His Secret Bodyguard

Part 26

"Where are we?" He asked, again.. "Does it matter?" I replied, walking up more stairs and then into my apartment.. I shut the door behind me, going through the difficult process of locking the door. I tossed my keys onto the kitchen counter. He was looking around. It was clean, for the most part. The small kitchen table was covered in papers and piles of documents.. My shoes were all piled up near one of the walls, scattered. A half-empty coffee mug was still on the kitchen table..

"You live here.. I thought you said you don't settle anywhere?" He commented, picking up one of the papers on the table and reading it. He immediately looked confused.

"You speak french?" He asked. I laughed, realizing he was looking at stuff from my other job. There's a lot of overseas clients, and they have me translate everything. They used to use google translate, but they soon realized their clients messages weren't translating as they should. So, they hired me to read through every document they receive, translate it, and send them the necessary information..

"Little bit." I replied, grabbing the coffee mug and emptying it into the sink, before putting it in the dishwasher.. "So, what is all of this?" He asked, and I glanced over my shoulder. "Work stuff." I said, walking over and grabbing what he was holding. I skimmed over it. It was one of the ones I'd already read. I set it down in one of the piles. "Not for me though.. What other job do you have?" He questioned.

I shrugged. "Just.. A job. Can you maybe.. Call a cab or something?" I asked, taking my shoes off and kicking them over to the other ones.

"No, you saw that girl downstairs.." He replied, taking a seat on my couch.. My apartment is a fairly decent size I guess. Small kitchen, pretty good living room, and the bathroom is off to the side. There's a wall of windows opposite of that, behind the couch. Brick walls, and my bedroom is on the other end, up 2-3 stairs. It's a good size apartment for one person.

I have a small closet, and windows behind my bed, that look out to the street. It isn't in the main part of the city. Most of the buildings out here are old. But, it's good. It adds to the aesthetic of the place, despite all the maintenance I've had to get done..

I wanted him to leave. But, I knew he wouldn't. I sighed, tossing my sunglasses onto the kitchen counter. He walked over to my bedroom, going up the stairs and picking up a picture frame I have on my bedside table. It's a picture of me and my brother, and a second picture underneath it of me and my ex-boyfriend, Ryan. I know, why would I keep it? It's been there for a while, I just haven't been here long enough to throw everything out.. "Who's this?" He asked, walking over showing me the picture.

He was pointing at my brother. I sighed. "Andrew. My brother." I commented. "And the other guy?" He questioned. I hesitated, thinking maybe I should just tell him it's another brother of mine.. Even though I only have the one..

"My ex." I said, going and sitting at the table, grabbing some of the papers and reading through them.. "The ex?" He asked. I nodded, not really paying attention to him. Nearly all of these documents were in french, which I was fluent in. Better at reading than speaking after all these years of being in America. But, still fairly fluent..

He was still looking at the pictures. He set it down on the counter and sat across from me at the table. I was ignoring him, reading through the documents and translating them onto a computer.

He picked one of the papers up. "How are you going through these so fast? I mean, I speak a little french, so I know some of these words. But, English is obviously your first language. How long did it take you to learn French fluently?" He questioned. I laughed, setting my paper down on the pile, and taking the one from his hands.

"What makes you think English is my first language?" I asked, starting to read through that document. "Well.. You said you were from Atlanta. So.. English." He said. I starting typing this one into the computer, occasionally saving it.

"I said I was from Atlanta. Didn't say that's where I grew up, or even where I was born." I replied. "So then..." He trailed off, watching me read through the paper. It was easy. I finished five more documents fairly quickly, and felt his eyes still trained on me. "Could you stop?" I asked, not bothering to look up at him.

"No.. I thought I knew you. Or at least something about you. But, now I'm not sure. Where did you grow up?" He asked. I placed the document in the pile, then picked it up, putting them all in a folder, and stacking it with the others.

"It doesn't matter; it was a long time ago." I responded, wanting him to let the subject go. "Well, it matters to me. It might not matter to you, and that's fine. But it does to me." He stated. I sighed, finally looking up at him. "You really want to know?" I asked, knowing he would have no idea where it is.. He nodded.

"Fine. I was born, and grew up in Beauvais." I stated. He sent me a confused look and I laughed. "Little north of Paris." I commented. "Oh." He replied, thinking about it. "So then, wait... You don't have an accent.." He said. I nodded. "Left when I was seven. Ended up in Atlanta." I replied, leaving out a lot. Two years worth, actually. We didn't get to Atlanta until I was nine. My dad's fault, of course..

"Uh huh.. So, you're fluent in English, and French." He commented. I nodded. "Interesting.. Never would've guessed it.." He said, trailing off. I started reading the next document.

He seemed to be thinking really hard about something. "What now?" I asked, impatient. "Your last name." He stated. He didn't need to elaborate. Matthews was obviously not French.. "I changed it when I left my family." I explained. He nodded. He opened his mouth to say something else, and I cut him off. "First of all, I'm not telling you what my last name was. Secondly, you said that you wouldn't be annoying. Well, you're annoying the shit out of me right now. So, shut it. I'm trying to work." I stated, going back to what I was doing....