[h2]Esme[/h2]
After Esme got off the phone with Rosie, she sighed heavily and leaned against the counter. Tossing her toast on the napkin, she brought her hand up and pinched the bridge of her nose as she closed her eyes. Dean's words and actions replayed in her mind, along with the reason why her security order hadn't gone through. It was downright maddening that they didn't show up, and Rosie, Nataila, and her bodyguards had to fend off the fans and press on their own, and were taking shelter in a room somewhere at the venue. Esme took a drink of her coffee, then set the cup on the counter with a heavy sigh. As she stood there, she racked her brain for a reason why the security detail never showed. Rosie was a good friend of hers, so she personally put in the request for security for Natalila's show. She had submitted the request three weeks in advance to ensure she would have it. Were they really that incompetent down there? The more she thought about it, the more her anger grew. This did nothing to improve her already rocky emotional state. Esme tried to think about something more positive, but no matter how hard she tried, the pressing moment at hand kept relentlessly resurfacing in her mind. 

Sarah, sensing Esme's trouble, jumped up on her, whined, and pawed at her arms. Esme, taking the hint, lowered herself to the kitchen floor and leaned back against the counter while Sarah settled down on her legs and rested her head on Esme's stomach. Esme placed a hand on Sarah's head, took a deep breath, and slowly released it. “Good girl.” she said softly. Sarah inched her way up to where she could rest her head on Esme's chest. Esme wrapped her arms around Sarah and rested her head on her as she closed her eyes. Esme breathed deeply, trying to calm herself. She knew the situation wasn't on her, and she shouldn't let it get to her like this, but it was hard not to be affected by it. It was her job to send out security for others, and when something like this happens, which wasn't too often, it tended to get to her. However, this time it hit a little harder since a good friend was involved, and she sent in the request herself instead of leaving it to someone else to do. Hugging Sarah tighter, Sarah nuzzled her affectionately, and Esme soon began to regain herself. 

Sighing heavily into Sarah's thick fur, Esme hugged her one more time before giving her a pat to let her know she could get off of her. Once Sarah had gotten off her, Esme pushed herself to her feet, straightened her clothes, and grabbed her coffee cup off the counter. Cradling the cup in her hands, she took a long drink.  These were moments she always tried to hide from Dean. Even with their problems, she never wanted him to see her like this, but there were times he could tell she had gone through an episode just by looking at her. Esme hated admitting it, but it was one thing that was just too hard to hide from him. Dean could just about read her like a book when it came to her being upset or angry; a lot of those times, he stood clear of her. Whether it was out of fear, he didn't know how to help her, or he just didn't want to deal with her unstable emotions, she wasn't sure. She just knew that if she didn't have Sarah, she would be struggling a lot more than she was. With how badly this situation was affecting her, she was sure that without a doubt, Dean would notice the signs. 

Taking another drink from her cup, she placed it on the counter, grabbed a travel mug from the cupboard, and filled it. “Why do I let these things get to me so badly?” she questioned herself with a heavy sigh as she filled her cup. Sarah came up to her and nuzzled her leg gently, which caused Esme to smile softly down at her. “I know what you'd say if I could understand you. It's because I take so much pride in what I do, and it's because I know others are counting on me to get my job done.” Sarah whined as if she were answering her, and Esme laughed softly. Once her cup was full, she placed the pot back in place and put the lid on her cup. Having lost her appetite from her breakdown, she gave the rest of her toast to Sarah. She then went and sat at the kitchen table, with Sarah at her feet, to wait for Dean to announce that he was ready to go. By the time she finished her mug of coffee and rinsed it out in the sink, Dean had returned to the kitchen and let her know he was ready.

On the way to the office, Esme filled Dean in on her phone call with Rosie, almost getting worked up all over again as she explained everything to him. Sarah, who was in the back seat, stretched her head over the back of the seat and rested it on Esme's shoulder. Esme brought up her hand and placed it on Sarah's head, and scratched it. This kept her from going over the edge again. She knew that once she was at the office, she could set about fixing all of this. Once the car was parked in the office parking lot, Esme wasted no time getting herself and Sarah out of the car before heading inside, where she saw the Rangers. “Good morning, Rangers. Please excuse me, there's something that requires my immediate attention. Mr. Smith should be in shortly.” she said quickly yet as politely as she could. She gave them all an apologetic look, then rushed into her office with Sarah hot on her heels. She hastily closed the door and went to her desk, failing to realize her door didn't close completely. Once in her chair, she went through the phone numbers on her desk, locating the one she desired in no time. 

Picking up the receiver, she aggressively punched in the number as she brought it to her ear. The call was picked up after two rings. “Yes, this is Esme Smith. I'm calling about the ETA for security for Nataila's show today.”Esme did her best to remain calm, but the words she heard didn't sit well with her. “What! What do you mean you didn't get a request for security for her?! I personally sent the request three weeks ago!” she replied, her voice rising steadily. “Yes, I think you should! It sounds like someone was asleep on the job that week!..... Yeah, they should have been down there hours ago! What are you going to do to remedy this mistake?!...... Yes! That sounds about right, and I don't want her to have to worry about anything else. If I hear otherwise, you'll be receiving another call from me!” With that said, Esme slammed the receiver back on its base with a huff. “Incompetent fools!” she growled as she slapped something off her desk. Sarah flinched as the object flew off the desk. After it hit the floor, she made her way over to Esme and then gently placed her head in her lap. 

Esme softly placed a hand on Sarah's head before pulling her cell phone from her jacket pocket and quickly dialing Rosie Rainbolt's number, then held the phone to her ear, listening for the ringing to stop. Esme was glad she could get it taken care of so quickly, but she still couldn't understand how they missed her request in the first place. 


[h2]Rosie[/h2]
As Rosie leaned against the wall, she watched Beau shrug out of his jacket, fold it, pick up her bag from the floor, and then place both on a nearby shelf. As he made his way back to her side, she dipped her head and closed her eyes as she suppressed a smirk that threatened to show itself. He always showed her bag more care than she seemed to. Whenever she dropped it somewhere other than a table or shelf, he would take it upon himself to place it in a cleaner and more convenient place. In fact, even if she hastily draped her jacket over a chair, he’d come behind her and fix it so it wouldn’t wrinkle. Since they first met, he had just about gone out of his way to weasel his way into her heart. Rosie had no idea what she had said or done to even start it, other than actually being polite,  telling him her name, and carrying on a true conversation with him. As time passed, he flirted with her more and then began asking her to marry him. In times like this, she would brush off his flirting or throw in some light flirting of her own to throw him off, but in the end would always turn him down.

Maybe it was her agreeing to go out and have drinks with him. Whatever it was, she had definitely caught his attention, and nothing she did or said would deter him from continuing to try to weasel his way into her heart. If she didn’t have so many walls up and so focused on her job, Beau could possibly succeed. Rosie wasn’t one of those who trusted others easily, and even when she did get to know someone, there were still layers you had to get through for her to trust you fully. When Beau settled in next to her on the wall, she opened her eyes, but didn’t lift her head as he spoke. She could almost feel Cason’s eye roll at Beau’s words, which caused her to smirk as Beau replied to him. She had to agree with what he said to Cason, even if part of it was knowing that Cason and Natalia were sweet on each other. Yes, there were rules about relationships between bodyguards and those they guarded, but the heart didn’t always listen to those rules. Rosie had seen it with others she knew, and they would request a replacement so they could delve further into their relationships. Did it always work? No, but it didn’t stop them from trying.

When Natalia spoke to Rosie, she lifted her head and looked over at her with a small smile. She knew where Natalia’s heart was, and she also knew that she’d be safe with Cason if she agreed to join Beau later. “I have no doubt you’ll be in good hands with Cason. I see how he watches your every move and those around you.” she replied to her. Rosie went quiet for a moment, letting things roll around in her mind. “You know what? I just might take you up on that, Beau. But first, let’s get through this before we make any definite plans.” A little time passed before her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she took no time at all to pull it from her pocket. She looked at her phone briefly before answering it. “Hello, Mrs. Smith, please tell me you have some good news for us.” she answered in a calm tone. “What?! You told me you sent that weeks ago. I was told security was already on their way…… Ah, I see. What incompetent fools. At least things have been taken care of, but I can’t help but feel something’s strange about it. How could a company like that completely miss a request for security detail?”

Rosie sighed heavily as she pinched the bridge of her nose, then took a deep, calming breath. She spoke a little longer on the phone, made some plans for later, then hung up. “Alright, looks like things have been fixed. Security should be here soon.” she said as she placed her phone back into her pocket. “It seems the request for Nat’s security detail was somehow overlooked, but as I said, it’s been taken care of. Mrs. Smith took care of it all and made it so that Nat won’t have to worry about a thing, since it was their fault. With the way she put it, it sounds like she put the fear of god in them.” she told them with a light laugh. “So, it won’t be long until we are all out of here, and Nat can get to the green room and prepare for the show.”