Chapter 8 – Cindy’s Party Pt one

William

The other two men were awaiting trial. They would be charged for robbery and the hostage situation. They hadn't hurt anyone physically, meaning their lawyers could also argue for lesser sentences. Both pleaded guilty and had a clean rap sheet before this event, so they would probably get a good deal. ~Assholes~.

The other guy we had chased into the abandoned factory wouldn't be as lucky. He was charged with breaking and entering, fleeing the scene, and assault with a deadly weapon. It was safe to say he wouldn't see the outside of a jail cell until his hair turned white. Suit him well.

This case had now been handed over to our lawyers, but I couldn't keep it out of my mind. They could have harmed Harmoni.

I had gone back to being her bodyguard yesterday. I suppose no one had informed her I would be coming back since she regarded me with wide eyes when I went to pick her up from her cheerleading practice.

"Who beat me to it?" she had teased with a smile, pointing at the healing bump still visible on my head.

I had chuckled at her bluntness, yet before I could answer her, she had added, "But in all seriousness, are you alright?"

Call me crazy, but I could have sworn she was worried about me.

I had told her I was fine and had taken her home. The car ride was silent, yet I could feel that something had changed between us. Maybe she was finally starting to accept me.

Harmoni

Tonight was the night of Cindy's party. I had already told Emily that I wouldn't be able to sleep over at her place since my dad didn't agree to the sleepover.

As she said, it would also be an excellent test to see if I was over my fear of crowds. She had agreed that if I started feeling anxious, we would leave.

Around eleven, I started by pretending I was sleeping. My dad came to check on me like every night. He came near my bed and gave me a goodnight kiss on the forehead before heading to his room to sleep. Step 1: check.

I was already dressed, the only thing I was missing was makeup, but I had it ready in a bag. The plan was to get past my security detail, head to Emily's who lived in between my house and Cindy's. There, I could finish my makeup and head to the party with Emily.

The plan seemed relatively straightforward, but let me assure you, it was not. Tonight, Benjamin, Logan, and unfortunately William were guarding me. I had escaped from Benjamin and Logan before, but somehow, I knew that doing the same with William would be trickier and much harder.

Typically only one person from my detail had the night shift, but since the gala, my dad had requested a few more for the night just until everything cooled off a bit.

I had nothing to lose, right? I waited for them to pass my window, this way I had the longest time before they rounded back to it.

Come on, Har, you can do this. Deep breath.

When the time came, I slowly opened the window, making sure not to make a sound. I climbed out and took my time so that my bag didn't hit anything. The last thing I needed was for someone to notice me and ruin my plans.

I climbed down using cracks in the wall I had become accustomed to. It wasn't the safest, but it had gotten me where I wanted to go in the past. The adrenaline was pumping in my blood, and my heart was beating erratically in my chest, making my hands moist.

I exhaled in relief when my feet landed on the ground. Step 2: check. Only one more step left.

I walked across the garden, taking cover everywhere I could. However, the last few meters didn't have any kind of place to hide, nor did it have any sort of shadow. That's the area I referred to as the dead man zone. I had to get across and climb over the small fence to get to the other side.

I ran as fast as my legs would take me and jumped over the fence. Once on the other side, I kept running until I passed the first corner.

Looking back behind me, I was sure I would see William and the other guys running after me, ready to get me back inside. Surprisingly, I was met with nothing but darkness and silence.

Step 3: check—I made it! I did a victory dance in the middle of the sidewalk. I guess the famous sergeant wasn't as good as my father always claimed him to be.

With a smile, I hung the bag on my shoulder and ran to Emily's place. I could've walked, but since it was dark and I was alone, I didn't feel comfortable enough to push my luck. Thankfully, it was only a five-minute run.

William

I didn't hear her, but I could sense her. She was clearly sneaking out. I had to admit she was pretty stealthy, too bad I had been trained to detect any kind of movement within my environment.

“The princess is on the move,” I told the team. Her capricious, spoiled child act had earned her the title. She would definitely not like it if she overheard it, which made it that much more fitting. Although she changed considerably since the gala, the nickname had been given before, and it stuck. So, we decided to keep it.

“I'll go grab her,” I heard Logan say.

“Wait,” I said, internally debating whether or not to see how this played out.

“No, let's just follow her for now,” I decided. I knew tonight was some kind of party, I had overheard Emily talking about it after one of the cheerleading practices. I decided that even though she had been quite a bitch towards me in the beginning, I would let her go. She was eighteen, after all, and she did deserve a bit of fun and let loose from time to time.

“I don't think her dad is going to like that,” Benjamin warned.

“We're not her babysitters, we are here for her safety. Where she goes, we will follow. Let's just stay discrete. If she sees us, she'll try to bolt again.” Hopefully, everything would go smoothly, and she would just sneak back in before her dad woke up.

We took the car and followed her from afar, always making sure she was in our line of sight. Let's just hope everything would go smoothly and that she wouldn't do anything stupid.

Harmoni

I arrived at Emily's place. I still couldn't believe how lucky she was to have a place to herself with no one to control her and dictate what she could do and couldn't do.

Alright, that wasn't exactly true. I was grateful in this moment, but other times I knew how much she struggled. It wasn't always easy to juggle cleaning, cooking, shopping, and studying, especially when you were a senior.

Emily's parents had always loved the countryside. When she was 16, they found the most beautiful house and decided to move. The only issue was that the village where the house was didn't have a high school.

So, instead of bringing her with them, they bought her a one-bedroom apartment in the city and left her. Sounds terrible put this way, but Emily didn't mind so much since they visited quite often and she would visit them every chance she had. They also called regularly to check on her and talk about their lives in the countryside.

I knocked, and Emily opened immediately, ushering me in. Sitting in front of her vanity, I started applying my make-up. I didn't usually wear much, but I wanted to make an effort this time. It was the first party I was going to. Let's just say I wanted to leave an impression.

“Come on, hurry up Har, let's go!” she said, not even five minutes after I arrived at her place. She was pacing next to me, eager to get to the party. Looking at the time, I saw it was already past midnight. The party had started around ten, meaning we would be fashionably late.

I didn't have a choice since I needed my dad to fall asleep before being able to leave. I was glad Emily waited for me. It would have been a nightmare arriving by myself.

“Calm your horses woman, I'm only done with one eye. It hasn't even been two minutes.” After another few minutes, I was done.

“You look hot!” Emily stared at me. Looking at myself in the mirror, I was quite proud of the final result. My hair was out falling naturally on my shoulders and my make-up, albeit natural and light made my jade-green eyes stand out.

My dress boasted a low-cut both in the front and in the back, showing off a good amount of cleavage. Its length was perfect. Not too short that I would need to worry about any movement I made, but also not too long. Its green color complimented my eyes and made them stand out further. Overall, I was quite proud of the final result.

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” I teased her. She smacked me on the back. She looked great, and she knew it. Her red hair was curled perfectly, and she was wearing a dark dress with a V-neckline showing off the top of her chest. I like to think that both of us had been quite blessed by Mother Nature.

With one last check, we finally headed out. Neither one of us wanted to drive, so we simply ordered an Uber. My dad would never have to find out. Drunk driving was definitely not on either of our bucket lists, and one thing was for sure: we would be drinking.

The cab driver dropped us off. I held onto Emily’s hand as we pushed the door and walked in. Here we go.