Chapter 21

Isa POV

We have to wake up extra early on Saturday morning in time for our flight to New York City, and Temi is making a point of being as annoying as possible.

"I don't understand why we have to be up this early," Temi complains for what is probably the tenth time in the Uber on our way to the airport.

For a moment, I consider not replying to her and just ignoring her like I had done for the last nine times.

"Why could we not have gotten a flight later on in the day?"

I sigh, caving. "Your mom got her secretary to book the flight early so you can get to New York City and settle down before the events later today."

Temi glares at me from her position in the backseat right next to me. "I wasn't asking you."

"Who were you asking, then?"

Obviously, Temi does not reply to this but stares out of her window, going back to ignoring me. Through the mirror reflection, the Uber driver offers me a pity smile, and I shrug in response.

The trip to New York City is very last minute. I only got the call from Temi's mom, explaining the details of the trip briefly before connecting me with her assistant, Sophie, who went over things in a bit more detail.

Basically, Temi and I are going to be in the city for the weekend. Primarily for Temi to attend events for her mom's campaign. Typical politician-kid procedure.

Temi decides to still maintain her grouchy mood as we get to the airport and I end up being the one to handle most of the checking in process, whilst Temi stands to the side with a scowl on her face.

It's not till we get onto the plane that I can have a bit of peace. We are flying first class and instead of being seated next to Temi; I am seated opposite her in a cubicle of our own.

The only downside of this arrangement is that Temi seems hell bent on glaring at me throughout the flight. She even makes a deal of pointedly staring at me, rolling her eyes and looking away, just to do it all over again a few seconds later.

I send Temi a smirk, causing her scowl to deepen. Despite myself, I can't stop thinking of how endearing it is that she's putting all this effort into displaying her displeasure at me. To be honest, I'll take this treatment over when she's completely ignoring me.

I think back to the incident that happened when I got out of the bathroom a few days ago and I instantly feel my body temperature rise. I hate the physiological effect just thinking of this has on me. Yet, it's not been the first time I have thought about it since it happened.

I suddenly notice Temi staring at me, her eyes surveying me in confusion.

"What?" I ask.

"What are you thinking about?" Temi asks.

I stare at her with the blankest expression I can muster, but Temi's eyes only narrow slightly in suspicion.

"It's none of your business," I finally resort to saying.

"It is my business. You are being weird and stuff."

I stare at Temi for a moment, not wanting to say anything.

"Fine," Temi huffs, folding her arms over her chest, "I'm going to sleep. You're such a freaking weirdo, Isa."

I say nothing to this but I can't help thinking that she's right. Temi is right. I am a freaking weirdo. I'm having fantasies about someone I'm literally supposed to be protecting. Being Temi's bodyguard is my job and I keep reminding myself. It's the main reason that I am here right now- no matter how blurred the lines might sometimes appear.

What more, and despite the hard exterior she puts up, I know Temi is extremely vulnerable right now. This is the last thing she needs.

Temi's lips have parted slightly as she sleeps. For a moment, I watch her. I have not slept in her room ever since the occurrence at Melody's party. I wonder if she still has nightmares and difficulty sleeping at night.

I can only wonder about it, because I know I would never ask. And even if I did, Temi would never tell me.

"Can you recognize her anywhere?" I ask for probably the millionth time.

"Why do you keep asking me? You're getting on my nerves."

I clench my jaw slightly to keep from snapping at Temi. Instead, I take a deep breath and make sure my voice is stable before speaking again.

"Temi, you're the one that knows how your mom's assistant looks. She's gonna be the one picking us up from here and taking us to the hotel. I do not know what this woman looks like, hence why I am asking you."

I say all this slowly, as if I'm talking to a child. God knows, Temi loves acting like one sometimes.

Temi scowls at me. "Do not use that sarcastic tone with me."

"I wouldn't have to if you would just cooperate with me. I know stubbornness is your thing, but the sooner we get out of here, the better it is for everyone."

For a moment, Temi looks like she wants to retort something rude to me but catches herself at the last moment. For this, I am thankful for. Instead, Temi looks around, scanning the groups of people standing outside the LaGuardia Airport.

"That's her," Temi says, pointing towards a woman dressed in a baby pink suit looking in the opposite direction of where we are.

Temi walks towards the woman and I follow her, carrying both Temi and I's luggages in my arms, because clearly, that's my job as her bodyguard.

"Hey, Sophie!"

The woman turns around and I get a good look at her face. She looks to be in her mid-thirties and has cropped red hair.

"Temi, I was just about to call you," Sophie says, engulfing Temi in a hug. "Oh my, look how much you've grown. It's been what? Two years since I last saw you?"

Temi is clearly uncomfortable with all the affection and stands stiffly. I smile slightly at this.

Sophie directs her attention from Temi and turns to look at me.

"Hello, you must be the bodyguard. I'm Sophie."

"Isa." I say, shaking her outstretched arm, before she directs us to the taxi waiting for us.

Sophie is a talker. And this is what she does for the duration of the trip to the hotel. This is interesting, seeing as neither Temi nor I seem to do much talking. So basically, Sophie spends the entire trip talking to herself. She doesn't seem to mind, though.

"Is my mom waiting at the hotel?" Temi asks during the car ride.

"Nope, she's busy in a meeting, but you'll see her later." Sophie replies, "she says I should tell you to wear the yellow dress today."

Temi groans inwardly, but does not respond to this. Although she tries hard not to show it, there seems to be a lot of emotion going on beneath the surface.

"Are you okay?" I whisper to Temi, while Sophie keeps talking in the background. Even the taxi driver seems to grow sick of her excessive chatting and sends her death stares every so often.

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" Temi replies stubbornly. I can think of many reasons why she wouldn't be okay, but I decide to keep that to myself.

"Here we are," Sophie says as the taxi pulls to a stop in front of a hotel. "They would hand you the keys to your suite once you go in. I would love to come along and help you all get settled down, but I've got some setting up to do for the event later today."

"No worries, we'll be fine." I say, offering Sophie the best smile I can muster without letting on how relieved I am that I wouldn't have to deal with her non-stop talking for much longer.

"Okay then. Temi, remember, yellow dress!" Sophie yells as we get out of the taxi.

Just as Sophie says, we are given our keys and directed to our rooms once we enter the hotel. It is a fancy hotel, located on the upper end side of the city.

Our suite is on one of the higher floors, with a view overlooking the city. Temi and I have separate rooms of our own, joined together by a little living room area in the center. It all looks extremely luxurious.

Immediately upon arriving in the hotel suite, Temi walks into one of the rooms, slamming the door behind her.

I head into the other room and begin unpacking. I don't have a lot of things with me seeing as we are only here for a weekend, so I'm done with that in no time. I go over the schedule Sophie had forwarded to me a few days ago.

Basically, there are events Temi has to attend all weekend, so I would be with her throughout. There doesn't seem to be any down time this weekend, but I don't mind as I figure the more occupied Temi is, the less time she would spend getting on my nerves.

After about an hour and a half, I knock on Temi's door. She doesn't respond, so I knock again.

"What!" Temi yells from inside of the room.

"Let's go eat brunch!" I yell back at her.

"Just order room service or something."

I sigh, scratching at my head in frustration.

"Temi, we are in New York City. I will not order room service. We're going to go out and look for a spot to eat and enjoy the city."

Temi simply does not respond after this, so I resort to knocking on her door repeatedly till she finally yanks the door open, fixing me with her award-winning death stare.

"Do you think it's possible to leave me the fuck alone?"

I pretend to be in deep thought for a while. "No, I'm sorry. It goes against my job description. Go put on something warm. We're going out."

Temi makes a show of expressing her disapproval throughout, but does as I say. I watch her with a strange feeling of satisfaction within me. I take pride in these few moments that Temi actually listens to me.

Winter is fast approaching and we can feel that as we walk along the chilly streets of NYC. Typically, it is busy and people are already bustling about in every direction.

"Do you have a particular place in mind that you want to eat at?" I ask Temi, who is intentionally walking a little distance away from me.

She ignores me, so I pull out my phone and lead us to the first brunch spot that shows up on google maps.

It's a small outdoor spot, surrounded by cute scenery. I've been to New York City several times before, but each time I'm here, I'm always impressed by the upbeat, convenient, fast-paced lifestyle here. It had once been a dream of mine to be an artist in NYC, but that ship had set sail many years ago.

"What do you want to eat?" I ask Temi, seated in a chair across from me.

"None of your business," Temi snaps at me.

I've got to say. I'm impressed at how long she can remain in a bad mood.

"Okay," I reply, "well, I'm going to call the server over to take our orders now."

Temi doesn't acknowledge the fact that I spoke, so I call over the server and place an order for myself for an English breakfast. Temi orders pancakes with whipped cream and hot chocolate.

"What?" Temi snaps, noticing me staring at her, moments after the server leaves with our order.

"Pancakes? That's the big secret? That's none of my business?"

Temi stares at me hard for a while. I am 90% convinced that she's trying to drill a hole through my head with her glare. Finally, she sighs.

Fuck off, Isabella."