The Royal Contract

1119 A blooming romance

It was an exhausting morning as Brenda and Josey worked her butt out. The only time she had her rest was during bathroom breaks. She was not complaining since that was her job.

Truthfully, she was glad she still had one despite her absences. In another company, they might not have been so kind. This position was an opportunity she would not waste just because it was hard.

“I know this is short notice, but I don’t think we can go home early.” Brenda just sneaked into her cubicle and informed her. “I think you need to call your nanny to extend her watch on Edison?”

“Oh, ok.” Ria was not expecting that. But she should since she had already seen the piles of work they had to finish for today. “I will call her now.” She assured her boss that she could count on her.

“Anyway, I saw your boyfriend rushing in the hallway. Are you going out to lunch with him? I can cover for you for an hour.” Brenda offered with a wink. She already knew the naughty thoughts that were going through her mind.

“Unfortunately, he could not even make it to our lunch date in my little cubicle.” She gestured to her tiny table and chairs. “Since the boss is absent today, they are also swamped with work. He said he had to accompany Sir Marcus on a lunch meeting.”

At least she had the flowers to accompany her during lunch. But her boss offered to join her since she did not feel like eating with their other peers. “I will see you in a jiffy, I guess,” Brenda said as she strode toward the door. It was almost lunch, with just a few more minutes left.

But her phone rang, which made her boss turn to her. “Speaking of the devil.” She excitedly uttered.

“I will give you a few more minutes before I come back. Even phone sex would do. Don’t make the man wait too long. They say blue balls hurt like bitch.” She mumbled with a giggle escaping her lips.

.....

“Go! I think Josey is already looking for you.” She told her, shooing her out of her tiny office, feeling slightly embarrassed with her suggestions.
She suddenly regretted telling her that she was taking things slow with her relationship with Zach, including their sex life. Brenda disagreed with her decision, telling her that a guy like him would not wait for her forever.

“A man has needs. And if you can’t give that to him, he will find it somewhere else.” She could still hear Brenda’s words going through her head.

But Zach said that he was willing to take it slow. But was she making a mistake of making him wait? But what if? There she was again with her endless what-ifs.

Maybe, Brenda was right. She was overthinking her relationship with him. She had judged him prematurely because of her past, but he was not her ex. Zach was a better and decent man than Ryan.

Then, she remembered her phone call as it kept ringing in her hand. But it was not Zach as she checked the screen. “Hello, Tabby.” She immediately picked up, anxious about why he had called.

She hoped that he had discovered who was trying to investigate her. She simultaneously wished that it was a false alarm. Suddenly, she could feel her heart quicken its heartbeat.

Luckily, Brenda had already left. Ria did not have to explain to her what was happening. She could already see that her hands were shaking and her face must be turning white from the lack of oxygen.

Yeah, she was already panicking.

“Hi, Ria. I hope you are not busy. I called thinking that it might be your break.” He said, excusing himself for the time.

At least he knew when to call, she thought as she tried to rein on her fear and take control of her breathing. “That is ok. You are just in time.” She answered, realizing that it was indeed her break. “Have you found out anything?” She quickly asked.

She knew that beating around the bush would not cut it. She was already on her full stretch. Keeping it longer would only make her snap. She had to find out as soon as possible.

“Yeah, about that. I have tried my best to dig into the file, but it was not as easy as I thought. Only the leading detectives had access to those kinds of cases.” Tabby informed her, which had deflated her hope.

She had learned that Tabby was still relatively new to the company. Although he had proven his worth to his boss, he still had to earn his stripes before getting promoted to the elite group. But in time, she believed that he would get there. But not in time to look into her case.

“So, what now?” She could not help but ask with a voice lacking luster.

She could not keep looking over her shoulder, wondering if someone would suddenly show up behind her or at her doorstep. She was already having nightmares about it. What more if she found herself in a horrible situation?

“I will still try to get a hold of those papers. I made some friends I think I can convince to look into it. I promise I will do everything I can to get some answers.” He said to her.

She believed that should be good enough for now. At least someone was still watching her back. But she wished that she never had to and that the entire ordeal would go away.

“But I need to know something.” He suddenly asked her, making her snap back in attention.

“Sure.” She knew she did not want to keep secrets from him. She sensed that she could trust him completely.

He was the only person that would never leave her, except for her son. Hopefully, she could feel the same way with Zach, remembering the initials he placed on his notes.


“Tell me about your ex. I mean Edison’s father.” He asked her, believing, of course, that he was the first suspect.

Who else would want to investigate her except him? She told him everything about him, including their recent unpleasant encounter. She believed the more he knew about him, the better he could evaluate her situation. That was the only way he could help her.

“How well do you know your boyfriend?” He asked, which slightly stunned her. She was not expecting that he would even mention Zach. “This is just a standard question.” He clarified. “I need more information. So I can assess your case more thoroughly.”

That made sense to her. Still, she doubted that Zach had anything to do with this investigation. She stood by her first suspicion that Ryan was more likely to be behind this.

“Enough to know that Zach had nothing to do with this.” She defended him, knowing that her boyfriend would not need to have her investigated because she almost told him everything he needed to learn about her.

Besides, why would he need that when it was not like he was proposing to her and marrying her? They were still far from that because what they had was just a blooming romance.