A couple of days later, Kristen had finally been sent an email from Clarissa that contained the final draft of Ethan's bachelor interview. As CEO, Kristen gave the final clear on whether it could be published or not, as the magazine issue was going to be published near the end of the month.

She was going through Ethan's double spread page to see whether certain quotes or pictures could be used about her COO. There were always potential backfires when any of her employees did an interview that mentioned Shelton, so Kristen had to make sure nothing bad could be reflected on them.

The nosy sister was also curious to see how much her brother squirmed in the interview. It was always fun to read how her little brother was perceived on paper, especially how she knew Ethan would always say a bunch of crap he personally never believed in.

Ethan and Harrison joined Kristen on a business brunch to discuss the interview. Kristen wanted to go through it with Ethan to make fun of him, and she knew Harrison would find it entertaining to poke fun at his brother in law.

"So you actually took these pictures?" Kristen was physically cringing at seeing the shots her younger brother willingly took. "I can't believe you love doing these magazine interviews."

"I think I look sexy." Ethan boasted shamelessly.

Kristen showed her husband the same pictures she was seeing, so that he could weigh in on whether Ethan was overdoing it with the blue steel.

Harrison thought that Kristen was being too judgemental of Ethan. "It's just a bit of fun." Harrison laughed. "It's better than the ones the fake photographer took."

Ethan ducked his head as he recalled the incident from last year. "Is it bad that I was kind of flattered from the stalker fan?"

"Yes." Kristen and Harrison collectively told Ethan flatly.

Kristen continued to look at all the photos Clarissa took for the magazine. She needed a strong stomach because she was looking at her brother being seductive towards the camera.

"Sometimes I really hate my job..." Kristen cursed under her breath.

As the waitress walked past, Ethan wanted something alcoholic since he was going to be mocked for the next couple of hours.

Ethan ordered a round of mimosas for the three of them. When they arrived, Ethan passed them to everyone.

"Too early for me." Kristen declined as she then pushed it away from her.

Ethan missed the shared look between Kristen and Harrison as he then took Kristen's drink for himself. "More for me then."

After they put in their food order, Kristen brought the conversation back to Ethan's interview. She was impressed by the fact that Ethan used this opportunity to promote the company's products.

"I'm more than just the gorgeous face and body in those photos." Ethan expressed with a straight face.

Kristen was doing her best at avoiding looking at her brother's pictures for too long, because they were destroying the image she had of Ethan. She still saw Ethan as her innocent and cute younger brother, despite the fact that these pictures sent the exact opposite message.

"Couldn't you have put more clothes on?" The overly protective sister had the picture of Ethan with the bed sheet on her laptop screen. "Like maybe one of our pashminas or something?"

Harrison was inclined to agree as he commented, "I think your sister is having a hard time adjusting to the fact that she can see your nipples."

"No one wants to see them Ethan!" Kristen whined.

Ethan was shaking his head as he laughed. "I have certain fans that will disagree."

~~~~~~~~~~

After the meal portion of the brunch was over, the three of them went back to discussing Ethan's bachelor interview.

Kristen's eyes had recovered when she could finally move the pictures away from her eye sight. So now she was reading the questions that were asked by Clarissa.

There were generic answers that Kristen expected to read from Ethan. Stuff like his eating habits and the type of exercises he does was not of any concern to Kristen - as long as nothing explicit was mentioned.

Kristen was now reading the juicer questions that she secretly loved to read. She was silent as she read Ethan's deep and emotionally heavy words, and Harrison was by her side as they were both processing what Ethan had shared that day.

"I didn't know you could be so in touch with your emotions." Harrison said humbly to Ethan.

"Clarissa ate those answers up!" Ethan nervously chuckled. "Everyone's going to love it."

Kristen noticed that drastic change in the style of which Ethan answered the questions since his last interview. It felt a lot more real to Kristen, and she was wondering if there was something underneath Ethan's jokester exterior.

Ethan sensed this as he paused his funny quips and jokes, because he was now avoiding her eyes. Ethan didn't expect the brunch to turn into a sob fest, so he wanted to avoid it at all costs.

But it was too late as Kristen already asked, "Ethan, is there something you want to talk about?"

Ethan confidently looked up at Kristen and forcefully smiled at her. "Kristen, you're reading too much into it. My answers will just let me slide into other people's DMs, and now I'm going to get even more followers on my Instagram account."

Kristen didn't feel too happy about Ethan's answer because she still felt he was hiding something. She knew her brother was good at hiding things, so Kristen knew that she wasn't going to get anywhere with it unless Ethan chose to tell her.

Ethan was saved by a phone call that let him avoid the conversation from going any further. He had a shy smile on his face when he took the conversation away from Kristen and Harrison, and the tone of his voice was excited as he disappeared from the room.

"Now that's definitely weird..." Kristen had never seen this kind of bashfulness from Ethan. She felt like something was definitely strange with Ethan recently, and Kristen wanted to learn more about Ethan.

~~~~~~~~~

Thomas was busy at work in the NG&P building, instructing and teaching all of the new cadets about their future career. His voice commanded the room as he taught them the moral codes of a bodyguard, and the way NG&P bodyguards fulfil their job.

Thomas was impressed at the number of people who signed up to become a bodyguard this month. The numbers of admission had improved, and so Thomas was handing over his list of cadets that showed the most potential.

Seeing that the office was empty of any visitors,  Thomas walked inside and handed his report to Giles. Giles was expecting Thomas' report as he eagerly took it from his hands. He eagerly scanned it as he was looking at his future bodyguards in the company he created.

"There's something wrong with the overhead lights in common area, so I'll get a ladder for that in a minute," Thomas notified Giles. "I'll discipline everyone to make sure they don't leave the canteen in another mess like Thursday, and I'll go clear out the lost and found box since it's still not empty."

Giles stopped Thomas from doing his tasks because he was concerned that his son was overworking himself over things that weren't in his job title. He called for his son to join him in the office by gesturing towards the empty seat in front of him.

"Can this wait?" Thomas asked. "Eric said he has a problem with his computer, and I said I'll try and help him after I handed in my report."

Giles began to laugh at how fast Thomas was spitting his words out. "Slow down Thomas. I can call the IT department and get them to fix it."

Thomas nodded his head as he moved onto his next list of tasks. "I need to remind everyone about our cleanliness policy before the rookies go out on their 5 miles run."

Thomas was almost out the door when Giles had to raise his voice to tell him to stop. "Thomas, you're putting too much work onto your plate. You need to take a break before you get another stress related injury."

Thomas took a deep breath as he paused briefly. "I've just got a lot of things on my mind recently."

"Is there something I can help with?" Giles wondered.

It wasn't often he saw his son being vulnerable like this. Giles knew Thomas had always been a very reserved person since adolescence, and most of the time he gave Thomas the space he needed.

So that's why Giles was offering it again. "I'm insisting that you take a 1 week break from work, Thomas. If your head isn't in the game, then it can be risk for us all. And we can't have it effect our work, you know this son."

"I don't wan-"

Giles was putting his foot down as he interrupted Thomas from declining the break. "This isn't your dad talking Mr Miller, this is your CEO."

Giles used his powerful voice to make sure there was no room for Thomas to ignore him. "I'm putting you on a temporary sabbatical until you are in a better head space. You have been doing an exceptional amount of work for this company Mr Miller, but you need to take a break, before you're in A&E for dizziness and chest pains again."

Thomas had no choice in the matter as his decision to continue working was overruled. A part of Thomas felt sad that this part of his life was being taken away from him, because he spent so many years dedicated to working as a bodyguard.

But there was also a slight relief from Thomas as he felt free. Thomas has always been used to taking care of others, but his dad was giving him the opportunity to take care of himself - even if it was for only 1 week. It had been over a year since his last break, and Thomas wanted to make the most of it.

"Can it be 2 weeks?" Thomas requested.

"Of course son, you've earned it." Giles was very happy that Thomas wasn't resisting his CEO decision. "Do you have anything in mind during your vacation?"

There weren't a lot of goals that Thomas had in his mind. He just wanted to make the most of his vacation, and so there was mainly one place he wanted to visit.

"I think I want to catch up with Ethan for a little bit. If it's not for helping him out, then Ethan can definitely help me out - by making me relax and take care of myself."

Giles smiled in his response as he paid attention to the fact that the both of them have been growing close as friends. "That sounds really nice."

An idea popped into Thomas' mind as he still wanted to be close to his dad. "Why don't you join me? You could do with a break too, and now you could catch up with Mr Shelton."

Giles was wholeheartedly laughing at the way that Thomas was still trying to look after him. "You're still working despite the fact that I'm telling you to leave, aren't you?"

"Me being your son, and loving you, is something that is never going to stop," Thomas grinned.

Thomas felt like he had spent less time with his dad recently, and Thomas wanted to make up for it. "Let's go visit the Sheltons."

==========