[IC] Serge & Lucia |EasilyAmused & ICanBeAnyone|

[ICanBeAnyone]

Lucia was exhausted. The last minute call to pick up an extra shift had quickly turned into a double, and the night only ends when everything was done. It was why she was once again getting home as the sun peeked over the horizon. She didn't mind working double or even triple shifts when needed, any extra money to throw at the cost of text books was a good thing in her eyes. What she hated was the uniform, the three inch heels, tight fake leather everywhere else. It made for some good tips, but by the end of the day she was more than ready to be done.

She climbed the last few steps leading to her third floor apartment. Allegedly there were elevators, they had not worked since she had been there, and she wasn't sure she would ever trust them even if they did. Her entire building was probably a phone call or two away from being condemned. Lucia didn't care though. She was in an area that was close to work and school, not to mention cheap enough there was no need for a roommate or five.

She made her way into her apartment kicking aside a pile of discarded newspapers. She had no idea why she got the paper. She didn't have a subscription, but it showed up at her front door daily anyway. She engaged the locks with one hand while tossing her backpack onto the lumpy sheet covered couch. She began to strip out of her work clothes on her way to the bedroom leaving a trail behind her.

She grabbed some clothes from a pile on her floor. Clean? Dirty? no one knew because she certainly didn't have the energy to perform even a cursory bachelor sniff.

Lucia had been asleep for an hour, perhaps less when she felt more than heard a pounding on her front door. She rolled over on her side and tried pulling a pillow over her head. Her efforts yielded no results as the sound became more insistent. She sat up pushing her blanket off as she did so. Her eyes burned, it felt like her eyelids had been replaced with sandpaper. She rubbed them trying to get herself to focus as she got out of bed cursing quietly as her legs got tangled in the blankets.

Her only goal became stopping the pounding at her door that seemed only to cause a matching pounding in her skull. She made it to her living room where she stumbled over her earlier discarded shoes. She stopped herself from falling, but had to pause with her hands on her knees panting with the effort of not falling over. She scooped up one of her boots hurling it at the door meeting the noise with a satisfying BANG. "Keep your fucking pants on! I'm coming"

She shuffled across the unevenly worn threadbare carpet. She didn't bother looking through the peephole as she yanked the door open. "I don't want any cookies, or candy, or tickets to the police ball." She barked as she tried to get her eyes to focus. "Oh, and I found Jesus. He lives upstairs and his boyfriend Carlos makes amazing tacos." She said as she leaned against the door frame.

The sight in front of him was one that almost defied description. Her hair stuck out in every direction looking like something that would have been more at home on the head of an 80's punk rocker. Her too large sweat pants and t-shirt hung limply on her almost too thin frame, and was that...Cheeto dust on her pants. Dear God It WAS Cheetos, or Doritos. Something noxious and an un natural shade of orange.

"Seriously... You're still here? What the hell do you want?"

[EasilyAmused]

Erik Wilmer was the new candidate for the election to run the United States of America and he hired the best body guard group in the business to work his security. Mister Wilmer was an easy going guy and welcome to anyone who wanted to take the time to talk to him. If he wasn’t for the people who he talks to, he wouldn’t be in the position he was now. The single Politian held a lot of popularity among the female folk but his desperate goal was to find something must more important to him then a wife.

“Here’s what they found out. Please, bring her to me.” Erik pleaded to the four men in front of him, each of them sharply dressed in black suit and ties with ear pieces they use to communicate with each other. “I… I just want to talk to her. Even just for a moment.”

Three of the four men were reassuring that she’d want to talk to him. However one man, the older of the four and the one who looked the most serious picked up the folder. “It’s not that she wouldn’t want to see you sir, I really think it has something to do with it being a hard thing to take in.” One of the younger men chimed in saying something about how pretty she was and he should be the one to go get her, but the look on Mister Wilmer’s face said very clearly that he wanted the senior individual to do it. The young man let out a sigh and tucked the folder under his arm. “Alright, I’ll be back soon.”

It was early afternoon and the dossier said something about her at a diner. But she couldn’t have worked that late. Parking the slick black car in front of her apartments, he checked his watch. 11:30am, she should be awake. Any normal person was awake by 5am. At least that’s how the guy turning off the engine and shutting the door felt. Letting out a small sigh as he took in the disgusting sight of the apartment complex he began to climb the stairs.

“Ugh…” He said sounded a bit disguised as he stopped on the third floor and walked down the small pathway to the door that matched the envelope’s directions. Bang bang bang his large fist banged on the door of the apartment before he waited a bit for a response. After not hearing a response he knocked again bang bang bang, still nothing. This time he was about to begin his third set of bangs before a large THUD responded from the door. His hand instantly went to the hostler in his jacket were his gun was sitting. Unlike the rookies, he wasn’t trigger happy but he also knew better than to leave himself unprotected. His hand slowly lowered from inside his jacket before his hands slid into the pockets of his slacks and waited for the door to open.

The sight before him left him a little awestruck. Not from her beauty or from her tiredness but from how horrible she looked. She looked as though she had snuck into the house to stop sleeping on the streets and destroyed the place. From behind her, he could see the place was in shambles and it made him shiver slightly in disguised. Don’t do it… don’t do it… He was tempted to jump into the house and clean it, it shouldn’t be filthy! No one should live in that state.

A cough left him before he composed himself putting on his straight professional face. “Lucia (insert last name since it’s not in the CS)?” He asked the question in hopes he would be wrong but this was the address, she fit the description despite her horrible appearance, “I am here on behalf of Mister Erik Wilmer, who wishes to speak to you. It will take maybe two hours of your time. Will you ready yourself to come with me?” This was Serge Prichard, the only child and son of the city’s superintendent and now… now he was a babysitter for an incredibly unkempt looking woman… fantastic…

[ICanBeAnyone]

(CS Edited... Baker)

Lucia couldn't help it, she new she shouldn't but her sense of nice left somewhere between the fourth and fifth time his fist landed on her door, she laughed. It wasn't just any laugh, she was laughing at him as if she were insanely amused by this. It might have been her exhaustion, or maybe it had just been too long since she had laughed so hard, but she found herself inadvertently snorting. She slapped her hand over her mouth, and laughed harder. Her hand slid from her face to the base of her throat as her other hand fanned her face as she desperately tried to catch her breath. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't laugh. You very obviously believe what you are saying." She said as she turned around to scoop her apron off the floor.

She turned back towards him while digging in the pocket of the apron. "Listen, I don't know what acting agency the guys hired you from, but you are good." She pulled a $20 bill out of her apron and reached over tucking it in his breast pocket. "I mean, REALLY good. Do you have like a business card or something? Cuz I can definitely get you more work. We have this massive prank war, and I have to say this is probably the best" She paused for a minute running her hands through her hair pushing it out of her face. It should have helped, but it sadly just made her already disheveled hair frizzy.

"Wait... unless this isn't a prank. Is it one of those Candid Camera things?" She demanded as she leaned out the door way trying to peek around him to see if she could spot the camera. She straightened with a pout, she was disapointed, not that there was no camera, but that she was going to have to concede defeat to her friends because there was no way she was ever going to come up with anything to beat this.

She gave him a smile, and it was one of her genuine smiles. She had a work smile, which looks very real, until you look closely. Her real smile was bright, and carefree it was a smile of a person who really did not care what anyone said or thought. "I'm not even mad you woke me up. This is the best laugh I have had in forever." She took a step back and began to close the door.

[EasilyAmused]

Her insistence that it was a joke and that he was an actor made him raise a single eyebrow at her. Was she… was she joking? Was he the one set up for a prank? No, mister Wilmer was not one to do that to someone he trusts as much as he did Serge. So this girl really did think that his presence was nothing more than a joke or a prank done by her friends. What kind of friends did she have if she thought they’d play such an elaborate prank on her? Then again, he never did explain his reasoning for showing up on her doorstep.

Serge’s mind cringed at the thought of telling her. He was never good with emotional situations and something as shocking as ‘I represent your dad who wants to meet you after being estranged for your whole life’ wasn’t exactly his style. Shit… maybe he should have sent Elias or Ryan.

Her smile was a bit misleading. Should he just come out and tell her? Could she handle something that blunt and direct? She looked so innocent when she smiled it was on the boarder of adorable but he couldn’t think too deeply into it. He had seen that kind smile before, the same smile her father would give them when an event went off without a hitch or the team was able to stop something from happening. There were times where he would smile just for the sake of smiling and that same smile resided in his daughter. Erik was an honest and good man which is probably why the government would benefit from him becoming president. But if life was that simple, Serge and his team wouldn’t have a job.

The door creaked as she started to shut it and Serge’s large hand shot up, placing itself against the door with a thud. His other hand reached into his breast pocket smoothly pulling out her twenty dollar bill and a business card. “I’m Serge Prichard Miss Baker; I am the lead body guard for Mister Erik Wilmer. My team and I are his personal security and he would like to meet you. As I said before, it will only take up, maybe two hours of your time. When can you be ready to go?”

The idea rolled through his head, if she had just woken up she probably needs something, “I can swing through a coffee shop to help you wake up before we head to the office.”

[ICanBeAnyone]

Lucia reacted with a start as his hand thudded against her door. Her brain frantically went into panic mode, could she remember the class on self defense at the Y she took when she was 8? What were those single women tips again? She did her best to keep her face blank as instead of pushing his way in he handed her back her twenty and a business card. She looked at the business card flicking it with her finger. It was of a decent weight, and embossed rather than printed. It was a trick they had been taught in school. When you were in emergency services, a lot of people tried to scam, so they taught them to look for official cards. Well shit... she thought to herself. It seemed like he might actually be the real deal.

She allowed the door to swing open as she absorbed the words he said to her. She couldn't for the life of her imagine why Erik Willmer of all people wanted to meet with her. She had been applying for every emergency service job she came across, maybe there was an opening on one of his advisory boards or something. How long would it take her to get ready? She took a deep breath and did a quick mental calculation. 5 minutes to grab clothes, another 5 to shower, 5 to actually dress. Doing her hair would be nice, but that could take upwards of 20 minutes. She was better off grabbing a brush and doing it on the road. She added up the time she would need in her head and looked at him. "18 minutes." She said confidently.

It was an oddly specific number, but that was another thing she had learned was important. Most people would have rounded the number to 20, or padded their estimate, but when the world was falling apart, those two minutes meant a lot. Lives were lost or saved in two minutes. On average it took the human brain between two and four minutes to begin the process of neural death when deprived of oxygen. She looked at him once more before pushing the door wide open. "Make yourself comfortable" She said as she turned around and headed back towards her bedroom. She was now much more wide awake, but she was definitely going to take him up on his offer of coffee when they left here.

She shut the bedroom door behind her and starting her own mental clock she rushed into the tiny bathroom, her ex hated staying here because of this bathroom. He said it was the kind where you could 'shit shower and shave' all at the same time. It was moments like this, when she was in a rush that she was thankful for it. She turned on the shower with one hand while she grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste with the other. She set the items on the small shelf and stripped out of her clothes letting out a shriek as she got in the still cold shower. She was not unused to cold showers, sometimes with her current work load it was all she had time for if she wanted to wash the stench of stale cigarette smoke and old beer off between work and school. She took a very quick shower. She wet down her hair but didn't have time to wash it. She decided a quick spritz of perfume would not go amiss as the smoke smell clung to every strand.

She shut off the shower and grabbed an old threadbare towel roughly drying her skin as she moved from the bathroom into her tiny bedroom. She knew exactly what to wear, because she always kept a nice suit ready for interviews. She wiggled herself into her underwear and bra hating that she hadn't been more careful in drying herself. She pulled on the black slacks cursing silently as they caught on her thighs. She slipped her arms into the white button up shirt hanging next to it. She buttoned the buttons quickly as she shoved her feet into a pair of black slip on shoes. She grabbed her suit jacket and small toiletry bag with her hair brush and travel perfume. She tossed the jacket over her arm and headed for her bedroom door. She decided at the last minute against using perfume on her hair. Her hairspray was scented and would work in this case.

She opened the door and walked out to the living room as she was tucking in her shirt. The white shirt had already been a little on the thin side, but now it was verging on being transparent because it stuck to her still damp skin. Her dark curly hair laying wet and limp down her back. She grabbed her toiletry bag with her teeth while she slid on her suit jacket. The suit was nice, and at one time had been very expensive. Most people wouldn't realize that it was more than a few years old, but the black on black pinstripes, and the way the buttons sat would clue in those who knew better that this suit was definitely no longer top of the line.

She brushed past him to get to her backpack she yanked it open and slid out a leather folio, keys, a watch that looked like it would be more at home on the wrist of a US Marine than her own somewhat dainty one and a pair of large dark sunglasses. She hated going out in the bright sunlight before she was fully awake. She slid the sunglasses on her head, the keys in her pocket, slipped her hand through the loosely buckled watch and tucked the folio under her arm. She looked at her watch as she tightened the strap. She started muttering softly as she ran through her list. "Brush." She said touching her small bag, "Sunglasses, keys, watch," She murmured as her hands went to her head, pocket and wrist. "ID, cab fare, calendar. Yup yup yup." She looked up at the ceiling running through the list. "Cell phone." She patted her other pocket and then frowned. "And we have a runner... phone phone phone" she chanted silently as she dumped her back pack out on the couch to find the missing item.

If Serge thought her apartment was a mess, nothing would prepare him for the contents of her backpack spread all over the couch. Thankfully there was no food in there, but it was filled with coins, and crumpled bills that rolled everywhere as she began sorting through the rubble of her life. There were broken pencils, leaking pens, notebooks that looked like they had been dragged behind a city bus. She didn't care where they landed as she dug through the mess until she found her phone. She tucked that into the pocket opposite her keys and looked at him with another one of her genuine smiles. "Ready when you are."

Lucia's mind had not settled through any of this rush to prepare. First of all did the goon sent to pick her up have to be so damn good looking? Her mind demanded. She normally couldn't care less what she looked like, but knowing that the amazingly put together and handsome man at her door had seen her at what was almost certainly her worst was disconcerting. Her only hope was that her speed and efficiency in preparing to leave would impress him enough that he would forget exactly how horrible she looked this morning. She also hoped it would distract from the chaos of her apartment. It wasn't that she hated to clean... ok, so cleaning fell nowhere near the top of her list of favorite things to do, but she didn't normally let it get this bad. She had been working doubles in addition to trying to keep up with her classes, and prepare the proposal for her thesis.

[EasilyAmused]

18 minutes, specific and precise, his head jerked back slightly in surprise. Well that was unexpected but the nod from Serge was a grateful one. A woman who understood the difference between an exact time and ‘just a few minutes’ was a relief; however when he entered her apartment per her recommendation he found himself tightening his hands into fists in the pockets of his slacks.

Her place was messy; a lived in messy but that didn’t matter to him. How much trouble was it to put something away when you were done? Clean up your clothes? Dust, sweep, mop, and vacuum daily? Was he the only one on the planet who felt like this?! Probably… Serge had an odd obsession with cleaning and really enjoyed the fashion industry. This would probably explain why his home looked like a showroom floor more than an expensive flat in the downtown.

As she readied herself Serge found that he was getting more and more uneasy in her apartment and it wasn’t until minute 15 that he rolled up his sleeves an unintentionally began to clean. His method of cleaning was practical, useful and smooth. Basically he threw away any wrappers he found into her garbage can and straightened up the living room; taking the liberty upon himself to make sure her clothes were in pales by colors and styles on her couch. Since no standard method of man-kind could decipher whether her clothe were clean or dirty, he left the piles stack neatly together.

By the time she came out he was back by the door, still unsatisfied by how the room looked but he was much less antsy about it. Despite her lack of the top-of-the-line appearance, she was dressed much more professionally than the other people that had requested to speak to Mister Wilmer, though when dumped the contents of her backpack onto the couch he nearly had a heart attack and wanted to ask her if she needed a couple extra minutes to repack her bag but her statement of ‘ready when you are’ said that asking something like that probably wouldn’t make much of a difference.

A nod rose and fell his head as he pulled open the door. Despite it being her house, he let her out first, for he was raised that a lady walks through a door first. Period. As he shut the door behind them and stepped out of the way so she could lock it he spoke. “18 minutes exactly, I am impressed.” Serge being impressed to the point of surprised does not come often so this moment of praise was rare even to his teammates.

Upon their arrival to the car he opened up the back seat behind the passenger’s once she was in and buckled he shut the door and went around the SUV to the front. Climbing in, he buckled up and started the engine. The music on the radio was attached to his phone and what was recently playing was the end of ‘Back in Black’ by ACDC, which then moved into ‘My Way’ by Frank Sinatra. They moved swiftly through town as Serge drove the stick shift with a practiced hand and pulled into a coffee shop. Rolling down the window he ordered, “One large mocha breve’ extra hot with an extra shot of espresso.” He then turned his blue gaze to the reflection of his passenger in the back of the SUV. “What would you like Ms. Barker?”

[ICanBeAnyone]

Lucia was one giant walking contradiction, or maybe she just suffered from multiple personalities. She personally was disorganized, chaotic, chronically late and just generally a hot mess. Professionally she was organized, punctual and literal, if she said something you could take it to be the gospel truth. She headed out the door and nodded politely as he moved so she could lock the door. "Thank you." She said in response to his compliment. "Precision can come in handy from time to time."

She followed him downstairs and raised an eyebrow as she slid in the back seat. She wasn't a backseat with a driver kind of girl, but she kept her mouth shut. She buckled her seat belt and grinned as the SUV started. He had good, eclectic, but good taste in music, that was always important. There was nothing worse than getting stuck in a car with crappy music. She unzipped her small cosmetic bag, which also easily doubled as a cute clutch purse and removed a hair brush. She ran the brush through her curly hair. It was soon obvious why it frizzed so bad, she yanked that brush through her hair. As soon as the brush moved freely, she began pulling it back. Instead of anything elaborate she settled on what she often called a 'faux braid' she took took her hair and pulled it back into a tight pony tail, but then added a hair tie every inch. It was a very simple style and didn't take long at all.

He remembered coffee. That made Serge her new hero. She did not function well without coffee. "Large black coffee with three ice cubes Please." She always added a few ice cubes to get coffee to a drinkable temperature faster. She was a woman who lived her life as though she was constantly on fast forward. She snuck a glance at her watch as she slid the brush back into her bag and began pinning her hair tightly to make sure every strand stayed in place. Travel time, and a two hour meeting included, she would get home at approximately 3:15. That would give her enough time to scribble down a few more paper ideas, change and get to work. She might be a few minutes late, which she hated, but sometimes things were unavoidable.

She reached forward and accepted her cup of coffee from him. "Thank you." There was something about him that made her want to tweak his tail so to speak. He was just too buttoned up and formal. "I tried starting my day without coffee once. My court date is pending." She joked, keeping her face neutral. Comedy is all about timing and delivery. She wasn't half bad at it, but she doubted he would agree.

"In all seriousness, thank you. I am running on..." She glanced down at her watch again "Not enough sleep. I worked a double shift last night, but the girl before me didn't take care of everything she needed to, so I didn't make it home until after sun up." She sipped the coffee gratefully. "I also appreciate you picking up while I was dressing. It was completely unnecessary, but very much appreciated. I just seem to be running behind these days."

She settled back in her seat and flipped open the leather folder in her lap flipping to her calendar to mark down todays events. She glanced up from her note taking, and it clicked in her brain that this SUV was a manual transmission. That reminded her, she really should learn to drive a stick. If she ever ended up employed in her field when she graduated, she could end up on a rapid response team, and manual transmissions were common in other countries.

There were so many things she wanted to ask, but Serge was very, very good at giving off a 'Don't ask me, I just work here.' vibe. In her mind it was likely that he was told to fetch, so he did. And now she found herself sitting in the back seat of a luxury SUV heading towards a meeting with what was likely the next President of the United States. She still had no idea why she was being brought to this meeting, but she supposed she would soon find out. If luck was with her, this would have something to do with one of the paid positions she applied for, and not an unpaid internship. She needed the experience, so paid or not, she would take it. Somehow, some way she would manage to find more hours in the day. After all isn't this what she wanted, to work in inhospitable locations, under conditions that most sane people avoided at all costs? Surely she could handle a six month internship in which she forced her schedule to fit a 36 hour day. The US navy did it, so could she.

[EasilyAmused]

He ordered her coffee and paid for it before handing it back to her. Her comment curled the corners of his fine lips into a little smile before he leaned back in his chair and waited his much more complicated coffee. When she thanked him for cleaning up, he could feel his cheeks turn a slight color of pink. Damnit. He thought, She caught me… Though she wasn’t mad about him touching her stuff, in fact she seemed more grateful than offended. That’s a good sign, “I apologize if I overstepped my bounds. But I’m glad I could be of some help where it’s needed.” He responded with a nod before taking his coffee from the shop worker and dropping a few bills into the tip jar as they drove off.

Reaching over into the passenger’s seat he grabbed the folder containing her information about her. “Read through this and make sure all the information is correct.” With the small file he handed her, a page described her parents; it listed her mother as dead and her father as alive but no more details than that. Would she recognize that her father was actually alive according to the paperwork?

The piece in his ear rang and he excused himself to take the call, “Hey Serge did you get her?” Elias’s voice rang through the ear piece.

“Yes.” Serge answered back simply.

“Great! It’s going to be a fun reunion for the father and daughter team! Tears of joy. You told her right…” Serge stayed silent on the other end of the phone before Elias spoke up again. “You didn’t tell her?!”

“She is briefing the file as we speak.” He replied.

“Serge! She needs to know before she gets here or the shock could be too much.”

“I’m not good at things like that…” He said softly as if sounding embarrassed.

“Look Serge, the poor girl; she’s probably spent her whole life thinking her father is dead and she’s about to meet him face to face. Much less the next president of the united states… Serge, you need to tell her!” A small sigh escaped Serge as he contemplated in his head on how to tell her. He was a straight laced fella and would most likely come out and just say it. Elias however, knew this about their group’s leader and quickly spoke in. “You have to approach it with some tactic. If you don’t she might just jump out of the car.”

“Alright, we will be parking out front in 17 minutes.” Serge said into the ear piece before clicking the phone off and his brain began to work. How can he approach this ‘delicately’?!

[ICanBeAnyone]

Lucia took the thin file and flipped it open with a shrug. Mother deceased, Father living. Hmmm they at least knew more about him than she did. She flipped through the rest of the file. They had done their homework. Her current and previous schools, employers, some previous coworkers. It looked correct.

She closed the file and took a long drink of her coffee before speaking. "I can verify everything is correct except the information about my father. Alive, dead, doesn't matter. To the best of my knowledge he doesn't know I exist. Not that it matters anyway." she said as she reached around and slid the file back onto the front seat.

"I never even knew his name,so if he is what this whole thing is about I won't be much help. Whoever he is, I am sure he is a perfectly nice person, but I can't attest to it."

She was very matter of fact about her lack of knowledge about her father. It used to bother her when she was younger, but now she realized it didn't matter.

"I really hope this hasn't been a complete waste of both of our time. I honestly could have used the extra sleep. I am working four to midnight tonight, possibly midnight to eight if we are short handed."

That unfortunately happened more than she would like, but she took the shifts whenever she could. The money helped. She of course had taken student loans, but never more than she needed. She threw extra money at them when she could, she had no desire to graduate with 20 years of debt to repay.

[EasilyAmused]

Serge could feel every muscle in his body tense from the uncomfortable-ness of the situation. She obviously had no idea why he would be uncomfortable, however the more she talked about how little she knew about her father the more difficult he felt the situation had become for him. He hated things like this; he hated being the one to break news like this to someone. Elias was so much better at this crap, maybe he should have kept him on the phone so he could feed information to him. Instead Serge felt like he was standing at a pool for the first time and trying to figure out if climbing down the latter was the best option or jumping right in would be beneficial.

He grew up in a well off family being the son of the chief of police and his mom working as a lawyer, he never wanted for anything and enjoyed his parents, both of them. Imagining a life without his parents in it was something that was nearly impossible. Man, this poor girl… his sudden urge to hug her made him loosen his grip on the steering wheel; that must have been hard… and this is going to be the longest 17 minute drive of his life.

Five minutes into the drive he opened his mouth to speak once again. “I do not see this as a waste of my time. In fact, I am honored to be doing this.” He said in a matter-of-fact tone. If there is one thing about Serge that was obvious it was that he is a straight forward no-bullshit type of person and that is most likely what has made him such a great leader for his group. “I hope you do not find it a waste of your time. And if you do, than I apologize in advanced.” Seriously… why was this so hard, ‘hey I’m taking you to meet your dad’ isn’t exactly the best route and, at the same time, it seemed like the simplest choice.

“If it matters at all,” He began, doing his best to be ‘tactful’ about the situation, “I am sure it would matter to your father that he knew you were alive and well. I couldn’t imagine living my life without my dad….” His voice drug out before he shook his head. “I apologize it is insensitive of me.” Damn it, this was harder than he thought…

[ICanBeAnyone]

Lucia noticed the softening of his demeanor, but didn't comment on it. A lot of people found the topic bothersome. It didn't bother her at all anymore, but others never quite knew how to handle it.

"Funny.. you say you can't imagine life with out your dad, and I honestly can't imagine my life with one. You weren't insensitive at all. To be honest you can't miss what you never had. I don't know what it is like to have a dad. It doesn't make me sad, or mad, or anything really. It just is what it is, and I have never known anything different. My mom was awesome about it though, she made things special so I didn't mind missing out on the special daddy things. We ordered pizza and rented a movie on the Father Daughter dance nights, and I got to stay home from school and watch the price is right on the donuts with dad days. I grew up never really noticing. So I guess you could say I understand the concept of dads, just not as they apply to me." She said with a small laugh.

"Like what are they for? Shit, I wouldn't know what to do with one... do I feed it? water it? walk him twice a day?" She joked. "I mean I literally have no idea. I get that they aren't pets or houseplants, but lets be honest, I have about as much experience with fathers as I do neurosurgery. I get that they exist, but that's about it."

She sipped her coffee with a shrug. "I mean I guess when I was a kid I would wonder. Every kid does, you play that little mind game, what would it be like if...I mean I used to get mad at my mom, and tell myself it was ok, she wasn't my real mom. My real mom was some super special princess and someday she would come get me and we would run away to fairylandia or whatever. Kid stuff. When I was first in school and kids would ask, I made up stories ya know? Like I told one kid my dad was an astronaut on a super secret special mission to Mars. My mom got so mad at me though, so I eventually stopped."

She gave him a smile when he glanced in the rear view mirror. "But I promise, it doesn't bother me. You know your dad, so if something happened to him your life would change... it would be different. I don't know who mine is, so today this file tells me he is alive, it could have said deceased. That doesn't change my life in anyway."

She knew she was babbling, but she couldn't stop herself. She hated that everything she said made her sound cold and heartless, so she kept talking, and somehow it just made it worse. "I don't think I meant that to sound as harsh and uncaring as it did, but I don't know how else to explain it. I guess it is like being born without something, for example, a thumb, or hand. You understand you are different, but you don't know any other way."

[EasilyAmused]

Her jokes about what exactly she was supposed to do with a father made him crack a smile. It wasn’t a big smile but it was enough to change his features slightly and show a much more relaxed side of him. Despite her lack of a father, she seemed to have a positive life and that her mother seemed to want to make her life easier. That is a good mother, or was since she is no longer alive. That was a hard pill for his boss to swallow when he found out. It nearly ruined him on the campaign trail and it was a lot for him to pull himself from.

“You didn’t sound harsh Miss Baker.” Serge said with a glance in the rear view mirror to her. “Your explanation made sense. And I appreciate you taking the time to word it the way you did.” He gave another nod before turning the car around a corner and headed deeper into the busy town. The internal struggle to tell her the information he needed to was hard for him. What would be more insensitive? To beat around the bush or just come out and say it.

Taking in a deep breathe he continued. “This meeting does have to do with your father. But it is not in the sense of us needing information about him. And your skills as indicated by the file are no overlooked or underappreciated but at this point, there’s a good deal more to cover before those can be acknowledged to their fullest potential.” His voice was obviously filled with discomfort. He didn’t like beating around the bush, he didn’t like not being straight forward but he didn’t know how she would react to what he had to say and to his bluntness.

They pulled into the building’s parking garage where the simply waved at the attendant before pulling the car in and parking at one of the nearest spots to the back entrance. Standing outside were two other men, one looking almost too young to be a body guard and the other holding the leech of a hip height German Shepard. “We’re here.” He announced as he shut off the SUV and unbuckled. Even with his coffee in his hand and the folder of her under his arm he still opened the door to let her out.

“Hello!” Elias was, of course the first one to the young lady. “I’m Elias on of the head body guards for Mister Wilmer. Please spread out your arms and legs.” He held up a metal detector. “Formalities for everyone I’m afraid.” His voice was innocent and playful as he scanned over the young woman with his wand while Serge stood off to the side and waited for preparations to be done.

When Elias was done, Ronald stepped forward. “Hello, I’m Ron and I’m also a head bodyguard for Mister Wilmer, I specialize in guard dogs and protection dogs. This is Buster and he’s trained to check for explosives and drugs. Buster here is the final step to approving you can go inside.” Ron’s gentle smile showed that he was kind a soul and beamed with pride as Buster did his duty in a fast manner and proceeded right back to Ron’s side and sat down. “She’s clean.” He announced.”

Serge pulled the cup from his lips and gave Ron a nod. “I’m impressed, Buster’s speed and efficiency has really improved.” His nod was firm but the small smile on his face said he meant well and Ron beamed at the positive response from his superior. “Let’s go inside, Mister Wilmer is waiting.”

There was no surprise that Elias fell into step with Linda while Serge led the way and Ron trailed behind with the dog. “Are you excited?” He asked sounding a bit overly excited himself.

[ICanBeAnyone]

Lucia was so thankful that he didn't take what she said negatively. She had gotten used to her fatherless status, and being flip about it made it easier for her when dealing with others. She turned her head back out the window as he mentioned this meeting having something to do with her father. She clenched her jaw, it would be her luck that the guy who had been completely absent from her life would affect her future. There was some Irony for Alanis Morrisette.

She was about to ask a few questions but they had arrived. She slid out of the back of the car and was immediately greeted by the bodyguard with a metal detector. Oh fun. If they asked to pat her down she was leaving. She got felt up enough at work, she really wasn't feeling up to breaking fingers today. She stood with her hands out to her sides and her legs spread just past shoulder width apart and waited patiently for the wand to pass over her. This moment she had never been happier she had not tossed on an underwire bra. She had enough experience with airport and school metal detectors to know that they set them off about 10 times out of 20.

She was then approached by the dog and his handler. This part she had no problem with. She actually made a mental note of Ronald's name. She would look up the company listed on Serge's card and try to get an email address for him. She wanted to ask him some questions about running dogs in an emergency situation. Those in charge on a site always had a different opinion of how to handle things than their handlers. She wanted to see if there was a way to bridge the gap between the two.

Lucia fell into step behind Serge taking a quick moment to admire the view. He was certainly blessed with an incredible backside. Her attention was drawn to the side as Elias joined her. That man reminded her of a puppy. He was a bundle of nervous energy under the skin. It fairly radiated from his every pore. He asked her if she was excited and she turned her head and raised an eyebrow. "Excited? For what?"

She had no idea what was going on. She had thought this was a job interview or some internship thing, and now she's been told it has something to do with her father. What exactly that is she has no idea. "I have no earthly idea what there is to get excited about. I've been through this process so many times I could do it in my sleep. Hell if Mister Pritchard had come half an hour earlier I WOULD be doing it in my sleep. questions asked, bullshit regurgitated, handshake given, We will keep you in mind. Good luck have a nice day. Only thing different about today is I got drug out of bed one and a half hours into my daily four hours of sleep by a man who is far to god damn good looking for my peace of mind and has all the personality of a pet rock. But that pet rock bought me coffee so we're cool." Of course she would have accepted a cup of coffee from Atilla the Hun this morning.

She sighed softly, she had no idea why she was here, but the snark wouldn't help her case at all. She owed each and every one of them an apology. The idea stuck in her throat. She hated apologizing, but she knew she was in the wrong. "Sorry. My lack of sleep is not your responsibility, so I apologize for my less than sparkling personality today." Well she was batting 10 for 10 today. What a way to make an impression. First she treats Serge as if everything he said was one big joke, and then she gets snarky with his coworkers. She should just give up and head home now.

The trip seemed to take forever, she just wanted to get this meeting over so she could get to work on time and hopefully not fall asleep standing up. It had happened before. She had gone to work so tired that she would fall asleep waiting for orders to come up.

[EasilyAmused]

While Elias’ expression remained its natural happy self, he was ready to pull Serge aside and give him a piece of his mind, he still hadn’t told the young woman! “Our pet rock isn’t the brightest bulb in the box but he’s a good guy.” He said reaching forward and giving Serge a more than friendly punch to the back.

Despite the obvious pressure from Elias’ punch, Serge didn’t stumble as he led the way to the office. Pet rock huh? He thought, his brow crunched together in thought. However that didn’t last long as he understood the reason why Elias hit him. Great, now he had to tell the sleep-deprived antsy little girl that her dad stood behind the office door. She seemed rather blunt and straight forward so maybe she could handle that in return. Better than the active puppy spitting things out that he shouldn’t.

“I don’t approve of shock collars but Elias, I’m starting to think you could use one. We’ll let Serge carry around a little device and give you a small zap every time you misbehave.” Ron called from the back with a playful grin as the youngest of the group looked offended.

“Ah, what?! I would never misbehave, I’m the most behaved one of the group!”

“Zap.” Serge said as they rounded the corner and preceded down a long hallway, Ron could be heard laughing in the back and Elias continued to defend himself as they walked. The group stopped in front of an oak door and he signaled for the other men to enter before him. Once they went inside he shut the door and turned to her after taking a deep breath.

He stood a good 4 inches taller than her and was built well compared to her smaller frame. The well-groomed fit man crossed his arms over his broad chest and stared down at her for a moment. “You seem like a rational and straight forward person and I respect that in people. I’m a no bullshit type of guy so I’m going to tell you why you’re here.” Taking in a deep breath, he stared her down in a moment of silence, mainly to gather up enough courage to tell me. “Your father has been trying to find you for years. And when he finally put two and two together of who you were, he sent us to come retrieve you because if he becomes president, your life could end up becoming a lot more difficult than it already is, no matter how estranged you are. From what we understand, he does not want to be estranged anymore. Mister Erik Wilmer is your father.” With that he held his breath, wondering how she would react.

[ICanBeAnyone]

Lucia laughed as the guys played and teased with each other. It seemed that they all got along well. She raised an eyebrow as he sent the other two into the room ahead of them. What in the world would he need to be alone with her for?

“You seem like a rational and straight forward person and I respect that in people. I’m a no bullshit type of guy so I’m going to tell you why you’re here.” Taking in a deep breath, he stared her down in a moment of silence, mainly to gather up enough courage to tell me. “Your father has been trying to find you for years. And when he finally put two and two together of who you were, he sent us to come retrieve you because if he becomes president, your live could end up becoming a lot more difficult than it already is, no matter how estranged you are. From what we understand, he does not want to be estranged anymore. Mister Erik Wilmer is your father.”

Lucia stared up at him her bright blue eyes wide for a moment. She said nothing for a minute. How exactly did one handle the information given? Her father was alive, and had been looking for her. That was a situation she had never before considered. "I see. So let me get this straight. My father is alive, well, and has been looking for me for years. Not only that but he is leading in the polls to become the next President of the United States. So basically, I went to bed an orphaned waitress, and Now, I am allegedly the daughter of one of the most powerful men in the world. That just sounds Fan Fucking Tastic."

She sighed softly and reached out lightly touching his arm. She knew he was uncomfortable with this whole thing, so a little compassion would likely go far. "Thank you for telling me. I know that wasn't an easy thing for you to do." She gave him a comforting smile. "And I am sorry for saying you have all the personality of a pet rock. I am sure this has probably not been your favorite of all assignments, and I have done nothing to make it easier for you. For that I am sorry."

She pulled her hand back before she could make him more uncomfortable. "I suppose we should go get this over with." She reached out as if she was going to open the door but dropped her hand. He very much seemed to be an old fashioned man, and she figured that it would bother him more than her, besides if what he had just told her was true, she was going to have to get used to far more than just having doors opened for her.

[EasilyAmused]

Watching her ponder all of this made him feel guiltier that he didn’t tell her sooner. Then again he was a bit concerned that she might have done a tuck-and-roll out of his SUV. Sadly, his uncomfortable feelings about the situation seemed to have been translated to the girl as she placed her hand on his bicep. He flexed unintentionally; he wasn’t one for physical contact with people he didn’t know but he always had a soft spot for women who were in trouble, despite the fact that he never exactly knew what to do.

He felt his cheeks turn a slight pink color as she continued to touch him and even apologized for comparing his personality to a rock. A small smirk moved his full lips as his blue gaze twinkled down at her, “I’ve had worse jobs Ms. Baker. If my job was to follow a pretty girl around you would not hear me complain about it.” With that he put his hand on the door handle. “Then again, I’d probably end up driving the pretty girl crazy with my habits, then again…” A more solid smirk moved across his face, “Some find it charming.” With that he pulled open the door and followed her in.

Three men chatted in front of a large wooden desk before their talk came to a pause. The older man with the two body guards turned to the two as they entered. The look on his face was one of surprise and happiness mixed with sadness. She looked so much like her mother it was almost heartbreaking.

“Ms. Baker,” Serge said as he walked further into the office and gestured to follow. “This is Mister Erik Wilmer.” With that he turned to Erik. “Sir, this is Ms. Linda Baker.”

Before he could say anything to Linda, he turned his attention to Serge. Taking his hand, Erik shook it intensely and unprofessionally, his eyes filled with tears, “Thank you Serge, thank you so much. If it wasn’t for you she wouldn’t be here. Thank you for leading the search for her. Thank you, thank you!”

“You’re welcome sir.” He said with a nod shaking his hand back before nearly prying it off.

Erik nodded before turning to Linda. A melancholy smile moved across his face as he approached her and offered her his hand, “I’m… I’m Erik.” The man that could talk to a crowded room of bustling reporters was stuttering over his words in front of a young woman. It was a sensitive moment and the three elite body guards watched on in quiet ‘aw’.

[ICanBeAnyone]

As he mentioned driving a girl crazy with his habits she smiled and just seconds before he opened the door she whispered just loud enough for him to hear "If you fold laundry the same week it comes out of the dryer I might just ask my new old man if I can keep you." She was teasing him again... maybe. She drew a deep shaky breath and followed him through the door.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to Erik. All those times her mother told her she had her fathers eyes suddenly made sense. She had planned on asking if they were absolutely sure, but she no longer needed proof. All the proof was there in front of her. She knew those eyes... his eyes very well. She looked into them every morning. She looked at his outstretched hand. That didn't seem quite right. She stepped forward and gave him an awkward hug instead. "Call me Lu.. or if you want to use the name Mom did. Gwennie." She rolled her eyes. "Leave it to a librarian to saddle her kid with Lucia Guinevere."

She pulled out of the hug, and led them to sit down. There was a lot to talk about it seemed, she glanced nervously at Serge. She was scared out of her mind. This was an entirely new situation, and unfortunately Serge was the one person she had latched onto earlier today as a target for her nervous energy. She needed to make sure he was still near by. "So Ummm uh... Erik. Wow... where do we start? I promise I am usually a much better conversationalist, but I have had about..." She glanced at her watch "87 seconds to adapt to this new information, so I am for once, at a loss for words."

She opened her folio and pulled out a pen twisting it nervously in her hands. She needed to do something, and this really was all she could come up with for the moment. She glanced over at Serge once again before looking back at Erik. "So... ummm I guess what I really need to know is what is your ideal outcome from this meeting?"

Lucia was out of her depth. She didn't deal well with the personal, so she turned it professional. It was how she handled things. If she broke it down to pieces, and worked one step at a time she could make it through. "I do mean that personally, what kind of relationship are you looking for? Family dinners once a month? Phone calls on birthdays and a card on Christmas?" She twisted the pen in her hands as if itching to take notes. Maybe she should. When this meeting was over she was likely going to corner Serge and make him give her the Idiots guide to the care and feeding of fathers.

Erik reached over and put his hand over hers to still the nervous twisting. "How about we just take this one step at a time. I have been looking for you for a while, and I am really very glad my men were able to find you." He said quietly

Lucia nodded. "Yeah... I think I am glad too. I have to admit, until literally seconds before I walked through the door I had no idea who you were, or really that you even existed. Mom didn't say much, and I guess once I got old enough to understand she didn't want to talk about it, I didn't ask."

Lucia really had no idea what she was supposed to do in this situation. Part of her wanted to scream, to laugh, to cry. She was sure Erik was feeling the same. She looked at Serge, she was about to beg him for help, when a new idea hit her.

"Wait.. I'm... WE'RE going about this the wrong way." She flipped open her folio again and this time pulled out a copy of her resume and flipped it over for the blank back. "Dad, listen. Mom used to say I was just like you. We THINK... We Plan, and then only then we do we emote if time and situation allows. We've been trying to do this like NORMAL people. We aren't normal." She moved closer to Erik and placed the Folio on both their laps and started scribbling at the bottom of the page. She wrote in big bold letters "FATHER DAUGHTER RELATIONSHIP" She then circled it a couple of times emphasizing it's importance.

"Ok. We have an end goal. So now let's work the problem right? We know where we want to be, but now we need to figure out how to get there. Ok first problem..." She wrote a number 1 and scribbled strangers next to it. "We are virtually strangers, so we have to fix that. We fix that through time and communication."

She was becoming more and more animated and excited as she started talking this through. "Ok. So, you get my cell number I get yours... Voila I text you 'Looked good on CNN's camera, but ABC had a bad angle' You text back 'lol' etcetera etcetera so on and so forth. Ok. Communication solved. So moving on to time. Unfortunately I think that might be the one thing we are perilously short of, You are campaigning, traveling, and basically a very busy man. My schedule is not exactly forgiving, but we can work with that. It means unfortunately we will be spending time together when neither one of us is exactly at our best. However, if the psych classes I have taken tell us anything, that could actually be a good thing. Nothing builds or destroys relationships like adversity, and just ask Serge... I can be adverse to damn near everything when a little short on sleep." She was really rambling now. Erik could likely follow her because her mother did the speed talking thing when she got worked up, but she wasn't too sure about the other men in the room.

She kept scribbling on the paper in front of her. She was really excited about solving this particular problem in front of them. "Ok, see this is reasonable. We have a goal, we have obstacles, but we have a plan in place. We can do this. Right?"

Lucia looked over at Erik, who looked just as relieved as she felt that there was an answer to this. "Sorry. I've just kind of taken over here. I'm just not good with the touchy feely emotional crap. I tried... I did. I hugged and everything, but it's just not me, especially not in public." She gestured to the bodyguards.

[EasilyAmused]

While the two interacted with each other, Serge began to do some paperwork that sat on the coffee table off to the side. His long body sunk down in the chair and leaned over the paperwork. The layout was of a building where Mr. Wilmer was going to hold his next press conference and his team was to secure the area. This man was most likely to become the President of the United States so his security was very important.

It wasn’t long before Serge had the other two men at the coffee table as they went over the plans. Elias attempted to pull them off topic on more than one occasion before Serge scolded him for doing so, “Let them have their conversation and we will have ours. Now listen.” He said sternly which caused the young man to zip his lips in silence before listening to his superior’s plan. Let it be known that these men didn’t work alone. They were in fact the leaders of a team of 60 body guards within the company. And while Serge was the boss, he valued the input from his fellow leaders.

At the end of the conversation between the three; the men rose from their seats and returned to the talking father and daughter.

A heartfelt laugh left Erik as his daughter brought herself to her final conclusion and asked if everything seemed alright. “You are so much like your mother Lu. It’s heartwarming to see.” Reaching over he placed a large hand gently on hers and gave her a friendly, reassuring pat. “That sounds wonderful. Here.” He took the pen from her and wrote his cell phone number at the top of the page. “We’ll start with a basic communication and schedule small meetings for coffee to brief each other on what has been happening and from there we’ll move forward.” He nodded adding his own notes to her paper to show that they were on the same page.

“I know this is a lot for you to take in so suddenly.” He said with a small nod as he placed the pen back down onto her folio. “But I cannot express how thankful I am for you being willing to try.”

“Mr. Wilmer?” The door to the office crept open and a blonde woman her head into the office. “You have your press conference here in 10 minutes we need to get going.”

A sigh of defeat left Erik as he nodded to the coordinator. “Alright, thank you.” Then he turned his attention to her. “Lu, in this running for office situation, things could… could get a little crazy if the world learns about you right now. That being said, I’d like to assign one of my elite body guards to be with you until after the election next week.”

“Pick me!” Elias said quickly, shooting his arm up into the air and waving it wildly. “We’d have a great time together!”

Ron rolled his eyes, “You wouldn’t get anything done. Pick me.”

A smirk moved across Serge’s face as he watched the girl, his large hand pulled gently at his tie, “I’m the best choice, I can follow you without bothering you and I don’t train or use dogs so there wouldn’t be any restrictions to where I can or cannot go. Plus you said you wanted to ask to keep me. Now’s your chance.”

[ICanBeAnyone]

Lucia felt immense relief that he seemed to 'get' her. She was glad that he agreed with the plan. She was wiling to try. It wasn't going to be easy. "Mom used to say the same thing. Lucia Guinevere, you get more and more like your father every day."

She turned her attention to the door as the woman came to tell him about his press conference. She was certainly glad those were his job not hers. She felt herself pale as he mentioned the press finding out about her. That would be her absolute nightmare. She was cool with having a father, but to have to try to figure out her new reality while dogged by reporters might be too much.

"No, I get it and believe me, being in the public eye is the last thing either of us wants for me." She said in complete agreement. She was able to be sweet and charming and quite a lovely person, but she might also end up as film at 11. It really was a coin flip.

She laughed as the guys vied to be the one chosen. She stood up and walked over to them and looked at each one in turn. She was generally a playful person so she decided to play. "Elias... honey, I'm sorry you just look so young. My schedule is crazy, and I can't be an effective person at midnight if I am worrying about keeping you out past your bed time." She knelt down and held her hand out to Buster, but didn't touch him because she knew better than to touch a working dog. "And you boy are adorable, but I work in food service... that's a no no for puppies."

She stood and moved next to Serge giving him a grin. "And you, my dear at least sort laundry... your folding skills may yet be tested, but for now I'll take it" she said with a laugh before walking back to Erik and wrapping him in a hug. "Go do your press conference, I'll take Serge home with me, feed him some three day old pizza and see if he can handle my schedule for a day or two." She said before stage whispering "Twenty bucks says he taps out after day two with no sleep. That good looking probably means he needs a full eight hours." She of course was teasing. She fully meant for Serge to hear her.

She moved away to gather her stuff and waited for Serge to be ready. As Erik was being escorted to his press conference she cleared her throat. "Hey... Dad." She said and waited for him to turn around. "Knock em dead."

She turned to Serge and waited for him to escort her out. She was ready to be gone. She was happy, but sad, and even a little angry, but she couldn't show it, at least not yet. She wasn't thrilled about the whole Bodyguard thing, but she understood the logic behind it. She would accept it as the gesture of a kind concerned father that it was.

"Serge, I do appreciate your willingness to spend the next few days with me. All joking aside, I do appreciate everything you have done today."

[EasilyAmused]

The best part was watching her turn down the other two men one by one and when she came to him, he lowered his hand from his tie and slid it into his pocket. A smirk moved across his full lips as his blue eyes twinkled down at her. So she could be playful, that was good to know but her comment as she walked away about him not lastly a day or two without sleep was laughable. Obviously she didn’t know the schedule of a single body guard; one more than one occasion sleeping was not an option.

All of this meant so much to Erik and it was obvious by the look on his face when his long lost daughter hugged him and he had the ability to hug her back. “You know,” Serge said as she approached him after her father left and it was their turn to leave. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen more of a determined look on Mr. Wilmer’s face when his own daughter told him to ‘knock ‘em dead’. Good going.”

He held the door open for her and the two left, leaving the others to carry out the orders he had worked on while the father and daughter combination were talking. Her comment caught him by surprise as he looked over his shoulder at her with wide eyes and a raised eyebrow. To her comment he actually slowed down to match her step instead of staying a few steps ahead of her. “I’m glad I could help, but I do apologize for not telling you sooner. I… Uh…” He ran a large hand across the back of his neck. “I really didn’t… know how to tell you.” He said with a nod admitting his lack of ability to communicate before they arrived at the exit door.

He pulled it open and the two headed towards the SUV. “What is your schedule today? I do need to plan around what you need to do.”