Her Bodyguard

1. A Rough Start

"Oh, he's kinda cute," Maria remarked. Next to her, Natasha rolled her eyes, though not without a playful twinkle in them.

"Bodyguards are supposed to be intimidating, not cute," she said, leaning over - well, trying to lean over to look at her new bodyguard. Considering the fact that her dark-haired friend was approximately six inches taller than her, this task was impossible. Natasha blew a red curl off her face and instead chose the more circuitous route of walking around to face Maria.

Though she would never voice this thought, Natasha had to admit - the new bodyguard was pretty cute. The man in the picture had blonde hair that was golden like the sun and deep cerulean eyes, wearing an expression that seemed friendly from one angle and intimidating from another.

"Well... he's also got a mighty jawline," Maria commented, interrupting her train of thoughts. Maria wiggled her eyebrows and cast a wide grin at Natasha.

Breaking her eyes away from the picture, she crossed her arms and sighed.

"I told you, Maria, I don't need another bodyguard," she said. "I can protect myself." Maria omitted an all-too-familiar groan as she put the file down on Natasha's nightstand and turned to give her an all-too-familiar stern look.

"Nat, Nat, Nat... Natasha Romanoff. As your manager and - more importantly - as your best friend, I consider it an obligation to provide you with what is best for you. You're an a-list celebrity, a super hot chic who also happens to be the highest-grossing actress of this year. And last year, for that matter. There's guaranteed to be at least one - no, scratch that - twenty creepy stalkers grasping at every opportunity to tap that fine ass of yours. Remember what happened last year? You are in imminent danger without a bodyguard. This is non-negotiable." Maria shook her head as she finished her lecture, exasperation written all over her face. After all, they've had this conversation dozens of times by now.

But for a moment, Natasha didn't - she couldn't - see that exasperation on her friend's face. The only things she could see were flashes of red and black, a mosaic of unwanted memories. The only thing she could hear was that repeating echo of, "Remember what happened last year?" She shut her eyes closed and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, she saw Maria's apologetic eyes.

"Nat, I-I'm sorry for bringing up what happened last year," Maria said quietly, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I keep on telling myself to keep quiet, but you know me - I'm annoyingly talkative and sometimes I just blurt things out that I don't mean to say."

Natasha gave the brunette a small smile, taking the hand off her shoulder and putting it in her own.

"It's okay, everyone does that sometimes. I know you didn't mean to bring it up. And don't worry about me, I've almost forgotten it all -"

She was interrupted by the sudden ringing of Maria's phone. As Maria saw the caller ID, she exclaimed, "Oh! It's the new bodyguard. He must be here already." She brought the phone up to her ear and walked over to the wide window to see an old-fashioned, worn-out car pull into the driveway. It looked out of place next to the neatly trimmed hedges and the lush green lawn and Natasha's own sleek black car.

"Yes.... mhmm... yeah you're in the right place. Just go up to the door, Natasha and I will be down there in just a few seconds," Maria said over the phone, pausing in between as the bodyguard replied.

She turned around to face Natasha as soon as she hung up with an apologetic smile. "Look, I'm really sorry -"

"Maria, I told you, it's fine. I completely understand," the redhead replied, prompting a relieved smile and a quiet but happy "okay" from Maria. Content with her friend's response, Maria hastily fixed Natasha's red curls - to which the actress gave a barely audible grunt - and swung an arm around her shoulders.