CHAPTER 5: I WON?

Zachary and Malachi walked through the halls with several men trailing behind them after the other applicants had been sent off.

"Why and how did I win Mr. Moore, sir?"

Malachi turned back and gave his men the go ahead to leave. The men walked away without any hesitation before Malachi spoke.

"Let's tone it down on the formality shall we. Call me sir if you ever need to address me and for the sake of you winning today, it didn't just boil down to one thing. You won that fight fair and square. I saw a man being beaten down and scorned upon by everyone in the room even before the interview began. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that you don’t look like a threat."

Zachary gave his almost recent employer a look.

"You can't expect me to have so much money and not be able to afford cameras in a room where strangers would occupy for the first time."

Zachary turned away feeling a bit dumb.

"They all made fun of you and still you made them see that you were not one to be trifled with. You broke down but then you stood up and defended yourself. I admire that kind of gumption in a man..."

The duo stopped and turned towards a large mahogany door. The staff members who stood outside the door opened it for them to pass through. Zachary and Malachi walked into the room and the door closed behind them. Malachi held Zachary by the shoulders, stopping him in his tracks and faced him.

"...and that is why I picked you for the job because I know that whatever happens with my baby girl, you would give your life to keep her safe. I can tell."

Zachary managed to maintain his stance as Malachi's intense look pierced into his soul daring him to think of anything other than protecting his charge.

"Noted sir. I will keep her safe with my life."

Malachi tapped his shoulder in a friendly manner and turned away.

"That's good because here she comes."

Zachary followed Malachi's eyeline towards the opposite side of the room and was winded by who he saw walking into the room from the adjourning door. A girl with dirty brown hair and long curvy legs. Her hands in her perfect hair and a smile on her almond-shaped face as someone walked side by side with her. She stopped when she saw her father, but her smile faltered when she laid her eyes on him.

"Dad. I didn't think you would be back from the interview so early. I hope everything went well."

Malachi stepped forward and hugged her.

"If you mean me not being able to find you a bodyguard so that you can keep frolicking around like you aren't a target for every bloody criminal in the state, then no. It went horribly wrong." He started as he pulled away.

The girl pouted but kept her cool.

"Zachary this is my daughter, Jessica. Jessica, this is your new bodyguard, Zachary Grayson."

"Nice to meet you." Zachary said as he moved forward to shake her hand but the dark-skinned woman next to Jessica came in between him and his goal. She growled at him.

"Don't worry Lyla. He won't bite. Will you Zach?" Jessica calmed her companion and questioned him.

Zachary put away his hand as Lyla stepped back into place.

"I won't."

"Well, I'll give you three some time to get acquainted. After that show him to the showers and get him a change of clothes. When he's done take him to the study. He has a contract to sign." Malachi said to his daughter before he slinked off, leaving the group alone in the room.

"Lyla is my best friend and because of my various problems in the past, she gets protective of me when men come around so don't hate her for this." Jessica mentioned it in a way of apologizing.

"Not a problem. I get it."

"Do you?" Lyla asked, her demeanor still in a state of fight mode.

Zachary looked at her uncomfortably, wondering what her problem was, before Jessica got between them.

"Take a breath Lyla. He's an employee, not a fling." She said in a bid to get rid of the brewing tension.

Jessica turned to Zachary and stepped closer, a mischievous gleam in her eye.

"Welcome to the family Zach. I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun together."

••••

Zachary had taken a much-needed shower to get rid of the blood still on his face and knuckles once he was shown the shower room. He had even gotten a new set of clothes to replace his tattered ones. After he had made himself look presentable, he had had a very rigorous sit down with Malachi Moore. A sit down concerning his contract which involved new clothes, a brand-new phone to keep in contact with Jessica and his superiors, a car to take Jessica anywhere she wanted to go as far it was in the stipulated areas that were given to him and to top it off, a monthly salary of ten thousand dollars. An amount that might increase monthly if he did his job exceptionally well.

Obviously, that was what made Zachary's eyes widen and his heart race. Ten thousand dollars for a month. That was more than he had ever made in a year even. Although the amount was exorbitant on his side, living on the streets and orphanages had taught him a life lesson. It was too good to be true. Nothing was free. His thoughts were right and his initial high plummeted when Malachi told him of the downside to this lottery that he had won.

Malachi warned him about any unsolicited romance or intimacy between himself and his precious daughter. That was the one thing that Malachi hammered on. He was insistent on it and from there Zachary lost all hope that he would be able to be as close as he wanted with Jessica. If her father and his employer were against it now, then even if it happened, he wouldn't be all right with it in the future. Plus, Malachi might only see him as someone after his money even after he complimented his fighting spirit.

Zachary frowned as he eyed the cheque in his hand on his way home. The same cheque Malachi had handed him an hour earlier after he accepted the job and signed various documents. According to what he was told, he would start the day after tomorrow. That is after he had put all his affairs into order to make time for the job and his new things were brought to him. Zachary placed the paper in his pocket and looked around his neighborhood. He sighed in relief and grinned to himself. First thing tomorrow he would be out of here and living the life somewhere else. Somewhere where no one knew how pathetic he was. With a new day came a new life and it was all thanks to the voice in his head. Whatever it was. He scratched his chin. He would have to check that voice out later. He also had to shave.