Isa POV

"Why are we even doing this?"

I continue flipping through the stack of papers in my hand as if I had not heard him.

"Isa, I'm talking to you," Joshua says, even though it's clear that he's talking to me, seeing as I am the only other person in the room.

I sigh deeply and push the stack of papers to the side as I turn to look at him.

"What is it, Joshua?"

"Don't take that tone with me," Joshua says, his dark brows knitting together in annoyance, which causes me to smirk slightly. "I asked why we are doing this?"

"Well, I was assigned paper duty, so I need to sort these papers by tonight-"

"Don't play dumb with my, Isa." Joshua states, dragging his hand through his hair in frustration. He leans against the cabinet, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why are we here? In the military? He pauses, his eyes fixed on me. "I don't want to do this, Isa. I want to be a surgeon, healing people... not doing the opposite."

A sad feeling comes over me as we fall into a strange silence.

"I always wanted to be an artist," I hear myself saying. This is something that I have never shared with anyone and I am slightly shocked to hear the words leave my mouth.

Joshua's head snaps up as he looks at me with astonishment.

"You'd make an amazing artist, Isa. That drawing you did of me for my birthday last month was museum worthy."

"Thanks," I reply, smiling slightly, and we fall into silence once again.

"Why are we here, Isa?" Joshua asks once again. "What are we doing here? I mean, what are we really doing here? Why are we even in the military?"

"Because you can't afford to go to med school and I'm too poor to afford to be a broke artist."

Joshua smirks slightly at these and I am happy for the tension in the air to have eased a little.

"I could always let you live with me and mooch off me and my surgeon salary till you make your breakthrough as an artist."

"Yeah buddy, I think it's gonna be the other way around. I pay for your tuition with all the money I make as a successful artist and you mooch off me."

"Yeah, sure," Joshua replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes with a huge grin on his face.

"I need to sort these papers out before Sergeant Maxwell gets back," I say, glancing at the clock. "You're distracting me with all your fantasy life talk."

Joshua is silent for a while, and for a moment I believe he has left the room, till I turn around to see him gazing at the floor.

"Josh? You good?"

Joshua's head snaps up, and his eyes lock with mine. There's an intensity there that I don't think I have seen before.

"But what if we can chase our dreams, Isa? Who is there to say we can't?"

I open my mouth to reply, but my throat has gone dry. My brain feels empty and I don't know how to respond.

"Isa."

Joshua sounds different. His voice is a lot higher and has a slightly annoyed edge to it.

"Isa."

"Shut up Joshua, I'm trying to work," I mumble, but my voice sounds far away. 

There is a silence for a while, which is abruptly followed by a hard kick to my shin.

I open my eyes suddenly to see Temi looking down at me. I am not with Joshua back at the military, rather I am waking up in a cold sweat after passing out on the living room couch last night.

I blink a couple more times, trying to orientate myself back to reality. The events from last night pop up in my mind and I shift uncomfortably in my position.

Temi is still standing in front of me with her book bag slung rather uncomfortably over her shoulder. Her expression is a mixture of anger and annoyance.

"What?" I ask.

My voice still seems far away and my brain seems foggy. I'm having a hard time processing my dream of Joshua, the events of last night, and being woken up by an angry Temi.

"I need to get to class and you are sleeping. I would have gone off without you, but I don't want you to throw a temper tantrum like you did last time."

Great. I am going to have to deal with angsty-angry-sarcastic Temi today.

"It's time already?" I ask rather stupidly.

Temi does not answer my question but gives me a look that lets me know that she also thinks my question is stupid. I glance over at the clock hanging on the wall to see that I overslept.

"Give me a moment. Let me get ready," I finally said.

"You're going to make me late for class," Temi grumbles in response. She rolls her eyes at me before stomping back into her room, slamming the door shut behind her.

I am not at all surprised by Temi's behavior. Especially not after the night at the party, and our conversation yesterday. For a moment, my mind wanders back to Temi the night of the party. Against my will, I think of how nice she felt in my arms.

I clear my throat abruptly and start getting ready, desperate to prevent my mind from straying away again. As I said to Temi yesterday, our relationship should be pretty professional, and God knows, there's nothing professional about thinking of Temi in my arms.

"Are you ready yet? You're going to make me late," Temi grumbles, reappearing in her doorway. She fixes me with a glare that seems to hold nothing but hatred. If looks could kill...

"Ready," I say, brushing past her towards her apartment door, doing my best to feign indifference to her death glare.

The walk to Temi's class is silent. I don't mind. I much rather prefer her silence when there aren't any angry or hateful words being directed at me.

My mind wanders to Joshua. Getting dreams of flashbacks of our time together is something that is not new to me. However, the flashbacks seem more and more frequent lately. There is a deep ache in my chest as I remember our time together that was tragically cut short.

Joshua is the reason that I ultimately decided to leave the military and get onto the path of pursuing my dreams as an artist. A sharp pain goes through me when I think of how he could never pursue his.

We arrive outside the building of Temi's class and without a word; she makes her way into the building, barely sparing me a look.

I try to distract myself from the strange feeling that's forming in my chest by bringing out my sketchbook and flipping through it. Since I started the bodyguard job here at Temi's, I have not gotten the chance to do some serious artwork, but only light sketches.

I pause suddenly at the sketch of Temi that I did the other day while we were at the salon. This is by far the most detailed sketch in the book. She was asleep when I drew her, her eyes are shut and her lips are puckered slightly. I continue to stare at the sketch for a while, mesmerized by the manner I captured Temi.

I know that if Temi ever sees this sketch, it would likely freak her out. Even I have to admit, it is rather creepy that I drew her. Yet, I can't stop staring at the sketch in my hands.

I bring my index finger up, gently tracing it over the sketch. A bit of the pencil marks come off the paper and cling to my finger instead.

I am suddenly interrupted by a vibration in my pocket. It's my work phone, and I bring it out to see I am receiving a call from Simon.

"Sir," I say the moment I pick up the phone.

Simon's voice instantly comes through, clear as day. "Isa, just calling to give you an offer."

Typical Simon, straight to the point.

"There's a high priority bodyguard request that has been put in by the governor of New York. Especially with election season coming up. I know you're not content with the assignment you have now. I could reassign you to the governor's job and have someone take your place there instead."

I instantly sit up straight, hearing these words from Simon. This is exactly what I need right now. A job that would get me away from Temi. Simon hardly ever allows bodyguards to switch out on an assignment, so I know he is making a highly exclusive offer just for me.

"The pay is even more," Simon continues, "we're ready to fly you out by evening today if you accept."

I open my mouth to do just that when my voice catches in my throat. I should take the offer. It's nothing but filled with benefits. But yet, I hesitate.

"Isa, are you there?" Simon's voice comes through the phone again. Clear and strong.

"I'm fine with my current assignment, sir." The words leave my mouth even before I can think them through. "It was a little bumpy at first, but I have adjusted to it. I feel I am needed here."

"Okay," Simon says, without missing a heartbeat, "I'd check in with you again in a couple of weeks. Take care."

And just like that, the line goes dead. I had missed my opportunity. Simon will call up another bodyguard that worked for the agency and give the assignment to them instead. I stare down and the phone in my hands. A part of me wants to call Simon back immediately and tell him I had made a mistake and will take on the new assignment.

Yet, there is another, stronger part of me that just wouldn't let me do so. There is a strange feeling inside of me preventing me from doing so.

At that moment, Temi reappears outside her classroom building. In her usual fate, she gives me a glare before walking past me as if I am not here.

I sigh quietly before following after her, keeping some distance between us. All the while, I keep wondering if I made the right decision by choosing to stay here.