Her Witch, Her Demon: Book 1 of Hers Trilogy [WxW]

9. The Bodyguard

Meredith gnawed on Alicia's advice over and over again. She even lost count of the days as she plunged deeper into thought, figuring out what to do. Maybe all she had to do was follow her heart and go after the woman she wanted. She would lose her family if she did that. Yet, the thought of losing Nyx scared her even more.

It didn't help that the visions she had of Nyx became more frequent, popping up at the oddest times of the day. She wasn't yet sure what it was, but they seemed to only appear whenever Nyx was in pain. The visions themselves were not physically painful to Meredith, however, her heart shattered into a million pieces when she watched Nyx go through such torment.

"Huang." Someone tapped her on the shoulder.

She suddenly looked up from her computer to see her boss staring at her in concern.

"Miss Mendez." When did her boss get to her desk?

"Are you okay?" the older woman asked her in Spanish. "You haven't moved for like ten minutes straight. What's going on?"

She could get nothing past Jane Mendez, could she? Jane was often distant toward her employees and could be quite cold. But she was also very attentive and noticed the tiniest detail. But more importantly, in her own words, she appreciated competent people. And as Meredith was rather competent at what she did, her boss had grown fond of her over the years.

"I'm alright, Miss Mendez." Meredith forced a smile. The woman's expression didn't change, but Meredith could tell that she didn't buy her bullshit. Hell, Meredith didn't buy it either. She quickly added, "I just haven't been sleeping well lately. That's all."

Well, that wasn't exactly a lie. If she wasn't crying over a heartbreak, then she was having unpleasant visions of Nyx, and the shit had rather disrupted her sleep. It seemed the whole thing was affecting her more than she thought. Was it so obvious? God, she had to pull herself together.

"You sure everything is fine, Huang?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Well, then try and sleep better so you don't die. I don't have time to be looking for a new employee."

That made Meredith chuckle. "Yes, Ma'am."

Without another word, the woman strutted back to her transparent office. Yes, that was the classic Mendez Talk. No-nonsense and straight to the point. Meredith went back to the logo she was designing on her computer.

* * *

She left work at 6:30 pm and took a taxi to the Neon Velvet. This had become a daily ritual for her. The Neon Velvet was the perfect place to get her thoughts in order. It was a small quiet bar, about a five-minute drive away from her house.

Her phone beeped. Fifteen percent battery. Everything seemed to be conspiring against her. Even her car died a few days ago on her way to work and she had to leave it at the mechanic. Thankfully, she could just walk the rest of the way home.

But going home wasn't on her mind now. Speaking of home, it was about time she moved out. Her parents wouldn't like that, but it was fine. Though she didn't depend on her parent's money, she hardly felt independent. They seemed to be all up in her business these days. If she wasn't living with her parents, they wouldn't have known about Nyx so early on in their relationship and they would still be together.

She sighed.

"What can I get you?" A brown-skinned guy with curly hair smiled at her. It took Meredith a moment to realize that it was the bartender asking for her order. This one was new.