-hides in a corner- this never keeps her promise. anyway, welcome back to the old and new readers :D hope you enjoy this story! -shoot confetti and glitters-

                It was 8 a.m. Sunlight rays penetrated the spacious room through the glass window, filling its golden light everywhere. The young newlyweds were still sleeping peacefully on the king-sized bed as if there was no disturbance at all. Moments later, Aiden slowly stretched his arms and reached down to scratch his itchy thigh. Then, he noticed something was wrong. Instantly, he opened his eyes and looked down.

                “!”

                The sleeping lady next to him was immediately woken up by the noise. She opened her eyes and crossed her eyebrows slowly, a bit annoyed. Both realized that their mornings would not be the same when they noticed each other on the bed. Not that they had not literally slept in the same bed before, but the fact that they were now husband and wife brought the situation to a whole another level of oddity.

                “What’s wrong, Aiden?” Jessica asked.

                Aiden quickly grabbed the duvet and pulled up to his crotch. He laughed her question off and looked anywhere else but her. Soon after, she realized the bulge tenting under the duvet and reflexively, her cheeks turned rosy. She chuckled softly, nodded her head and slowly swung her legs off the bed.

                “You slept very well, it seems. I’ll use Krystal’s bathroom.” She said as she rose from the bed.

                “Sorry, Jess,” Aiden whispered sheepishly; his eyes caught the silky nightgown that almost slipped at her right shoulder.

                “We’re going to have breakfast with Papa today. Finish up real quick, yeah?”

                 Aiden rushed to the bathroom as soon as Jessica closed the door. He pulled down both his pants and underwear to give some space to his little Aiden. He tried to think about gory zombies in loose bikini to distract himself and kill the . He kept cursing for humiliating himself on their first morning together with his ing morning wood. Their friendship border was clearly still there.

                ‘Congrat-ing-tulation, Aiden!’

                Focusing on folding his left sleeve halfway across his forearm, Aiden mindlessly walked down the grand stairs. Suddenly, he noticed somebody stopped right in front of him, and it was no other than Krystal, his now sister-in-law. The younger girl smirked at him and quickly eyed the crotch of his pants.

                “It was unintentional,” Aiden began, raising his forefinger at her.

                “Yeah, me telling Papa about it was unintentional too.”

                Aiden immediately turned red. He scowled at Krystal as she continued making her way upstairs. He really needed a good reason or excuse to tell Mr. Felix later on. It was still early morning, and he felt like succumbing to the comfy and luxurious duvet in his – their – bed already. Slowly and cautiously, he returned to walking down the stairs and folding his sleeve.

                “Good morning, Mr. Lee,” Mr. Felix greeted.

                Aiden involuntarily squared up his shoulders and his body became stiff with tension (and humiliation, of course). He gave the elder man his best morning smile and greeted back as polite as he could be. Without beginning anything, Mr. Felix gave his wise words to him straightaway, and that surprised him a little.

                “Have some dignity and control as a real man, no, Aiden?”

                “Yeah, about that. It was –”

                “– unintentional. I know, Aiden. Which guy doesn’t wake up with a Moby when he’s sleeping with the Harley Quinn? Mind you whom the lady got her fabulous DNA from,” Mr. Felix grinned.

                Aiden was not sure how to respond to the narcissistic dry joke so, he just lowered down his head and laughed politely. He took the seat furthest away from him and cleared his throat to clear up the awkward atmosphere surrounding him. Fortunately, Jessica came into the scene and took the seat beside him. Wearing a plain white shirt and skinny cargo pants, topped with a long bronze-colored coat, Jessica looked very appealing to him, and he was sure of the fact for other people too. For a moment, he was glad that his wife knew how to ace the fashion game.

                “Good morning, Papa,” Jessica greeted.

                “Morning, Jessica. So, what’s for breakfast today?”

                A middle-aged woman came into the dining area with two bowls of hot meal in mitted hands and placed them in front of Mr. Felix and Jessica. It was steaming oatmeal topped with slices of ripe bananas and sprinkles of lightly-crushed peanuts and grounded cinnamon. Aiden could not help but to inwardly sighed looking at the mouth-watering breakfast. Yesterday had been very eventful, and a hot meal right now would be the perfect remedy for him. The woman came in again and served him the same oatmeal along with a creamy pink smoothie in a tall square glass.

                “It’s strawberry banana smoothie. I know it’s one of your favorites. For me, I requested her to make blueberry spinach smoothie,” Jessica grinned as her own smoothie was served.

                The first five minutes went well for Aiden without any interrogation regarding his prior morning incident. He was eternally grateful that Krystal had not joined them yet to ruin the moment for him; she can be a troublesome lady to him. All of a sudden, Mr. Felix wiped his mouth with a napkin and cleared his throat to grab their attentions.

                “Before I forget, I’d like to introduce this brilliant person that I met two weeks ago to you guys. He would be your bodyguard until I decide that his service is not needed anymore,” Mr. Felix announced and took a small sip of his coffee.

                Jessica almost choked on her oatmeal when her dad gave the surprising announcement. Aiden rubbed her back and handed her a small glass of plain water. She looked over at her dad with a confused face and slightly-opened mouth.

                “Why the hell that now I need a bodyguard?” She asked.

                “Because I know you’d screw around if you had one during high school. Alexander White is enough trouble for me.”

                “Okay, okay. No need to mention him in this.” Jessica raised her voice a little in defeat.

                “Why with Alex?” Krystal asked out of nowhere.

                Everyone turned their heads to the girl at the doorframe. A short burgundy cashmere dress draped loosely around her slim body, and a pair of knee-length black suede boots fitted her legs perfectly. She crossed the room and sat opposite to Jessica. The former woman immediately entered and served her the same oatmeal with watermelon coconut milkshake. She smiled at her as she exited the room and later stared at her elder sister.

                “Ask Papa. Not me. Our Dad doesn’t seem to trust her daughters much, does he?” Jessica said and looked away from Mr. Felix.

                “What’s wrong, Papa?” Krystal asked before spooning a small portion of warm oatmeal into .

                “Your sister doesn’t seem to appreciate my effort to protect her and Aiden. Now that she’s married, certain people might not be happy with the news. Also, reporters might pester her in her daily life since they are still newlyweds. I just want the best for them, especially her. Please appreciate my intention.”

                The air turned somber instantly. Aiden reached for Jessica’s sides and gently squeezed them to comfort her.

                “Hey, it won’t be that bad, Jessie.”

                “It’s not that, Aiden. I’m upset that he keeps mentioning my past mistake as if I haven’t ing learned anything from it,” Jessica replied.

                Krystal rose from her seat suddenly. She carried both her bowl and glass in her hands and looked at the three people in the room to and fro.

                “Urgh. Stop acting like the other is nonexistent in the room. I’m outta here,” Krystal complained before walking out of the room with her breakfast.

                Mr. Felix took a few sips of his now lukewarm coffee. Nobody said a word and continued finishing their meal. Fixing his tie, Mr. Felix stood up and grabbed his watch laying on the table. He fitted it around his wrist and pressed on the metal band until it clicked.

                “I see, Jessica. I apologize. I’ll stop mentioning it in the future. However, my decision about the bodyguard stands,” He said with sincerity honeying his words.

                “Okay, Papa. Thank you.” Jessica murmured.

                Little did Aiden know, this would be the point things beginning to go south.

                The air-conditioning was on but somehow, Aiden was feeling uncomfortable in the leather couch of the office room. He had been having a bad feeling about this since he finished his breakfast this morning. He knew the decision to have a person guarding their security was a cautious one, but in some way, Aiden did not think it was going to be all merry.

                “Oh, he’s arrived! Please ask him to enter my office,” Mr. Felix said to his assistant over the telephone.

                 A small eternal hole seemed to form in Aiden’s stomach. He felt like everything in his body was dropping down endlessly and he could not catch them. He was unnecessarily nervous to meet this person. Taking a deep breath, he slowly turned around to face the door.

                 “Hi. I’m Maxwell Collins,” His new bodyguard greeted them.

                 He knew it.

                He simply knew it really was not going to be all merry.

                Deep in his heart, he was silently thankful that Jessica was not in the room.

                It was only the first day of being a husband, and he felt like his marriage was going to be challenged by the presence of this bodyguard already.

In case you forget, go back to the foreword of this story and scroll down to Maxwell Collins image :P Sean O'Pry is one HOT gentleman. Also, I've changed most of the images to suit the characters' personality better. It's been long since I write a story so pardon the blandness of my writing for a while. What do you guys think about this story so far?  

-mirrue-