Chapter 11 – Police Station

Harmoni

Waking up was torture; my stomach felt uneasy and my head was having its own little concert. I was grateful for the glass of water William forced me to drink last night—the throbbing pain could have been much more intense.

I rummaged through my bathroom, looking for the box of painkillers. When I finally put my hand on it, I groaned—it was empty. Was this my punishment for getting wasted the day before? Was God trying to send me a message?

Once that thought crossed my mind, I couldn't help but think back to what had almost happened. The memory of his touch alone made me nauseous. My feet carried me across the room to my in-suite where I kneeled next to the toilet, emptying the contents of my stomach.

After dry heaving a few last times, I finally stood up and stepped into the shower.

I scrubbed and scrubbed until my skin turned red. No matter how hard I rubbed my skin or the sting the sponge left, the memory of his hands on me was enough to make me start scrubbing all over again. I could still feel his rough touch on my body, as he tightly gripped my wrists and pressed his leg against mine.

A sob racked through my body as I sat down, bringing my legs to my chest. I let out all the pain and fear I was feeling. I couldn't even fathom what would have happened if William hadn't intervened when he did.

Snapping myself out of that train of thought, I turned off the shower and got ready for the day. I placed my torn clothes into a plastic bag, just in case they would need it as evidence. After sifting through different clothes, I opted for black leggings and an oversized hoodie. With what happened last night, I wanted to feel invisible and undesirable.

My fingers lingered over my phone, wondering what I should write to William. After overthinking it for five minutes, I ended up texting something straight to the point.

Harmoni

 Hey, it's Harmoni, I'm almost ready.

My phone lit up with his response almost immediately.

William

 I'm on my way.

Regardless of the sour mood I was in, I still smiled down at my phone. It was the first time I had exchanged phone numbers with a bodyguard. Yet, I didn't regret it; on the contrary, I was thrilled by the possibility of contacting him.

I pushed my blue velvet curtains to the side and waited to see his car turn onto this street. When the time came, I walked downstairs and went straight for the door. Thankfully, my father was nowhere in sight. Good. I didn't want to have to lie to him or come up with an excuse as to why I was leaving the house or why I looked like I had been crying for the past hours.

William stepped out of the car and came to open the passenger door for me.

“Such a gentleman,” I teased while getting in. My voice was rough from the amount of crying I had done this morning, but I hoped he wouldn't point it out. He shook his head at my playful comment while regaining his seat behind the wheel.

Once we were both seated, Wil started looking for something in the center console before handing me a white pill.

“Here you go,” I immediately recognized it as a painkiller. He was such a lifesaver; I swear I could kiss him right now.

Will chuckled, looking amused. ~Crap!~ I probably said that last part out loud. I felt my cheeks heat up. I used my hair to cover my growing blush and turned my head to look out the window.

“Let's just go,” I mumbled, making him chuckle again. Thankfully, he put the car in gear and didn't mention it anymore.

We drove for a while before arriving at the closest precinct. I knew that reporting this incident was the right thing to do, but I was still a nervous wreck. I wiped my moist hand on my jeans for what felt like the hundredth time since entering the car. William gently squeezed my hand for support.

“Are you okay?” William asked, seeming genuinely concerned. I nodded, not trusting my voice. I was glad he didn't offer for me to back down and leave. He understood that this was something that I needed to do. He ran his thumb across my hand, calming me. I smiled at the gesture. It was the perfect distraction.

We remained parked in front of the station for another few minutes before I was ready to leave the comfort of his car. He released my hand and exited his car. I watched him as he ran around to open the passenger door for me. I shook my head at his antics.

I walked up the stairs with shaky legs, thinking about how I would soon need to describe in detail what had happened to me. Will walked beside me, occasionally giving me a worried side-glance.

Just when I was about to push the door open, my eyes landed on the desk agent. She was one of my father's friends, Mona.

I froze. I couldn't go here. As soon as I would leave the building, she would tell my dad, hell, maybe she would do it before I even had time to step foot outside the precinct.

Mona had been trying to win my dad over for the past year. They had met when she was guarding one of the events we had attended and thought they had connected. I'm sure having this kind of information would make her think she could get on my father's good side and potentially make a move on him. Gross.

“What is it?” William asked, obscuring my view of Mona as he stepped in front of me. I was astonished by the amount of care and concern he had displayed over the past day. Especially, taking into consideration I hadn't been the nicest towards him.

“I can't do this here,” I declared. I doubled back and retreated to the car. I couldn't risk Mona seeing me.

William's long legs caught up with me effortlessly, confusion stretched across his face.

“Did you change your mind about reporting the incident?” he asked warily once we were settled in the car.

“No, no, I do still want to report it, but I can't do it here. The desk sergeant knows my dad, and I know for a fact that she'll tell him,” I explained.

“I see.” He seemed to be caught in his thoughts before adding. “How about I bring you to my work. I don't think anyone there has any direct connection to your dad.”

“Sure.”

Later, we arrived in front of a tall, intimidating building.

William exchanged a few greetings with his colleagues as we walked through the building. I noticed people around us giving me curious looks, some women were even glaring at me. I shifted uncomfortably, unconsciously walking closer to William. I decided to brush it off as them simply not being accustomed to seeing teenagers roam their hallways.

The offices had a few windows, but mostly it was dark. Everything was either black or grey, even people's clothes. There were a few workstations and a great deal of gym equipment. I could have sworn I also saw a boxing ring. We walked past a room containing heaps of big screens surrounded by officers. The atmosphere felt solemn and professional.

“Harmoni, this is Agent Bowen,” William introduced, gesturing to a pretty woman.

“It's nice to finally meet you, Harmoni,” she said, extending her hand to me. “I've heard a lot about you, although I wish we were meeting under different circumstances.”

I could see the tough woman that she was behind the kind smile she was displaying. I guess it was a necessity when you worked in a field mainly surrounded by men.

~Wait, did she just say she heard a lot about me?~ I looked at William quizzically, but he wasn't looking at me. He appeared fascinated by an announcement plastered on the wall beside him. I made a mental note to ask him about it later. ~This isn't over, Will.~

“Likewise,” I responded, politely shaking her hand.

“William here tells me you would like to report an incident,” I nodded. “Alright then, follow me, we'll go get some privacy.”

With one last look at William, I followed the agent into one of the meeting rooms.

William

I watched as Harmoni followed Mia into the meeting room. She looked nervous and slightly intimidated by her surroundings. After all, this wasn't the friendliest looking place.

I wanted to go in with her, but I thought she would feel more comfortable alone with another woman. I had phoned Agent Bowen when we were in the car to let her know we were on our way.

“Huntz!” I heard someone call. Turning around, I saw both Cayden and Seth approaching me with big smiles.

“Hey, guys! What’s up?” I asked, pulling each of them into a manly hug. “What are you guys doing here?”

“They needed some extra guys, so we decided to make some extra hours,” Seth answered. Both Seth and Cayden were on my team. Seth had joined the team two years ago after coming out as the top of his class at the SWAT academy. Amongst all the people I have met, he had the most knowledge and ability with weapons. Don’t ask me which ones because I’m pretty sure he’s mastered all of them. He was a prodigy in that aspect, which he had proven once again last week in the abandoned factory.

The other people from my team were Jonathan, Frederic, and Mia, who was now with Harmoni.

“Not that we care about that,” started Cayden before pointing at the door which just closed behind Harmoni. “Is that Ms. Pearson?” he wiggled his eyebrows while looking at me.

“The one and only,” I said, looking in the direction he had indicated.

“Damn! If I were guarding her, I would have left SWAT to be with her full time! She’s hot!” I rolled my eyes at Seth’s comment. ~Wait till you get to know her bitchy diva side.~

“Totally, I mean wooo am I the only one who’s hot in here?” Cayden continues while fanning himself with his hands. These guys were impossible. Sometimes, I felt like I was surrounded by teenagers full of hormones.

“I’m so glad she isn’t here to listen to you two morons,” I responded.

“So? Have you befriended her? Or is she still as snobby as before?” Seth asked excitedly, completely ignoring my previous comment. Yup, definitely surrounded by teenage gossip girls. I had ranted about Harmoni to my team quite a few times since I had taken up guarding her.

“We talk, yes,” I replied nonchalantly.

“Oh come on, don’t give us that ‘I don’t care attitude’. Your eyes followed her all the way until she disappeared behind the meeting room doors,” Cayden remarked, smirking at me. ~Did I really do that?~

“He’s smitten,” Seth said, looking at Cayden who immediately agreed. “Is she legal?”

“Enough, guys,” I said seriously, this was a whole other level of inappropriate. “First off, she’s much younger than me and second of all, she’s my responsibility. I will not mix this with personal unrelated business, not that I would look at her that way to begin with.”

The last part was a lie. She was most definitely one of the most beautiful women I had met, and underneath all the sarcasm and attitude, I knew there was an amazing woman. Perhaps if I repeated that last part to myself often enough, it would come true? Doubtful, but I could always try, right?

“You make it sound like you’re thirty, you know you’re only four years older than her, right?” Seth remarked. I gave him my drop-it-now look before he shrugged, “just saying.”

Just as I was about to say something else, I was interrupted.

“Will?”

I turned around to see Harmoni standing there.

“How long have you been standing there?” Hopefully, she hadn’t heard any of what these two baboons were saying.

“I just got here,” she admitted.

“Okay, well, let’s go home,” I said before any of the two could say anything else. We turned around and made our way back to the car, but not before I heard Seth’s teasing voice.

“Bye, ~Will~.”

I could tell by her red-rimmed eyes that she had cried during her time with Mia. It saddened me that she had to relive the entire event again. Yet, at the same time, I couldn't be more impressed by the amount of strength she was showing. Harmoni didn't speak during the car ride; instead, she seemed lost in thoughts.

Somehow, I wanted to do something for her. She could use some pick-me-up.

I parked the car in the parking lot of one of my favorite places before turning the engine off.

Harmoni looked up, probably wondering why we were stopping so soon.

“Where are we?” she asked.