The Bodyguard (Hosie)

Chapter 3

As much as she didn't enjoy the eyes of curious shoppers on her, Hope gritted her teeth and persevered. The shopping baskets were filled with sanitary pads by now and she had just two more packets of tampons to go. Super compact. Got them. Sixteen packets of various sizes. Checking them out was another embarrassing experience as surrounding shoppers stared openly at the overflowing baskets of liners, pads and tampons. How did she end up with a client like this? As demanding as her previous clients were, none of them were quite as immature. But Mr. Saltzman paid handsomely, almost twice as much as the other client and the money would come in handy.

After the payment process was completed, Hope returned to the car and handed Josie four shopping bags. "Green tea scented and Barely There liners. Ultra-thin 24cm, 28cm, 32cm. Overnight 35cm and 41cm. Super compact tampons. Two packets of each type. That's a total of sixteen packets. You are sufficiently covered for the next two years or so."

Closing the door on the stunned face of Josie, Hope found her lips curling as she got into the driver's seat. It might have been a little embarrassing but it was amusing too. This job was shaping to be an interesting experience.

The rich girl kept her eyes on her phone the entire journey home and she got out of the car by herself without waiting for Hope to open the door for her. However, before she could enter the house, Hope stopped her.

"Josie, your shopping will be brought to your room after the car is parked."

Josie nodded without replying and continued straight into the house. Hope stood till the door closed behind Josie, the she went ahead and parked the car. All things considered, this was a relatively uneventful day at work.

-----

Part of her job as a bodyguard was to scout the area surrounding her client's home and studio. It was what she expected of herself. Over the next three days, Hope came to know every little path and corner around Josie's house and the roads the led to it. She also came to know the café at the junction that Josie liked to visit for a cup of Americano. A Piacere. The café belonged to Josie's friend who came from a family that owned a chain of cafes in Virginia and around the country. That friend was Penelope. Penelope Park. One of the friends Josie was going on the trip with.

To prepare for the trip to Japan, Hope studied the information she had on Josie's friends. There was Penelope, 27, a barista and owner of A Piacere. It was an independent venture, started up and managed by the woman herself. Then there was Lizzie, 26, an investment banker and a very close friend of Penelope's. The third friend was Alyssa, 25, a rising star in the world of musicals. All three hailed from families that afforded them the luxury to be free of financial worries. Quite like Josie.

The flight to Japan was first class on Japan Airlines. Hope was seated in first class as well, two rows behind Josie. While this was not her virgin flight in first class, Hope had never had the luxury of truly enjoying and relaxing during the flight. Throughout the fourteen-hour flight, Hope did not close her eyes to sleep. Her eyes were constantly roving around, watching the stewards and stewardesses walking up and down the aisle delivering hot towels and serving their meals. But this was her job and she had no complaints.

-----

Hope walked behind Josie and the three friends with her luggage on wheels. As a group of four, she had to admit that they were attractive. Indeed, eyes turned to them wherever they went, and the path they walked could have been the red carpet at a star-studded event.

Penelope, Lizzie and Alyssa were tall and slim and formed an eye-catching wall that moved like models on a catwalk. Josie, being the shortest of them all, required Hope to work diligently to maintain a line of vision whenever the tall trio got in the way. She followed them to the pick-up point where a car was waiting. Job done. Now it was her turn to get her car.