Julian
"You get breaks often? Aren't you a bodyguard? 24/7 working hours?"
"We aren't here to talk about my job today, Miss O'Neil. We are on a friendly date", I answered smoothly.
She nodded then set her cup of coffee down on the table.
"Oh call me Angela, we are not in working hours", then she continued, "I was just curious. You seem to have been avoiding the topic of your job so I was...curious why. I mean I'm your therapist, no topic should be an obstacle to our solution."
"I ensure you, my job will serve no obstacle, Angela."
She nodded again, not totally believing my statement. She looked around the shop, smiling then she leaned forward a little to "whisper" to me.
"This place is so fricking cute. How did you find it?"
I looked around and noted for the umpteenth time the unique and antique decor of the coffee shop.
"Mr. Diamandis discovered the place after work one day."
"Mr. Diamandis? You refer to your childhood friend formally?"
"Miss O'Neil..."
"I know, I know, no work discussion. But you don't have to be so cautious, you know. I'm sworn to secrecy at the expense of my license", she stated, looking around.
"I would like to keep work very separate from my personal life."
"I get that. You're a hard-working man. A diligent one. It's a wonder why you are not married by now."
"People see the importance in love, I don't. Go figure."
She chuckled as she bit into her croissant before setting it down to speak again.
"One would wonder why a good-looking 6-foot man of just twenty-five has made no effort towards marriage."
"Good-looking?", I quirked a brow, smirking.
She chuckled again before rolling her eyes lightly.
"Julian, I'm sure you are very aware of your good looks, add the enticingly sexy body and amazingly erotic voice and you are a prize, women, and men and non-binary people would be scrambling for you."
It was probably the fact that I would have not expected her to even say something like that directly to me that made me chuckle. Usually, people just whispered what she so bravely uttered amongst themselves, thinking I couldn't hear. This just raised the bar of how unexpected she was and that made me group her among people to be very cautious and aware of.
"Is that so?", I tilted my head to observe her with a shadow of a smile of amusement.
She nodded, downing her coffee as she locked eyes with me over the rim of the cup. She smiled as she set down the cup and smoothed out the ruffles of her cream-colored fleur dress
"You look particularly good in casual clothes", she pointed out.
A black t-shirt, a black biker leather jacket, and jeans. Hardly a special combination of clothes.
"You look beautiful in yours."
She chuckled lightly then smiled, watching me.
"Thank you. It's hardly a change from my usual wear. But thank you anyway", she smiled.
There was a brief silence before she spoke again.
"La Rose Blanc. A cute name for a cute café. It seems they have a regular stream of customers, even on a Saturday. Popular or hidden gem? Can't tell."
I looked out the giant glass window that faces the street, which was visible from our seat at the corner of the café. Angela sat directly opposite me, fiddling with the loose strands of her ponytail, her blue eyes shadowed from the direction of the light.
"It is a little bit of both. Since it is open every day except Sunday so it's pretty popular around these corners", I informed.
A call cut off what she was about to say next. She smiled apologetically as she picked up the call, tilting slightly away from my hearing. I caught little snippets of her conversation though.
"I'm busy."..."Don't put pressure on me."..."You are not helping." A long pause..."Me too."..."I can't."..."I'll see you there."..."Okay."..."Bye..."
I had been looking away from her when she turned back but I didn't miss the nervous glance outside towards the glass window. I smiled when we met eyes and she smiled back.
"I'm sorry, Julian, to cut this date short. I am but something just came up and I need to go."
I nodded with a smile.
"It's alright."
I wasn't bothered. A little relieved actually. There was this uneasiness I felt around her and that made me all the more cautious of her. No other therapist I've had had made me feel like this. It was not a good feeling. At all.
She stood and excused herself. I watched her as she hurried onto the street, looking around before turning the corner. I smiled to myself as I watching the green blip moved through the map on my phone. It wasn't every day that I felt that uneasiness and I wasn't about to let her walk away without me trailing her. So I put a tracker on her, as one would do.
She was a feathery little thing. Setting a man to watch her would have been a little too much but then again one can never be too sure. I would make preparations.
I left the café after getting a macchiato, for Ajax, because I knew he would throw a hissy fit after the "date". He would most probably be in his study at a time like this, work would keep him occupied for the main while. My set break was over by the time I got to the penthouse flat and as usual, I was greeted by the fluffy ball of energy. The pomeranian was usually running around Ajax when he was at home so his being here proved that Ajax had probably shut himself in his study as I guessed.
When he was not being a flirty playboy billionaire he was a hard-working ruthless CEO who focused on the growth of his and his family's business enterprise. It was a wonder to many why he was not married yet. He, being bisexual, never lack people who would kill to be in his bed, and here he was continuously flirting with someone who could not love.
I changed into my work clothes which were an all-black suit, then put on the comms device and after checking on the other guards, knocked and entered the study. He was buried in paperwork and barely acknowledged my presence. I set the macchiato down and stood at my post by the door, watching him.