Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 55510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Maybe these bodyguards would come in handy after all.
7
EMERY
The next day was a little more interesting than the last. This time, I didn’t slam the door in anyone’s faces. When Akio, Benjamin, and Andrew knocked on my door and relieved Rhett, who I couldn’t look at in the eyes, I held the door open for them, inviting them to come inside.
“Good morning,” Andrew told me politely as he walked inside in his usual suit.
“Morning,” I replied, receiving a polite nod from Akio and a tired grunt from Benjamin. I shut the door behind them and shifted on my feet as I watched them pan out and search the apartment top to bottom for anything suspicious.
“Rhett said you were up early this morning,” Andrew commented as he slid his fingers along the bottom frame of the window.
I watched his fingers for a moment before snapping my eyes back up to his green ones. I shrugged, feeling my face warm up slightly. I didn’t realize Rhett would report that to Andrew, but I supposed that was his job.
“I haven’t been able to sleep that well,” I replied as I watched Akio glance under my bed and Benjamin peer in my tiny bathroom.
Andrew frowned as he turned to face me.
“I’m sorry if our presence has stressed you out,” he apologized.
“It’s fine. It’s not really you,” I said as I moved to sit on my bed and stay out of the way. I wanted to focus on my own things anyway, and I believed I finally found a way to use my father’s money for good.
My big idea came from the smallest moment. When I woke up this morning before the bodyguards arrived, I scrolled through my social media feed and saw a picture of an old childhood friend, Sara. She was living a happy life in another state on a cute farm with a handsome husband and cute kids. The last time I saw her when we were young, she was in shambles.
At the time, I only knew that her parents had separated abruptly. However, rumors flowed through the city like water. Through mouthy parents, teachers, and students, I heard that a lot of policemen showed up at Sara’s house and that her father hadn’t been seen by anyone in days. It was confusing to me as a child.
Then, I saw Sara one last time. Her mom was parked outside of the house with the backseat packed full of bags and suitcases. I remembered wondering why one side of her face looked dark and swollen through the car window. Sara had tears in her eyes, and I could tell her clothes hadn’t been washed yet.
“Me and my mom have to leave,” she told me.
“When will you be back?” I asked.
Sara shook her head.
“We can’t come back, or my dad will find us,” she whispered like someone would hear her. She hugged me tightly before running back to the car.
With wide eyes, I watched the car tear away, still not fully understanding why my friend had left me behind.
Now, years later, I knew that Sara’s dad threatened to kill both of them. He struck Sara’s mom repeatedly throughout the years, and that was his breaking point. That was Sara’s mom’s breaking point as well since the police were called. However, with him on the loose, Sara and her mom had no other choice but to flee. All of their family was elsewhere, and they didn’t want to put their friends in danger. The police couldn’t do much either.
I let out a frustrated sigh, shaking my head. Someone should’ve been helping them. I was suspended in a feeling of helplessness right now, and it was awful. I didn’t want anyone to feel that way.
If I was older and smarter back then, I would’ve helped them somehow. I could’ve sheltered them, kept them fed, washed their clothes, and helped them plan out their next move. Why wasn’t there anything like that in the city for them, for all the people who didn’t have anyone else to turn to?
I almost threw my hands up in annoyance, but I paused. If that kind of organization didn’t exist for people like Sara and her mom to use, what if I made it myself? My eyes widened as ideas flooded my mind. I wanted to take my father’s dirty money and use it for something good to cleanse it. This could be that way!
I could build something great by myself and give this city something good instead of feeding it corruption and violence. I scrambled off my bed and looked around the room frantically.
“What is it?” Akio asked me when he came out of the bathroom. He automatically seemed tense by my sudden burst of energy.
“I need paper and a pen,” I told him, needing to jot down my ideas before I forgot them. So many of them were flooding into my mind now that I finally had something to focus on.