4

"I have an urgent meeting today. You sure you'll be okay?"

Lisa asked concerned once again. It was strange but she felt something for the girl she barely knew. Probably pity or sympathy? Whatever it was, it surely made her feel anxious for the soul.

Grace hummed before gulping the glass of juice Lisa ordered her to drink.

"I'm not a child. Don't worry." Grace sweetly smiled at the older woman. Lisa didn't seem to be persuaded but nodded unsurely.

"I'll get going. I've made Pasta for lunch, veggies are in the fridge, crockery is on the third shelf, spices are in the lower drawer and don't skip lunch," Lisa hurriedly moved towards the door before grabbing her car keys. Grace couldn't help but giggle at her.

"Oh, and one more thing," Grace looked towards Lisa as the latter turned around with narrowed eyes. "Don't hesitate to call me if you discern something weird, got it."

Grace quickly nodded and Lisa left.

Now that she was alone by herself, she pondered if the worker she hired last evening had cleaned her apartment. Even though she needed clothes and some essentials from her apartment, she didn't dare to go there even though it was next door. There was something strange about the aura there that she was already thinking of changing places.

She again picked up her phone and opened her notifications and a heavy sigh escaped her lips.

She had been looking for new single-bedroom apartments for hours now, but some were expensive and some had little to no security.

She knew she had to spend some won to get that security she needed which made her wonder if she had left any more money.

When she escaped him, she had nothing except the thought that she was finally free and she had spent nights on subways.

She shrugged away the thoughts and finished her breakfast.

One thing Grace was startled about was the magic in Lisa's hands. Her meals were always mouth-watering and delicious. At first, Grace thought Lisa was someone with a tight schedule someone who barely knew cooking but Lisa had surprised her. Despite Grace's attempts at cooking, Lisa had sent her off to the dining table.

After washing the dishes and placing leftovers in the fridge, Grace decided to take a shower. Lisa had specifically told her not to go anywhere without her, it was quite relieving and heart-warming to know someone cared for her. Not that Grace had any initial thoughts of going anywhere, she just wanted to rest for the day since this past week had been a total roller coaster for her.

Since Lisa was living alone, there was only one bedroom that both Grace and Lisa shared and only one bathroom with quite a decent living area and an open kitchen. Grace's, however, was a two-bedroom apartment.

Discarding her clothes in the bin, she stepped inside the shower stall and let the warm water wash away her tiredness and devastation.

After taking a long shower, she contemplated if she should go to her apartment to get her clothes but then she remembered the situation there and decided to wear a bathrobe for the time being. Moreover, it wasn't like Grace had anywhere to go.

Drying her hair with another towel, she wrapped them in a bun and applied moisturizer, a simple daily routine of hers. Grace just hoped that whoever the stalker was, wouldn't harm her in future. Even though she hardly had any idea who that might be, she could guess. She read some books to kill her time and ate lunch before washing the dishes. To make her afternoon productive, she handled her work through her phone

Looking at the time, it was already past six in the evening and Grace was feeling hungry

She decided to make dinner for herself and Lisa to show a sign of gratitude. With a smile small on her lips, she was about to walk towards the kitchen when she heard the doorbell of Lisa's apartment.

She froze and wondered if it was Lisa, but it was otherwise since Lisa had the keys to her apartment. New fear rose inside Grace, her fists clenched on her sides and looked cautiously towards the door when the bell rang again taking her by surprise.

"Hello, Ms Jane?"

She heard a distinct voice of a male from other side only to stiffen further. A lump of fear formed in her throat as her eyes broadened.

Lisa said she didn't have any frequent visitors, then who was he?

With cautious steps, she walked towards the door and peeped through the peephole and a sigh of relief escaped her lips.

She mentally scolded herself for being so frightened of their security guard and opened the door.

"Oh, Mr Alfred!" Grace greeted the older man with a small smile.

"Oh, Grace! Thank god you're here otherwise it would've been difficult for an old man like me."

Grace frowned and was about to ask what he mean when she noticed another shadow peeking around the corner of the door. It took her a whole moment to realise that there was also another presence with the old guard.

The way his hooded eyes looked her way, hiding the motives behind the drowsy globes. His small, heart-shaped lips of his rested in a taciturn expression, the way his hands rested deep inside his dark black slacks. He looked taller, probably taller than six feet from the way his body was well proportioned. Her eyes scanned his face when she found his eyes already looking at her.

In reaction, Grace's eyes enlarged with the realisation that she was checking him out.

"I've been calling you for the past half an hour now, but your number seemed to be switched off. And when I came to your apartment, it was locked so I thought maybe Lisa knew where you were since you both have been hanging around lately." Grace couldn't focus on his words yet her eyes now suspiciously looked at the strange man in front of her. She couldn't tell, but she could feel something strange about the whole ordeal.

"This gentleman here was looking for you." Grace narrowed her eyes at the said man. Why was he looking for her? Who was he?

She was about to ask when the man in question took a step in her direction standing between the old man and her and leaned against the door frame with his left hand still in his pocket with a sly smirk.

"Hi, I'm Orion, Orion Rogers. You must be Grace." Grace immediate stumbling back as her eyes flinched with fear. Her hand on the doorknob trembled and she took deep breaths to calm her breathing. If this man meant any harm, he wouldn't do anything in front of the guard, right?

"W-who are you?"

Grace was quick to ask. She could tell by his smirk that he was rather a confident and arrogant man as he mumbled rather politely.

"Man you desperately wanted..."

If it wasn't for fear in Grace's eyes, she would have laughed but that only made her shudder in more terror.

Her ears perked when she heard Mr Alfred letting out a small hearty laugh from behind.

"This child, I tell you, is something else."

Grace raised her brow at the older man as he continued. "Don't worry, Grace. He's your bodyguard."

Grace immediately snapped her head towards him to find him smirking at her with a complacent look plastered over his chiselled features.

Then suddenly, she remembered.

Bodyguard!

"Oh!" That's all she could say. She hadn't received any call from the agency yet as Jayden had said then why was there a bodyguard already?

On noticing confusion in the girl's eyes, the taller man interrupted.

"I was given this address and told to guard you. It's nice to meet you."

Grace looked perplexed at the extended hand and contemplated.

Her eyes looked over his features closely as she inspected him, then with a deep sigh, she placed her hand in his.

"Hello, I'm Grace."

*****