Auralia stared at the woman in shock. Bodyguard?! But she wasn't even qualified as one. How could she fit Maria Ezra's requirements perfectly? Had she mistaken her for someone else?
"Ma'am, I don't quite understand what you're saying. I'm not a bodyguard… I haven't had any formal training." Auralia stated as she tried and failed to understand the proposal. "I'm just an instructor at this dojo."
"I know that, but that's exactly why you fit my requirements perfectly. You see Alexander recently had some major surgery, making him weaker than normal. However, he refuses to hire a bodyguard, not liking them much." Maria sighed in frustration.
"This is where you come in. I need someone who is brilliant at fighting and can protect my son like a bodyguard would but has no formal training and is mostly unknown to the world. Someone like you, who was part of the national Brazilian jiu-jitsu team before disappearing a month later."
Auralia felt her heart clinch in pain as she was reminded of a time in her life that she had been trying so hard to forget. The moment everything went downhill starting with a terrible accident that left her father half dead and the family swimming in debts.
"Auralia?" Maria's voice sounded, interrupting the tornado of memories and emotion.
Auralia looked up, realizing tears were brimming in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away and smiled. "Sorry about that…"
"No worries dear. Grief takes time to heal… I apologize for the heartache I brought you." Maria replied, handing Auralia a tissue.
Auralia took it and said, wanting to change the topic, "So, you want someone that's got the skills of a bodyguard, but not the background. Or at least a very unknown background."
Maria nodded her head. "Yes. I'd like for you to be my son's bodyguard for one year. In exchange, you'll get the title deed to this building as well as this as a monthly salary."
She placed a document on the table, Auralia seeing that it was a salary check. When she looked at the amount, her body went into overdrive.
One month was enough to cover all her debts not to mention pay for all the dojo's expenses?!
As the information settled, Auralia took a moment to process everything, making her realize that getting paid this amount of money would mean the proposal probably had a huge drawback or at least a catch to it.
Taking a small breath of air, she calmed herself and gazed at the older woman with a blank look on her face. She needed to learn everything before she agreed to something like this.
"What's the catch?" She asked as she studied Maria's face.
The woman smiled. "I do like smart girls… The catch is you have to marry my son since he can't know about you being his bodyguard."
"Marriage?" Auralia repeated, wanting to make sure she had heard right.
"Yes, marriage. You see, almost every place my son goes to has someone there to protect him. His manager is even qualified as a bodyguard, protecting him when working. However, there is one place he isn't protected and that's his home. It's the one place he won't allow strangers in.
"But as his wife you'll have full access to the house, allowing you to protect him when he is most vulnerable." Maria's eyes gleamed with excitement. "I plan to introduce you as a girl I met, wanting him to marry you."
"And he'll agree to an arranged marriage?" Auralia questioned, not quite believing it.
"Of course..." Maria smiled coldly. "However, he'll probably come to you secretly with a contract, wanting to put some rules in place for the marriage. One of them will be divorce along with things like lives being private and so on."
"So, I'd agree to divorce him in one year and agree to other terms as long as they don't prohibit me from protecting him."
"Exactly."
Auralia thought over it, not sure what to make of it. The money alone from the job would make sure she never had to worry about the dojo again, some quick maths making her realize the total amount for twelve months was enough to buy a medium sized company.
But she wasn't sure how to feel about the whole marriage clause. Sure it was for a year, but there were too many unknown variables. What if the man in question was in love with someone else or feelings developed between the two? Things would get too complicated.
And then there was the whole acting thing to consider. She was going to have to deal with high society, if she became Alexander's wife, and people would start asking questions about her. And she knew lies always caught up eventually.
"Mrs. Ezra… I'm not sure I can agree to this…" Auralia finally said, hating she was giving up her chance of a lifetime.
But her conscience wouldn't allow her to take it with the cons outweighing the pros. Even with benefits like this.
Maria stared at her for a second, pursing her red lips. "Hmmm… If you're worried about something please tell me now."
"Alright…" Auralia sighed, realizing this woman wasn't going to take a no. "My first issue involves romance."
Maria laughed. "If you're worried about Alex loving someone, don't worry. Do you really think I'd come here if I knew there was someone in his life."
Auralia wanted to comment about the fact she was trying to arrange a marriage for her son, but decided against it.
"And what about feelings being developed?" Auralia asked instead. "There are enough stories about fake marriages becoming real ones with love."
"And there are many more failures than those stories let on." Maria smiled before sighing. "But it is a concern. If feelings develop, well I can't stop you two. However, I will make it clear that if Alex finds out about the bodyguard stuff, I will not let it go quietly. Alex must never come to know about this meeting."
The threat was clear as day. Auralia could see that if she let the bodyguard secret slip, Maria would destroy her with everything she had. And the woman had unlimited resources to do so.
"Do you have any other concerns?" Maria asked like she hadn't threatened Auralia.
"Yes. It's about keeping my true identity hidden. I get that you're going to introduce me, but how exactly will it be done?"
"Well, I shall introduce you as the granddaughter of one of my old friends. She's agreed to put you on the family register and it helps that you have the same surname. Additionally, my son is only going to officially need you in three months' time when he comes back to the country.
"During that time, you'll be able to adjust to your new life with my friend, learn about high society as well as get lessons from those two bodyguards outside. Get you up to standard with proper bodyguard training and procedures."
Maria paused for a second, handing over more documents to Auralia. She took them, seeing that they looked to be some kind of contract.
"This is a life changing decision to make." Maria said, standing up. "The contract states everything you need to know, terms and clauses etc. Look over it and make your choice."
Auralia put the papers down and stood up too. She knew that while Maria was giving her a choice, it was mostly an illusion. The woman wouldn't have had planned everything so well if she was going to leave with a no.
"Alright, I will…" Auralia sighed, leading the elderly woman back to the front of the dojo.
Maria placed her shoes back on, going to the door which was held open by one of her guards. "I'll have one of these guards and my lawyer come over this afternoon to settle the contract with you. If you have any concerns about the terms, bring it up with my lawyer. I've given him full authority to make decisions in my name."
With those words, Maria Ezra left the dojo with her guards, leaving Auralia to wonder what she was going to do.