MY BODYGUARD (CAMREN VERSION)

Singapore

As much as she didn't enjoy the eyes of curious shoppers on her, Lauren  gritted her teeth and persevered. The shopping baskets were filled with sanitary pads by now and she had just two more packets of tampons to go. Super compact. Got them. Sixteen packets of various sizes. Checking them out was another embarrassing experience as surrounding shoppers stared openly at the overflowing baskets of liners, pads and tampons. How did she end up with a client like this? As demanding as her previous clients were, none of they were quite as immature. But Mr. Cabello paid handsomely, almost twice as much as the other client, and the money would come in handy.

After the payment process was completed, Lauren  returned to the car and handed Camila  four shopping bags. "Green tea scented and Barely There liners. Ultra-thin 24cm, 28 and 32cm. Overnight 35cm and 41cm. Super compact tampons. Two packets of each type. That's a total of sixteen packets. You are sufficiently covered for the next two years or so."

Closing the door on the stunned face of Camila, Lauren  found her lips curling as she got into the driver's seat. It might have been a little embarrassing but it was amusing too. This job was shaping up to be an interesting experience.

The rich girl kept her eyes on her phone the entire journey home and she got out of the car by herself without waiting for Lauren  to open the door for her. However, before she could enter the house, Lauren  stopped her.

"Camila, your shopping will be brought to your room after the car is parked."

Camila  nodded without replying and continued straight into the house. Lauren  stood till the door closed behind Camila, then she went ahead and parked the car. All things considered, this was a relatively uneventful day at work.

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Part of her job as a bodyguard was to scout the area surrounding her client's home and studio. It was what she expected of herself. Over the next three days, Lauren  came to know every little path and corner around Camila's house and the roads that led to it. She also came to know the café at the junction that Camila  liked to visit for a cup of Americano. A Piacere. The café belonged to Camila's friend who came from a family that owned a chain of cafés in Seoul and around the country. That friend was Normani. Normani kordei. One of the friends Camila  was going on the trip with.

To prepare for the trip to Singapore, Lauren studied the information she had on Camila's friends. There was Normani kordei, 27, a barista and owner of A Piacere. It was an independent venture, started up and managed by the woman herself. Then there was Im Dinah, 26, an investment banker and a very close friend of Normani's. The third friend was Ally  Brooke, 25, a rising star in the world of musicals. All three hailed from families that afforded them the luxury to be free of financial worries. Quite like Camila.

The flight to Singapore was first class on Singapore Airlines. Lauren  was seated in first class as well, two rows behind Camila. While this was not her virgin flight in first class, Lauren  had never had the luxury of truly enjoying and relaxing during the flight. Throughout the eight-hour flight, Lauren  did not close her eyes to sleep. Her eyes were constantly roving around, watching the stewards and stewardesses walking up and down the aisle delivering hot towels and serving their meals. But this was her job and she had no complaints.

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Lauren  walked behind Camila  and the three friends with her luggage on wheels. As a group of four, she had to admit that they were attractive. Indeed, eyes turned to them wherever they went, and the path they walked could have been the red carpet at a star-studded event.

Normani, Dinah  and Ally  (the name she went by) were tall and slim and formed an eye-catching wall that moved like models on a catwalk. Camila, being the shortest of them all, required Lauren  to work diligently to maintain a line of vision whenever the tall trio got in the way. She followed them to the pick-up point where a car was waiting. Job done. Now it was her turn to get her car.