The Bodyguard

Chapter 4

THEO

"Tori, I'd like you to meet the other two agents working with Oliver and me. This is Archer and Daniel."

Tori seemed unbothered by meeting Archer and Daniel. She shook both of their hands and was polite for a brief couple of minutes. Not long after their arrival, Tori disappeared into her room, and I felt I knew why she was keeping a distance.

"Arianna, how is she holding up?" I asked.

Arianna Carter is Tori's best friend. She has been by her side since we returned.

"Considering what happened to her, she's not feeling wonderful. She's also freaking out about some things I'm not going to discuss with you seeing as we just met."

"Is there anything we can do for her?" I asked.

Arianna shrugged. "I don't know. Did you get any female secret agents? No offense, you guys are probably great, but your presence doesn't help her. It freaks her out."

"I can call and see who I can get. However, I can't say it's possible because many of them are new in training. What about her sleeping? I know it's not been a full two days, but has she mentioned her sleeping last night?"

"She couldn't sleep. The television was on the whole night, and everything replayed in her head. This is the first time anything has scared her. I'm almost lost on what to do, and I know her well. You know she left your house before the sun rose?"

I nodded. "I know. It was only eight o'clock when I arrived, and I found her note thanking me for what I'd done. That's when I went out with Oliver to find her."

"Well, I don't know what to do. With Logan starting this media story, she's glued to her phone, reading all these comments about her. I tried to get her to stop looking at them, but she wanted to know what people were saying. What makes everything worse is that she can't stop thinking about what happened to her. I mean, she was taken advantage of. It's not something she can quickly forget about and move on. Have you dealt with something like this before?" Arianna asked.

"Unfortunately, yes, I have. I've been a Secret Service agent, bodyguard, and bouncer. I've seen it all. If she's willing, I can get her some melatonin to help her sleep. I can try to talk her out of glancing at the comments, but I don't know if it'll work."

"Try anything you can. I'm her best friend, and she didn't listen. If she listens to you, a stranger over me, I'm going to kick you."

I chuckled. "I have a way with people. Better start practicing your kicking."

I walked up to Tori's room, stood outside her door, thinking what to say, and knocked.

"Come in," Tori said faintly.

"Hey, is it alright if I talk to you briefly?"

Tori nodded. I stepped inside her room and took it all in. It suited her well, although I expected the walls to be pink. Maybe pink wasn't her color? The bed frame and matching bed set were white and gold. There was a white ottoman in the corner and a window seat looking out into the backyard, which contained a patio, a pool, and a bar.

"Don't get mad at Arianna, but I was talking to her and asked her a couple of questions. She said you didn't sleep well last night, and I wondered if you'd like to try some melatonin. It's not too strong, but it might help you stop thinking enough to get some sleep."

"I suppose I can give it a try. What other topics did you discuss with Arianna?"

I pointed to Tori's phone on her nightstand. "We were talking about that."

"About the comments? Ari worries too much. I'm fine. It's fake news, that's all."

"Well, you shouldn't be worried about fake news because it's fake. Your real fans know you wouldn't do anything like that," I said.