The summer night wind tested Robert’s lighter as it struggled to light his cigarette. He stood outside on the beautiful California house balcony, it was the only place she would let him smoke. This was the second night on the job and Robert was only here because the rookie who was supposed to be there that night had called in to quit a few hours before. Robert had been working with Nexsec for 10 years, before that he was an independent bodyguard. Robert had found that the job lost a lot of the excitement it had offered when he was younger, his greying hair reflected streaks of moonlight as the glow of his cigarette grew and diminished with every drag. As he finished his cigarette Robert looked at his watch, it was time to do another round. The house he was working at was in the Hollywood hills, a nice neighborhood but far enough away from the other houses to be quiet. Robert went back from the balcony into the house, there he found his client. A twenty-seven year old blonde girl. She made her money off of some internet show or some new age crap that Robert didn’t understand nor cared about, his job was to watch her property and make sure nothing happened to her. Nexsec didn’t give Robert a ton of information on this girl, just that she needed a guard on any given night when she wasn’t on some promotional tour. She always seemed paranoid when not in front of her camera, she didn’t talk to him much or the guy who was her security detail before him.
“Ma’am” Robert said in his Missouri accent
She just nodded at Robert and went back to looking at her laptop. Robert exited the room and made a sweep of the entire house and surrounding yard, nothing out of the ordinary. The thrill was gone for Robert, it was there when he was younger but now it was just the same old thing. Walking back into the house Robert noticed he had left his flashlight turned on in the holster.
“You’re losing your mind old man…” Robert said to nobody
As he turned it off he heard the client walk down stairs.
“I’m going to bed, just wanted to make sure I was going to be seeing you tomorrow”
“Uh, I’m just here for the night”
That statement gave her a look of confusion.
“I thought you were on this job permanently, they said you had some experience with my situation…”
“They haven’t told me anything, it was my understanding that I would just be here for the past few nights.”
She looked at Robert with a look of despair from this news, and as much as he didn’t like it, the look got to Robert.
As he let out a sigh Robert said “Look, I’ll talk to the dispatch tomorrow and I’ll see if I can get you a good replacement for the kid I’m filling in for” 
“They mentioned you by name though…”
“Don’t do this” Robert said in his head
He didn’t want to be around this girl, she reminded him of his first client back when this job was fun for him. That was a long time ago.
“I’ll see what I can do” Robert said to her
Her look of despair faded but she still looked worried, she kept looking all around the room.
“Alright, I’m going to bed. Do you mind staying close to my door? Just in case?”
“I still have to do my hourly checks, but okay”
She went back up to her room and Robert followed standing outside her door. The rest of the night was uneventful, Robert took a couple of breaks to check the perimeter and to smoke. When morning came dispatch called Robert and told him he could come back, on his drive back to the office Robert wondered what that girl needed security for. Once he actually got back he talked with his boss, a short man with an even shorter temper.
“The girl said that you put me on her detail for good, wish you would have told me”
“We put you on the job for two reasons: One because Angelo quit, second because you have had previous experience with her situation. And it's not “the girl” it’s Marcine Silvers to you, haven’t you seen her Youtube channel?”
“What’s Youtube?”
“Sorry, that was a dumb question. My kids love her”
“What’s the situation?”
“She, like any celebrity she has a few ‘special fans’. This guy has been a bit too spirited, he keeps sending letters and showing up at her house.”
“Has it gotten violent?”
“No but it freaks her out and if she’s willing to pay us to keep an eye on her so be it”
“What does this have to do with my past experience?”
“Well with that one case you talked about before you were with us”
“That was different”
“It’s the closest you can get to something like this”
Robert grimaced at this half-assed excuse.
“Who am I on this job with?
Robert’s boss looked through some papers, after shuffling for a long time he finally brought up the right document.
“Looks like you’re on with Seth”
“Great, the fucking kid”
Seth was the youngest and newest of the staff, Roberts didn’t care for him since his position seemed like summer job to him instead of a serious task.
“You’re just going to have to deal with him during the shift change, then you’ll be on your own. Now get out of here”
Robert left the room and went home to get some sleep.

Robert heard a symphony of screams, he ran down the school hallway. As fast as he ran he realized how little ground he had gained. He was about to stop before the unmistakable gunshots rang out, and with a new burst of fear and determination he continued running. He reached the end of the hall and bolted down the stairs towards the screams. Reaching the set of doors at the bottom of the staircase he realized there were padlocks keeping them shut. Through the small windows he could see what was happening in the gym, a mob of students trying to run through the one exit that wasn’t locked, behind them was a boy with a rifle. Some bodies were lying on the floor of the gym, some were dead and others were clutching their gunshot wounds. The sight was too much for Robert to handle, he couldn’t just wait for the cops he had to get in there. Robert drew his revolver and aimed it at one of the locks on the door, pulling the trigger he instantly regretted his plan. The stairwell he was in echoed with a deafening ring, Robert clutched his ears but it didn’t stop the pain. After a few seconds he tried the lock, it still wouldn’t budge. His plan was not in vain, he noticed that the shooter was looking through the grated glass at him. The boy raised the rifle at Robert and began firing rapidly, the glass of the windows shattered as bullets hit the metal doors. Robert felt a great pain as a bullet hit him through the window.

Robert woke up and yawned, his bed sheets were in complete disarray. He felt like how his bedsheets looked, he felt like he hadn’t slept at all.  Getting out of bed and walking into the bathroom he looked into the mirror and began to brush his teeth, the old scar on his neck was starting to fade. Once Robert finished his morning routine he walked to the kitchen, the pitter patter of rain on the windows gave a certain white-noise that made Robert relax. So often he was on edge for no reason, a quality he assumed was from his profession. Robert stepped out on the patio to have a smoke, halfway through the cigarette he dropped the carcinogenic product and let the rain just hit him, it was cold,wet, and comforting all at the same time. He walked back inside and thought about his dream, 25 years after it happened and he was still having nightmares about it. Robert felt sick just thinking about it, he looked through his medicine cabinet to find the beta blockers the doctor gave him but all he could find was an empty bottle that once housed the pills. 
“Fuck….” Robert said to the empty bathroom
The only other way to curb this anxiety was to just keep busy with something, a feeling that Robert didn't have too often. His job had lost the excitement it first had so it left him with nothing but too much time to think. In his free time Robert just stayed home, he had no hobbies or obligations but occasionally he would go to the range to make sure he wasn't getting rusty. Overall, Robert’s life just lacked a certain crunch, a reason, a purpose.

The rain persisted as Robert pulled up to the house for work, as he walked to the front door thunder bellowed from the distance and rain drops permiated his trench coat. As he knocked on the door the home alarm system blared, a panicked Marcine flung open the door to let him in.
“I can’t figure out how to work the alarm!” she yelled over the obnoxious ringing of the home security system.
Before Robert could react Seth came running to the alarm panel and turned off the blaring horn. After about 20 minutes of Seth teaching Marcine how to properly setup the alarm he turned to Robert.
“Catch ya later Pops!” Seth said as he left
Seth meant that remark as a courtesy but Robert just couldn’t help but be pissed off by everything that boy did. Maybe it was the kids look of apathy or maybe it was the way he carried himself but it just rubbed Robert the wrong way, he just didn’t like the kid. Marcine looked over at Robert and smiled, all was silent except the vigorous pounding of rain outside. Robert tried to think of something to say, he wasnt exactly great with small talk. Before he could get anything out she filled the silence.
“Can I ask you something?”
Robert was taken aback by this, fearful about what was coming next
“I-I guess” he replied in a grizzled “I need a cigarette” voice
“What happened in the case like mine all those years ago?”
“How did you find out about that?”
“Your boss told me when I called asking if anyone could help me with my situation”
Robert was a bit angry that his boss was giving out info about him from before he even worked with this company, he tried to divert.
“Yeah, I didn’t get a great explanation as to what your situation is”
Marcine looked distressed and flustered
“It’s a long story…”
“Well, we got all night”