The Alchemy

Labyrinth

A knock on my door wakes me up. I hear the door opening.

"Good morning, Princess. Just checking you didn't sneak out again," my bodyguard smirks.

I quickly sit up. I look like a mess, my long blonde curls falling over my face. I try to pull myself together but fail.

"By the way, it's 10 am. I think you should get ready for tonight's show; you're going to have a lot of work with this lion's mane," he laughs, closing the door.

I let my body fall back down on the mattress when I hear through the door,

"I said wake up!"

"Don't boss me around," I yell back, secretly smiling to myself.

-

In front of the mirror, I understand why he was laughing. My hair is all over the place, my cheeks are red, and my eyes are still trying to acclimate to the light. I brush my hair and put it in a ponytail. I take a quick shower and do light makeup before getting dressed.

I join Will, who is playing on his phone in the living room. When he sees me, he rapidly puts it back in his pocket. I act like I didn't see it. I'm wearing a white sundress with sandals and a pink heart-shaped bag.

"Hey, so I thought we could get breakfast outside before going to the stadium. I have a friend who recommended this place. What do you think about it?" he asks.

"That's great. I didn't think you'd let me go out after what happened yesterday."

"I told you, Miss Swift, if you tell me where you want to go and it's safe, then you can go if you let me come."

I nod.

We have a nice time on the way to the restaurant, chatting about the pictures from yesterday that made the headlines of today's newspaper. It was the first time for Will to be on the front page of a newspaper.

At the restaurant, he pulls out a chair for me to sit. I'm waiting for him to sit in front of me, but he doesn't. I give him a questioning look.

"I'm your bodyguard, not your friend. I can't sit at the same table as you. At least not in public. The paps would make it the first page of tomorrow's news, and Miss Paine would kill me."

"Oh, okay," I utter with disappointment as I take out a book. "I guess this is my date," I say, raising the book I have in my hand.

I don't understand. He can be so nice and make me feel so seen, but the minute after, he distances himself.

As I am reading, I can feel his eyes on me. I don't dare move, too scared to make him look away. The pressure of his gaze makes me grind my legs. I smirk as I think about what I did last night. I hear giggles behind me; he is laughing, still looking at me. Did he see me? I blush at the idea.

-

-Last show in South America before a three month break -

I am changing into my all-pink bodysuit, getting ready for my last show. I'm exhausted. I lay on the sofa for a little moment, my head spinning, and I've had a headache for three days now. I'm almost falling asleep when someone knocks on the door. Will enters the room with his hand over his eyes.

"Hey, Miss Paine told me to tell you that you're up in 30."

"It's fine. I'm dressed," I tell him.

As I stand up to go to the stage, I feel my head spinning more than it usually does. I rush to the bathroom with my hand over my mouth. As I throw up everything I ate in the last two days, I feel my hair being lifted out of my face.

"It's okay, princess," he says, rubbing my back.

When I am done, I let my body rest against the bathroom wall. He stands up and leaves. When he returns, he has a glass of water and a box of pills. He hands them to me.

"You're too sick to perform. I'll tell Miss Paine to cancel."

"No, I can't. They're waiting for me. I can't disappoint them," I say as I stand up. "I just need a minute."

I clean my face in the mirror; my makeup is all over the place.

"Are you sure? You've been sick for a few days now."

I nod and go apply more makeup at my vanity in the other room. How does he know I've been sick? I didn't tell anyone. I don't want them to cancel a show and disappoint everyone. I performed with a broken heart; I can do it with the flu.

Performing is quite hard as I have to throw up between every outfit change, but I manage to get through the night.

The night is more difficult as I can't sleep, having to get out of bed every hour to throw up. But Will stays by my side. When I wake up in the middle of the night, he is still sleeping in the armchair in a corner of my room. He looks so serious in the dark. Actually, he always looks so serious, but he's got a smile that could light up the whole town if he did it more often.