JB: Guarded Hearts -Chapter 33 Pg 55

Hi guys,

As most of you have probably read, I've closed Zindagi Ka Safar for a few weeks while I get my thoughts back together and recharge my brain😆.

I had started writing Guarded Hearts (GH) while I was writing Zindagi and a few selected people had read it and after getting a positive response to it, I decided to continue. GH is a very different than what I've written before so please def. review it! Would love some feedback on what you guys think.

I will continue Zindagi once I'm over with the writer's block. Until then, I hope you guys will like GH.

Looking forward to reading your comments.

Happy Reading!

Anam

prologue-pg1, ch1- pg2, ch2- pg 3, ch3- pg5, ch4- 6, ch5- 8, ch6- 9, ch7- 11, ch8- 12, ch9- 13, ch10- 14, ch11- 16, ch12- 17, ch13-19, ch14-21, ch15- 23, ch16-25, ch17-27, ch18-29, ch19-31, ch20-33, ch21-35, ch22-36, ch23-38, ch24-39, ch25-41, ch26-42, ch27-43, ch28-46, ch29-48, ch30-50, ch31-51, ch32-52, ch33-55

Thanks to jazz, who made the index!

--------------

Prologue

Gentle rainfall tapped against the windows of the one bedroom apartment he owned. Whoever said it never rained in southern California was wrong. It did, though not often, and that was the magnetic draw this place had on Jai. The beautiful weather, bountiful jobs for a talented, good-looking actor like himself and plenty of sandy beaches for his volleyball tournaments made it his own personal heaven.

Looking to his right, he noticed his girlfriend Roshni looking rather uncomfortable after their lovemaking. On her left hand was the small but elegant diamond solitaire he had given her when he proposed earlier that evening. Roshni hadn't said anything as he slid the diamond onto her finger. In fact, since the proposal, the only noise she had made was the content mewing sounds during their lovemaking. He couldn't understand why. They had been together for nearly six years, having met when they were both freshman in High School back in Mumbai, India. She had followed him thousands of miles to Los Angeles when he decided to try and be an actor and ended up spending one semester in a local theater college. She stuck with him for a year of bit parts, living off tomato soup and peanut butter when she could have easily gone home. But she never left him and now he was modeling with a two-bit agency getting free headshots and using his spare time auditioning for roles he never got. Marriage was the next logical step for them…

But she hadn't said yes. It unnerved him when she silently stared at his marriage offering as if it weren't enough. It was almost like giving a starving man a piece of bread. Her eyes had teared and she had twisted the cool gold band around and around watching the petite diamond reflect the dim lights of the restaurant. When he had asked if she were ready to leave and go home, she had simply nodded and followed him to the car. The deafening silence trailed them into the boxlike apartment they lived in where she kicked off her shoes next to a used roach motel and then scurried into the bedroom.

With the sex she had initiated behind them, the light on her nightstand was on and she was sitting up again twisting the ring and watching the diamond dance in the light. It wasn't large but it was what he could afford on his negative account balance and near maxed out credit cards. What it lacked in monetary value, it held in love. Behind that stone was his heart and he knew that had to mean something to the woman he loved: the woman he wanted to spend his life with.

"What are you thinking about, baby?" Jai propped himself on his elbow, watching her chest rise and fall rapidly. He wondered what was wrong, knowing from past experience that she was either fighting tears or anger with her panting for air. He had seen her hyperventilate rather than argue with someone and he wondered deep down inside if she was going to explode.

Roshni didn't reply, shifting her body to put her feet on the puke green carpet of the bedroom before slipping out of bed. She walked to her pile of discarded clothing and pulled in on, her eyes avoiding him. Suddenly, light flashed through the window of their first floor apartment, seeming to wake her from the trancelike state she had been in. Removing the ring from her finger, she dropped it onto the bed and then went for her luggage in the closet. The second he spotted the flowered material of her suitcase, he jumped from the bed.

"What are you doing?" he cried, unpacking the clothing she tried to put in her suitcase. Her change of mood had been so sudden that he wasn't sure how to react to this new situation. Roshni continued to move around him, stuffing shoes, dresses and undergarments into the bag without caring if they were folded or becoming wrinkled.

"Stop that," she demanded, taking the clothes he had stacked on the bed and shoving them into the suitcase. "Stop touching my things. You'll contaminate them."

Feeling the ice in her voice chill the room, Jai shivered and pulled on his own robe from the end of the bed. He felt his heart constrict when she closed the first case and removed a second from the closet, starting to fill it with the remainder her of her clothing and personal items from the bathroom. Most of the things in the apartment were his, save one picture of her family back in Mumbai. He wondered if perhaps her mother had called that morning and tried to convince her to come home again. It wouldn't have been the first time Mrs. Chopra had begged her baby girl to come home and start college before Jai ruined her life. "Is this about your parents? If they think I'm never going to marry you we can call right now and tell them that I proposed. We'll even set the wedding for this summer back home."

Roshni's brow furrowed and she shook her head, throwing the picture of her parents onto the top of her clothing beside her jewelry box and shutting her case. "It's not about my parents, Jai. This is completely about us."

"What about us?" he asked, sitting on the end of the bed feeling totally defeated. He watched as she placed the luggage beside the bedroom door before returned to him.

Settling herself beside him, Roshni picked up the small ring she had been wearing and held it up to show him. "When I moved here with you, Jai, you promised that we were going to be rich. You swore you'd be famous in a year. Well, it's been almost two years and this modeling job you're doing is crap. I've talked to people that have been with that agency for years and they haven't made any real money with them. But you refuse to leave them."

"Roshni…"

"No!" she cut him off. "Don't. I thought that the two of us were really something, Jai, but I thought about this good and hard today. I want you, I need you, but there's no way I'm ever going to really love you. It's not possible and while I know that's enough for me, it's not enough for you. Not if you want to get married to me."

"Please, Roshni, don't," he lowered his head, tears filling his eyes. "I love you so much. Don't leave me. Not now! I promise I'll make the money up to you somehow."

She shook her head, placing a gentle kiss to his cheek before looking deep into his pain-filled brown eyes. "Don't be sad, Jai. Two out of three isn't bad right?" she asked, quoting a song she had been singing a lot lately.

"I love you."

"But I'll never love you," she stood up, and returned to her cases. "Tarun is picking me up, Jai. I'm going to move into his place. He's a real actor that does that little modeling thing on the side. Maybe someday you'll realize that I'm right. That you should have settled for just dealing with the fact that I wanted and needed you. I told you before not to propose to me, but you had to have my heart and I'm afraid you never will."

Then she walked out. The last thing he heard before breaking into tears was the soft tap of the door closing and the revving of an engine as a car drove away. At that moment he swore to live by her motto. He would never love someone again.

Jai hadn't realized that he was chewing on the end of his pen as he stared at the blurred typewritten words of his latest script. It was another love scene, for which he had become well known. In the ten years since his break up with Roshni, he had definitely proven to her that he was going to be the actor he dreamed of. Famed throughout the entire world for his movies and television show, Jai made almost as much money in one year that the cast of Friends made during their best year combined. His commercials, fan club merchandise, movies, books and shows were not only the top grossing in Hollywood, but self run and organized. He was not only an overpaid actor; he was a businessman to boot.

Dropping the script onto the table and spitting out the partly chewed blue pen, Jai looked over at the stack of fan mail his personal assistant had left on his desk. When he had started out on some pathetic little soap, he had done his own mail. Too soon he found himself buried beneath stack of fan letters that asked for autographs. It was then he realized he needed help and hired Keero. He entrusted her with most of the things he couldn't do on his own: sending out and receiving mail as well as running the fan club whenever his schedule wouldn't allow him to do it. She worked closely with Lauren, his agent, and had her own desk in his dressing room. He had crossed a dangerous line when they dated briefly, but she found his motto far too annoying for anything long-term. Being told that he wanted her and needed her was fine, but when he punctuated it with "I'll never love you" he killed whatever romance was left in the dying relationship. She hadn't minded staying around, but she constantly rubbed her engagement in his face; not that he cared.

Flipping through the stack of mail, he picked up one with no return address on it. Keero was pretty good about rooting out mail that could be answered with an autographed photo and a "join the fan club" letter. Mostly the mail that made it to him was little things like birthday wishes that she thought he would enjoy, the occasional marriage proposal (as a gag from her) and things of an extremely touching nature. He wasn't cold enough to ignore the heartbreaking letters from cancer patients that wanted him to visit, often he would try to go see them just once, or just wanted a real personalized letter from him. But letters like this one with no return address usually didn't make it past Keero. In fact, she rarely opened them and often tossed them right into the trash.

Opening this one first, he was surprised to find one piece of white paper inside. The page was crumpled and in places shriveled as if someone had used liquid glue on it. Unfolding the letter, he dropped it to his desk as if it had burned him. In letters cut out from newspapers and magazines were the words:

I've got my eye on you. Watch your back.

To be continued…

-------------

So...Like it? Hate it? Would love to know either way!

hey intresting start anam keep it going cant wait 4 bani grand entry 😉

yaar...LOVE IT... 👏 omg...go SO-CAL baby... 😃 😃 😃 all all about california, the sun, the beaches, the hot guys...who turn out to be gay more often then id like... lol...the whole metorsexual thing...i dont know... 😕 😕 ...lol 😆 😆 ...stupid roshni...i mean cobra 🤢 🤢 🤢 thank god you decided to dig your claws into tarun and not jai...thank the lord for small mercies... 😉 ...lol...cant wait for next update...
JAZ

amazing prolouge
i really loved the part it was really good
i really hate that roshni how could she do that to jai
i wish someone comes soon into jais life and teaches him how to fall in love again
your fanfic sounds really intresting
cant wait 2 read the next part
👏

My my anam i must say...what a start...so our Jai was hopeless in love...and hate Roshni already! she sounds like Pia...why do i sense she will kinda become one...? 😉
...i better see a happy Jai...
continue soon
rooj

Fab prologue
really like the part.
looking forward to it.
plz cont. soon.

Great Start and a very different story line....will be waiting for updates...😊

WOWWWWWWW!!!it was amazin!! 😃 ..wat a 🤬 ... 😡 ...Poor Jai!!... 😭 ..waitin eagerly for JB meetin!! 😳 ..continue soon!! 😉

Thank you all so much for such positive feedback. Thanks everyone who sent PMs telling me to continue soon. I'm really happy to know that all of you like it.

Here's the next chapter. Hope you like it even better!

Happy Reading!

Anam

---------------

Chapter 1

"I'm not afraid of a letter, Keero," Jai insisted as his assistant pulled out the yellow phone book and flipped through the pages. Ever since he had asked her how the message had gotten past her, Keero was ready to call in the police. She had sworn to him that envelope had not been in his mail stack before she left to get coffee so someone had to slide it in while he was rehearsing his scenes. "It's not the first time someone has sent me a letter that sounded less than appealing. Do you remember the one that sent me underwear?"

"This isn't a pair of frilly pink bikini panties, Walia," Keero replied, flashing him a look. She didn't understand his lack of concern over something so threatening. "This is serious. Someone that takes the time to cut letters out of magazine and newspaper headlines intends to do something drastic. Not to mention the fact that they got past security to personally put it on your desk! You're finally getting yourself a full time security guard for that shrine you have to yourself!"

Jai groaned, sinking into his plush leather chair. He liked his privacy, or at least the little bit of it he had when he was at home away from cameras. He didn't want someone invading his precious space. "Look, the last thing I need is some macho, Rambo wanna-be following me around work and wandering around my house telling me my security system is sub-par and he wants to make a million dollars worth of changes. I like my…"

"Cheap, lame system that didn't go off when that lunatic hopped the fence and climbed into bed with you?" Keero argued, finally finding the section of the phone book she was most interested in: security professionals. "Look, I know some of the guys that work for Guarded Serenity Inc, they consider themselves quite professional and are highly trained. I've even seen some of the awards they have won. Hell, they even work for half of the state government."

"Only half?" he shook his head. "That means the other half found someone better."

"No, that means they are running around unprotected or with the worst guard on earth. Come on, Jai. Give them a call. The least you can do is try them out for a few weeks and see if this freak backs off. That letter was a threat and you may like your privacy but I know you like that pretty neck of yours much more."

"I'll take it to the cops, Keero. I don't need a bodyguard messing up my lifestyle. I can't be out in the clubs with some goon following me around checking out the ladies before I do!" He reached for the phone book. "I'll give Jim down at the police station a call and he'll add it to my file and have someone come look for clues. We'll have a CSI thing going here in no time."

"Oh yes, police station has been so helpful in the past," she rolled her eyes. "If you don't call GSI I'm going to and then you're going to regret it for the rest of your life. Don't give me more ammunition than I already have against you, Jai Walia. What I know about you could write the world's best novel and found the greatest comedy on NBC!"

Jai sighed in defeat. If Keero was pulling out the heavy guns so early, he knew she had to be serious. "All right, Keero, if it will get you off my case, you can give them a call and tell them to send over their first available agent for me to meet with. Explain that this is a delicate situation and that I need someone that won't get in my way and will know how to keep his mouth shut. The last thing I need is the tabloid finding out that someone is intimidating me and making some big deal over it."

"Yes sir," Keero saluted, sticking her tongue out afterwards. "Anything else you want me to do while I'm at it, Jai? Sure I can't order you lunch or perhaps a new pack of pens for you to chew on?" she eyed the one in his pocket.

Jai frowned. "I'm telling you, Keero, if you weren't a good assistant you'd be collecting unemployment," he shook a finger at her.

"I'm shaking," she held up a steady hand to prove just the opposite. "Go finish looking that script over before we're both collecting unemployment, Jai. I'll have that security guard over here before you know it."

"That's what I'm afraid of," he grumbled, returning to his dressing room.

-------------

Bani looked down at the slip of paper her friend and partner, Rano, had left on her desk. While she was gone checking on the security system she had recommended to one of their latest clients, a call had come in for another big celebrity that was being hassled by his adoring public. She had formed the belief that part of being in the limelight was dealing with a little bit of harassment from the "little people you stepped on along the way." When she had co-founded Guarded Serenity Inc with Rano, she had done it with the intention of building a firm that would protect museums and federal buildings, not the private homes of celebrities. However Los Angeles had provided her with a multitude of stars and starlets that needed their belongings, and in some cases their lives, defended from a stalker or thief and she wasn't about to turn down work. Money was money, no matter whom it came from.

"Knock, knock," Rano peeked her head into Bani's office, smiling brightly at her best friend. The slender five-foot-four, chocolate eyed, dark brown haired beauty was one of the company's greatest assets. With brains to go along with her beauty, she had the uncanny ability to mesmerize people and convince them that they needed the protection GSI offered. Bani also had to admit that Rano was always cheery and that really impressed their clients. "I see you found the new case file. His personal assistant called about an hour ago and they are looking for an agent that's trained in criminology. I figured you might want to field this one yourself."

"What do we know?" Bani asked, dropping the notepaper back onto her desk and leaning back in her leather chair. When she had designed her office she had left it simple and modern. Glass and iron furniture had a clean, edgy feel to it that made her seem powerful. Placing her fingers together forming a small pyramid, she looked over at her friend. "Another fan sending love letters?"

"Not quite. The person actually sounds a little bit like a copycat, stealing scenes right out of a movie. He or she is cutting the letters out of newspapers and magazines. This first note came completely unaddressed and said I've got my eyes on you. Watch your back. He's not concerned but his assistant is. She's a friend of Sahil's so I'm willing to go the extra mile on this one." She stepped further inside, looking into a mirror by Bani's door and fixing a strand of unruly long black hair.

"Is it worth it? He doesn't sound like he plans on being cooperative here. If he doesn't want protection, I'm not sure we have the time to convince him otherwise," Bani retorted, stuffing the file into her briefcase. "I'm not going on a wild goose chase here. Either he's in or he's not and if he's not, then we don't need this one."

"Bani, you haven't taken a case in over a year. Just go check this guy out and see if you can figure out what's going on and whether it's worth the time. If not for yourself, for GSI. Jai Walia is one of the most eligible and rich bachelors in Los Angeles. Having a man like him on our clientele list will mean nothing but kudos for the company. It may just give us the boost we need to get more clients like him."

"But that's not why we started GSI, Rano," Bani huffed. "We started GSI to keep theft from ruining public places like…"

"Museums, theaters and historical arenas. I know, but beggars can't be choosers. We made money off cases like this one, Bani. Right now we need another big one if we're going to keep GSI in the black."

"Why me?" Bani asked. "Can't we assign someone else? Adam is free, isn't he? We've put him on movie star cases before and they've all been really pleased with his secrecy and commitment. Jai Walia will love him."

"But he doesn't have the degrees you do; he's just a bodyguard, Bani. Adam will never be able to piece the clues together and help catch whomever is behind this. You're the only one with the time and educational background to take this one. Anders was a runner up but he's working on two others right now. You're the best we've got."

Resigning herself to the fate as a bodyguard for another high and mighty star, Bani sighed. "What time did you tell him I'd drop by his set, Rano?"

Glancing at her watch, she hedged, "Soon."

"How soon?"

"You were due there five minutes ago," she waved. "I've got to run. I'm due at a meeting with our investors and I can't be late."

"Your husband?" Bani called after her.

"I'm sorry I can't hear you." she disappeared down the hall.

----------------

Pulling her blue pearled Highlander up to the brick faced front gate, Bani eyed the security guard warily. His tailored blue uniform was wrinkled as he rested backwards in his precariously balanced plastic chair with his feet up on the small table in the booth. The baseball cap he wore fell over his eyes, which Bani assumed were closed, and the monitors behind him were all silenced. Should anything be happening that he needed to know about, this guy was going to be out of the loop. She waited a full five minutes before she grew impatient with the man's complete lack of professionalism.

"Excuse me! By this time I could have take the entire sound stage hostage and you'd still be napping!" she cried, waking the man from his afternoon nap. The chair fell forward with a loud bang as the metal legs hit the floor.

The man muttered something incomprehensible, though Bani could imagine it was hardly polite. He scowled at her as he pushed his cap back into place on his head over his matted blond hair and moved closer to the open window. His sharp hazel eyes pinned her with an angry glower but he tried to force himself to hide it. "What can I do for you, miss?" he forced himself to smile, though Bani knew he would have preferred to dent her car with the arm attached to the booth.

"I have a meeting with Mr. Walia over at set five and I would rather not be any later than I already am, so if you could let me through please…"

"Is Mr. Walia expecting you, ma'am?" he picked up the clipboard to his right and scanned the list for any scheduled appointments to set five. "Because I don't have anyone going to the set to visit him today."

"Look, buddy…"

"Joe."

"How original of your mother," she rolled her eyes. "I could have walked into the set while you were napping five minutes ago but I didn't. If you would just raise the cute little stripped arm I can get to the sound stage without finding someone to fire you."

"Sorry, ma'am. No appointment, you don't go through. Rules are rules," he smiled brightly, dropping the clipboard back onto the table.

"Oh yes, because your nap time is listed as one of the rules for security guards. Look, if you don't believe that I have an appointment, feel free to contact a Kulvir Bassi at the stage. She's the one that set up the meeting."

Joe sighed, sinking into his chair. "You must be Ms. Dixit. Ms. Bassi told me you would be coming by but I expected you a long time ago. Not really prompt are you?"

Bani's eyes flashed. "Not that I see that as any of your business considering the people you're supposed to be protecting could have been maimed while you 'rested your eyes.' Now open the damn gate."

After Joe lifted the mechanical arm, Bani passed through the gate and steered her SUV towards the sound stage furthest from the front gate. She parked in the first open space, grabbing her briefcase on the way out of the car. Already she was finding reasons not to take the job guarding Jai Walia, one of which was the incompetent boob running the front gate. She wondered just how many of those so-called guards were walking around here with their toy guns, plastic handcuffs and quick wits.

Straightening her blue pinstripe suit jacket, Bani headed for the stage door and knocked softly on it. When no one answered, she pushed open the heavy metal door and entered into what seemed like another city entirely. The classic beauty of the little city sets that she walked through to find the offices wasn't lost on her. The city had a picturesque Mumbai quality that reminded her of the home she had turned her back on so many years before. She was so lost in memories of her seaside childhood home that she didn't hear the soft tapping of feet behind her.

"You must be Bani Dixit."

Bani spun around to face a medium height curly brown haired with stunning brown eyes and beautiful sun tanned skin. Nodding her head gently, Bani extended her right hand to the woman. "Kulvir Bassi?"

"That's me. Call me Keero. Jai is expecting you, but he's currently off eating another pen while reviewing his lines for this evening's filming. If you follow me I'll be happy to take you to his dressing room."

"Thank you," Bani quickly followed Keero through the rest of the stage and out a back door. From there they made a sharp turn left to a two story building that was the on set residence of the writers and dressing rooms for each of the shows several stars. After climbing a set of concrete steps, she turned right along a breezeway and stopped beside Keero in front of the only green door on the floor. Keero didn't even knock before pushing open the door and poking her head inside.

"Your bodyguard is here, Walia," she told her boss, though Bani could hear the laughter in her voice and wondered what that was about. "Are you decent?"

"If you mean am I dressed," Jai walked out of the bathroom attached to his apartment like dressing room, "then yes. If you mean am I a gentleman, well we both know the answer to that, don't we Keero?"

"He's ready to see you," Keero stepped inside, opening the door wider to allow Bani to pass through. As a surprise, she didn't leave the room but instead took a seat on the leather couch atop a leopard print fur blanket that was hideous and distasteful.

Bani rested her briefcase on a table beside the door and watched as Jai busied himself at a desk in the corner of the room. She waited quietly, looking him over and realizing that his on screen appearance didn't hold a candle to his off screen looks. He was at least six-foot-two with mocha colored skin and jet-black hair that sat in short spikes on the top of his head. She wondered if his eyes were the same rich chocolate brown color that she had seen in the photos from the magazines that Rano often read. She swallowed hard when he removed his shirt, reaching for another and causing the muscles in his back to flex enticingly.

"So ma…" Jai turned, finally facing Bani. His mouth hit the floor and he caught Keero smirking out of the corner of his eye. The little fink had set him up! She hadn't hired him a bodyguard…she'd hired him a second mother! "You're not a man."

To be continued….