"You can't be serious about this," Rachel exclaimed when the dictate came down.
Of course, President Scott was much too busy to give it himself, so he had his Chief of Staff and years old family friend, Tom Chandler do it. Tom was about five years older than Rachel and had just graduated when her father had been ready to announce. Tom had a keen mind for the way that races went and so it was natural that Tom would be chosen to help on the campaign and then eventually get the Chief of Staff position. Tom was a good guy.
"You know I am, you're going to be maybe the most famous person at your college. There are people who are going to want to hurt you. We have to have someone there to protect you. And you don't want regular secret service, which would usually be required." He reminded her of all the reasons that this was necessary. He took a deep breath before he continued, "Your father is acquiescing to that desire. He is providing you one plain clothes operative who will be with you. He will also be enrolled in classes. It will be like he's just another student."
Rachel gave him a stony look. However, she said nothing. She knew that she wasn't going to win with Tom. He would go over it again and again until she was the one who was acquiescing to the desires of others. Besides, one person, she could dodge that if she wanted some normal college experiences without the protection that everyone thought she needed.
She picked up one of her bags, put it on her shoulder, and then rolled her suitcase along with her. Everything else would already be at the school, because they one had to make sure that she had a room with the right amount of security, but also she suspected that they were also making sure that her new bodyguard would be able to blend in, which meant possibly that he needed somewhere to sleep as well. She huffed just thinking about it.
Tom picked up the rest of Rachel's bags. Rachel could be a tough cookie, but she was going to college late. She had put it off for so long, being the spokesperson for all sorts of her father's campaigns. Since her mother was long past, she took up an official first lady's position, since she was of mature age.
But the newest campaign was specifically built for the restless young woman to go to college. She would be joining thousands of non-traditional students who would be going to a tuition free college, an approach that both Rachel and the President thought highly of. In addition to classes, she would be doing work for the college, some that went with her degree and some that was purely for the benefit of the college. They both hoped that given her example, that one, more colleges would offer tuition free options and two that more alternative students would be led to college. That was the hope anyway.
"When am I meeting this man of mystery?" Rachel asked, right as they got to the car.
The door popped out and there was already someone in the car, which startled Rachel a little. Tom couldn't help but chuckle a little bit. Rachel had been so uptight about the whole thing, this was just a little funny.
"Right now," He said, trying to wrestle his laughter down. "Rachel, meet Tex. Tex meet Rachel. You guys will be spending a lot of time together," He said as he put the rest of the bags in the back, including the suitcase that Rachel had previously held onto.
"Delighted to meet you, Ms. Scott," Tex said as he held out his hand.
Rachel looked him up and down, "Charmed," She said as she got in the car without giving his hand the shake that he had been waiting for.
When it was clear she was not going to shake his hand, he took it back and thought to himself that she was going to be hell for him. He could see the fire in her eyes and it was fascinating to him. He had taken this job because it paid well, better than any of his other jobs, and for a bodyguard position, it seemed like it would be one of the easiest jobs he'd take. Making sure that people didn't manhandle some college student? That seemed like a pretty easy task to him. But he was figuring out that she was going to be the hardest part about his job and he liked the challenge that presented in more ways than one.
Tom looked into the cabin and smiled, "Alright, your dad and I will be at college to meet you, but we have some things to take care of before that, but have a safe trip," He told Rachel. He looked to Tex, "Your job starts now, Nolan," And then he shut the car door, tapped it twice and the driver sped off.
The car ride to the school was uneventful. Tex stared at Rachel as she did a myriad of things on her phone, including take phone calls. He looked out the window when she did that, gave her a little privacy. Anything that would help her not make him out to be less charming than he actually was. He wanted her to like him. Which was funny, because he wasn't used to that.
He was used to taking protection jobs and it didn't matter what the client thought of him, so long as the job was done, but this was different. For one, it was supposed to be a long job, which already threw him off his game a little. He was usually a short term job kind of guy. But it was fine. The job practically paid him in midas's gold. But she was also fiery. The way that she said charmed was a challenge.
It was when he was looking out the window, that she softened a little bit at him. He might not be so bad, and in fact, he might be okay, given his proclivity to understand that sometimes she was going to need privacy. She thought that it was shocking how quickly her guard had come down. She thought that shouldn't have been able to do that. She hated that her father was so protective and gave her a bodyguard, but maybe this man wouldn't be the exact worst. She still tried to harden her heart a little, because she couldn't give in this quickly.