Protecting Zoey

Chapter 5: Meeting Zoe

Zoey hadn't gotten any sleep the night before. She was extremely nervous to meet her new bodyguard Mason Arden, but she couldn't really understand why. She continued to tell herself that it was because a strange man was going to be around her all the time now but that wasn't the only thing running through her head. Moreso, she continued to ask herself why she would need someone to keep her safe.

"Ugh," Olivia grunted as she finally rolled over and opened her eyes.

She looked down at Zoey sitting on the floor staring at the blank TV.

"Did you get any sleep last night Zoe?" Olivia asked with concern.

"No," Zoey muttered as she turned to look at her friend. "I couldn't stop thinking about everything."

"I know how you feel," Olivia said as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. "It's all so surreal."

"Yeah," Zoey agreed as she sighed deeply and stood up. "But I think my concerns are a little different than yours. I still don't understand why I need someone to protect me."

Olivia laid back on the bed with a dumb smile on her face. "Just wait till you meet him, if anyone can keep you safe, it's him. I give it a week before you're falling all over him too."

"I'm not into older guys like you Liv," Zoey plopped herself on the bed. "I mean a few years is okay, but this guy has to be in his thirties."

Olivia began to laugh as she looked at Zoey. "I thought you researched him when you found out he was coming?"

Zoey looked back in confusion. "I did, he's a retired and divorced dude with a teenage daughter. He's also been a champion for like 3 years."

Olivia's laughter had reached the point of a cackle as she fumbled with her phone. "You really suck at research Zoe. Mason Arden is twenty-five, he's retiring early as a promise to his 'adopted' teenage daughter. He married an older woman out of high school that he was deeply in love with and bonded with her daughter enough to adopt her."

Olivia handed her phone over to Zoey. "Just keep swiping, it's all about him."

Zoey took the phone, still confused as she began to swipe through pictures of an incredibly attractive man with orange hair. He was smiling in every photo, and he looked extremely happy no matter who he was around. After a few minutes of looking at his pictures, Zoey felt her heartbeat start to quicken as she realized that Olivia was right, she was going to have an even harder time with this whole thing than she originally anticipated.

"What about his ex-wife?" Zoey asked with slight desperation in her voice. "Why did they divorce?"

"It's strange," Olivia said taking her phone back with a big grin. "Right after he got to Obin she filed for divorce, somehow everything got approved while he was overseas, and she moved. He did a few interviews while he was in Obin begging Linda or Natalie to answer his calls. But they never did."

"Oh my god, he must've been crushed," Zoey whispered as she looked up at Olivia. Zoey had always been an extremely empathetic person and found it easy to connect with anyone, especially someone that just suffered a trauma.

"I'm in so much trouble." She said even softer looking back down.

"Oh yes, you are." Olivia agreed as she took her phone back and placed it on the nightstand. "But I have a feeling that you're going to enjoy every moment of this trouble."

"You know my mother never let me be around boys," Zoey whined as she placed her head in her hands. "The only man she's ever let me be around without some form of chaperone has been Harrison. I don't know how to act around boys."