The Bodyguard's Duty ✅

Chapter 33 - A Conflicting Ethan

*Extended chapter

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Thomas was sitting in the dining room the next afternoon as he was scheduled for a business conference. Despite the fact that he was on a sabbatical, and wasn't suppose to be working on his break, Thomas couldn't spend his days idling by.

It was a group video call about assessing the new trainees that were previously hand selected by Thomas. Thomas was getting feedback about all the progress they were making, and he was also in on the call so that he could feel the sense of being useful from across the screen.

Thomas was listening to the Operations Manager discussing performance improvement when he saw the front door open. Ethan held a finger to his own lips as he waved at Thomas, and Thomas offered a small smile as he forced his attention back to the computer screen.

A couple of minutes later and Thomas ended the call. He found Ethan in the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of orange juice.

"Hey, what are you doing back here at lunchtime?" Thomas asked as he sat down on a kitchen chair. "You slacking off at work?"

"I... just fancied half a day." Ethan eventually told Thomas. He stayed by the refrigerator as he looked at Thomas from afar. "Nice outfit by the way."

Thomas shifted his eyes down so that he could look at his outfit. The top half of Thomas' body was covered by a navy suit, while the bottom half was covered with a grey pair of jogging bottoms.

"I look brilliant, don't I?" Thomas learnt to fake his appearance on a computer screen when he once saw Ethan do the same thing. "Just learning from you, Mr Shelton."

Thomas looked at the clock on the wall and realised that he hadn't even eaten lunch yet. "You hungry? My meeting ran late so I couldn't have lunch yet."

Ethan shrugged his shoulders when he answered, "I could eat."

Thomas got up to the fridge so that that he could look for something to cook, but he was unable to since Ethan was blocking the door. He playfully moved Ethan out of the way by holding his waist and pushing Ethan a few inches to the side.

"You could have at least asked me to move." Ethan chuckled as he then moved to sit on the seat Thomas previously occupied.

The sound of an echo could be heard as Thomas' voice was bouncing off the refrigerator. "Maybe I just like being close to you."

Ethan was hiding the smile on his face as he continued to watch Thomas stick his head inside the refrigerator. Thomas eventually closed the door as he carried some mince meat, and some bread out of the fridge.

"It's super basic, but how does spaghetti bolognese sound?" Thomas asked as he placed the rest of the ingredients onto the counter for Ethan to see.

"It's not the roast dinner you promised, but I'll accept it for now." Ethan smiled.

"Eventually, my patient friend." Thomas laughed. "But you're kind of stuck with a cheap lunch, and my boring face for now."

As Thomas had his back towards Ethan, preparing the meal for them both, the bodyguard was unable to observe how Ethan was nervously playing with his hands on the table. The sound of boiling water was louder than Ethan's bouncing leg, and Ethan continued to blankly stare down at the table as he was stuck in his own thoughts.

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Later in the evening, Ethan convinced Thomas to join him in the previously empty third bedroom. When they entered together, Ethan was showing Thomas how the flooring was now mostly covered with gymnasium mats.