplements and…”

“Sleep is sleep! It's not something you can exchange with supplements!” I told him firmly. It bothered me that I was caring too much about him. Wait, I wasn't. The only reason I was doing this was because he had to be healthy to help me with my revenge and I needed him alive to father my unborn child. That was all, I believed.

“You nag too much,” Nicholas picked up his bag. He was ready for work. “I dropped the contact information of the bodyguard I hired for you on the table. That would be all.”

Nicholas left the room, leaving me high and dry. I didn't want to care for him but he worried me too much. Maybe I was developing motherly feelings because I was pregnant but the fact was, I wanted to take care of him.

I walked out of the room. It was time to begin the day.

**

“I heard you're getting a bodyguard,” Mama started off. She was serving me breakfast.

“Yes!” I said excitedly. Mama was surprised.

“But my young master said you hated the idea. Why do you look so happy about it?” Mama asked curiously.

“It was all pretence…” I said quietly. “Which woman wouldn't like the head of a muscular, well-built bodyguard whom she had under her payroll. Bodyguards can fight which means I can simply hide behind him and grab his… oh my god.”

My imagination was running wild.

“Men don't know it but the chest of a well-built man is so sexy,” Mama contributed. To find out she felt the same way as I did made me so happy. It validated my fantasies!

“Men actually know…” I corrected her. “That's why you see a lot of men in the gym today. Of course, many came for inner peace and body fitness. However, the majority came for great bodies to attract women.”

“Is that so?” Mama asked. “Perhaps, I would join a gym as well. You can see several upper bodies if you join, right?”

Wow, Mama was a low-key pervert. Wait, using the word ‘pervert’ might be too extreme.

I just shook my head.

“Anyway, I will have a bodyguard like that. So cool,” I closed my eyes, imagining the bliss I'd get to enjoy.

“Young master has a great body too, don't you agree?” Mama asked me. “He works out regularly and I think he is as fit as a gym coach. Don't you know that?”

I said nothing. I was lost in thoughts. I could remember that day that I saw him naked. He dressed in front of me without any care in the world. He was indeed well-built.

“Don't tell me both of you haven't slept together yet,” Mama muttered. “I get that you didn't get pregnant in the most popular method but even at that, if you want to bond, you need to sleep together.”

“That's not it!” I tried.

“Then what? You haven't even seen his body!” Mama was genuinely concerned.

“I have,” I replied. “I have seen him naked from head to toe.”

Mama looked satisfied. A maid came around and informed us that my bodyguard was here. I was going to meet him but Mama told the maid to bring him to the dining room instead.

The bodyguard entered and I raised my head to meet what I had never expected.

It wasn't a HE.

It was a SHE.