In Security

1
The day Dr. Adrian Vance brought his girlfriend home, my job, as head of his security detail, was to meticulously scan their personal belongings for listening devices.
Suddenly, Lily Medak pointed a trembling finger at me, her eyes welling with tears.
You men are all the same! We've been apart for one month—one month! — and you're already keeping a canary on the side.
I, the canary in question, was speechless.
Who, me? All six-foot-one, one hundred and eighty pounds of me?
There was no sugar daddy footing my bills; I was drawing a government salary as a bodyguard.
…
Dr. Adrian Vance was a key government scientist, a national asset whose latest research had put him on the radar of hostile operatives. The state had assigned me, one of their top agents, to ensure his safety.
To prevent his family from being used as leverage, I’d moved his parents and his girlfriend into the safe house with him. Full protection detail.
Before I could even speak, Lily clung to Adrian, her voice rising hysterically.
"Don't even try to deny it! If this woman isn't your little pet, then why is she living with you? And why is she going through our luggage? I'm the lady of this house! I'm your girlfriend! You think I would ever do anything to hurt you?"
"I know you're a world-renowned scientist, and I'm just an ordinary woman," she sobbed, changing tactics. "The gap between us is huge, I have no right to question you, it's just…"
With that, she threw herself into Mrs. Vance's arms and began to wail.
Adrian's mother immediately started comforting Lily while scolding her son. "Lily has been with you for so many years! How could you do this to her?"
Adrian rubbed his temples, a deep weariness in his eyes. "Mom, what are you talking about?" he explained. "I would never betray Lily. Riley is my government-assigned bodyguard. My work has put me at the top of an international hit list. This is a necessary precaution."
Lily shot up, her voice cracking. "You're lying! Who's ever heard of a bodyguard who looks like that? She's your kept woman, and you know it!"
Adrian’s brow furrowed in frustration. "Kept women are for billionaire CEOs, Lily. I'm a scientist. Every paycheck I've earned for the last five years, I've sent directly to you. Where would I even get the money?"
Her face was a mask of disbelief.
Adrian sighed. "What do I have to do to make you believe me?"
Lily lifted her chin, looking down her nose at me. "I don't believe a word you say. I only believe what I see with my own eyes!"
I had been kneeling by the door, finishing my sweep of their luggage. Now that the job was done—no bugs, no cameras—it was time to deal with Miss Medak.
I slowly rose to my feet.
Lily had been looking down at me, but as I unfolded to my full height, her gaze had to travel up… and up.
By the time I was standing straight, she was staring up at me, her mouth agape, wide enough to fit a tennis ball.
I spoke calmly. "Miss Medak. Perhaps now you can believe that I am not Dr. Vance's… canary."
"You're... like, six-foot-four?" she stammered, swallowing hard.
I simply smiled and handed the cleared luggage to the family. A professional operative never reveals exact personal details.
My silence, however, did nothing to dampen her newfound curiosity. She began circling me, inspecting me from all angles.
"I mean, you're tall, sure. But maybe he's into that sort of thing," she mused. "There's no rule that says a six-foot-four woman can't be a kept woman…"
Her words left not just Adrian and me, but also his parents, utterly dumbfounded.
Adrian started apologizing to me while trying to pull Lily away, but she took this as proof that he was siding with me. She wrenched her arm free and shot me a contemptuous smirk.
"Did you really think you could hide your affair from me? I'm the main character in this story! I can see the chat feed!"
"The chat feed told me everything! It told me you betrayed me, and that this woman is your little plaything! It warned me that if I don't get rid of her now, you'll eventually have my family's empire burned to the ground and leave me for dead!"

2
Having delivered her breathless monologue, Lily’s chest heaved with emotion.
Adrian pinched the bridge of his nose, looking like he wanted to say something but had no idea where to start.
Lily grabbed the front of his shirt. "Tell me! It's me or her!"
"Lily, for the love of God, stop reading those trashy romance novels! Burn my family's empire to the ground? I'm a scientist, not a ruthless billionaire. And what is this about a chat feed? You're not making any sense."
He shot me an apologetic look and tried to lead her away.
But my internal alarms were screaming. Something was wrong with her. I stepped in front of them, blocking their path.
"Apologies, Doctor. Miss Medak is not acting rationally. I'm going to need her to cooperate with an official assessment."
Adrian started to protest, but he met my unyielding gaze and let his hand fall from her arm. My credentials were unimpeachable; his own superiors had introduced me, and my file included protection details for world leaders. He knew better than to question my judgment.
"Adrian, help me!" Lily shrieked. "Don't let this evil woman take me! She'll kill me! I'll come back with a kidney missing!"
Adrian didn't move.
I escorted Lily to a small, soundproofed debriefing room. No matter what I asked, she stuck to her story: I was Adrian's mistress, and a stream of scrolling comments only she could see had told her so.
Based on my training, she wasn't lying. She genuinely believed it.
After a moment's thought, I called in a medic.
The diagnosis was… unexpected. Lily had cooked herself a lunch of wild mushrooms. Apparently, she hadn't cooked them thoroughly enough, inducing a hallucinogenic state where she believed she was seeing a live chat feed about her own life.
After treatment, she returned to normal. A background check I’d ordered also came back clean. She and Adrian were childhood sweethearts, her social circle was tiny, and her only hobby was reading romance novels. She had no connections to any foreign entities.
But even after the doctor explained that her "chat feed" was a mushroom-induced trip, she remained convinced I was Adrian's canary.
She took every opportunity to sneer at me, and one day, she even tried to shove me down the stairs.
She seemed to forget that I was a six-foot-one elite operative. There was no way a civilian like her could move me an inch.
After putting her entire body into the effort and failing to make me budge, she changed tactics, let out a yelp, and threw herself down the staircase.
By the time Adrian rushed over, she was a mess of red-rimmed eyes and crocodile tears. "Adrian, don't blame Riley! I'm sure she didn't mean to push me!"
After calling the medics, I projected the security footage onto the living room's main screen.
When the video showed the part where Lily was straining with all her might to push me, Mrs. Vance couldn't stifle a snort of laughter.
Lily shrieked, "You have cameras?!"
"Miss Medak," I stated calmly, "my sole purpose here is to protect Dr. Vance. This entire residence, excluding the bathrooms, is under 24/7 surveillance, monitored by a three-person team in real-time. I would advise you to choose your actions carefully."
Her face flushed crimson. She was speechless.
After that incident, I did my best to avoid her.
But today, a confrontation was unavoidable.
There was a critical issue during the testing phase of Adrian's project. I had to get him to the research institute immediately.
The moment we got in the car, Lily threw herself in front of it.
"Where are you two going? On a secret date behind my back?"
Adrian tried to explain the urgency of the situation.
Lily just covered her ears, chanting, "I'm not listening, I'm not listening!"
Finally, she lay down on the pavement in front of the tires. "If you insist on taking your mistress on a date, you'll have to run me over first!"

3
Adrian looked exhausted, the apology in his eyes deepening into profound guilt.
I glanced at my watch. We didn't have time for this. I gave a subtle look, and two of my team—both built like refrigerators—materialized and simply lifted her out of the way.
Adrian opened his mouth to say something, then thought better of it and remained silent.
In the car, he finally spoke. "I'm so sorry, Riley. I apologize for all the trouble she's causing. When this is over, I'll make sure your superiors know how professionally you've handled this."
I kept my eyes on the road, my focus absolute.
As long as Adrian’s work helped strengthen our country, Lily's petty dramas were less than a nuisance.
As we approached the institute, my instincts screamed. Something was wrong.
I slammed on the brakes and yanked Adrian out of his seat just as he was starting to ask what was happening. A split second later, our car erupted in a massive fireball.
The force of the blast sent us rolling. I shielded him with my body, absorbing the impact as we skidded across the asphalt.
I kept him pinned beneath me, my eyes scanning our surroundings for threats.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
A car screeched to a halt behind us. Lily jumped out, pointing an accusing finger.
"You shameless hussy! I knew you were after my boyfriend! You kept me from coming along just so you could throw yourself at him, didn't you!"
"You home-wrecking fox! I'm going to kill you!"
She let out a war cry and lunged, her hand raised to slap me.
The next second, I had her wrist in an iron grip. I applied the slightest pressure.
"Ow, ow, ow!" she screamed.
"Shut up!" I hissed. "The people who planted that bomb are still nearby. Unless you want to die, be quiet."
Thankfully, the institute was located next to a military base. Backup arrived within minutes.
While Adrian was in his emergency briefing, Lily circled me like a vulture. She tried to give me a look of contempt, but because I was so much taller, she had to crane her neck to do it, which made her attempted intimidation look ridiculous.
I ignored her completely.
Eventually, her stream of insults dried up, leaving her parched and frustrated.
Just then, Adrian emerged from his meeting. Lily immediately threw herself into his arms.
"Adrian, she completely ignored me! Can you believe the nerve?" she pouted. "Look, I've decided that since she's useful for protecting you, I'm willing to let her stick around. But she has to know her place, and you have to promise that you'll always love me most. Swear to me you'll never let her hurt me."
The other researchers coming out of the meeting stared at her, their expressions a mixture of confusion and morbid curiosity as their gazes shifted to Adrian.
Adrian's face turned beet red as Lily continued her tirade.
"Enough!" He finally lost his patience. "What are you talking about? This is the 21st century! We don't have mistresses and second wives! Stop talking nonsense!"
His shout stunned her into silence. Then, tears began to stream down her face.
"I knew it. You're tired of me. It's all about your precious canary now, isn't it? I was willing to compromise! What more do you want from me? Do you want me to die? I just want to live my life…"
Her words made no sense to the onlookers, but Adrian and I knew exactly what she was referencing.
Adrian sighed, a look of grim resignation on his face, and began to soothe her.
Just like that, her tears vanished, replaced by a triumphant smile. She hugged him tightly, and over his shoulder, where no one else could see, she shot me a smug, provocative smirk.
Right. She hadn't forgotten her role in the drama.
After we returned to the safe house, Adrian and Lily had a long talk. When she emerged, her eyes were red and swollen. She walked straight up to me.
"Riley, I'm sorry," she said. "I was wrong. I promise I won't call you a canary or anything like that ever again."
I gave a curt nod, accepting her apology.
For a while after that, things were quiet.
Until another critical issue arose with the data, requiring Adrian to hold an emergency meeting with his research team. Given the recent bombing, it was decided the team would come to the safe house.
With so many high-value targets in one place, I ramped up security protocols.
All day, Lily watched me with a strange, unnerving smirk on her face.

4
My senses were on high alert, but she did nothing besides prance around her room trying on an endless series of flashy dresses.
I wrote it off as another one of her episodes.
The scientists had all arrived and the meeting was about to begin when Lily burst into the room.
She was wearing a tight, scarlet red dress that clung to her curves. She sauntered over to the conference table and provocatively perched herself on it, right in front of Adrian, batting her eyelashes.
"A woman," she purred, "needs to be soft and delicate to earn a man's affection."
The room was filled with serious, academic types. Jaws dropped. The female scientists looked at her with disdain, while the men awkwardly averted their eyes.
"Lily, what in God's name are you doing?!" Adrian roared, pulling her off the table. "I'm in a meeting! Get out!"
She stumbled, then regained her footing and pointed a finger at me. "Why does she get to stay? You're kicking me out, but she gets to be here? She's your kept woman! You're finally introducing her to all your friends, and you're still trying to hide it from me!"
Adrian froze for a second, a look of pure, soul-crushing exhaustion on his face. "Lily, I am so tired. Please, just stop making things up."
"These are my colleagues! And Riley is my bodyguard! My. Body. Guard!" He was practically screaming the last words.
The other researchers began whispering among themselves, casting judgmental glances at Lily.
Seeing that her little spectacle had failed, she turned her fury on me.
"You bitch! This is all your fault!"
That was it. My patience had finally snapped. I grabbed her by the collar and lifted her up like she was a misbehaving kitten, carrying her out of the room.
She flailed wildly, clawing at the air. "Let go of me! She's seducing my boyfriend, and now she's assaulting me!"
I remained silent. She then turned on the gawking onlookers.
"What are you all staring at? You work for my husband, don't you? Why aren't you helping me? The boss's woman is being attacked!"
"Riley is a brute! She's huge and has no femininity at all! You should be laughing at her! Why are you looking at me like that? You're all just NPCs! Background characters! Stop looking at me like I'm crazy!"
Finally, one of the older researchers had had enough. "Riley is doing her job. As a bodyguard, her attire is appropriate, and her formidable physique provides a sense of security. Who are you to compare yourself to her? You want to compete? Let's see you go a round in a boxing ring with her!"
Others chimed in with agreement, adding a few digs at Adrian.
"You know, Adrian, brilliant as you are, you really need to learn how to judge character."
Adrian's face cycled through shades of red and white.
After the meeting, Adrian and Lily had the most vicious fight I'd ever seen between them. I watched from a discreet distance. My mission was to protect him from physical harm; verbal spats weren't in my purview.
I let out a quiet sigh. This job was not easy. The moment this assignment was over, I was taking a long, long vacation.
The argument ended with Adrian roaring, "We're done! It's over!"
Lily just stood there, stunned, a look of utter disbelief on her face.
Finally, she seemed to snap. "Fine! Break up with me! Just you wait until you come crawling back, begging for my forgiveness!"
She stormed off, returning minutes later with a suitcase. She marched to the front door, but when she saw that no one was stopping her—not even Mrs. Vance, who had always doted on her—she paused.
"It's so late," she muttered to herself. "I'll never get a cab. I guess I'll stay one more night."
And with that, she dragged her suitcase back to her room.
While I was protecting Adrian, other government agencies were working to dismantle the network of operatives targeting him. I had just received an update. By tomorrow, my services might no longer be needed.
That night, I heard a crash from Adrian's room. I burst in instantly.
A broken water glass lay on the floor. Lily stood before Adrian, a triumphant, crazed look in her eyes.
"You took the potion I gave you! Now, you have to do everything I say!"

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