The Royal Contract

"Oh."

"Keep still."

"Uhmm"

"It will hurt more if you keep moving."

"Be careful."

Those were the noises she heard behind her closed door that awoke her from her deep sleep. When she opened her eyes, her ears tried to search for the source of the sounds. 

Jacky quickly stood up from her bed when she pinpointed the commotion was just outside her room, not far from the living room.  Based on the voices, she assumed that it was Dani and Alex on the couch. 

But what are they doing? She could not make out what was happening because the barrier between them was muffling the sound.

"I am trying to be careful. You have to keep still." Alex said to Dani. 

Jacky did recognize the voice of Alex, confirming her guess earlier. 

What was he doing this early in the morning in their house? What are they doing outside of her room, probably in their living room? She quickly moved closer to the door and strained her ears on the wooden door to listen to the activity going on their couch.

"I can't take it," Dani mumbled almost in a whimper.

"But you have to, or this might hurt." Alex kept insisting. "It might sting a little, but it will eventually feel better after you get accustomed to it." He continued with whatever he was doing.

"Oh, ok!" Dani conceded to whatever Alex was about to do to her.

Jacky had enough. She could not keep on listening behind the closed door like a peeping tom. She quickly opened her door and walked out of the room to stop them from whatever it was they were about to do.

"Whatever you two are doing? You better continue that inside your room. I don't want to see or witness the two of you having sex in the living room and on our couch." Jacky shrieked and cringed at the thought. 

She moved out of her room with her eyes still closed, with one of her hands covering the portion of her face. She did not want to see her friends naked in front of her.

"Jacky, what are you talking about?" Dani looked at her friend as if she had gone insane. "And will you please open your eyes? We are not having sex here. What gave you that idea?"

"You can open your eyes, Jacky. I am just helping Dani with her sprain." Alex explained their situation.

After the initial surprise, Alex could not stop the laughter from coming out of his mouth. Upon realization of what Jacky thought they were doing on the couch.

Slowly, Jacky removed her hand and opened her eyes to check the state of the two. But when she saw that they were fully clothed, she suddenly felt foolish for assuming too much.

She blamed it on her sleepless night. 

"What happened?" Jacky immediately moved to their side and looked at Dani's condition. "By the way, sorry for jumping to my conclusion."

"That's ok," Dani uttered, holding to her friend's hand. "I accidentally stumbled on a ball that crossed my path and probably twisted my ankle." She said, trying to change the subject. "Luckily, Troy was there to break my fall."

She contemplated not telling them about what Troy did, knowing how Alex felt about him. But she figured if Alex was to find out from his men what happened, he might think that she was keeping things from him.

Dani figured it would be better if it came from her, even if Alex would feel uncomfortable hearing about it. Besides, both of them did promise that they would not keep anything from each other.

"I told you that jogging is not good for you. Look at what happened to you." Jacky nagged like a mother hen as she stood to get some more ice in the fridge. 

"It was an accident. I could have sprained my foot even inside this room, and I could have done nothing about it." She tried to defend her hobby from her friend. 

Trust Jacky to blame her running since she never liked to exercise or wake up early in the morning. But Jacky never did need it. She had a body that could make any man fall on their knees.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Jacky shifted her attention to Alex when she returned with the new ice pack.

She figured that Dani and Alex might have a plan to go out before the accident happen. That was the only logical explanation for it.

"I was going to make up for my absence last night with a bag of donuts. But I learned that she was in the park, limping in pain, so I went straight to her instead." He once again explained his sudden appearance in the park and their apartment so early in the morning.

"Ok. Where is the donut?" Jacky asked, moving away from them as Alex pointed at the corner where he dropped it earlier. She immediately grabbed it and went back to the kitchen. "I am making us some coffee."

"Does that feel better?" Alex asked as he carefully applied the cold compress on the swollen area again. It was probably getting a bit numb from the ice. 

In his assessment, it would probably take a week or two before she could have full use of her foot again. Until then, she should rest as much as she could. She should not abuse her foot in the meantime.

"Yes, I think it is lessening the pain. Thanks." She told him as she finally rested her body on the backrest of the couch.

Then, Alex fixed her foot slowly on a throw pillow and planted it on the coffee table in front of her. Finally, Alex relaxed next to her and moved his head closer to hers.

"So, what do you think we should do on this couch? Do you think sex is still out of the picture?" Pointing to Jacky, who was busy in the kitchen. 

"You are so naughty." She reprimanded him, but she still felt the slight tingling of the excitement of having him next to her. "What about we wait for the coffee and have breakfast first, then decide later on what else we could do on this couch." She suggested, feeling the grumbling inside her stomach.

"Fair enough." He held her hand on his and pulled it to his lips, planting several kisses on each of them. He figured that he would have to settle for this for the time being. What was important was that they were together again.

"Here is the coffee and donuts." Jacky lowered the tray on the table and settled herself on the lone chair adjacent to them. "So, I guess you won't have any plans today." She summed up.

"I guess not. We will just be cuddling here on the sofa the whole day." Dani said resignedly. All her plans down the drain.

"What about you? Any plans to go out." Alex said as he picked up a donut and started feeding Dani a small piece.

"Nothing so far. Sebastian is on duty today." Jacky explained as she also picked up a piece. 

What should she do under her circumstance? Dani wondered as she sat immobile on her seat. She never wanted this feeling of being useless, where people would wait on her, hand and foot.