The Guardian Demon [A Taron Egerton FanFiction]

9: Looking In Another Light

After hours of the constant hubbub, Mallory's party had finally came to an end. Gratefully expressing her thanks to the guests as they took their leave, she took her time bidding farewell to Jenny who showered her with hugs, kisses, and tears as she pulled her toward the house's main gate, where a car was waiting to drive her to the airport, not having the desire to let her go.

When everything went back to its normal, quiet pace, Mallory belatedly realized the emptiness inside of her, she became conscious of the fact that her life was actually involved around the buzzing of the show business. Partying, clubbing, shopping, and flashy publicity was all that she was good at, even though everyone used to tell her that her voice and beauty were the key elements of her success.

Or maybe she was already missing Jenny very much, she would be away for a long time, and nobody will be here to listen to her ranting about nothing and everything in particular.

Standing barefoot at the front yard of her house, Mallory wrapped a scarf around her shoulders as the cool night breeze and the soft grass tickled her skin, giving her small shudders, she looked up at the clear, dark sky where a crescent moon, surrounded by bright, tiny stars, twinkled shyly toward the earth.

"Are you alright?" A voice came from behind her broke her chain of thoughts, it was Barney's.

"I already miss her," Mallory answered in a small voice, turning back to look at her manager who was standing with her bodyguard a few steps away from her.

Taron was, as always, wordlessly watching them, he was still clad in his suit, the only thing that was missing of his usual look was the tie.

"It's okay if you do," Barney said in his warm manner, taking a couple of strides forward but still careful not to invade her personal space, "she was with you most of the time."

Nodding, Mallory turned to look at the sky again, tears beginning to sting her eyes, she blinked them away.

"But you know that you can talk to her whenever you want to," he added, "technology is a blessing to the humanity, they say," he cooed, getting a small laugh from Mallory in response.

They fell silent for a few minutes, Mallory kept her gaze at the sky, as if she was looking for answers to her unspoken questions, with Barney following her line of sight. As for Taron, he kept his eyes steady on her.

"Can we go out?" Mallory blurted out, fully turning toward her bodyguard.

"Now?" he queried, a quizzical frown on his face, "it's half past three," he continued, looking at his wristwatch and back at the manager.

"Please?" she requested, sending him the best puppy-eyes look she could master at that moment.

Barney shrugged, taking a step back, "have fun, you two," he said with a wave of his hand.

Sighing, Taron nodded, "but you need to wear something on your feet first," he warned, gesturing toward her bare feet.

Nodding excitedly, Mallory sprinted inside the house, only to run out a few seconds later with sandals on her feet.