The Royal Contract

"David, are you sure that I can handle this?" She checked the file and skimmed on the premise of the case. She was doubtful that she was the right person to be assigned to such a high-profile case.

Although it was another pro bono case, she was a bit apprehensive. Unlike the other one she recently had that she had won, this one would surely go to court. She was not sure if she was ready for that.

"I am confident of your capability to represent this case," David told her, standing up from his chair and walking towards where she was sitting.

"But I have never won any litigation case yet." In her career as a lawyer, most of the cases she had succeeded in winning were settlements. She had yet to win her case against corporate giants in court.

However, her circumstances were different now. The company was giving her permission to use their resources. Even if these giant monsters of a company prolonged the trial, she would still have funding to support her case.

Besides, she still had the financial backing of Alex's agreement if she would need additional funding. But with their current relationship status, was it right that she should still take his money. 

She began to wonder about the contract that they had agreed on and thought of its condition. Was it still in play, now that they were a couple? Most importantly, what about the marriage clause?

"Hey, are you ok? Did you hear what I said?" David waved his hand on her face and snapped his finger to snap her out of her trance.

David wondered what was going through her mind when she seemed to be lost a few moments ago. Did it had something to do with the case or something else? 

It would seem that she and Alex were getting more serious every day. Based on how Alex was behaving around them, he must be starting to get head over heels in love with this woman. But he could see why. She seemed to be a great catch.

"Oh, what were you saying? I zoned out for a moment." She excused herself, feeling her cheeks heating a bit as she felt embarrassed with her daydreaming.

She tried to concentrate on what David was saying, but her mind seemed to be wandering somewhere else. The thought of her agreement with Alex would not stop floating in her subconsciousness. 

Would Alex find a way out of the marriage, or would she end up marrying him? But did she want to? That was another question. But then she silently shook her thoughts as she focused on David.

"No, worries. Even I would be shocked with such a case." David said as he continued with what he was saying. "With that said, I hope that you will take the case. Don't worry. Evan would be closely supervising you with it."

"I am more than happy to take the case." She finally agreed. She did wait for a case like this for a long time, so now that it was finally in her lap, she would not let it slip away.

Her temporary doubt earlier was now replaced by her excitement to take the case and win it. She could finally prove to herself and to those who doubt her abilities that if given equal gear on a battlefield, she might have a chance to win her case.

"I will let Andrew and some other associates help you with this case. Just tell me if you will need anything else." He informed her as he went back to his seat and rearranged his tie.

"If there is nothing else, then I better get a start on this." She also stood from her chair and thanked her boss, walking away from his office and back to hers.

In her office, she immediately sat on her chair and checked on her schedule and messages. Monday usually was the most hectic morning she usually had. While the rest of the week, afternoons were the worse.

Alex's getaway plan did not materialize as both of them barely went out of his house. After Jacky went back to the apartment, they transferred to his place, wanting a little privacy.

It had been a fun and relaxing weekend. Alex and Dani managed to find a comfortable routine that they could do when they were together inside the confine of his home.

"Hey, I miss you this weekend." Jacky walked into her office carrying several files in her hand and putting them on top of her desk. "Will this be a weekly thing because it had been happening a lot lately?" She teased her, but her words have a deeper meaning.

"I miss you too, Jacky." She said to her friend. Then, she thought of her question. "Honestly, I don't know how to answer that. I know things between Alex and I are going too fast, but I don't know how to slow it down."

"Well, if you think that he is the right man, then you have nothing to worry about," Jacky assured her friend. Besides, she did like Alex for Dani.

"What about you? We never had the chance to talk about your date with the doctor." She again found herself guilty for lacking time for her friend. 

She looked at her watch and saw that they have a few minutes to spare. She would like to hear what happened to her friend.

"He is ok. At first, the date was doing great. We went to a nice restaurant, but we had not finished with the meal when he was called back to the hospital because of an emergency." She related to her friend.

"Then, why did you take so long before you went home? Did you meet someone else?" She wondered if her friend was going back to her old ways of randomly going out with men on a date.

"No, I did not find anyone else," Jacky answered her. She could blame Dani for thinking that. She had done so many things in her past that she was not proud of because of her stupidity.

"Then what happened?" She was suddenly curious. Lately, her friend was acting so different since they came back from their trip. But guilty of not being a good friend, she did not have time to talk to her about it.

"I ended up going with him in the hospital. I sat in the waiting room and met Robbie." She started narrating to her the rest of the events of that night. 

While she sat in the waiting room, a boy named Robbie was alone in the corner, crying. She approached him and asked why. Her mom was sick, and his father went to see her. He had to wait there while his father had not returned, and he was scared.

She ended up playing with the boy to entertain him. Then his father returned to inform him that her mother was going to be ok. 

"After an hour, he finally emerged and treated me a midnight snack at the cafe across the street. Then he took me home." Jacky continued with her story. "He did say that he wanted to see me again."

"Oh, that seemed romantic. But why do I sense some hesitation in you." She asked Jacky, who had turned silent.

"I am not sure." Jacky released a big sigh as if she had been holding her breath for some time. "Sebastian is a nice guy, but I don't see myself married to someone like him. I could not feel the excitement that I felt for Marcus or even Lance." She admitted to her friend.

"Do you still like Marcus?" She asked as their conversation went deeper.

"I don't think so. I think I hate Marcus' guts more." Jacky furrowed her brows just thinking of the man.

"What about Lance?" She knew that the two hit it off, but she had no idea how their relationship or whatever they had ended. Jacky did not talk about it much.

"What's not to like about Lance? I think he is perfect. But do you think he would fly here to see me? And if he did, would that be enough? I don't think he would waste his time for a girl like me." Jacky finally admitted what she had thought of Lance and their short-lived affair.

"Jacky..." But she was not able to finish what she had to say when Jacky quickly stood up.

"I better go back to work. You, too. You have tons of contracts that need to finish reviewing." Jacky interrupted her as she walked out of her office.

She could only shake her head at her friend. Now, she knew what happened to her. She only wondered how her friend would recover from this. Would this new guy be able to help her?

Jacky had no idea that she left her heart with a certain prince. It would seem that cupid had struck again.