The Point Guardian

by Liza Brown

  “Shit, Miss Mae!” I heard Millard as he came to help me up. “Are you ok?”

  I stood and rubbed my butt. “Probably, I’m pretty sure I’ll have a bruise, but I’ll just add that to the ones I already have.”

  “I am so sorry! The door opened faster than I expected. April is here.”

  I looked at my watch, she was right on time. “Punctual,” I smiled. I looked up at the half-clean window and sighed. “But, can I just finish that window?”

  Millard scooted the ladder to where it should have been to begin with, scaled it and proceeded to wash the rest of the window. “What are you doing?” I asked. “I know how to wash a window.”

  “And I know how to keep myself employed, by not knocking you off ladders.” He finished quickly and returned the ladder to its place along the wall.

  “You know I still have to get the outside, right?” I goaded as we left the room.

  “One heart attack at a time, Miss Mae.”

  Once to my office, I saw two suitcases sitting just inside the door, but no stranger was nearby. “Where is she?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. I told her I’d be right back,” he said.

  “Did that ‘right back’ include washing a window and pushing me off a ladder?” I giggled.

  He smiled at me as I stood unsure as to what to do. Bonnie finished with a customer and turned to us. “She went to the restroom, Mae.”

  I nodded and just then a woman appeared before us. “Mae-Belle Rogers? I am April Smith, your bodyguard,” she said flatly as she presented her hand to me. She was tall, blonde, and broad. Definitely not someone I’d ever want to meet in a darkened alley.

  “Please, call me Mae,” I corrected her as I guided her into my office.

  “Ma’am, I am an employee of Mr. Benjamin. Any changes in protocol will have to go through him,” she said as I sat in my seat behind my desk. She remained standing.

  “So I can’t ask you to call me Mae?” I asked.

  “Not until I have clearance through him, ma’am.”

  I fought an urge to roll my eyes and pointed to the chair. “Will you sit if I ask you to sit?” I motioned to one of the chairs.

  “Does this door close?” she asked sternly.

  “Yes, just scoot those boxes out of the way. They hold it open,” I said as I watched her shut the door.

  “You’ll need blinds on that window.”

  I turned and looked at the small window I could hardly even see out of it was so high. I could barely reach it to open it, let alone think anyone could look in.

  “And these blinds, do they close?” she asked.

  I turned back to look at the glass walls of my office. “I honestly don’t know, April. I’ve never actually shut them. Why do I need to shut them?”

  “Lip readers, ma’am.” She said as she started drawing the blinds.

  “Lip readers? Who is going to read our lips and what are we going to be saying that someone would want to read?” I asked. I quickly had a feeling I wasn’t going to like this situation.

  “You have customers coming in here all day, correct? Any one of them could be partnered with your attacker or could be your attacker, we can’t take any chances.” She sat down in a seat across from me and I cringed at the closed-in feeling the shut blinds gave me.

  “I don’t like them closed, April. Can we please keep them open? I have issues with closed-in spaces.”

  “I’m sorry ma’am, protocol.” She was impossible.

  I could feel my body temperature start to rise and I started to shake a bit. My phone rang and I jumped three feet. “It’s Elsu, I mean Mr. Benjamin. I mean…can I take this privately?” I asked.

  “Ma’am, I will be with you twenty-four seven. I will see and hear nearly everything you do. You need to be comfortable taking his call with me present.” Oh no!!

  I answered the phone shyly. “Elsu!” I faked a happy greeting.

  “Hi Sweet Mae, what’s wrong?” he asked.

  “Umm, nothing?” I said, hoping he wouldn’t pick up on me having a predicament.

  “Nothing? Are you asking me?”

  “No. I mean yes. I mean I’m fine.”

  “Is your bodyguard there yet?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I smiled at April.

  “Is it going well?”

  “We’re just getting to know each other, that’s all,” I lied. I didn’t want to worry him before the game.

  “You sure? You’d tell me if there were issues, right?” he asked. I had a feeling he knew.

  “I would. It’s still early.”

  “Yeah, it took Millard and me some time to fall into a good rhythm.”

  I turned away from April and continued my conversation. “I miss you,” I whispered.

  “I miss you. Your text message was wrong. Believe me, I miss you a ton more than you me, Mae.” His voice started having that effect on me again.

  “So what do you have to do the rest of the day?” I asked.

  “Resting, thinking about this girl I know, eating, thinking about this hot girl I know, working out, thinking about my super-sexy girlfriend who I miss incredibly, playing ball. And then I might think about you after the game.”

  “So you’re only thinking about me once all day?” I joked.

  “Yeah, just once. But basically non-stop.”

  “Well don’t let your thoughts mess up your game.”

  “Believe me, knowing you’re watching will be all I need, baby.” I could hear his smile.

  “Will you call me after the game?” I crossed my fingers he’d say yes.

  “If you want me to,” he said.

  “Well, as long as none of those other girls are taking up your time, I’d appreciate it.”

  “I’ll have to see if they’ll take rainchecks.” I smiled at his good mood.

  “Hey, just so you know, I’m going to use your credit card today. But don’t look at the account until Friday, ok?”

  “Well if that’s not screaming of suspicion, I don’t know what is.” He was laughing.

  There was a knock at my door. April bolted up and peered through the blind before opening the door a crack. “Yes?” she asked.

  “Ummm, can I talk to Mae?” I heard a familiar voice.

  “Who are you?” she asked.

  “Let him in, April. That’s Joe,” I said as I kept the phone to my ear.

  “You sound busy,” said Elsu into my ear.

  “Apparently,” I said. I was wanting more time to talk to him. “I’ll text you later, and watch you later, and talk to you later.”

  “I miss you Mae,” I could hear true sadness in his voice.

  “You too, Elsu,” I said. “Goodbye.”

  We hung up and I knew my face reflected my now-depressed mood.

  “Let me guess, Elsu?” asked Joe.

  “Yep. Glad to hear his voice, sad that he’s not here. This is rough, Joe,” I said as he sat across from me.

  “I know the feeling. When my wife goes out of town for work I miss her something fierce. It’s not as bad now as it used to be, but I still miss her.”

  I smiled agreeably and looked at April who had returned to her seat. “Joe, this is April. I think Steve told you guys I’d be having someone here until they caught whoever’s doing this crap.”

  “Nice to meet you,” he said as he offered his hand. She eyed him curiously.

  “Ma’am, do all of your employees have criminal background checks and finger prints on file?” she asked without accepting the handshake. Joe seemed taken aback.

  “No, April. I’ve never had a reason to.”

  “Then at this point all employees are considered suspects. I’ll get the forms in to have the checks done. They can go downtown to get their fingerprints done.”

  “April, I’ve known some of these people nearly all my life.”

  “Comfort yields danger, ma’am. Protocol.”

  I officially had a new least favorite word.

  I turned to Joe. “What did you
need to talk about, Joe?” I asked as frustration filled my head.

  “I can’t find Millard. The guys in the warehouse are moving shit around and things aren’t where they’re supposed to be anymore. They’re causing a major headache back there.”

  “That’s not good at all.” I got up and started toward my office door.

  April stepped in front of me before I could reach for the handle and peered out the door before I could leave my office. “What are you looking for?”

  “Suspicious activity, ma’am.” I raised my eyebrows as she waved me through the door. I shook my head in disbelief.

  We walked into the warehouse and I nearly had a coronary at what I saw. In order to tighten up gaps, the men had squeezed bays together, leaving gaps at the end of the aisles that they then filled in with containers from subsequent bays, throwing my whole computerized system out the window. I was officially ready to pull my hair out.

  “Stop!” I yelled, finally. “Where’s Millard?”

  “He’s in the showroom, putting together his plans for that building,” said one of the men.

  “Ok, don’t do anything else! Just stop!” I said in panic. I headed toward the back door that was adjacent to the showroom building.

  April went through the door first and searched for something, apparently it wasn’t there and she allowed me to continue. I went to the showroom and found Millard discussing measurements with another worker. “Millard, we have a major problem in my warehouse! They can’t move stuff! Customers get detailed information telling them where product is located. If you move stuff, they can’t find what they’re looking for and I look like an idiot!”

  “Oh! That’s not good. I didn’t know how the system worked. We’ll put stuff back in their right aisles, but we’re going to have gaps at the ends of each aisle that will need filled.” He pulled a walkie-talkie from his hip and informed someone in the other building to put stuff back. I didn’t even know we had walkie-talkies.

  I looked at my watch, it was now nearing four. I was feeling trapped in my own world. There were too many people claiming to be doing things for my own good but it just felt like prison. My cell rang and I pulled it out to see Colette’s name. Shopping! I had completely forgot.

  “Colette!” I said with a harried smile.

  “I’m home, what time are we leaving?” she asked.

  I looked at April and smiled. “It has to be soon, I need to be to a TV by seven,” I said.

  “You sound stressed,” she knew me well.

  “I am, Colette. I have so much going on here right now I completely forgot about shopping. I was so excited to go, too. But I won’t be able to go tomorrow and God only knows what Thursday will bring. So I guess it has to be today if I’m going to do it,” I sighed.

  “I can come pick you up at the shop,” she was always accommodating.

  “April, I would like to go shopping this afternoon, is that ok?” I asked.

  “You have to ask your bodyguard if you’re allowed to go shopping?” I heard Colette in my ear.

  “Everything needs to be put past Mr. Benjamin first, ma’am.”

  “What were his direct instructions to the firm he hired you from?” I finally asked.

  “I don’t recall the exact description,” she seemed to have lost a little of her gusto.

  Millard spoke up. “I have the email, Elsu forwards everything to me.” He pulled out his phone.

  “We are instructed to refer to our subjects by their formal name, or ma’am or sir, Mr. Millard. You refer to Mr. Benjamin by his first name?” she asked. She seemed incensed.

  “Sometimes I call him Mr. Benjamin. But on the first day he told me to use whatever I felt most comfortable with, April. I’m sure Miss Mae has instructed you to call her by her first name,” he continued to scroll through his phone.

  “Yes, she did, but she is not my employer,” said April. “I must wait for direct orders from Mr. Benjamin before I adjust protocol.”

  I was standing behind April just a bit so she could not see me when I rolled my eyes at Millard.

  “Wow, you’re a bit intense, aren’t you?” he asked. “You can bring it down a notch. Basically do whatever Miss Mae asks as long as it’s safe and make sure her surroundings are safe,” he said. “Found it. ‘Provide individualized protection for the safety and well-being of Mae-Belle Rogers. Allow Mae-Belle to perform every-day tasks as regularly as possible without causing disruptions to her personal freedoms or daily activities.”

  “So, closing the blinds in my office…” I said.

  “You should have gotten a dossier on Miss Mae. Elsu and I filled it out for her.” He looked at me. “Sorry, anything that needs changed you can change. I’ll forward it to you too.”

  “I’d like that,” standing in the great big showroom suddenly felt like a shoebox.

  “Here it is,” he said as he brought it up and showed the file on his phone to April. “Did you get this?”

  “Yes, I skimmed it,” she was obviously sweating.

  “So, if you only skimmed it you may have missed the fact that one of the first things listed is physical and mental limitations, do you see what the answer we have there is?” I realized for the first time that he was actually angry.

  “Claustrophobia and agoraphobia,” she read.

  “Agoraphobia?” I asked. “Now you’re diagnosing me?”

  “We saw how you reacted to the first basketball game. Are you not afraid of crowds?” he asked.

  “I am, but…never mind.”

  “So you can understand why she didn’t want those blinds pulled. If she tells you not to do something, you need to adjust your methods.” He was really being stern with her.

  “You are not my boss, Mr. Millard. I will contact Mr. Benjamin immediately and he can let me know what to do.”

  “No, you’re not disturbing him unless there’s an emergency,” he said. “He’s got a job to do and doesn’t need us bothering him while he’s gone. He could get hurt if his mind isn’t on the game completely.”

  “I’ll just send him an email when I get a chance,” she said. She was determined to be right, but had proven herself incapable of doing the most basic thing, reading about me. I was afraid Elsu would yell at her for being an idiot, but at this point I no longer cared.

  I looked at my phone and realized Colette was still on the line. “Colette, I’ll be home by five and we can go shopping then.” I watched April’s face for a reaction and I knew she was pissed.

  “Ma’am…”

  “Ma’am nothing, April. This is my life and I plan to live it the way I want to live it. If you can’t work around that, then maybe we’re not a good fit. If you plan to stay, we’re leaving here in forty-five minutes to go home, get changed, get my best friend, and go shopping for clothes for Elsu. After that, we will probably end up at a bar that sells greasy food and tons of beer to watch the basketball game.”

  She looked nervously between Millard and me. I could tell by the slight change in her expression and posture that she had been defeated. “Ok, ma’am.”

  I exhaled relief at one victory won. I’d work on her calling me by my name next.

  After making sure the warehouse was going back to the way it should and Bonnie was ok with me sneaking out a few minutes early, April, Millard, and I left the shop together. Colette would be driving for our shopping trip and I could tell that April did not approve.

  Colette took me to a store for tall men and we set to work. “He needs everything, Colette. Uncle Richard got me his pant and shirt sizes. He doesn’t need shoes. Nike is hooking him up. I told Elsu I’d be using his credit card but I owe him for the work he did yesterday so he’s not paying for everything.” Millard had decided to come with us and he and April stood at the store’s front door and watched out while they talked.

  Every once in a while I’d ask Millard what he thought, since he’d known Elsu a lot longer than I had and knew what kinds of clothes he wore before we met. He seemed to enjoy helping,
but April was still not amused.

  Once we had a pile a mile high of everything including socks, undershirts, and boxers, I watched as the total started mounting. After all was said and done, the sale was well over a thousand dollars. Deep down I knew it would be that high, but seeing the number in living color made me cringe. “Millard,” I said as I turned toward the door. “Am I doing the right thing? Will he be angry?” I really didn’t want to upset Elsu.

  Millard walked toward us and eyed the total. “Ma’am, your boyfriend is one of the wealthiest men in the entire league. He can afford that. I’m certain he won’t care.”

  I looked at the total and sighed. I pulled out my own credit card first and Millard eyed it knowing immediately that the card with the Model T pictured on it was not his boss’s. “I’ll cover half of it,” I said as I started to hand the card over. I couldn’t bring myself to spending Elsu’s money. Even if it was on him.

  “Put that card back in your wallet, missy!” said Colette as she stared at me. “He already got on you for not spending money on yourself. Just pretend you’re making up for that.”

  I put my card back and pulled the platinum card out of a secret compartment in my wallet where I had it hidden. “Ok, here goes nothing,” I said reluctantly as I handed it over to the cashier.

  A gentleman emerged from a door in the back of the store and saw the large total on the register. “You’ve got one lucky man, ma’am,” he said with a smile.

  “Ma’am, I’ll need to see an ID. You aren’t Elsu Benjamin.”

  “No, but it’s signed.” Said Millard. “It’s fine.”

  “Not for this high of a sale, sir. I need ID.”

  “Jenny, this is Elsu’s girlfriend,” said the man to the woman. “It’s fine.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “I saw you on TV last week. You two make a great couple.”

  The woman shrugged her shoulders and slid the card through the reader. I don’t know why but I held my breath waiting for it to be approved but it went through nearly immediately. “Just spread the word about our store to the rest of the team,” said the man with a smile.