The Bodyguard

2

The next morning, I was met with Abe pacing at the door.

"Is everything all right?" I asked slightly alarmed.

"Yes. Rose was in the shower last I checked. My meeting just got moved and I didn't want to leave until you got here," he explained.

I nodded and held the door open.

"Anything I need to know?!" I called out.

"She slept through the night! That's a plus!" Abe called over his shoulder as he got into his car. I chuckled and walked into the house, heading up the stairs. I stood outside Rose's door for a moment and listened to see if I could hear any running water. After not hearing anything I called out to her.

"Rose?"

"I'm decent, you can come in," she called back. I opened the door and she was sitting on her bed, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt with a towel wrapped around her head.

"Good morning," I said kindly, "How did you sleep?"

Rose smiled softly. "I slept okay. Thank you for asking. You?"

I smirked. "Fine. Anything planned for today?"

Rose looked guilty for a second. "Um. No. Not for a few days, actually," she said.

"Oh? Why is that?"

Rose's cheeks pinked and she reached up for the towel, unwinding it and pulling it off. I took a slow breath and blinked at her. I didn't like to admit that the first thing I ever noticed about her was her hair. It was thick, long, and curly and so brown it was almost black. But looking at it now, I was stunned.

"How did you do that?" I asked. Rose grimaced and picked up something from her nightstand and stood up, handing it to me.

"My dad should have warned you that I'm a stellar pickpocket," she said almost guiltily. I took my swiss army knife and then looked back at her hair. Her hair that used to be down to her waist and now rested at her armpits.

I blinked at her and then at the blade. "You cut your hair with this?" I asked.

Rose nodded. I cleared my throat and sighed.

"Let me see your stomach."

"Excuse me?"

"Rose," I said plainly, "I have a file the size of a textbook on the table downstairs about you. Let me see your stomach."

Rose bit her lip and sighed, lifting her shirt up enough for me to see her stomach. I already looked at her arms and there were no marks I could see, and looking at her stomach, all I saw was one that had been healing for a while.

I nodded to myself. "Thank you."

Rose nodded and looked at me, shame lingering in her eyes.

"Are you going to tell my parents?"

"Did you intend on using my knife for anything other than cutting your hair?" I asked.

Rose wiggled her nose. "No. I thought about it for a second, but I didn't want to do it again. I don't want to go back there," she whispered, "I just didn't want to look the same anymore?"

I moved to sit beside her on the bed as she sunk back down, pulling her feet up to rest on the lower frame.

"Why don't you want to look the same?"

"Because he knows what I look like," she whispered, "God. I feel so pathetic. I used to be fearless, and now I'm terrified to walk out my front alone because he's always there."

"You think that changing your hair will make you harder to recognize?"

Rose nodded. "Everyone knows me by my hair. Even my best friend. She could pick me out of a crowd because of it."