The main character of this story is a BODYGUARD (woman)
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Every good story has exciting STORY LINE (plot), interesting CHARACTERS, gripping DIALOGUES and eyecatching DESCRIPTIONS.
Chapter 1- Greece
Chapter 2- Latvia
Chapter 3- France
Chapter 4- Portugal
Story 3
(by Liriana Guri and friends-GR)
My name is Athena, I am 67 years old and a former bodyguard. Despite the growing demand for female bodyguards, people would always question my choice in pursuing this career, so this is my story.
Everything started back on my 10th birthday. My dad came in the room that morning dressed in his bodyguard uniform, with his badge on and earpiece on, all ready for work. I woke up as soon as I heard him open my squeaky bedroom door. He approached me, grabbed me and picked me up in the air, just like Rafiki did with Simba in the movie Lion King.
"Happy Birthday pumpkin!'', he screamed. "Thank you daddy", I replied unable to stop myself from laughing. He then gently sat me on the bed and kneeled in front of me. "Since it's your special day , I have a great surprise for you ", he told me."Where? What is it? Can I open it", I excitedly replied to him."Slow down little pumpkin, not yet'', he said while holding my hands. "You'll find out as soon as I come back from work. Speaking of, I'm running late. I have to get going." He kissed my forehead, smiled at me, got up, and headed to the door. "Goodbye daddy", told him while putting on my socks on. "Bye honey,daddy loves you", he replied while getting out of the room.
I never received that gift. Little did I know that kiss was the last gift I would ever receive from him, because that day, the 28th of April 2010, was the day my father was shot dead.
When I was 15 years old, my mother met a man. He was kind and generous and he would spend a lot of time with us. Soon after he asked her to marry him. It was difficult for her to decide but in the end, she accepted his proposal. He moved in with us and everything seemed normal. However it was too good to be true. Nearly a year later, he transformed into a totally different person. He would disappear from the house often, get drunk and return late at night or even days later having spent all his money.
My mom was scared and so was I. We did not know why he did that, why he changed. She did not know how to handle the situation and she could not stand him anymore so she decided to get a divorce. He got really mad. They were having a very intense argument that night. Wanting to escape the noise I went up to the attic. I sat between the dusty boxes and turned on my phone's flashlight. The light flashed directly on a box with my fathers name written on it. I quickly opened it and memories of him flooded back into my head as tears streamed down my cheeks. The box contained his uniform, his badge and his earpiece alongside a photo of him and I playing with my toys, him teaching me martial arts, and all his other belongings. Suddenly I heard a loud noise coming from the living room. I rushed down the stairs. I saw my step-father leave and heard my mom crying. That monster had hit my mother, she was on the floor. I froze and I had no idea what to do. I looked down to my hand. Because I was rushing I had taken my dad's badge with me. That was it, that was the moment I knew what I should do. I had to protect my mother and myself just like dad did, I had to be like him.
Chapter 2
(By Olīvija Zeta Survillo- Latvia)
The clouds looked like pink cotton candy. Those caught my eyesight, while stepping out of college on my graduation day. It quickly switched, when i saw my mother waving to me across the street, holding a big bouquet of roses. She was giving me the biggest and love filled smile, while having tears in her eyes- she just couldn’t believe her little girl grew into this beautiful woman. I was wearing a red silk dress, that gently wrapped around my petite, but strong body, showing off my curves. From this look, no one would believe me, if i told them what career i am pursuing.
“I love it!’’- I told myself, while looking into mirror. My new uniform was fitting perfectly and it looked great on me. Putting on my badge, i felt a light breeze of wind just embracing me. It felt marvelous, fantastic, outstanding… the words can’t explain the feeling. Long time i had dreamed about this. My look was almost finished, just a little tiny piece was missing. I opened my drawer and took out my fathers badge. It was slightly bigger than mine and contained real gold pieces- my dad was one of the best at his job and worked in only the most luxurious places and parties. If it hasn’t been that night at that casino, at THAT event... I squeezed it tighter in my hand. I knew, i couldn’t turn back time, but i will always have this to remember my father. I put the badge in left chest pocket, to keep it near me. As i left, i looked in mirror, put on my black sunglasses and gave myself a quick smirk. I knew i looked cool and ready to kick some ass.
I was put into the best bodyguard agency, because of my high and successful grades, plus- in college i proved, that i can be cunning and reliable. Not to mention, i was tough and showed, surprisingly for others, a lot of strength. It had built up in me over the years. I also need that strength, when i entered my job. My first job experience- i was excited, but a bit scared of encounter with other people, like co-workers. When i entered the room, all the other newly recruited bodyguards grinned at me and sent whispers to each other. “Who brought a chick in here?!”; “I am not babysitting anyone!”; “This is a place for real men, not some Malibu Barbies”- those were sentences i heard. Some of those guys were even familiar with me and still couldn't accept that. I was blushing all over the place, but redness never showed on my face, duo to my pale complexion. Although words were hateful, inside- i was not bothered. I had heard things even worse coming my way. But that just reminds me why i had chosen this career.
After some time a woman came into the room. She looked strict, which she had to be- she was the one, who assigned each of us our jobs. When she saw me, her eye pupils widened, but stayed professional, dealing the jobs. I was the last one. Although she was a real ‘Iron Lady’, i saw kindness in her. She gave me my file and congratulated me on my success in college and that she was glad a woman is finally here to show everyone, that lady’s are capable of this job too. I smiled and opened the file. Remember, that i said my face was pretty pale, well, it just got 50 shades more paler. I was put in one of the most prestigious and luxurious places in capital, country and even the whole world. But that wasn’t the fact that shocked me. I was put, to guard an event in Golden Bridge Casino, the place, that all the horror happened, the place where my father was shot.
Chapter 3
(by Loetitia Ling - France)
On the next day, I went straight to the Casino. There I was asked to go upstairs. I took the elevator together with one of the managers of the casino. A mixture of apprehension and of stress tortured me. I felt like shouting and at the same time running away. I breathed in and out to empty my mind of any thoughts. The doors opened and I followed him to that big door, at the end of the corridor. The man looked at me and smiled.
“Good luck!” he said.
I thanked him and waited for him to leave the corridor before knocking. My heart was beating hard. I was so anxious and had a very good reason to be.
I entered the room and saw him, sitting at his desk. He looked young, charming , smartly dressed but distant . Mr Anders.
He didn’t stand up to welcome me, but instead looked at me from head to toes.
What could he think of me?
“Oh… a woman…again!”. The tone of his voice revealed he was very disappointed. He was expecting a man.
The interview was to be difficult, I would have to struggle to gain his trust.
He was the kind of guy to think that a “woman” like me who was small-sized, could not be strong enough to have this job. But I did not know how I was going to prove that.
My job would consist in protecting the life of this man with the help of other bodyguards. At that moment I realized they were all gathered in this room. They were strong, big and muscular. I was rather the opposite, small, slim, and I give the impression not to be muscular. I still have no experience in this domain. However I am going to prove it, no matter what he thinks.
Mr Anders started asking me questions about my background, my former professional experiences and eventually he announced “You are hired, but the slightest mistake, during this event will be fatal to you.”. We shook hands, and I left.
For my first working day, I got up early and got ready. I was proud of what I had become. In the morning, I told myself that my father would be so proud too.
When I arrived at the casino, the other bodyguards started challenging me. For them, it was absolutely impossible that a woman could do such a job. That is why they put me aside. Except one, Ares. I didn’t pretend to be Wonder Woman, but I wanted to show, them that I could be a good bodyguard, as good as men.
The party was about to start. People arrived one after the other. They were all very excited. They had been expecting this for so long. When Mr Anders arrived, he saw me and stared. He had forgotten, that the day before, he had hired me.
He didn’t take part to the party, he was rather the working guy type. I carried on analysing every behaviour of every person, every door and window in the room, … During my training, I had been taught that danger was everywhere. I wanted to be very organised.
Suddenly, someone entered. I spotted that he was carrying two machine guns and hidden in his jacket, 2 guns and a grenade which it was easily to see. I screamed “Down! Get down!” and put in security Mr Anders. The terrorist started shooting. I tried my best , I wanted to put everyone in a secure place. I had my mobile in hand ready to call……
Chapter 4
(by Gabriel França, Inês Matias, Ana Correia, Patrícia Leal, Milene Perdigão and Camila Silva)
I was still thinking about who to call when someone snatched my phone straight from my hands.
“Don't even think about it” was the last thing I heard before getting punched in the face. Brandon, one of the bodyguards that was doing the shift with me, was apparently working with guy that had entered. “I'm not going to let some girl ruin our plan”. Taking my handgun, he quickly left me there, unconscious, running to some other part of the casino.
After a while, I woke up.
A flurry of thoughts were passing through my head. What was the guy's objective? How many of the staff were in on the plan? How was Mr. Anders? And most importantly, how could I stop this?
“Deep breaths, deep breaths…” I thought. I had to concentrate.
Now calm, collected, and also unarmed, I had to figure out a way to get both Mr. Anders and the civilians to safety. I couldn't warn anyone. After all, my intercom was connected to Brandon's. Anything I said would be heard by him. I could only trust myself.
I had access to the lower, staff only level. That would be a safe place to hide civilians. But I had to find them. Whatever had happened while I was passed out, it had taken all of the civilians. The casino was silent.
I found the first group of civilians hidden on a staff-only bathroom. Three guys and one girl, all around their 20’s.
“I can take you to a safe place,” I said, “but you need to trust me. Is that fine?”
“Y-yes, it is” the girl answered. Her makeup had tear marks, and she was shaking. They got up, and all four of us made way to the lower floor.
On our way there, we found two more groups of civilians, making our total 14 people. Of course, that was a small number. But perhaps some had managed to escape, or hide themselves much better than the ones I had found. “But some might have been taken hostage, or worse…” was the thought I kept trying to ignore. I couldn't let myself believe that people had died while I was passed out, all because I had panicked and, instead of springing into action, I had tried to use my cellphone.
Surprisingly, nothing happened to us while making our way to the lower floor. And even more surprisingly, I wasn't the first one to arrive.
Ares had already brought some civilians, as well. I could count around 30 people, maybe more.
“Athena! You're OK, thank God. I thought you had been taken hostage. There's a huge group rounded up in the lounge area”
“That's what I feared. Brandon knocked me out cold. He's working with the-”
“With the terrorist, I know. Most of them are. The others who weren't were taken hostage.”
“We need to go up there and try to find Mr. Anders. He could be in danger.”
Ares and I climbed the stairs to the main floor. “Mr. Anders should be in his private office, a location only known to his bodyguards. But then again, since Brandon's and the others are working together, they might have already gotten to him”
“Let's just hope not”
To get to his office, we had to go through the lounge area. That, of course, was impossible. Therefore, the only other route was to go through the vents. Our route would consist on going in the bathroom, going inside the ventilation system, and then finding out the way to Mr. Anders office. Easy.
Or so I thought. Orientation was very difficult while crawling through a vent. “Not how you imagined your first day at the job, was it?”
“Definitely not!”
“Wait, I know where we are! This is the corridor that goes to Mr. Anders office!”, Ares said. He was the one in front, and the only one who could see a thing.
“Looks like we didn't get lost after all!”
“Sir, we can't find them.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Mr. Anders, we didn't manage to find them in the casino, sir.”
“Let this be very, very clear to you, Brandon. You had one simple job, and that was to keep the girl in check. Are you saying you failed at it? My whole plan depends on there being absolutely no interference by anyone inside this casino. Are you trying to ruin it?!”
“N-no sir, I just meant that… that we haven't found her yet, but we're positive we will find her!”
“Good. Just her?”
“The boy as well, sir.”
“Very good. Get to work, and don't bother me until you're finished.”
His voice still echoed in the vents.
Mr. Anders was also working with the terrorist. More likely, he had orchestrated it from the beginning.
Ares looked at me. “We have to stop him.”
“You're right. Let's get out of here.”
We jumped out of the vent, and landed precisely in front of a machine gun barrel. The man holding it had a bulletproof vest, with SWAT written in big, bold white letters.
We didn't dare move an inch.
After a while, we were outside being questioned by the police.
“Do you know anything about the attacker?”
“Yes. We also know who's behind it all. Mr. Anders.”
“Oh, really? And where's your proof?”
Oh no. We had no proof. We had listened to it, but how could we prove it?
“Right here, officer.” Ares said. And a phone recording started playing.
“...Let this be very, very clear to you, Brandon. You had one simple job, and that was to keep the girl in check. Are you saying you failed at it? My whole plan depends on there being absolutely no interference by anyone inside this casino. Are you trying to ruin it?!...”
Ares had recorded it! I couldn't believe my ears.
“Well, that's very interesting. That's proof, all right.”
It was over. Mr. Anders was arrested. Ares and I kept working together for a few years. And, after some more years, I just retired. That's my story.