The Royal Contract

He tried to stay away to give her time to adjust to her new life. But every minute he was away from her was worse than dying. He felt like she was slipping away. Frankly, he was afraid to lose her forever.

"No, that was not happening." He just could not let it happen without doing something about it. He did not want to mope inside his apartment and sulk at work.

He had to do something.

"Damn it!" He guessed he did not think this through, as somehow, his feet dragged him out of his bed.

Then, the next thing he knew, he had driven in the middle of the night and parked on the side of the dark pavement, watching the apartment across the street like a Goddamn stalker.

It was bad enough that he had driven late at night to bring her stuff. He could not do that again. He realized that he was only making things worse for him.

"I will be back." But next time, he would have a plan. He drove away before someone noticed that he had been stalking their place.

When Roseann called that morning, informing him that she was going back to work. He knew it was his chance. He would pretend to be in the vicinity and invite her for lunch.

He would be the perfect gentleman, and she would not have any reason to turn him down. What could go wrong?

Thud! Crash!

"Rosella!" He mumbled as soon as he heard the unusual noise inside the apartment. He was about to knock on the door but decided otherwise.

He tried the door, but the knob would not open. Then, he remembered that Roseann kept a spare key on the top right side of the door jam in case she locked herself outside.

Bingo! He found it. Without wasting another second, he barged into the room, searching the small apartment until his eyes found her.

"What is going on here?" He immediately asked as he moved closer until he found the source of the loud crash.

But that was not all, as he immediately walked toward her and attended to her wounds. There was one big cut and some small ones.

He was glad that she seemed to trust him. At least she was finally tolerating his presence. She appeared more relaxed and less jumpy, especially when he touched her and carried her.

It was a small step, but he believed it was a massive improvement. He guessed that was progress in their relationship.

"I think I can do that." He responded with positivity. He had seen her do it a thousand times before. Therefore, he was confident he could do this with flying colors.

He first took two cups from the upper cupboard. Then, he heated some water on the teapot. "Where do you think Roseann kept her tea?"

He looked at the middle cupboard, but it was not there. He checked the other cabinets, but still, there was no sign of the herbal drink.

"I do not know." She suddenly smiled, shrugging her shoulders. "I just assumed that she had tea in the cabinets."

"I did not have time to check. Since I moved in with Roseann, she had been handling me with kid's gloves." Rosella complained, saying her sister waited on her hand and foot.

That sounded like Roseann. She could be stubborn as a pig and would not take no for an answer. She would do everything if she could, especially for her sister.

"Based on what I remember about Roseann, she was more of a coffee drinker," David answered, giving up on finding the tea they needed.

For someone in the medical field, Roseann had many unhealthy lifestyles. But he guessed she was still young. She still had time to change her ways.

But Rosella had always been different. She hardly drank alcoholic beverages, usually ate healthily, choosing her food wisely. And she did not have many unhealthy habits, unlike him.

"I guess you know my sister more than me." She dishearteningly concluded.

He could understand her frustration. He forgot that it was her birthday at one point in their relationship. And he could not stop beating himself up for it.

What more when she forgot all about her family, friends, and him? He could not even put himself in her shoes. He had no idea what she might be feeling.

He could only imagine staring at a blank canvas. Everybody could see how beautiful it was, but he could not see the picture.