The Bodyguard's Duty ✅

Chapter 12 - The Cinema

Ethan felt like a teenager again as he was sneaking out of the Shelton Manor. The last time Ethan escaped his bedroom was when he was a teenager, and he used the balcony to climb to freedom.

The younger Ethan's motivation back then was because of a girl and her alcohol filled party that was being hosted on another rich estate.

Ethan believed his stealthiness improved over time after being caught in his family's wine cellar - surrounded by lots of booze and several girls he brought over.

Ethan had currently been cooped in his childhood home for what felt like a very long time. Because the heat regarding Mr Checkstone was declining, Ethan felt liberated to do something without being supervised.

It was all completely innocent as he just wanted to watch a rerun of one of his favourite movies. Of course he could have watched it in his own home theatre, but Ethan missed the outside world interaction where he could feel some kind of normalcy in his life.

Ethan took a taxi to the cinema as he didn't want people to know his car was missing. A short ride took Ethan to the childhood cinema that he used to love so much back when he was young.

Ethan paid for his ticket as well as a soda and some popcorn. He carried them with him as he eventually made it to his theatre room, looking for an empty seat near the back.

The COO was glad that the room barely had any people inside, as Ethan narrowed it down to it being a film from the 90s.

To pass the time until the movie started, Ethan pulled out his phone as he looked on his Instagram feed. Ethan was busy looking at his phone and digging into his popcorn, when he felt an aggressive hand on his shoulder.

Ethan immediately freaked out as he dropped everything he was holding, knocking his phone and his popcorn all over the floor.

"You're like a bloodhound." Ethan chastised Thomas as he shook the bodyguard' hand away. 

Thomas folded his arms as he stood over the panic stricken Ethan. "Why did a grown man sneak out to the movie theatre?"

"I was getting cabin fever and I needed a break from everyone in that house."

Thomas was perplexed at Ethan's exaggeration.  "Aren't you going back to work tomorrow? Plus it's literally been two days since you suddenly became Andy Dufresne."

"Who?"

Thomas was gobsmacked that Ethan didn't know about Shawshank Redemption. He pushed past that as he ritterated his earlier question, "What are you doing here?"

"That's a dollar for me!"

Thomas couldn't help the gleeful smile that showed up on his face for a split second. It matched the one Ethan had as he felt happy with making the bodyguard smile.

"Edward Scissorhands is playing!" Ethan then explained why he loved the film so much, "He's a social pariah that just wanted love! The film was very ahead of its time."

Thomas didn't connect with why Ethan liked the film so much. Ethan's reasonings flew over his head as Thomas was tasked with bringing Ethan home. "Your dad was ready to organise a search party because he thought something had happened to you."

Suddenly Ethan felt extremely guilty as he realised that his selfish actions could have brought the roof down on his parents wellbeing. He didn't even think that his dad would come to that scenario, when in reality he would only be gone for a couple of hours.

"So how did you find me?" Ethan asked out of curiosity.

"Well your dad called me over and asked if I knew anything. When I didn't, I said that I would look at your browser history and see if anything popped up."