Chapter 4 - Defiant
by CameoLover93
WRITTEN BY CAMEOLOVER93
04. DEFIANT
It'd taken Aiden a few minutes to get his shit together after that incredibly awkward first encounter with his new bodyguard, Julian McAndrew. Once he got dressed in some fresh clean clothes, Aiden decided to take a shot of whiskey from his bar upstairs to help calm the nerves that Julian had shaken up. Afterward, he offered to take Julian on a tour of his mansion.
"You must get very lonely living in this enormous house all by yourself. I would." Julian looked over at his boss once they stepped outside the house to view the backyard, equipped with tons of space and a barely used pool. "I like this neighborhood, but it's really way too quiet around here for me. I grew up in the city so I'm used to there always being noise around."
Aiden couldn't tell, probably because he was intoxicated, but Julian had been watching him like a hawk ever since he arrived.
And in their brief time of being together, the ever so observant Julian had come to learn many things about his boss like: Aiden might be a borderline alcoholic. He's yet to not have some type of an alcoholic beverage in his hand. Julian also noted that Aiden was extremely sensitive, making him easy to rile up. And another thing that Julian had learned was that Aiden appeared to be intimidated by men that are bigger than him.
Either that, or he just didn't like Julian lingering too close to him.
"I grew up in the city also, but I moved out here specifically to get away from all the noise. I like my solitude," Aiden said. "Well, I used to like it until you came around and ruined it for me, no offense."
"None taken." Julian smirked.
"I know it's not your fault that you have to be here and practically babysit me like I'm some child. It's my stubborn ass lame excuse for a parent that's to blame." Aiden shook his head and sighed, not wanting to think about Thomas right now. "Let's go back inside. You can pick out which bedroom you want."
Oh boy, somebody has daddy issues, Julian thought to himself as he and Aiden went back into the house and headed upstairs. "Do you have a housekeeper around here?" Julian asked after he witnessed just how clean his boss' mansion was.
For a man like Aiden to live alone and not have a handful of housemaids wandering around the place tidying up after him, Julian was impressed at how neat the reckless playboy's mansion was. It wasn't what he had expected to see at all when he found out that he'd be staying here with Aiden. Rather, Julian thought he'd walked into a hot mess. He pictured that the place would be littered with trash, empty liquor bottles, pizza boxes, and half-naked women that had stayed long past their welcome.
"No, I don't have a housekeeper. Why do you ask?" Aiden replied, curious of Julian's answer.
"No reason," Julian chuckled softly to himself.
"You wouldn't have asked if there weren't a reason," Aiden said. "If you've got something to ask, just ask it. I'm an open book. I have nothing to hide."
"Well, with you being who you are, I wasn't expecting for your home to be so pristine," Julian answered. "I know that you're a man that likes to have his fun and things like that, so-"
"You figured you'd be walking into a pigsty?" Aiden laughed.
"Something like that." Julian felt relieved after seeing Aiden's chill reaction.
"How did Thomas come about hiring you?" Aiden asked. "Not many would have taken on the task of being my bodyguard. My reputation for being an uncontrollable prick tends to scare a lot of people off. I bet he's paying you a pretty penny for doing all this, isn't he?"
"Yes, he is." Julian nodded after he and Aiden reached the top of the stairs, later turning to go down a long corridor. "I've never worked with your father before, so I haven't a clue why he chose me for this job. You'd have to ask him for the answer to that, I'm afraid."
When Thomas Grayson had first called Julian McAndrew out of the blue and asked for his help in handling his troubled son, Julian almost turned the old man down. He knew exactly who Aiden Grayson was – a spoiled, irresponsible little trouble maker that he wanted nothing
to do with. There were just some people that Julian couldn't imagine himself being in the same proximity with and Aiden Grayson had been one of those people.
When Thomas further expressed to Julian about how he wanted him to not only watch over Aiden twenty-four-seven, but also move in with him for extra protection, Julian was seconds away from hanging up on the man until Thomas started spurting out numbers for payment.
As it turned out, being the bodyguard of Aiden Grayson was no damn joke. It paid very handsomely. Whenever Julian gets relieved of his duty and no longer has to watch over and protect the rich little brat anymore, he could literally retire right now at the age of thirty-two thanks to his savings and the money that Thomas was paying him.
"So, down there is the bar." Aiden pointed to the room with no door at the end of the hallway. "If ever you can't find me around here, I'm most likely in there."
As depressing as that statement was, Aiden didn't let it affect him in front of his company. He knew that he had a problem with drinking and he knew that his constant intake of alcohol was starting to get out of control, but drinking was how Aiden coped with things. He wasn't the type to talk out his issues, rather he was the type that tried to drink them away.
"The rest of the rooms up here are bedrooms, minus that one over there which is where all my workout equipment is that I never use," Aiden said. "Half of the shit in there hasn't even been put together."
"I don't mind fixing it up." Julian was thrilled to hear that he'd still be able to work out while living here. He wasn't sure whether Aiden – someone who had the body of a male runway model - had even had a gym in his house, so this was good news.
"Knock yourself out," Aiden replied in a bored tone. "So, which room do you want?"
"This one." Julian moved to stand beside the room that was directly opposite of Aiden's bedroom. He had no particular reason for picking this room; well, maybe he wanted to ruffle Aiden's feathers a little bit, just for fun. Aiden was just so easy to pick on, Julian couldn't help himself. "It won't be a problem for you, will it?"
"Not at all," Aiden lied, his jaw clenching. He was trying to keep himself in check with the frustratingly kind man, but if Julian kept pushing his buttons like this he'd have to show Julian his ugly side and he really didn't want to go there with him, not today. "I didn't see you bring that many bags inside. Where are all the rest of your things?"
"Still at my house. I'll need to retrieve them later if that's fine with you, Mr. Grayson," Julian replied. "Your father wanted me to come over here pronto, so I didn't have time to gather up all my stuff."
"I don't plan on going out right now, so you can do whatever you want," Aiden said. "And can you cut out the Mr. Grayson shit? I'm not Thomas. Just call me Aiden. You're probably going to be around here for a while, so it's only right that we get comfortable with one another."
"I'm sorry if it's an annoyance for you, but I'm not okay with doing the whole first name basis thing with someone that I'm working for. It's just not appropriate," Julian replied. Aiden glared at him in confusion and disappointment.
This request was too personal for Julian to make and he wasn't going to budge on it. He always kept things professional with those he worked for. If you don't keep things professional with people above you, you get too comfortable with them, and once that happens you eventually start to get lazy on the job, and then it all goes downhill from there.
Julian didn't want that happening with Aiden. He's not here to make friends with the man, and he damn sure couldn't take the risk of being lazy on the job. So his professionalism needed to remain intact, and Aiden - as stubborn as he could be - needed to get that through his head.
"Then what the hell are you okay with, Julian? Or shall I start calling you McAndrew from now on?" Aiden snapped. The fact that he even had to ask this question displeased him.
He wanted compliance from Julian and nothing else. Instead, his bodyguard's defiance was irking him immensely. More so because people usually do whatever he says, or at least, pretend to without question...but not Julian.
"You can call me whatever you want. The best that I can do for you is drop the mister and call you Grayson." Julian stood his ground, looking to be completely unbothered by the penetrating scowl that Aiden gave him. "So, will that be all, Grayson?"
"Yeah, that'll be all," Aiden murmured and then turned to go into his bedroom, making sure to slam the door behind him just for the hell of it.
by CameoLover93
WRITTEN BY CAMEOLOVER93
04. DEFIANT
It'd taken Aiden a few minutes to get his shit together after that incredibly awkward first encounter with his new bodyguard, Julian McAndrew. Once he got dressed in some fresh clean clothes, Aiden decided to take a shot of whiskey from his bar upstairs to help calm the nerves that Julian had shaken up. Afterward, he offered to take Julian on a tour of his mansion.
"You must get very lonely living in this enormous house all by yourself. I would." Julian looked over at his boss once they stepped outside the house to view the backyard, equipped with tons of space and a barely used pool. "I like this neighborhood, but it's really way too quiet around here for me. I grew up in the city so I'm used to there always being noise around."
Aiden couldn't tell, probably because he was intoxicated, but Julian had been watching him like a hawk ever since he arrived.
And in their brief time of being together, the ever so observant Julian had come to learn many things about his boss like: Aiden might be a borderline alcoholic. He's yet to not have some type of an alcoholic beverage in his hand. Julian also noted that Aiden was extremely sensitive, making him easy to rile up. And another thing that Julian had learned was that Aiden appeared to be intimidated by men that are bigger than him.
Either that, or he just didn't like Julian lingering too close to him.
"I grew up in the city also, but I moved out here specifically to get away from all the noise. I like my solitude," Aiden said. "Well, I used to like it until you came around and ruined it for me, no offense."
"None taken." Julian smirked.
"I know it's not your fault that you have to be here and practically babysit me like I'm some child. It's my stubborn ass lame excuse for a parent that's to blame." Aiden shook his head and sighed, not wanting to think about Thomas right now. "Let's go back inside. You can pick out which bedroom you want."
Oh boy, somebody has daddy issues, Julian thought to himself as he and Aiden went back into the house and headed upstairs. "Do you have a housekeeper around here?" Julian asked after he witnessed just how clean his boss' mansion was.
For a man like Aiden to live alone and not have a handful of housemaids wandering around the place tidying up after him, Julian was impressed at how neat the reckless playboy's mansion was. It wasn't what he had expected to see at all when he found out that he'd be staying here with Aiden. Rather, Julian thought he'd walked into a hot mess. He pictured that the place would be littered with trash, empty liquor bottles, pizza boxes, and half-naked women that had stayed long past their welcome.
"No, I don't have a housekeeper. Why do you ask?" Aiden replied, curious of Julian's answer.
"No reason," Julian chuckled softly to himself.
"You wouldn't have asked if there weren't a reason," Aiden said. "If you've got something to ask, just ask it. I'm an open book. I have nothing to hide."
"Well, with you being who you are, I wasn't expecting for your home to be so pristine," Julian answered. "I know that you're a man that likes to have his fun and things like that, so-"
"You figured you'd be walking into a pigsty?" Aiden laughed.
"Something like that." Julian felt relieved after seeing Aiden's chill reaction.
"How did Thomas come about hiring you?" Aiden asked. "Not many would have taken on the task of being my bodyguard. My reputation for being an uncontrollable prick tends to scare a lot of people off. I bet he's paying you a pretty penny for doing all this, isn't he?"
"Yes, he is." Julian nodded after he and Aiden reached the top of the stairs, later turning to go down a long corridor. "I've never worked with your father before, so I haven't a clue why he chose me for this job. You'd have to ask him for the answer to that, I'm afraid."
When Thomas Grayson had first called Julian McAndrew out of the blue and asked for his help in handling his troubled son, Julian almost turned the old man down. He knew exactly who Aiden Grayson was – a spoiled, irresponsible little trouble maker that he wanted nothing
to do with. There were just some people that Julian couldn't imagine himself being in the same proximity with and Aiden Grayson had been one of those people.
When Thomas further expressed to Julian about how he wanted him to not only watch over Aiden twenty-four-seven, but also move in with him for extra protection, Julian was seconds away from hanging up on the man until Thomas started spurting out numbers for payment.
As it turned out, being the bodyguard of Aiden Grayson was no damn joke. It paid very handsomely. Whenever Julian gets relieved of his duty and no longer has to watch over and protect the rich little brat anymore, he could literally retire right now at the age of thirty-two thanks to his savings and the money that Thomas was paying him.
"So, down there is the bar." Aiden pointed to the room with no door at the end of the hallway. "If ever you can't find me around here, I'm most likely in there."
As depressing as that statement was, Aiden didn't let it affect him in front of his company. He knew that he had a problem with drinking and he knew that his constant intake of alcohol was starting to get out of control, but drinking was how Aiden coped with things. He wasn't the type to talk out his issues, rather he was the type that tried to drink them away.
"The rest of the rooms up here are bedrooms, minus that one over there which is where all my workout equipment is that I never use," Aiden said. "Half of the shit in there hasn't even been put together."
"I don't mind fixing it up." Julian was thrilled to hear that he'd still be able to work out while living here. He wasn't sure whether Aiden – someone who had the body of a male runway model - had even had a gym in his house, so this was good news.
"Knock yourself out," Aiden replied in a bored tone. "So, which room do you want?"
"This one." Julian moved to stand beside the room that was directly opposite of Aiden's bedroom. He had no particular reason for picking this room; well, maybe he wanted to ruffle Aiden's feathers a little bit, just for fun. Aiden was just so easy to pick on, Julian couldn't help himself. "It won't be a problem for you, will it?"
"Not at all," Aiden lied, his jaw clenching. He was trying to keep himself in check with the frustratingly kind man, but if Julian kept pushing his buttons like this he'd have to show Julian his ugly side and he really didn't want to go there with him, not today. "I didn't see you bring that many bags inside. Where are all the rest of your things?"
"Still at my house. I'll need to retrieve them later if that's fine with you, Mr. Grayson," Julian replied. "Your father wanted me to come over here pronto, so I didn't have time to gather up all my stuff."
"I don't plan on going out right now, so you can do whatever you want," Aiden said. "And can you cut out the Mr. Grayson shit? I'm not Thomas. Just call me Aiden. You're probably going to be around here for a while, so it's only right that we get comfortable with one another."
"I'm sorry if it's an annoyance for you, but I'm not okay with doing the whole first name basis thing with someone that I'm working for. It's just not appropriate," Julian replied. Aiden glared at him in confusion and disappointment.
This request was too personal for Julian to make and he wasn't going to budge on it. He always kept things professional with those he worked for. If you don't keep things professional with people above you, you get too comfortable with them, and once that happens you eventually start to get lazy on the job, and then it all goes downhill from there.
Julian didn't want that happening with Aiden. He's not here to make friends with the man, and he damn sure couldn't take the risk of being lazy on the job. So his professionalism needed to remain intact, and Aiden - as stubborn as he could be - needed to get that through his head.
"Then what the hell are you okay with, Julian? Or shall I start calling you McAndrew from now on?" Aiden snapped. The fact that he even had to ask this question displeased him.
He wanted compliance from Julian and nothing else. Instead, his bodyguard's defiance was irking him immensely. More so because people usually do whatever he says, or at least, pretend to without question...but not Julian.
"You can call me whatever you want. The best that I can do for you is drop the mister and call you Grayson." Julian stood his ground, looking to be completely unbothered by the penetrating scowl that Aiden gave him. "So, will that be all, Grayson?"
"Yeah, that'll be all," Aiden murmured and then turned to go into his bedroom, making sure to slam the door behind him just for the hell of it.
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