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)
Akio walked into the kitchen by the door and started pulling open drawers until he found a notepad and pen with the apartment company’s logo on them. He handed them over to me, standing on the other side of the kitchen island from me as I set to work.
“Everything okay?” he asked me.
I glanced up at his confused face, finding it cute how his nose crinkled slightly.
“Oh, yes. I just thought of an idea,” I replied as I scribbled down a few notes. This city needed a domestic violence organization to help victims who had no one else to turn to in their time of need. I didn’t know anything about running something like that, but with my determination, I knew that I could figure it out.
One of the services I wanted to fund was helping women leave abusive situations and gain their freedom back. I had been given mine, so now, I could help give them their freedom. So much darkness flooded my world right now. It would be nice to create a silver lining myself.
Akio turned away from me and grabbed a glass to fill with water from the fridge. He set it next to me quietly before walking out of the kitchen area to keep looking around.
I smiled to myself as I looked at the glass of water. He was certainly a nurturing spirit. I sipped on my water as I stared at the notepad paper full of jotted down notes. It would take a lot of money and effort to get any sort of idea off the ground, but at least I didn’t have to worry about the money part.
“I think one of us should remain in the apartment. Two outside of the door. One patrolling the area,” Andrew told Benjamin as they lingered in the living room area that was also the bedroom area. Wow, this apartment was small.
“Two should be patrolling the area. Why send one guy out all alone?” Benjamin argued as he gestured out of the window next to him.
“Because I can rely on any of you to take a walk around the block by yourselves. Right?” Andrew asked as he crossed his arms.
I glanced over my shoulder at them, watching them bicker. It seemed like a normal thing for them, which once again begged the question of how did all of these different personalities come together?
“Don’t act like I’m some kid. She’ll be fine with one guard with her and one guard outside,” Benjamin insisted. “We need to be looking for suspicious cars and people walking up and down the block looking at her window.”
My eyes widened. Was that happening?
Akio placed his hand on my shoulder out of nowhere as he came up to my side.
“He’s just theorizing. We have to be prepared for all possibilities,” he assured me with a calm smile.
I immediately felt my worries burn away like flames to wax. I hoped that he wasn’t lying to me because I wanted to be told the truth, whether it was something I wanted to hear or not. The best way for me to stay safe was to be prepared.
“So, I’m safe?” I asked Akio.
Akio nodded as he gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze. His hand was large, and his fingers were long, caressing me through the thin material of my crop top t-shirt.
“As safe as could be,” he promised.
“She could be safer if someone wasn’t stuck in his old timey ways,” Benjamin said pointedly as he sneered at Andrew.
“Why fix what isn’t broken?” Andrew replied as he lifted his eyebrows in a challenging manner.
Akio sighed and dropped his hand from my shoulder.
“Excuse me,” he said to me before walking past me to join the others.
As he breezed past me, I smelled the lightest hint of his cologne, detecting notes of sandalwood and cardamom. A little sweet and a little spicy. My eyes fluttered slightly as I smiled, wanting him to walk back over here.
“She doesn’t need someone in the apartment with her at all times. She knows we’re here for her protection. If she needs something, she will tell the two guards stationed at her door,” Akio told Andrew and Benjamin in a firm but not demanding voice. He was making a point. A smart one.
“What about the window?” Andrew asked as he gestured to it.
“We’re on the second floor,” Benjamin scoffed. “No one is coming through the window.”
“The window needs to have its blinds closed. There are buildings across the street where people could look inside her apartment if they really tried to,” Akio replied before turning to me with a sheepish look on his face. “I’m sorry, Emery.”
I didn’t like the thought of losing my one source of natural light, but I wasn’t going to argue. If it was a necessary sacrifice, I would follow their lead. I was too focused on my idea to argue with them anyway.