❝𝗝𝗲𝗻𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗮 𝗦𝗺𝘂𝘁 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸❞

Guarding Miss Kim

Lalisa Manoban sat in an armchair at the top of the stairs, eyelids feeling heavy as she struggled to stay awake. The house was dead quiet, the hallway pitch black. A glimpse at the clock told her it was after three in the morning. The night shift was brutal. It'd help if she had something to do to keep her up and alert, but her job was to quite literally sit and wait for any danger. As usual, there was none.

She exhaled and shut her burning eyes -- just for a minute, she told herself. She was a light sleeper. If there did happen to be any trouble, she'd wake. Lisa leaned her head back against the chair and surrendered to the sleep she so desperately needed.

The next thing she heard was a scream.

Lisa's eyes snapped open and she lurched to her feet before she was fully awake. Hand grabbing her gun out of its holster, Lisa sprinted down the hallway and burst into the last bedroom on the right.

"Miss Kim? Are you alright?" Lisa asked urgently as she scanned the room, gun drawn, ready to fire at intruders. Still a bit drowsy, Lisa flicked on the light switch to help illuminate any danger. It took her a few extra seconds to realize nothing was amiss. She turned back to her charge and re-holstered her gun. Jennie was sitting up in bed, face paler than usual, her brunette hair a tangled mess.

"Y-yes, I'm fine," Jennie panted out, hand pressed against her heart. "I'm so sorry, Lisa, it was another nightmare."

Lisa slowly exhaled, allowing herself to relax. Nothing was wrong. Well, nothing except her charge having violent nightmares ever since her horrifying ordeal a few weeks ago.

"Let me get you some water," Lisa said, needing to feel useful. She'd been having these damn nightmares every single night, and there was nothing she could do to help. Lisa walked into the adjoining bathroom and filled a glass with water. She returned and handed it to the frightened young woman.

"Thank you," she whispered, taking a little sip.

"I'll let you get back to sleep," Lisa said with a nod, heading for the door.

"Lalisa." She paused and turned around. "Could you stay with me for a bit? I'm pretty shaken up."

"Of course," she replied automatically. Not like she could say no. Her wish was her command. Lisa stood near the door.

"Please," she said, giving the side of her bed a little pat. "Sit with me."

Lisa hesitated before slowly moving toward her. She perched herself on the edge of the bed near the bottom, keeping as much distance between them as possible. Lisa was a professional -- she knew how crucial it was not to cross any personal boundaries, especially with charges. During her ten years in private security, she'd never had an issue with that. She was used to standing guard at the edge of someone's property, or keeping an eye on their business after hours. Not much chance to get close to someone there.

But when she became heiress Jennie Kim's personal bodyguard, everything changed.

Lisa had worked for Jennie's father for several years without having much contact with Jennie at all. She'd seen her from time to time -- and admired her beauty from afar -- but she'd been able to keep a safe distance.

Not after what had happened, though.

A few weeks ago, Jennie was kidnapped. A pretty straight-forward abduction with a high ransom demand. Mr. Kim managed to hire some guards with a certain skillset to rescue her. The problem was, that meant the kidnappers were still at large -- and surely pissed that their meal ticket had vanished. Mr. Kim was terrified of a repeat attempt, so he'd shipped his daughter off to a safe house in the middle of nowhere, with Lalisa forbidden to leave her side. There were men guarding the outside of the property, but Lisa was Jennie's only protection on the inside.