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“They don’t have to follow you around all the time.” He ignored my latter statement, “You can have them around while you’re at work. I’m sure they wouldn’t want to follow you around every second of your day either.”

“He has a point,” Olivia cut in. I slowly drifted my eyes over to her and she raised her hand in mock surrender.

“Shouldn’t you be leaving for work?” I asked and her eyes widened almost comically.

She rushed out of the room without another word and I shook my head while a small smile played on my lips.

After a second, she came back in, “At least see the bodyguard; you don’t have to get one. I love you.” She rushed out before I could respond to her.

“You should listen to her,” Nathan said, “She sounds smart.”

“You’re only saying that because she agreed with you.”

“Anyone who agrees with me is smart. Although you’re smart but you make it a life’s mission to always disagree with me.”

“No normal person should be as conceited as you are.”

“Normalcy is overrated anyway.” He shrugged, “So, am I calling him?”

“If it will get you both off my back; then sure.”

Nathan left my office and I thought it would give me the usual sense of peace that being alone gives me but instead, I was plagued with thoughts and scenarios.

All I could think about was how bad today could have gone, how embarrassing it was and the adverse effects it could have on me and my brand .

I tried to push every negative thought out of my head but it proved to be more difficult than I thought considering that every message or email I got was from people apologizing to me.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love their compassion and how worried they are, but the more they talk about it, the more I think about it.

Right now, I just want to forget and pretend like all of this never happened. I want to act like I was in my office all day and I didn’t go through anything today.

My phone started to vibrate on my desk and I had to bite back a scream when I saw that it was my mother. I could have ignored it but I knew she wouldn’t stop calling so I took a calming breath and swiped answer.

“Are you okay?” was the first thing she asked and I hummed, “One of my friends just sent me the video. How could people be so cruel?”

“Welcome to New York.”

“It’s not a joke Adira, you could have been seriously hurt.”

“I’m not hurt,” I assured her.

I was going to say whatever needed to be said to calm her down when Nathan walked into my office and tapped his watch- we had to leave.

“I have to go mum, I have a meeting.”

“You’re still going out after what happened.” She sounded genuinely shocked, “Shouldn’t you be at home right now? You won’t die if you don’t work.”

“I’m going to see someone about a bodyguard.”

She went completely quiet on the other side of the phone and I honestly thought she had hung up until she spoke, “You want a bodyguard? ”

“No, but I’m going to see someone. I’ll talk to you later.”

She didn’t even put up a fuss, she just hummed and I hung up the phone. I gathered all my things because I knew I wouldn’t be returning to the office. I’ve had enough of this place for one day.

I wanted to drive but I had forgotten the state that my leather seats were in and I had to relinquish driving to Nathan because we had to take his car. I stayed silent the entire ride and he didn’t try to engage conversation with me. He just focused on the road in front of him.

The first words that were spoken came when we stopped in front of a huge building with a sign that read Kane Securities.

“I thought you were cousins.” I couldn’t help but ask.

“From our mums,”

He stepped out of the car and I followed closely behind him. As we walked in, he spoke to everyone with an air of familiarity. No one asked him any questions or even directed him; he just made his way around like he owned the place.

We took the elevator to the third floor and he led me to the last office down the hall. The walls were dark mahogany and looked freshly polished. He knocked and pushed it open and I couldn’t help but look around the office.

It was minimal but somehow still grabbed your attention. The walls were a plain grey and there was a bookshelf at the far left and in the middle of the room sat a marble table with a man behind it.

As he stood up, I saw the similarities between him and Nathan. They had the same color of hair but he grew his out to his shoulders. He was in a form fitted black suit and he gestured for us to sit .

“You must be Adira,” he extended his hand for me to shake, “Nathan has told me so much about you. I’m Grayson Kane.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” I accepted the handshake and took one of the seats on the opposite end of the table.

“Nathan tells me you want a bodyguard.”

“I don’t want one,”

“But you need one,” he cut in, “I’ve seen the videos and I have dealt with a lot of clients that had similar problems. It won’t end overnight especially not with Couture Week coming up and I know you’re going to be there.”

“I didn’t know it was public knowledge already.”

“It isn’t; I have high profile clients, Adira.”

I let out a heavy exhale, “I don’t like people in my space and having someone follow me around twenty four hours a day does not sound very appealing to me. I don’t need someone following me when I’m going to see my parents.”

“You don’t need a 24/7 guard. You can have someone who just follows you when you’re going to work or generally any public place. Your personal life can still be your personal life.”

“I’m still not sold on the idea.”

“I understand your hesitation but it will only get worse. How about you keep the bodyguard for a certain amount of time, maybe three months and if you decide at the end that you don’t want one, it’s fine.”

“I guess that could work.” He offered me an encouraging nod as if to say I made the right decision .

“I will go through all our available candidates and send you the files of those who I think are the best so you can have final say.”

“You don’t need to do that,” I cut him off, “Just pick the best one.”

“Of course; you will be in good hands.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that so I nodded. He extended his hand for one final handshake and then I was leaving his office and walking back towards the car.

“That wasn’t so hard was it?” Nathan asked as we left the office and if looks could kill, he would be buried six feet underground, “Gray is the best in the business, you can be rest assured that you will be well protected.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” I muttered, “And I haven’t agreed to a bodyguard yet.”

“Sure you haven’t.”