The Royal Contract

"Hey, can I help you with your things?" A man behind her asked.

"No. I can carry my things, thank you." She recognized that voice even with her eyes closed. So, there was no point for her to turn around and looked at him.

She was looking forward to another adventure but not the part that she would be sharing the same transportation with him. Although Alex and Dani would be with them, she would still rather not have him around her as much as possible.

"Come on, Jacky. How many times do I need to say I am sorry for what I did?" He asked, a bit exasperated with the idea of him groveling at her feet. 

He never did this before with any other girl or woman, so it was news to him why he was doing it now. But he could not stop himself from seeking her out. Every day that she would not talk to him was torture to him.

"There is no need for you to say sorry because there is just no point for me to forgive you." She told him, continuing to walk toward the main entrance of the palace at her slow pace. 

"Please, don't say that. Remember that we are still friends." He tried to appeal to her. He was sure that their times together might still have some meaning to her.

She stopped in her tracks when she heard what he just said. It made her blood boiled, using her friendship so casually as if it meant so little to him. What they shared meant so much to her. For him to tell her that was an insult to her.

"No friend of mine would do what you did to me." She could not stop her outburst. She started stubbing her index fingers at his chest, hating the man in front of him.

Then, she took a deep breath to calm herself down. Marcus was just not worth her time and energy. She calmly walked away from him.

She saw no point in walking fast because she knew that she could never outrun him if he intended to follow her. So it would be better to take her leisure walk and ignore his existence. Unfortunately, he continued to walk not far behind her.

"Good morning, Jacky." She was surprised to see a familiar face waiting for her outside, just below the marbled steps. He quickly climbed up the steps to greet her when he saw her.

"Lance, what are you doing here?" Jacky asked as soon as he was close to her. 

"I thought maybe you would want some company. Alex invited me to come along." He offered his explanation. 

"Oh, that is so nice of Alex." She suddenly felt glad that Alex invited a friendly face on the trip. She did not have to suffer from the man behind her anymore.

"Hi! I'm Lance." Offering his hand to the man, who quickly stood next to Jacky. He suddenly felt awkward offering his presence to Jacky, thinking that she was already with someone else.

"Marcus." He accepted Lance's hand for a shake while assessing the man. He had already seen him before at the party, dancing with Jacky, and the other day, when he took her home from their date. 

"I'm sorry, Jacky, but I did not know that you already have company." Lance apologized for his intrusion and was about to walk away.

"No, he is not with me." Jacky suddenly announced, moving away from Marcus and closer to Lance. "I am actually looking forward to your company," Jacky told Lance loudly, hoping to make it known to everyone around what she just said.

"That's great then. Can I help you with your things?" Lance offered, extending his hands to get her things.

But Marcus decided to butt in. "Don't bother. She is more than capable of carrying her things. She is a feminist." Marcus stated before walking ahead of them, moving away from the two, bringing his sour attitude.

"What's wrong with him?" Lance, of course, noticed the sarcasm in his words.

"Don't mind him. He is just in a foul mood. Somebody recently dumped him." She did not want to go to the details. "Come on. We don't want to be late." She allowed him to carry her things.

He offered his other available arm for her to hold as they walked together to their meeting area.

"Honestly, tell me. Is Marcus the man that left you at the party?" Lance knew that he should not be nosy, but he did not like to walk in a room, not knowing what surprise awaited inside.

He liked Jacky. He wanted to get to know her more. But if she was in a relationship or just came out of a relationship, he still wanted to know. So, he would know what to expect and how to manage the situation.

"Yes, he was my date that day. But we are not in a serious and committed relationship." She tried to explain, but she knew that it was not easy to tell him the extent of her relationship with him. Or her feelings for him.

"Ok. You don't have to tell me more, but if you want to talk about it. Remember, I am just here to listen." Lance offered, knowing that getting out of a relationship was not easy.

He had been in that kind of situation more than once in his life. But he was willing to listen and help her get over him if she would let him.

"Thanks. For now, let us leave it at that. Marcus was a past that I need to forget." Jacky stated, wanting to end the conversation about Marcus.

"Ok. Then it is the end of that. Shall we talk about something else?" He placed a chaste kiss on her hand, trying to comfort her. 

Because, as of the moment, he was seriously contemplating if he should start courting her. She was the main reason that he gave up his race today to be here. He wanted to find out if he should pursue her before she left and went back to her home.

His loss would be his gain. He believed that Jacky deserved more than to be treated that way. He was not about to let Jacky suffered another heartache because of a selfish and entitled man like Marcus.