Ben and I have been friends since childhood. We have a brotherly bond that nothing can break. I have to admit having a friend like Ben was a gift from above. Our fathers have long been best friends all along, and they tease us by saying that if one of us have been a girl, they would have married us both together.
My father wanted me to take up his firm after graduating, but I declined and asked my big brother - Jonathan - to take up the post. He has the talent and flair to run my father's business - a chain of hotels on the western side. With his involvement, the business started to bloom and is well known around the world.
Something happened just before we were to leave to university. Our fathers called us to meet them in the library of Ben's home.
"Sit down you two," said Uncle Bernard.
We realized they were going to say something serious from his tone and we looked at each other. Then only did we notice there were a few more guests standing around looking at us.
"Dad?" I sense fear in Ben's voice.
"Don't worry son," said my dad calming us down. "Listen to us carefully first,".
"We want you to know a secret," said Ben's dad.
"Yes, a secret that we will pass it down to you two," said my dad.
"We want you to meet the mafia gang - Laurance -"
"The what?" we asked in surprise.
"Yes, you two will be the new leaders of this group and carry out giving orders for the well-being of the city," said Uncle Bernard.
"We have been the leaders till now after being handed over to us by our fathers at your age. Now it's your turn son," said my dad to us.
A tall handsome gentleman in a black suit came forward. He looked like one of those catwalk models with a build that any girl would dye for.
"Master Ben and Master Alex, I am Markus. The leader of the team. I will be in touch with you all time to grant your requests and we will be secretly protecting you and anyone close to you," he said making us look at our fathers for an explanation.
"Both our families have been targets by the rival business groups and they had tried many times to snatch our businesses from us. Alex, do you remember, you were about thirteen that you were being followed,"
"Yes, uncle,"
"You were saved by these guys that day. They quickly found out who was doing this and threatened them. So they gave up at the end. If not they would have harmed you pretty bad that day."
"So you mean they have been around us all the time?" asked Ben.
His father replied with a nod.
"There are too many rivals son, that you both need to be aware of and be safe from. So they will be with you all the time. I guarantee they won't disturb you unless it's really important or about your safety."
"If there is an emergency they will either SMS or call you and inform you."
"I almost forgot," said my dad. He was handing out three keys to us. "This is a gift from us to you two. You both will have two cars and a new home near the campus."
"But dad!!!" said Ben. We were planning to stay in dorms and live a normal uni life, but now our dreams are doomed.
"Guys remember who you are and your safety is number one to us." said uncle Bernard.
"And these guys will stay next door to you. Don't worry they won't interfere unless you are in danger or to prevent some false rumor," said my dad.
"Thank you, dad and uncle Bernard," and we went out to look at the cars.
WOW!! two identical Audi A6 in black. After admiring the cars, we went back to get ready for our new journey starting tomorrow.
"Excited?" I asked Ben. And yes we were staying at his father's mansion. I even have my own room here connecting to Ben's.
"Yes. You never told me about the kidnapping, Alex?" he said with a face full of confusion.
"Nothing happened to me, so I literally forgot and went to get went to get ice cream with you," I said laughing and packing my bag at the same time.
"I really wish we stayed being kids every day,"
"Why?" I asked him surprised as I was thinking of the experiences we will have from tomorrow.
"The more you grow, the more responsibilities you get on your shoulders. Aan now the paparazzi is also on the loose,"
"Hmm... I get what you mean. We literally cannot do anything fun without being a piece of news." I said after a while. "But you know we have the Zero's and Markus helping us. To be honest I was surprised about what they said today and how they kept it a secret this whole time."
"Me too. I guess they are the ones who protected us from all those mishaps and saved our reputation,"
I nodded my head and finished packing.
"Hi Ben!"
"What"
"Don't you think is like a Markus male god, I mean his looks would have made him a top-notch actor. Man his abs and muscles,"
Ben was looking at me in a funny way, "Why?"
"I mean no offense dude, but hmm... are you gay?" with a smirk on his face.
I laughed and hit him with a pillow next to me.
We went to sleep thinking about the new journey ahead of us. A journey we will be going on together as we did all this time. I know you may think this is funny, but I wish we could get married to girls who are best friends like us. Who knows maybe we will have a chance to meet someone like that tomorrow....