Captain Rodger Fields was a serious man. He was a drill sergeant sometimes, But everyone knew he had a soft spot for William Cooper, the security guard who worked for him.

No doubt William was a smart man and was excellent at his job, He also rose in rank faster than anyone else in the department. Jealous co-workers often blamed his close relationship with the captain. They could never get any dirt on him to ruin his reputation with the captain and humiliate him. Not for the lack of trying.

One guy in particular, Robson Gibbs, a 25 year old blond dreamboat, found William very annoying. At first everything was a competition, Morning laps, workouts at the gym, but William beat him at everything. He even tried kissing the bosses ass, but failed miserably, so he moved to plan B - Sabotage. Robson was good at his job, but William was better, He hated being second best, overlooked just for being a little behind William. He was used to being number one, but William was a challenge he could not win.

One day after morning after laps, Captain Rodger Fields came out of his office to see the guys. Immediately they formed a straight line standing in attention.

"It had been a long ride with you boys. Almost 20 years!" The captain said, Pacing up and down, looking at the boys in detail. They all stood there, puffing their chest, trying to look smart so that the captain would not find any fault.

"But are you ready? Are you men now?" He continued stopping at a point between William and Robson.

"Well?? Are you?" He barked.

"Yes sir!" They all yelled back.

"No you are not!" He growled. "Not all of you"

"Soon the East property of the Hotel will be ready and I will need more men to watch over, I need a right hand man" He began pacing again.

There was dead silence. Nobody moved a muscle. Robson straightened up a little more, trying to get noticed. He threw a sideways glance at William, whose expression hasn't changed since he came to work this morning. There was a small curl at the end of his lips. Robson clenched his fist. This was the most awaited moment in our career before becoming captain and he was lost in thought? Or was it something else?

Robson glanced at William again, trying to study his face. "Is it just me or did Will look smug?" he thought. "Did he know something I didn't?"

"One of you will be that right hand man by the end of the week, this your last chance to prove yourself ." said Captain Fields before dismissing everyone.

Once the captain dismissed everyone, the room filled with buzzing. Everyone wanted that job, none more than Robson. William however had room only for Leah, he was planning how to propose to her. He had just sent back the ring his mother gave and so the pressure was higher than ever to find the perfect ring.

Just when he decided to take the day off tomorrow to find the ring, he turned around to find himself face to face with Robson Gibbs.

"Sup Gibbs..." he said absent mindedly. He never spoke to Robson Gibbs if he could help it. It was always better that way.

"If I find out this thing is rigged, you will be sorry." Growled Robson.

"What are you talking about?" William asked, confused.

"You have been warned." Robson said before walking off. Just then a trainee came up to William and said "The captain wants to speak to you sir"

Nodding his head he turned to go up to the captain's office. He saw Robson's face, It was unreadable but knowing him, that wasn't good.

********

Captain Rodger Fields had just slammed the phone down when there was a knock on his door. Knowing who it would be, he said "Enter!" while straightening up.

It was William Cooper.

William Cooper was the only boy in this team he felt close to emotionally. He tried not to show it but by the end of the day he treated William like his own son. William felt like the son he would have had if-

He stopped himself from thinking about it. 30 years passed since it happened, he needed to move on. But it was impossible, especially after seeing the crime scene photos of what happened to his wife and baby boy. He couldn't shake the image of his wife, beautiful and so young, left to hang upside down and bleed to death. Her blond hair was mixed with red, her eyes were open in the pictures.

He never got to see pictures of his 6 month old son. Once the police saw his reaction to the pictures of his wife, they decided against it.  This was probably best because he blamed himself for their death.
It was 30 years ago when Roger Fields was in the army, serving his country. Everyone treated him like a hero every time he came home to his wife. They had been trying to conceive for almost a year with no luck. Then one day she called him to say she was pregnant.

"Now all you have to do is come home to me, darling." She told him after giving him the good news.

He promised he would be back and he kept his promise. Just a week before his tour was over and six months after his baby was born, he got a call. He remembered that day very clearly because it was an unusually calm day but he felt like he was trapped in the middle of the war zone without any weapons. He refused to believe the voice on the phone so he came back. But he could not go home. His house was sealed off with crime scene tapes. The police took him aside and explained how there was a serial killer who broke into the house and killed his wife and baby. The baby was strangled and wife left to bleed out, upside down, hung from the ceiling fan.
Rodger Fields fell into pieces when he saw the pictures of his wife, one of the cops quickly hid the pictures of the baby to keep him sane.

He never went back into his house. He blamed himself for their deaths. If only he had been home to protect himself instead of some other part of the world.

He had seen his baby only once, a week after he was born. But he could not stay long and had to go back to the army. He had a longer vacation in a few months and could not wait. But he dint realize that would be the last time he saw his boy.

Quickly bringing himself back to the present. He told William to sit down.

"So.You know why you are here." He said.

William looked confused. That wasn't a question but a statement. Was he supposed to know why he was called to this private meeting?

After thinking carefully William answered "Is it about the speech earlier sir?"

William of course had no idea what the speech was about. He was in a daze, thinking about Leah possibly becoming his wife. But he dint want the captain to think less of him so he tried to get him to repeat it.

"Yes. It is." Captain Fields responded seriously. Then leaning forward he asked. "So. Do you think you are ready?"

Still not sure what they were talking about, William said "I think so ,Sir"

"You must be sure!" Captain Fields said, slamming his had on the table. "You are good at what you do, best in a long time in fact. You earned the position of being my right hand man."

William smiled internally. Now he knew what the captain was taking about. Two years ago the neighboring property was bought by the hotel owners to expand. Now that it was complete and ready for business they would need more security. This was the worlds largest hotel, no doubt even the captain would need help keeping things in order. Everyone knew this day was coming and now that it was here, he couldn't believe he was being chosen.

"I'm ready sir!" He said smiling. "This is what you trained me for."

"Good man, William" said Captain Fields, he managed a sincere smile. Seconds later his face fell as he remembered something.

"There are rumors going around that I am showing favoritism when it comes to you. Although this is not true, the higher authorities might get suspicious if I promote you rite away, so I have given everyone till the end of the week to prove they can do this job. All I need you to do is what you always do. Stay out of trouble and do your job. But to be honest Robson is getting better and is getting a lot of attention so you might have some competition."

"I can do this sir!" William said firmly. He needed this promotion more than ever to keep his future wife happy.

When William stepped out of the captain's office he wondered if Captain Fields would be very upset if he lost the promotion.

He knew that Captain Fields saw him like a son of his because the captain himself confessed this in a moment of weakness. William dint mind because he saw the captain as a father figure too! Especially after he left his house to make a name for himself. After some research, he found out the horrors of the captain's past. This only brought him closer to the captain and made it his mission to make the captain proud in ways he could not do for his father.

Turning around William saw Robson giving him a death glare. Then remembering what Robson told him before the captain called him for the meeting , he realized why.

Robson thinks the captain favors William, he was probably the one to start the rumors too! The thought of that made William very angry. He just turned away, ignoring Robson. By doing that he just made a bad situation worse. But he was yet to find that out.

********

So what do you think about William and Robson? Professional jealousy is a common problem unfortunately.

How far do you think Robson is willing to go to be better than William?