BODYGAURD

MY BREAKFAST GOES BYE BYE.

It's been a week. A long, horrible week. I just can't seem to get over my fear of stage fright. I am totally against singing in front of many people. I just can't do it. My fears seem to escalate by the days and to be honest; I don't know what to do anymore. Every time I try, I end up sounding like a broken record and it hurts every time but when I sing alone, I feel safe and I sound better. It's really frustrating. Prince Dario and I on the other hand have been really tight. I never would have imagined him to have that gentle and sweet side of him. He smiles, a lot making me smile a lot too. I can definitely say that I like him more than I care to admit. Whenever he says those three little words to me, my heart skips a beat and I feel so giddy but the fact that I can't say it back kills me. I don't even know what's holding me back but it's beginning to add up to my pent up frustration. Prince Dario sees that and tells me that it's okay. He says that I just need time but I just wanna kick myself in the curb to get those words out and I might do that one of these days. Today is Sunday and I'm currently seated on a kitchen stool, eating an apple in my bodyguard uniform. Suddenly an idea strikes me. Maybe I could sing to the apple and see if I feel shy. I begin to sing 'Chandelier' by Sia. I close my eyes and imagine singing to thousands of apples who have eyes and are cheering for me to sing. Crazy, I know but maybe it'll work.

Party girls don't get hurt

Can't feel anything, when will I learn

I push it down, push it do-o-wn

I'm the one for a good time call

Phones blowing up, ring my doorbell

I feel the love; feel the lo-o-ve,

1...2...3, 1...2...3, drink.

1...2...3, 1...2...3, drink.

1...2...3, 1...2...3, drink.

Throw 'em back, till I lose count.

I, wanna swing, from the chandelier

From the chandelier

I, wanna live like tomorrow doesn't exit

Like it doesn't exist,

I, wanna fly like a bird through the night,

Feel the tears as they dry

I, wanna swing from the chandelier

From the chandelier

I open my eyes and look around. It worked? It worked! I sounded awesome. Almost as good as Sia herself. No offense Sia, I love your music. I fist bumped the air and laughed to myself. A laugh tears through my moment and I look back to find Inez standing at the door.

"Hey, um, you're up early." I say with a ting of pink on my cheeks.

"Yeah. I'm usually up but I go down to bodyguard headquarters to let off some steam." She says and I furrow my eyebrows. I got the gun range and back down there to prepare the schedules for the day and I've never once seen her. "I know what you're thinking. I see you every morning but I always hide to give you some personal time. I honestly don't want to bother you but today, your singing stopped me short. I couldn't pass that." She says. I sigh with a smile. I pat the seat next to me and she comes and sits. I turn to her with a sad smile. I can sense that something's wrong.

"Now why would you think that you would bother me?" I ask. She shrugs and looks down.

"I don't know. I guess I just love to hear you sing. I..." she trailed off and sniffled. I raised her head to see a tear fall down her cheek. I quickly wipe it.

"You what Inez?" I pressed.

"I used to sing like that. When I was younger, I remember singing like that." She said and a sob followed. I hugged her as she cried. She calmed down after a while and continued. "I vaguely remember that I sang a lot. Until an accident that I don't remember much. I have nightmares about it. I always thought it was just some weird dream but as I grew, it became constant so I was afraid to sleep. I have nightmares about some car accident. All the people in the car I couldn't see but I saw a light heading towards us and the car swerved it but then it started somersaulting and I felt dizzy and weak. I couldn't feel my legs and I was in great pain. That's where it always ends. My mother said that we were involved in that accident when I was five years old and she thinks that it's my brain's messed up way of trying to help me remember. I kept hearing the doctors also say that I had lost my memories so I put two and two together. I was just five years old. I'm just so confused now. Lately, I have weird dreams of this woman and three other older children but I never see their faces. I have no memory of who they are whatsoever and it's really confusing me. I just don't know what to do." She finished and cried. I can't help but cry along with her. She was involved in such an accident and loses her memory at such a tender age. It's just so horrible. I pull back from her and wipe her tears.

"Hey, it's okay, you don't have to cry anymore, okay? I'll always be here to protect you. Always. If you have those nightmares, you come find me and tell me. I'll always be here for you." I assured her. The edges of her lips turned up a bit.

"Gracias Maria Azul, muchas gracias." She said and pulled me back into a tight hug before quickly letting me. I laughed a bit and checked the time. My eyebrows shot up.

"Whoa, um we gotta go to headquarters now." I declared. She nodded and wiped the rest of her tears then put on a reassuring smile. "You'll be fine Inez." I say whole-heartedly. Her smile grows bigger as we go to headquarters. Once we're there, I go to make the schedules whilst she goes down to the training base. Others start to pour in and soon enough she comes back and joins the group. I scan the group and find that Juana Soledad isn't here.

"Hey where's Juana-"my words are cut off as she run in, hair a bit distorted. She pants louder as she gets closer.

"Lo siento. I'm so sorry for being late." She says in one breath before bending to catch her breath.

"Wow, where are you coming from?" I ask.

"The throne room. Queen Auradona and King Arturo want to see you." She says. I furrow my eyebrows. I nod nonetheless and let Javier lead them. As I run to the throne room, I have no idea why they would want to see me. I keep searching for reasons. Maybe they don't want me to do the performance anymore? Soon enough I'm there. I knock twice before going in. the sight before me impales me. There are next to a hundred people here and Prince Dario in nowhere in sight. Bile immediately rose up my throat and let's just says I couldn't keep it down. I ran to my room which was like ten turns away, rushed to the bathroom then emptied my guts out into the toilet. I felt someone hold up my hair and the person was asking if I was okay but all I kept doing was throwing up. After a while, it finally stopped and I rested my back on the wall. I groaned as I felt an ugly feeling swirling in my stomach. The voice became clearer and I recognized it to be that of Prince Dario's. My eyes snapped up to meet his.

"Maria, can you hear me?" he asked cautiously. I nodded and could feel myself calm down at his soothing voice. He cups my cheek and looks me straight in the eye. "What happened?" he asked softly. Just as I was about to answer him, I heard my name being called. Queen Aura. She came into the bathroom and gasped at the sight of me on the bathroom floor. She knelt next to me, apologizing to me. I kept waving her off and telling her that it was okay but she just wasn't having it.

"I'm so sorry Maria; I didn't know it would that to you. I'm so sorry." She kept apologizing.

"No need queen aura, I'm okay. I just don't know what the fuck is wrong with me. I keep trying and this morning i-"I stopped and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry." I said.

"No. it's not your fault Maria. I shouldn't have called all those people-"I cut her off.

"No. You just called those people to help me get over my fears. You were just trying to help me." I say. I drop my head and let a tear slip down my face. Prince Dario raises my head then wraps his hands around me.

"It's okay Maria, you'll be okay. It'll come on its own. Just relax." He says soothingly and I nod. Queen aura strokes my arm quietly. I hope I get this thing right or else, I might seriously embarrass myself. Then an idea popped into my head. I hope this works.