The Guard

Chapter One- Limelight

Peeling yet another Versace from her voluptuous frame, she stood before the mirror with tears in her eyes. There, directly beside her reflection of a man’s ideal lover sat a vase of stunning flowers. But she knew without the need of a closed snuffle or an observation of a single letter of the note attached of what exactly had been given to her. It had been the same after every runway show; three dozen red roses wrapped in a crystal vase and accented with a black card with her name drawn on with a silver pen. And just as she had done for the last three months, she took hold of the glass holder and forced it into the nearby trashcan to hear the vase shatter into the bin. 

“Everything alright, Lil?” a friendly tone questioned her as she took a moment to wipe away her tears and appear unphased by the roses having met her presence once again. The woman who happened upon her had been her occupational rival, but also her greatest friend; Bianca. Having remained dressed in the evening’s final attire, Bianca leaned over the trashcan to see the shambles of what would otherwise appear as an amorous gesture. 

“He sent them again?!” Bianca questioned as the flower’s recipient nodded with sorrow. “Don’t let him get to you...he knows what he lost and is simply trying to make up for it by cliche flowers and a sappy card...But you KILLED it tonight...You have the entire crowd on their knees.” She paused for a moment. “Why don’t we go out tonight? I know your dad will say ‘no’...so tell him it is just for work...Because we will be working ‘it’...” Both girls chuckled before she slowly nodded in agreement. “That’s my girl! Okay, so get changed and I will meet you at the front.” Both girls hugged before Lilianna was left with her thoughts once again. 

Covering her luxurious lingerie with a silk robe, Liliana pulled herself through her emotions and into the main changing room that was still littered with the signs of model life on set. Purses, jackets, sponsored makeup, and various clothes of well-known brands sat in disarray over every piece of furniture. Shuffling beneath them, she would come upon her little black dress before discarding her robe and stepping back into her original attire. 

“Did you SEE her? She was wobbling on those heels!” The clique of models spoke upon the other side of the clothing rack as Liliana could not help but listen. Even though she was rather confident in her appearance-given her profession and constant attention, she still craved the approval of others...her peers above all else. “And Lili...nearly busting out of the buttons of her dresses…” the girls all laughed as the curvy model rolled her eyes to the comments she knew were spoken of jealousy. She was not a stranger to such comments as she had been the object of them for the majority of her life with her full chest and wide hips; but it would be the comment that followed that would anger her in its place. 

“I would stay away from her...did you hear what her brother did? I mean...the apple can’t fall far from THAT tree...” Liliana clenched her jaw to the words spoken of her family. The memories of the day in which they were in reference to came into her mind like an unwelcome storm; uprooting her focus and leaving the vision of the deceased girl in its wake. 

“I mean maybe he didn’t do it…” one of the other models spoke before Summer, the woman who spoke so cruelly of the Thorne name, turned to this fellow fashion icon. 

“Either way...I would hide your silk stockings, girls…” With this comment, Liliana was left in the pathway of those who taunted the tragedy set within her family.

“Do none of you have anything better to do than gossip?” Bianca spoke in Liliana’s defense;a role she took almost daily against those who commented against the Thorne surname. “Or is it that petty jealousy in the fact that those flowers weren’t for you? Now that I think of it...they might have been...we didn’t actually read the card in them...and since you spread your legs for every guy with a business card and a sports car, I guess...it could have been from any number of them...hmmm…” Appearing indifferent and gaining the last word of this insult, Bianca continued her way outside of the room to the disapproval of the girls now making their way towards Liliana. 

 Not wishing to face them, she quickly escaped through the side exit and into an alleyway where she was locked out immediately. With her phone dead in the jacket upon her arms and her knowledge of this specific area of California having been limited to what a tourist would come to know; she recalled agreeing to meet Bianca upon the front of the establishment and had descended the steps to do just that. But from the moment her foot connected to the ground, she felt uneasy with the silhouette that was a de trop presence. Well aware however that only those who wish to conceal themselves to the main foot traffic would be the ones to disappear into alleyways; or those who locked themselves out of a main building, she attempted to rush to the front before her interest had been piqued by the sound of gagging near her feet. If not for the Jimmy Choos she had gifted to Bianca having caught the attention of the light overhead, she would have continued forward. But she quickly came upon the sight of her best friend and grandest ally clutching her stomach and moaning as a single stream of blood was present from her left nostril and resting on her cupid’s bow. 

At the same moment she came upon the sight of Bianca, the figure in the alleyway that was once a few meters had now only stood a few feet. 

“Do you have a phone?” Liliana questioned the figure, who just stood and stared at her. Once again, she was well accustomed to being fawned over and undressed with her eyes; but the way this figure had looked to her beneath the guise of midnight had informed her that their intentions were anything but beneficial. The figure’s hands shuffled within its pockets as her eyes then returned to her ailing friend who was trembling and hot to the touch. “Please call 9-1-1!” She pleaded with the figure before hearing a sudden shot ring out that silenced the entirety of the air around her. 

Not a single sound but that of her own heart pumping blood could be heard as she felt a burning sting tear through her stomach and force her from her feet and beside Bianca. Clutching her stomach, she brought her hand forward to reveal a palm made bloody by what she realized had been a gunshot. As her eyes went to meet with the gunman, she only caught the sight of his heather gray sweatshirt darting into the opposite direction. With her own breathing made difficult as the bullet had managed to nick a portion of her lungs, Lilianna trembled as she searched Bianca’s tremulous figure for a way to help them as her wounds made it impossible for her to call for help. As if it had been a direct gift from God, Liliana discovered Bianca’s phone before pressing it to her cheek and calling for an ambulance; or at least attempting to. 

Having dialed the number, she became incapacitated by her adrenaline having crashed and sent her into unconsciousness before having sent the call. A collection of sounds both miscellaneous and identifiable made their way into her headspace during her forced slumber as she was unsure if she was slipping from her consciousness or into death as her body became cold and eventually the area around her became impossibly silent. 

Her eyes would come to awaken despite the belief of her teetering upon the brink of life and death, to find her mother at her side in tears. The polished woman who was once a candidate for  Miss America would not have left the house in anything but the latest designer shoes and a perfectly applied face of makeup; but Liliana noted how her mother was at her side without a single drop of cosmetics, her hair damp and uncombed over her shoulders, and pajamas having been fashionable two seasons prior. 

“Lili!” her mother spoke in disbelief as she wrapped her arms around her daughter who was confused before wincing at the pain omitting from her stomach. “I’m sorry!” She spoke quickly as Lilianna immediately prodded for answers of why she had been within the hospital bed. 

“What happened?” she questioned in a voice made raspy by the trach tube forced into her throat during her emergency surgery. 

“Honey, you were...you were shot…” Although Liliana believed that had been a portion of her horrible dream, she was reminded of the truth of this as pain pulsated throughout her stomach. “You were in some alleyway and were found early this morning...about six-” Her heart dropped as she came to understand how she had remained in that dirty alley for nearly five hours before being found...and then came the fear of Bianca. 

“Was Bianca shot too?” Her mother’s eyes saddened at the mention of this name, but her expression remained otherwise deadpanned and therefore irritating to Lili as she was desperate to know what had become of her only true acquaintance. 

“No.” Her mother’s answer supplied relief for Liliana before her father entered the room. 

“She’s at the morgue, Liliana.” The words seemed unjust and cold from her father; and if not for the angered expression upon his face, it would appear heartless. But with his own fear of having come so close to losing his daughter, the patriarchy of the Thorne family knew of no other way to speak to those he cared for; a defense mechanism that Liliana knew quite well. His tone remained shaky as his daughter hunched forward-ignoring her wounds as she began to sob. 

“But she wasn’t shot...I JUST saw her a few hours ago! She is fine...she HAS to be fine!” The heartbreak within Liliana’s words and emotions had been contagious to her mother and seemingly asymptomatic to her father; not seen or felt-but somehow present. “You’re lying!”

“She overdosed on cocaine…” Her father spoke to her as her mother was quick to cease the pain piling quickly upon Lili’s heart. 

“Arthur-”

“No...I trusted you with this job...I told you that if you made smart choices...if you stayed away from the dangers of it-”

“Are you accusing ME of it?!” Her mother suddenly took her hands to avert her attention towards her. 

“We know you have endured a lot this year with your brother’s trial and the gossip of the other girls…” But despite her mother’s kind attempts, Liliana focused anger upon her father instead of the love from her mother. 

“The only thing I have ever done that was ‘improper’ was drink before 21 and wear lingerie for money...But I have never touched a drug and the fact you could think that-”

“Then why was it on your face and your hands!?” Her father scolded her as Liliana was at a loss for an answer as she was trying to navigate the pain of what had been explained to her. “You may have your mother fooled, but I am NOT an idiot...I know that you have been stressed, but this...THIS is not something I can save you from…” With these words, her father stormed out of the hospital room and left his daughter in shreds as his wife was forced to try and collect whatever pieces were salvageable. 

“Honey, IF you did...it will be alright...you just need to tell me. I promise to have your back and help you through every second of it. I know that with Zach cheating and Charlie’s case that it’s been a lot...But I do not want to lose you, too...Your father was just scared-”

“I don’t know why or how it got on me...but I have NEVER done anything, I swear it! Please mom...you have to believe me…” Her mother slowly nodded before a woman dressed as if she belonged in a courtroom aside from a hospital, made her way towards Liliana’s bed. 

“I’m sorry...I can’t lose you…” Her mother spoke before the woman introduced herself as Tatianna Lagoolier, a rehabilitation specialist. “It is for your own good, sweetheart.” And with this, Liliana was not even allowed to mourn that of her best friend or change her gauze before she was taken from the hospital and into a luxurious rehabilitation center for drug addicts; despite the fact that she had never touched anything more than a joint; and that was one time she regretted immensely from its lack of taste of lingering side effect of hunger. Even so, she was forced into a ninety day program of pointless meetings and boring exercises that would help those with an issue she was accused of harboring. 

But for Liliana; it had made her wish for a drug aside from wishing to evade them. But following these three months of forced captivity, Liliana was allowed a false sense of freedom as she was met by her father outside the steps of the center. Offering only a cross look, Liliana slipped into the back of the chauffeured car and drove to her lavish home that she saw as a fancy penitentiary decorated with priceless family heirlooms and vases of architectural significance. But the moment the car came to the ivy infested exterior of her home, Liliana spotted her mother and an unnamed man at her matriarch’s side. For a few seconds, she was able to analyze this man and became thankful she was unable to see her blush as he stood as an Adonis at her mother’s side. 

His blue eyes, toned physique pressed beneath a sable dark suit, and messy yet somehow perfectly arranged long dirty blonde locks had forced her heart into palpitations as she was curious as to who he had been. But given the betrayal of her mother and father having not trusted her; she did not wish to speak to either of them and would have instead been left to assume the reason for his presence. Prior to her time in an unnecessary rehab, she held a respect for both of her parents; but now, she did not care if she happened to bring any harm to either of them; emotionally, socially-just not physically. This change of behavior would be seen from the moment she stepped back onto the property of her homestead. 

“Has mom finally gained enough common sense to leave you?” Arthur ignored this hurtful comment as her mother spoke her entire birth name back towards her to show her lack of support in such a comment; even if the thought had crossed her mind a few thousand times during their twenty year marriage. 

“Lilianna Ivette Thorne!” Her mother exclaimed before being interrupted by her husband. 

“He is here for you…” her father informed her. 

For a moment, Liliana scanned the man as she now stood up close to him. He rivaled her height greatly and held an attractive nature that excelled any she could have conjured within even the most lustful of her dreams. His sparkling blue eyes stared down at her with indifference-if not a sense of annoyance, while a goatee  of scruff covering a set of intense dimples and a clenched jaw. As Liliana was accustomed to men buying her drinks, falling on her feet, and even offering marriage upon the first date just to keep her interest-she was uncertain of what it was he had thought of her, but was far to stubborn in allowing her sincere emotions to be known as she felt abandoned by those she believed she could trust. 

“Not my type, but thanks…” The man revealed a smirk before releasing a scoff as her father gave him a look of warning. 

“Same here.” He spoke beneath his breath-revealing an attractive accent that informed her that he had been from the Massachusetts area with a hint of a northeastern cadence upon the drawl of his response. “But I am actually present as your bodyguard.”

“My-yeah...okay…” Although Liliana attempted to bypass the entire awkward encounter that caused a twinge of pain into her pride from his response against her, she could sense dishonesty in his eyes. “I do not need a goddamned babysitter!”

“You were shot, Lili!’ Her mother spoke with a firm tone that stopped her daughter in her tracks. “Whoever has done it is still out there...and with your...celebrity status plastered upon every billboard and online magazine, we did not want to be naive in believing whoever had done this would not try it again...You are too valuable to me-to us…” Her mother spoke before bringing her hand to her daughter’s cheek. 

“I would believe you if you wouldn’t have stuck me in a rehabilitation center for a fourth of the year on circumstantial evidence and assumptions. You cost me my career...you cost me my sanity....and you will not have my forgiveness-because of your actions, I could not say goodbye to Bianca…” Lilianna forced her mother’s hand from her skin upon speaking these words.

“You have every right to be upset, but what’s done is done. Julian Grant is your bodyguard and will be until the bastard who did this to you is caught. Until then...you best be nice for he has our permission to keep you in line by any means necessary…” Although this comment left his words open to interpretation, Liliana’s eyes locked onto the man she would be in the company of for as long as her family saw fit. She thought of how she could be surrounded by far worse men and Julian was upon the opposite side of the unattractive spectrum and bypassed any other man she had met that would try and impress her. 

“I look forward to it…” She spoke mischievously as Julian flashed her a look of caution before following her into the direction of the house-ignored by her entirely as she slammed the door within his face. Although she was halfway through her twenties, Liliana was at the mercy of her parents' financial support-but knowing she could exist without them as she had done so for the last three months, she made her way into the direction of her window with the plan of escaping these circumstances. And with that idea, she began to plan her escape…