Her Witch, Her Demon [WxW]

9. The Bodyguard

Meredith gnawed on Alicia's advice over and over. She even lost count of the days as she was left in deep thought about what to do. Maybe all she had to do was follow her heart and go after the woman she wanted. But she would lose her family if she did that. Somehow, the thought of losing Nyx scared her even more.

It didn't help that the visions she had of Nyx became even more frequent, popping up at the oddest times of the day. She wasn't yet sure what it was, but they seemed to only appear whenever Nyx was in pain. The visions themselves were not physically painful to Meredith, however, her heart shattered into a million pieces whenever she watched Nyx go through such torment.

"Huang." Someone tapped her on the shoulder.

She suddenly looked up from her computer to see her boss staring at her in concern.

"Miss Mendez." When did her boss get to her desk?

"Are you okay?" the older woman asked. "I've been watching you staring at your screen without moving for like five minutes straight. What's going on?"

She could get nothing past Jane Mendez, could she? Jane was often distant toward her employees and can be quite scathing with her remarks. But she was also very attentive and could tell when something was going on with her employees.

"I'm alright, Miss Mendez." Meredith forced a smile. The woman's expression didn't change, but Meredith could tell that she didn't buy her bullshit. Hell, Meredith didn't buy her own bullshit. She quickly added, "I just haven't been sleeping well lately. That's all."

Well, that wasn't exactly a lie. She really didn't sleep well. If she wasn't crying over a heartbreak, then she was having unpleasant visions of Nyx. It seemed the whole thing was affecting her more than she thought. Was it so obvious? God, she had to pull herself together.

"You sure everything is fine, Huang?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Well, then try and sleep better, alright? I don't want you dying on the job."

That actually made Meredith laugh. "Yes, Ma'am."

Without another word, the woman strutted back to her transparent office. Yes, that was the classic Mendez Talk. Straight to the point. Meredith went back to the logo she was designing on her computer.

* * *

She left work at 6:30 pm and took a taxi to the Neon Velvet. This had become kind of like a daily ritual for her. The Neon Velvet was the perfect place to get her thoughts in order. It was a small quiet bar, about a five minutes drive away from her house.

Her phone beeped to warn her that her battery was dying. Everything seemed to be conspiring against her. Even her car died a few days ago on her way to work and she had to leave it at the mechanic. Thankfully, she could just walk the rest of the way home.

But going home wasn't on her mind now. Speaking of home, it was about time she moved out. Her mother wouldn't like that, but it was fine. Though she didn't depend on her parent's money, she hardly felt independent. They seemed to be all up in her business these days. If she wasn't living with her parents, they wouldn't have known about Nyx so early on in their relationship and they would still be together.

She sighed.

"What can I get you?" A brown-skinned guy with curly hair flashed her a beautiful white smile. It took Meredith a moment to realize that it was the bartender asking for her order. This one was new.