When Roman left for work the next morning, I headed out as well with my new bodyguard, Nick. He was younger than the other one’s had been but seemed nice enough. He drove me into town as I researched locales downtown. I knew that it would likely take a bit to find the right location, but I couldn’t shake a feeling that I would find it that day. There was just a good and lucky feeling I had in the center of my chest.

Nick and I parked in a public parking garage and headed out onto the street. Most of the locations I had found for lease and had managed to set up for a walk-through were all within a walkable distance, each location having a maximum of a twenty-minute walk. I glanced over at Nick and found myself wanting to chat with him, but also didn’t know what to say. The other guys hadn’t been very chatty either and I guessed it made more sense to keep things professional. Still, it felt a bit awkward to have an entire day walking around together in complete silence.

I tried not to think of it and just looked down at the map on my phone to guide us to the first building. Most of the places we would be looking at would just be multi-level warehouse that would have to undergo construction to make it possible for my vision. It wasn’t something I really wanted to undertake, but I wanted to look at all possible options and get back to Roman with numbers so he could help me pick out the best option.

We met the first agent at the door. She wore a politician smile to match her pant suit. She looked so crisp and confident that she reminded me of one of one of the career versions of Barbie. Barbie the real estate agent. The three of us walked through the space. It was one of the properties that was more of a warehouse, but did have five stories. The space was promising, but just understanding the sheer amount of construction that would have to take place was a bit off putting. The different levels had originally been production floors and a call center portion for customer support.

The price was fair, but she also alerted me of some of the electrical issues that would have to be addressed in order for the place to pass inspection. While I politely nodded through the rest of the tour, I had as sinking suspicion that I was going to turn that one down. However, it was still an option; especially without having seen any of the other places yet.

When we stepped outside, I decided to take a gamble and looked to Nick. "What do you think of that one?" I asked him.

He shrugged and gave an awkward chuckle. "It was a warehouse."

"That it was," I muttered. We had a ten-minute walk ahead of us, so I decided to poke a little more. "Did it give you any impression at all?"

"What do you mean, boss?" he asked, looking at me with an arched brow.

"Can you see a charity being there?" I asked.

"I’m not really one for an imagination. Looked like a sweatshop, that’s all I can see it as."

Okay, I guessed that was fair enough. I thought he was right, though; the place had to have been some sort of sweatshop sort of setting, considering there were no major pieces of equipment left behind or indication they would have been there. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

As we walked down the street, some guy ran into me and nearly knocked me over.

I struggled to catch myself, but I managed. My eyes first fell down the sidewalk, trying to spot the guy who did it.

There were too many people and I couldn’t make them out. I then looked to Nick. My next thought was back to the bodyguard, Leslie, who had pulled me out of the line of danger before I could even fully recognize it. Nick hadn’t even helped catch me as I started to fall.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I’m fine," I muttered.

Something about it felt off, but I shook it off. Maybe he had been distracted by the conversation. Trying to refocus, we started back on the path.

After a couple of blocks, I had nearly forgotten the incident. We made it to the next appointment, and that place was a little better, but still didn’t feel right. Just as the first one, I took notes and tried to get an idea of how much construction would need to be done. I felt a little out of my depth, but I knew the only thing to do was my best.

We walked and saw five more buildings and still, none were feeling right. At that point, the day was getting away from me and it was nearly time for dinner. Sighing heavily, I guessed that my gut feeling that morning had only been hope.

As we started back, I noticed the same black car going the same route at us, and even stopped at a yellow light. I thought it was weird, but figured they were just getting around downtown with us. Still, I looked to Nick, and he didn’t seem to take notice of it. Maybe I was just being paranoid.

I thought back to scuba diving and the man with the weird stare. Nothing had come of that. This was just another scuba diver situation.

We got back in the car, and I sent Roman a text to let him know we were on the way back. Thankfully, he was heading home too, so we would get there around the same time. I looked over my notes as we rode home.

We parked, and I was happy to see Roman standing to the side, having just gotten home himself. I stepped to him and hugged him.

"How was it?" he asked, guiding me inside.

"I don’t think any of the places today were the best options. There’s some more I booked to look at tomorrow," I replied. "Not too bad, though."

Over dinner, I went over the options with him, just to talk out the potential of each space. Though we both agreed that there were definitely better out there. One of them fell into a category of "doomsday" plan. It would be a money pit with how much construction it would take to make it feasible.

As we got into bed, we were still talking about it. "Are you seeing anymore tomorrow?" Roman asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, a couple more on the outskirts of downtown, and a few more downtown."

"I’m sure you and Nick will find the perfect one," he smiled.

His mention of the bodyguard made the day come back to me in little flashes—particularly flashes of Nick’s less than favorable attributes for a bodyguard to have.

"Do you know how long Nick has worked with the agency you hired him through?" I asked him as I curled in under the covers.

"I don’t think so, why?"

I shrugged and thought it over for another minute. Was it worth getting into or bringing up? Nothing that he had done was overtly bad. Maybe I was just being a little paranoid or worried. The worry about worrying convinced me that I should at least bring it up, even if it was casual. Just to have some back up in case more instances arose.

"I don’t know. Just got the impression he may be new to the job," I explained as casually as I could.

"Huh, well, do you want me to get another one to replace him? Could see if any of the last guys could come help," Roman asked as he pulled me into his side.

I didn’t want my own paranoia to risk someone’s job, so I quickly shook my head. "No, no. It’s alright. Just thought it was worth mentioning."

"Let me know if you change your mind," he stated, kissing the side of my head.

We finally kissed goodnight and closed our eyes to sleep. So many things were running through my mind. Would I find the location the next day, or would it turn into a whole process? And I knew that, once I did find a place, there would be a new, almost crushingly large, laundry list to tackle.

I reminded myself again and again that all I could do was take it a step at a time. Keeping a level head and a relaxed composure would serve me well.

Still, my mind still drifted back to Nick. Was I paranoid? Why couldn’t my mind just make up what was going on?

He had to just be new, and my mind was running with it. He was like the scuba diver. I needed to just get over it.

I took a deep breath and did my best to push it from my mind. Obsessing over it and not sleeping would do nothing but hurt my cause.