Mr. Prime Minister

Chapter 18

The orders I got were very simple: stand by, at home, don't call anyone except close family, and never go out the building without Tyler and his team of armed bodyguards. I mean, come on, Charlie was exaggerating a bit, wasn't he?

"It's for your own protection!" Charlie had yelled over the phone; I called him first thing Monday morning to talk about the WWE heavyweight team waiting for me outside my flat.

"Charlie, don't you think this will only bring more attention to myself?" I grunted back.

"That's why I'm telling you not to leave the house, only if your life depends on it" He tossed, over some background talking noise.

"Look, I know going to Julia's birthday dinner next Saturday doesn't look like a priority for you, but it is to me. She's been my friend for decades – literally – and I'm not gonna stay home, be safe, and lose her big thirty!" I huffed back "I've been through the big thirty b-day, and believe me, Jules needs me there with her."

Julia tossed me a thumbs up from the kitchen. Gavin merely rolled his eyes and went back to eating his toast with scrambled eggs.

"Look" He sighed; he was now irritated, I could hear it in his voice "I'm just doing this for your own protection. If you leave the house, I guarantee you'll have the reporters on your heels, and even though Tyler and his men are the best, they can't protect you from the cameras."

After that 'fight', we didn't talk much. Actually, all our talking was happening over a text or a quick ring. I knew things were tense, not because of Charlie and I being together, but because austerity was making him look like an ogre and he had to deal with bad publicity and problems from every angle. I get it, I never blamed him for it. But, hey, as laid back as I might be, I was – and will always proudly be – a girl, so I need my quote of the normal lovey-dovey attention from my boo.

So the week passed with me being held prisoner in my own house, Tyler's team setting a perimeter around the building and keeping anyone that wasn't allowed outside. I didn't even have to call my boss, Mr Crock, because Charlie had one of his assistants call the man and tell him – not ask, oh no, the Prime Minister never asks – I was taking some time off work and that he would be compensated with a substitute they would get them. Of course, my boss couldn't care less who did the job, as long as someone did it.

I cared, however. I wasn't very happy about the fact that Charlie was taking over every detail of my previously happily boring and chaotic life. Don't get me wrong, I honestly appreciate the fact that he got Tyler to follow my every step; with him, at least I knew I would always be safe from anyone trying to get some scoop on my private life.

"Everything's set for tomorrow." Julia said as she sat on the carpet by my coffee table "Millie already confirmed the hot dog stand – which Gavin and Jerry will be dealing with –, that guitar duo to play and sing after the folk band, and our pie stand."

"Lydia's mom's pies are the best" I moaned, taking a piece of takeout chicken into my mouth.

"And they're all set to go, tomorrow." Julia smiled down at her notepad "Alright, we're to be there at seven thirty, sharp, to set things up."

"Oh, wait! Alice, have you asked your daddy if you can go?" Gavin pouted with a bat of his dark lashes.

"Hilarious." My laughter reeked with sarcasm "Why don't you go outside and get funky with Fantasia? You know you'd love to."

"Bite me" He grunted back with narrowed eyes.

"Children, come on, let's play nice." Julia intervened, her hands up between us "We're riding together, right?