Hi everyone!

So I am literally swamped with writing my thesis so this will probably be one of the last chapters for a little while...

I will probably squeeze in another chapter for my other story and maybe even one for this story as I had the outline lying around for a long time, but don't hate me if I can't make it...

Please enjoy and review!

Eve

Chapter 5, Uncomfortable moments with a shadow

As we said our goodbyes to the reporters I picked up my phone, my god it is that time already? It was way passed dinner time, and as I started to think about food my belly started to make protesting noises. "Dinner is coming up" said Jake with a laugh as he rose from his chair stretching his back up. "Good I'm starving" no lie said there I thought to myself, "The other interview will be over the phone right?" I looked at Jake for confirmation. "Yup in about an hour" I nodded, "Food first, no wait shower and PJs first, food second" I said while I got up from my chair.

I felt exhausted from all the stuff that had happened in the past couple of days. I was definitely taking a nap after the interview, if there was time, cause that was the problem lately. At least I could walk in comfy clothes I thought as I kicked off my heels and started walking towards the door barefoot. "Jake did you order Thai?" my voice hopeful as Jake laughed and replied with a yes. "Awesome! Oh did you ask what Erik wanted?" I asked while looking at him, again the answer was yes. "Ok cool, of course you've got it all covered" I said with a smile "So, eehm I'll be in my room" I said while opening up the door of the conference room. "Sure, sure try to get some sleep" Jake said while being glued to his phone again. I smiled "will try" and Erik was right behind me, my never leaving shadow, he lived up to his explanation of what he did for a living, I chuckled. "I'm sorry?" I turned around by the sound of his voice, I cocked my head. "I did not understand what you said" Erik looked at me questionably. "Oh… Well I didn't…. say anything" I looked down at my feet again. "ah, ahum ok" His voice sounding unsure.

Not sure what to do I made my way across the hall, unlocking my office door. Erik opening the door for me as I slid passed him into the office, I moved over to the desk and punched in the combination from my phone. Opening up the panel, walking towards it I pressed my hand onto the panel and the door swung open. Erik still following my every move, as we were now both standing in my room I started to feel uneasy. "eehm I'm eh I'm going to take a shower" I felt my cheeks flare up in embarrassment "Yeah, sure. I can wait in your office" Erik said while moving towards the steel door again. "No, no" I stammered "It's fine you can stay here, I mean there is not much you can do in the office… Just help yourself, you know where the kitchen is, eehm and the TV" I walked over to my nightstand, moving a couple of books, I found the remote and picked it up and walked over to him. I pressed one of the buttons and the panel in the wall moved up to show the flat screen. "I believe it has all the channels" I said while handing him the remote "I've never really had the time to check it out though, so I guess you can tell me if" his fingers brushed against my hand while accepting the remote, it gave of an electric shock that whirled through my body. Shocked I looked at him, he looked equally shocked at me for a flicker of a second but he quickly hid his expressions "Thank you" he said softly. I quickly looked away "Sure no problem" I mumbled.

"Would you like me to make you anything to drink while you shower?" he asked me and my eyes shot up again. Huh, what did he just, eehm I don't know… "I hope you don't mind me taking advantage of the coffee machine, I believe I could benefit from some caffeine" He said with a half-smile, and I just nodded. He was still looking at me waiting for an answer. "Oh the coffee machine! Eehm sure no problem, I drink coffee all the time to stay awake" I blurted. He chuckled "I believe you, would you like me to make you a cup?" why couldn't I look away! Damn him! Why do I feel hopeless in his presence? "No, no I'll make one after I have showered!" I sucked in a breath. "So, eehm, I'll go and take that shower now" I blurted out, my face was probably bright red, and I quickly turned around and basically ran for the bathroom door.

Throwing my back against it I scolded myself, what is wrong with you! You are not falling for the first guy that can actually stay in your life! You are not that weak hearted! I sighed and breathed out for what felt like an hour. As I gathered myself together I slowly started to undress, putting the dress on a hanger and placing it on the hook of the door. Slipping out of my underwear I padded over to the shower and turned the nob releasing a waterfall of warm comforting water. As I stepped under it I could finally relax a little, letting the thought of Erik being only meters away with only a door separating him from me disappear to the back of my mind as I started soaping my whole body, scrubbing away the dirt of the day, removing my make-up form my face and finally grabbing my shampoo and washing my hair.

The scent of roses filling up the air around me, I let out a happy sigh, I already had been in the shower for more than a couple of minutes, but it was just so relaxing, I didn't want to leave! Rinsing my hair one more time savoring the last moments of the warm water enveloping me I turned the nob and the water stopped flowing, leaving me to grab a towel at lightning speed and knotting it around myself. The smell of freshly made coffee started seeping through the door and it made my stomach growl again. I dried myself off, and opened the cabinet that held spare sets of underwear, from which I grabbed a pair while I put my wet hair in a knot leaving it to drip onto my back. I didn't care as my mind was set on food, throwing on my robe, which was plush and baby blue, cut off at knee height.

In my hurry of escaping Erik I had forgotten to grab my PJ from the bed, so the robe had to do the job I thought as I threw open the door. First thing I was going to do was pop an ibuprofen for the headache that I had developed during the interview. To my surprise Erik was sitting down into one of the lounge chairs his long legs stretched out onto the floor, leaning back into the cushions, while watching the news channel and slowly sipping his coffee.

When he turned towards me his eyes went wide and he turned away from me at lightning speed, sitting himself up straight. "I am sorry I didn't mean to intrude, I mean look your way… I'm sorry" he rambled while looking at the desk avoiding my presence. Oh my, I didn't mean to disturb him. I started to blush, he is a prude, hahaha that is totally cute, him being such a gentleman! I slapped my hand in front of my mouth, what the hell was I thinking! Stop it Liliana! "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you" I started, his head turned slightly upon hearing my apology. Yet he still avoided looking at me "I forgot my PJs" my cheeks flared up as I walked over to my bed. I heard him suck in a breath. "Eehm Erik?" At the sound of his name being spoken by me he turned around, yet he was now looking at the floor in order to avoid looking up at me "Yes, Liliana?" he said with a hinge of nerves in his voice and I walked over to stand in front of him "I don't mind" I said softly.

His head shot up, looking directly at my face his eyes wide with disbelief. "Well I don't really care!" I said with a slight tremble. "I mean we will need to get used to being around each other all the time, and well we will encounter situations similar to this one more frequently. And…. And you cannot stare at the wall all the time" I finished my waterfall of words jokingly. "I'll just try to remember grabbing my PJs next time, before taking the shower….." I paused "It's just, well, I'm used to being alone" He stared at me intensely as if he was trying to gauge if I was making fun of him in any way. "I mean no offense to you! I just need to get used to having someone around, I don't have the privacy that I was used to anymore" Now I was looking at the floor, it was true though, even my mom didn't come into these rooms.

Jake usually knocked just to let me know it was time, once in a while he had to come in and push me out of my bed but it truly was my own room. "I guess you are right…." He sighed, I looked up at him. "We will be in tight quarters for much of our time" he looked into my eyes. "I just didn't want to intrude on you, and well" He was glancing shyly at me now "I've never had to protect a woman before so these privacy issues have never been a problem before" Woman, he called me a woman….. not a girl! My stomach turned at that one word: Woman. He saw me as a woman, not a little girl! My lips slowly curled into a smile, only two days into this endeavor and I had the feeling we were becoming more than just a human shield and Christine. I would have loved it if we could become friends at least.

"Well now that we are passed this point" I said with a hinge of laughter in my voice "Would you like to take a shower too? I am afraid that we will have to stay here tonight" While I was in the shower my phone had pinged from a text that Jake had sent, the interview was delayed by an hour as the reporters from America had called in informing us that one of their previous interviews had take longer than expected. Being Christine I had to be as flexible as possible so I had simply said fine, which put the interview at 9 pm tonight. There was no way that after that interview I was travelling home, we would get there at 11 probably later so I had texted Jake I was staying here.

"The interview got delayed by an hour, so if you don't mind I would like to stay here for the night, I hate travelling home this late" what I hated more was waking up my mom or keeping her up this late as she would probably wait for me to come home. "I'm sorry for this…." I did feel bad for him, he would probably have to sleep in one of the chairs or on the couch in the office. "Don't worry, I understand" he simply said with a smile.

There was a knock on the wall, FOOD! I ran over to the screen as I saw Jake standing there with bags of my favorite Thai place. I opened the door for him and he swiftly moved into the space. "Got you your favorite, with extra beef" As he handed me a bag, hungrily I accepted the bag and placed it on the coffee table, grabbing my water bottle. I ripped open the bag and inhaled the heavenly smell of my drunk man noodles, soooo gooood! "Are you ok with doing the interview by yourself?" Jake was standing in front of me now, he had given Erik the two other bags. "Sure, no problem I said" I cocked my head, had I forgotten something? "You need to leave?" I asked him "I want to go over some final details with the American troops that we have hired for your show, so I will talk to them while driving home, and I still have heaps of emails and other stuff to take care of before we leave next Friday, so I will be working from home tomorrow." I nodded "No problem, I'll manage the interview" I smiled at him "Don't work too hard please, I will need you in two weeks, and two months, and two years so take care of yourself" I stood up and gave him a quick hug. He sighed "I know, I know, can I expect the same off you? Even better Erik, I don't care if you bind her to her bed but she needs to sleep" I started laughing as Erik was looking from me to Jake and back to me again. "I mean it, she needs to sleep, if she is not at her best the next few weeks we will have a big problem" Jake said while walking towards the steel door. "You take yourself home mister worrisome" I said while sticking out my tongue "And thanks for the food, you are the best" Jake made a sailor gesture. "I'll talk to you tomorrow Liliana" I waved as he pushed the button to unlock the door, after he had checked the screen to see if the office was empty. "Erik" he said as a means of goodbye and I chuckled as Erik replied with a simple "Jake" I saw Jake walk out of the office and my focus went back to my food again.

I picked up my chopsticks and my bowl of noodles and walked over to my bed, picking up one of my favorite books on the way and set all three on my night stand as I moved back the covers and slipped under them. That's when I caught him staring at me again "Oh, I'm sorry, I usually eat my food in bed….. bad habit…" I felt my face burn up as I picked up my book and my bowl, trying to hide behind them, when he gave a low chuckle which made me look towards him again, cocking my head as I didn't understand why he was laughing. While he picked up his food he said "you remind me of someone, from a long time ago" my curiosity peaked "She used to eat everything in bed too, shameless as she would call it" he laughed again. "She was special to you?" I blurted out, stuffing my mouth quickly with noodles, preventing any further stupid questions from coming out. He turned and looked at me, sadness clouding his eyes, as he whispered softly "She was" A dark feeling crept over me, I felt like I was intruding "I'm sorry, you didn't, you don't need to answer that….." and I stuffed some more noodles into my mouth. He gave me a half smile "It's ok, I don't mind, it was a long time ago" returning his eyes towards his plate of Thai food. "Would you mind if I kept the news channel on?" he looked into my direction again. I almost choked on my noodles in my stupid attempt to avoid his gaze, so I quickly shook my head and grabbed my water bottle to flush down the whole lot.

After munching in silence for about ten minutes I had read my favorite chapter of the book again, while secretly studying Erik by looking slightly over the top of my book. He interested me in a way that I could not explain, I wanted to get to know him better, I had this feeling that he had been hurt in some way in the past. Not meaning the scars in his face, but deep down his heart had been stepped on, shattered by someone. Seeing him relax slightly in his chair watching the news messages made me want to keep him in this room forever, just so that he never had to feel chased or tense again.

I sighed and leaped out of bed, that could never be, and I shouldn't think like that! He looked my way at the sound of my movement. "Can I throw away.." I pointed at the empty bowls and plate. He leaped up from his chair "No, you don't have to do that" he started to stack his plate and bowl but I picked up everything moving his hands away. "Erik, please, I feel helpless enough with you being here taking a bullet if it came flying my way, so please let me at least do something while you are here" he was looking down into my eyes, which made me look away as I had come to fear his intense stare. "But, you are my client, I cannot accept you doing this, it should be the other way around" I laughed as I moved towards the kitchen door, which he opened up for me. "I do not think my mom hired you to clean up my messes Erik" I said while throwing all the stuff into the garbage bin that was set in the corner.

As I turned around he was looking at me again, could he just not stare at me for a moment! "Liliana, I… I… don't want you, I mean I shouldn't even call you by your first name! for god's sake, I shouldn't even be looking at you while you are dressed like this" He looked at me ashamed of what he was doing "Only Raoul should be able to see this….." He turned around and opened the door for me again, but I was glued to the floor. Raoul? What had Raoul to do with any of this? Wait does he think… ha…ha…hahaha I started laughing, my body shaking with laughter. He thinks Raoul and I are together! He turned around to look at me, his look astonished, staring at me with a mixture of anger, curiosity and concern. I tried to control my laughter, taking a deep breath "Erik what made you think that?" I said during two hiccups of laughter "Me and Raoul… ha…haha….pffff that would be a good joke, you silly, Raoul has twelve different girls on speed dial. And I would never be one of them, he might be like a brother to me, but that is all he will ever be"

His eyes glistened, I saw relief strike over his face for only a split second, but I caught it and it made my stomach do a back flip. "But…" he huffed "You must think me terribly stupid" he said, while a smile crept on his face "I just thought…. Well you two are so close…" his neck was now slowly turning red in places. "It's ok, I get it, we are close" I looked at him "But not THAT close", a bright smile stuck to my face as a thought crept into my mind "As punishment for thinking that I have such bad taste you WILL let me do these sort of things" I said while pointed at him. He laughed his low rumbling laugh, and his face shone with childish glee "Bad taste" he said with a smirk "I'm afraid I have something to make up for" he swung open the door for me again, and I slid past him. "So will you let me…" I looked back at him, he was still laughing in the kitchen doorway. "I guess I have no choice….." He said softly "After this blunder….."

I smirked "Good, now do you want me to leave so you can take a shower?" I asked as I sat down on the edge of my bed "I can try to see if there is spare field bed somewhere in the building?" but he cut me off "NO!" my eyes widened at his blunt almost angry answer "You cannot take off without me being present! I must remain at your side at all times!" His eyes bore into mine with an inflamed anger I had to avoid, so the coward that I was I stared at my feet as I apologized "I'm sorry" I whispered, I didn't mean to make him mad at me…. I yelped as suddenly he was kneeling in front of me, I hadn't even heard him move over! "Liliana…" he said while peering into my eyes from below, I moved my head to the right, I didn't want him to see how hurt I was by him shouting at me.

Suddenly I felt something lift up my chin, Erik had put out his arm lifting up my head with the tips of his hands. "I didn't mean to upset you…" he sighed, I was still trying to avoid his gaze by looking straight past him. "You are to valuable, more valuable than you believe yourself to be" My eyes widened and I dared to look at him, I slightly shifted leaning towards him. Alarmed he dropped his hand "You shouldn't be so thoughtless about your own life" he blamed me, his voice tainted with pain. "I'm not" I whispered, truly I was not, or so I thought. "Maybe…" he whispered back, still looking at me with concern. "I'll stay here" I muttered under my breath. "Good" he said softly in return, while he stood up "I already told Jake that I believe this room is almost like a safe, so as long as you stay inside I do not need to be here all the time, you could still have some privacy" I simply nodded, welcome to my nightmare... a gilded cage... "I have a set of spare clothes in my car, would you mind if I were to get them now?" I shook my head "could you open the door on my return?" I nodded. "Thank you" he said while moving towards the door. "Please, don't be mad" my head shot towards the door, Erik was standing there, looking like he was hurt by something as he was looking at the floor. "I'm not, I'm just trying to adapt to all this, and this 'safe' concept" I grabbed my book and slipped under the covers once more. I was mad, yet I did not want to show it to him. As I heard the system beep I knew he had slipped out. Stupid! Now I wasn't sure if I was mad at myself or mad at him. I opened up the book at the page I had just been.

I hadn't even finished the chapter when I heard a soft knock on the door, I looked up towards the screen and saw it was Erik standing in front of the panel with what looked like a weekend bag. I jumped out of bed and pushed the buttons beside the screen, he swung open the door and I stepped aside to let him in. "Thank you" I nodded, as I moved back towards my bed. Changing my mind I turned around "Towels and such are all in the cabinets" I tried to explain "Eehm I'm afraid I don't have any soap or shampoo for men though" I said with a chuckle. He let out a small breath and laughed, a relieved expression covering his face as he figured I truly was not mad at him. He lifted up the bag he was holding "Got that covered" I smiled again. "I'll leave you to it than" and I hopped on my bed again.

He was still looking quite unsure, contemplating if it was safe to leave me alone in the room. Sighing I picked up my book and shook it sarcastically "I'm not going anywhere Erik" I said with a half-smile " Pinky promise". He laughed and put up both his hands as if to say he had surrendered to my promise "Just making sure…." And he disappeared into the bathroom. I chuckled, happy that he was not mad, and well I was not mad anymore. I looked at my alarm and saw that the interview was still 45 minutes away, I could put my head down for a moment…. The thought of a little sleep was too tempting as I plucked my hair out of the messy bun I had created from the shower. Pulling up the covers I let down my head onto the pillow. Just ten minutes….. I thought as I closed my eyes.