Belated happy birthday to my friend Z! Oh, and to Angelina Jolie! hahaha!
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Chapter 5: Stay With Me
Ashley's POV
Sunday
"Good morning, angel!" I jokingly greet my brother as I spot him eating breakfast in the kitchen.
"Good morning, Charlie." He jokes back.
"Where's dad?" I ask as I pour some Cheerios and milk into a bowl.
"He left early this morning. Board meeting or something." He took another bite of his peanut butter and banana sandwich.
"Oh," Our dad's always been a busy man. A bit of a workaholic. But that's fine, atleast he tries really hard to be free on the weekends so he can spend some time with us. "did he say when–" I was interrupted by the ringing of the phone.
"Hello, good morning." Richard answers in his usual, polite manner. "Mr. Carlin... yes sir, she's here. Okay sir just a second..." he passes the phone to me.
"Hello?"
"Ashley Davies?" Arthur Carlin's voice came through the line. "This is Arthur Carlin, Spencer's father. I called to ask you a pretty big favor."
"Yes sir?" I answer, unsure as to what I could possibly help the man with.
"See, I'm going away for a couple of months and I'm concerned about leaving my daughter alone," he began
"As you should be, sir." I said that more matter-of-factly than I intended, considering I'm talking to a senator.
"I thought about hiring a bodyguard but I don't think she'll like that very much. So I decided that I'd ask one of her peers to accompany her when she goes out. Kind of like a... companion." I could sense the uncertainty in his voice and I started to wonder
"Uh, mind if I ask why you chose me, sir?"
"Well, you have quite the reputation in the Academy. Colonel Devane has told me a lot about you." There was a momentary pause. "But frankly, I chose you because I believe that you won't spend the whole time hitting on my daughter." I suddenly thought about whatever it was that hit me while we were on stage. feelings? No.
"Don't worry," He added. "You're not going to be in any extreme danger. I just need someone to keep an eye on her since there have been some misunderstandings with the office and some people..." He trailed on, "I'm just worried, that's all." Senator Carlin's a very passionate man. And passionate men, no matter how careful they are, tend to step on some toes. "And it doesn't go without pay."
"Oh no, sir. You don't have to pay me." I say rather humbly, to my surprise.
"Does that mean you'll do it?" He asks, expectantly.
"Of course sir."
"Excellent! I'm leaving tonight, would you mind coming over later this afternoon?"
"Sure, sir."
"Alright then, thank you, Ashley. Bye." I say goodbye too and we hang up.
"What's up?" Angelo pours himself some mango juice and looks at me questioningly, his sandwich long gone.
"I just became Spencer Carlin's "bodyguard"" He starts laughing and almost gets juice all over me.
"You're officially the new Kevin Costner!" He pushes his glass towards me and begins to walk away. "I'm 'onna go shower."
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I arrive at the Carlin's home and ring the doorbell. As I waited for the door to open, I start singing along to Paperwings. After a long minute in front of a closed door someone finally greets me. I hurriedly remove the earphones from my ears, embarrassed to be heard singing.
"Ashley! Come in." Mr. Carlin steps aside to let me in.
"Hey Mr. C" Crap! Where'd the politeness go?! Anyway, I notice that he's all dressed up in what looks like a specially tailored suit and his suitcases are already by his side.
"I told you dad, I don't need a babysitter." I hear a slightly annoyed girl coming down the stairs. "No offense." She added as she saw me in the foyer.
"None taken." I quickly shot back.
"Honey, it's just a precaution. At least this way you're not alone so no one's going to try and hurt you." He looks at his watch and lets out a sigh. "If I don't go now I'm gonna miss my flight." He gives his daughter a hug and a kiss on the forehead. "Take care kiddo, okay? I love you."
"I will dad, don't worry. Love you too." With that, we walked the senator to his car, he thanked me again, then his driver drove him off to the airport.
"You really don't need to stay with me." Spencer began again as we were on our way back inside. "Nothing's gonna happen."
"I'm not gonna move in or anything. I'm just gonna casually follow you around wherever you go so that you're not left alone and the bad guys won't try to kidnap you." I explain sarcastically while following her through the front double-doors.
"Or, they could just kidnap you too." She says calmly. "Collateral damage."
"No one's gonna want to kidnap me. Your collateral damage theory is very unlikely." She leads me up the stairs to a room at the end of a long hall.
She opens the door to what I assume is her room. "Well..." I could almost hear her thinking of a snarky reply "You're not exactly poor, you know. Your dad's one of the richest men in the whole tri-state area. The kidnappers could really benefit from you."
"We're gonna have to agree to disagree. We don't really have a choice now do we?" I don't really know when it happened, but we've sort of become friends- bickering friends but friends none the less.
She lets out a sigh of exasperation and says: "Well, I have to go meet my friends in the mall," She starts to shove things into her purse.
"Great. I'll join you." She looks at me as if she's about to say something but then decides against it and starts to walk out the door with me quick to follow. Have I mentioned that I hate the mall?
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