004

Gaia

I sucked in a large amount of air as I stared at the empty swivel chair in front of me. Tick tock, tick tock, I drummed my fingers against the oakwood finishing on the desk, in an attempt to keep a grasp on my sanity. I'd been sitting here for half an hour or more, with no sign of the chief and that was usually not a good sign.

I wasn't exactly scared of him, but I really respected him. I mean what's not to respect?After the tragic incident thirteen years ago, I fled from home and no one bothered to look for me.

I'd roamed the streets for two days without food or water. I was basically living off trashed food till I bumped into Chief Keith on a stormy night.

"Chief." He'd introduced himself to me, smiling sweetly and the name stuck immediately. "What's a young girl like you doing out in the cold? Where are your parents?"

After telling him everything that'd happened, he took me home and I became his daughter immediately. He was divorced; his wife and child somewhere on the other side of the planet.

"You sure took your sweet time coming here," I whined, immediately the front door creaked open. I didn't need to turn back to know he was the one, his cologne was strong enough to choke me to death. “And you're the one always talking about punctuality."

"Don't sass me, kid." He smirked, giving him a younger look in contrast to the grey lines lining his head. He had gray eyes and thick brows that framed his face perfectly. He also had a few wrinkles creasing his eyebrows but he wasn't a sore sight to gaze upon. "You're in big trouble."

"Nothing our old chief and kid relationship can't fix?" I beamed, flashing a sweet smile that hurt my teeth badly. “It's me, your kid."

"I know." He frowned immediately. “That's why you're in big trouble. You seem to be abusing that power these days."

In all my life of living with him, I'd never called him dad or father. Yes, he'd picked me up and taught me everything I know; right from training me in martial arts and everything I needed to know and recruiting me into the academy but I just couldn't bring myself to call him Dad.

That title was for my father, whose death I'd avenge. Soon.

Chief Keith on the other hand didn't seem to mind. So I called him Chief and he called me Kid

"Are you even listening to me?" Chief's voice rang in my ear. “Kid!?"

"I'm sorry Chief." I shook my head. “I spaced out just now."

"Which means you weren't listening to me." He raised his eyebrow. “This is exactly what I'm saying. You're taking advantage of all this."

"I'm not." I sighed, lounging deeper into the plush headrest of my chair. “She started it..."

"And you couldn't have stopped it?" He cut me off. “You couldn't have walked away?"

"You don't know the things she said to me." I snapped. “You seriously don't know."

"I don't know." He nodded. “But I do know you've got anger issues. You could have walked away, be the bigger person, but no, you just had to hit her. "

"It wasn't that bad." I frowned. “It was just a little bruise."

"A little bruise?" His eyes were as wide as saucers. “Do you call that a little bruise? You broke her nose, split her lips and I'm almost sure you broke her ribs!"

"All that in barely ten minutes?" I smirked, imagining Susanne's agonized face. “Damn, I'm good."

"You're good and taking this too far." Chief cried, obviously frustrated. “Can't you see?"

"I can't! She got what she asked for." I scoffed. “She shouldn't be here if she can't fight."

"Now you're just being a heartless kid." He sighed, rubbing his temples forlornly. “I can't let you get away with this."

"What do you mean?"

"Here." He dug out a folder from beneath his drawer and tossed it towards me. “That's your punishment."

"You're giving me a new case?" I beamed. "Finally! I'll be free from this hellhole for a while."

"You'd want to read through it first." He crossed his arms over each other. “I wouldn't be too excited if I were you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I quirked my eyebrow, skimming through the pages of the folder. “A bodyguard, really?How could you?"

"Obviously that's what you need."

"This is torture." I groaned. “Why would you do this?"

"You need to control your temper and this is the best way."

"How??" I yelled, anger bubbling in my veins. “How is that supposed to help me control my temper?"

"Read through it." His expression grew stoic. "You're going to be Mr. Cassian Corvin's bodyguard. He's recently filed a complaint of being stalked extensively. At first, we thought he was being paranoid, but the stalker's attacks have become more persistent."

"So?" I jumped to my feet. “You couldn't assign me to investigate the matter? Why his bodyguard?"

"Don't question me, Kid " He rose too, towering over me. “I assign the jobs here so you'll do what I tell you. Mr. Cassian is in college and you're going to enroll in that same college as a student to keep him away from danger."

"You've got to be kidding me Chief." I groaned. “First a bodyguard and now a college student? Do you seriously think I can pass as a college student? I graduated years ago!"

"That's not my problem." The absence of a smile on his lips only made me realize how serious all of this really was. “You have a job to do, and I expect you to do it."

"You're just being mean." I smacked my hand against my forehead. “Why are you doing this to me? Isn't there something else?"

"Hmmm." He stroked his chin thoughtfully. “There is another job you could take up. It's far away from here and the college too."

"I'll take it." I blurted out. “Anything but being a bodyguard."

"Great." He sat back down. “Starting from now you'll be attending to Susanne's every need till she's fully recovered. Deal?"

"What?!" I had to make sure my jaw was somehow still connected to my face. “You're joking right Chief? Please tell me you're joking."

"I'm not." He intertwined his fingers. “Either you become Mr. Cassian's bodyguard or Susanne's personal nurse. Your choice."

"But they're both horrible choices!" I whined. I wanted to cry. I wanted to punch something or someone too. All at once. “Why Chief, why?"

"Next time, you'd think with your head and not your fists." He stared at me pointedly. “And remember, you mustn't fail in any of them. Mess anyone up and you're out of here."

"Chief..." I felt my blood run cold the moment the words left his lips

"That's all Kid." He raised a finger to my face. "I want your decision before the end of the working day. You may leave now."

I stared at him, surprise still swimming in my veins. I wanted to speak, yell maybe, but the moment I realized it was useless, I simply turned and walked out of the office.

I'd barely walked down the hallway and rounded the next corner when I bumped into the last people I thought to see.

"Do we ask her now?" Alyssa whispered furiously to Tatum. “Or give her a few minutes?"

"I'd say we ask her now." Tatum nodded in my direction. “But you'll be the one to ask. She can easily murder me and I'm not ready to die."

"You both know I can hear you right?" I didn't bother wiping the frown off my face. Instead, I continued walking and they trailed after me.

"We're sorry." Alyssa cooed. “We're just being careful. What happened in there?"

Surprisingly, that question was more than enough to have me rooted in my spot, but even

tually, I turned to face them.

"Guess what?" I flung both arms around their shoulders. “I'm going to college."