The Royal Contract

"Jacky, where is the file that I asked earlier? I need the file on the case of Mr. …" Dani was saying when Jacky dropped the file on her table, stopping her from finishing her sentence.

"Here it is." Jacky smiled at her, but instead of leaving, Jacky paced around her table, not saying anything. Then, finally. "Are you busy?" She asked as she sat down in the chair across from her. 

"You know I am, but what is it anyway?" Dani asked, seeing that her friend was conflicted by something. Jacky knew that she would drop anything she was doing for her.

Dani put down her pen and looked away from her computer screen, focusing her full attention on her friend, who seemed to be having some issues. From the way she was acting, she assumed that it was somewhat personal.

"You see." Jacky hesitated for a second, then decided to blurt it out before she lost her nerve. "Lance just texted. Well, he had been calling several times now, but I could not answer him." 

She had no idea how she would explain to her friend what was going through her mind without sounding stupid. But she knew that if someone could help her, it was Dani.

"Why? What's going on?" Dani did not understand what Jacky was thinking at the moment. As if she was anxious about something. Well, the Jacky she knew did not back down from challenges.

"I am afraid to fall for him," Jacky uttered out of the blue. Realizing her blunder, she immediately followed her statement. "He texted that he wanted to go out. I did promise him that I would show him around."

"Wait. Slow down." Dani placed her hand up towards her to stop her. "Start from the beginning."

"Ok." She took a deep breath and began again. "He wanted us to go out, but I don't know." She said in a rush, hoping that it did make sense to her friend. All she heard from her was gibberish.

"Wait. Let me get things clear." Dani tried to analyze her statement since it was said too quickly, she might make a wrong assessment of the situation. "He wants to see you, and you agreed, but now you are afraid to see him because you might fall in love with him."

"Yeah, something like that." Jacky covered her face with the palm of her hands, unable to look her friend in the eye, knowing that she was not making sense even to herself. She was confused about the way she was feeling.

"You know what. We should not be afraid of the way we feel. It should not dictate how we should live our life." Dani stood from her seat and walked closer to her friend.

"If you like Lance, then go out with him. See if he also likes you the same way. Being afraid of the unknown is like putting ourselves in a cage, and we will never be free." Dani explained, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Jacky listened to her friend. She knew Dani had always been wise. Her advice usually led her to the right path. And it did make sense what she said.

"I think you are right. I should enjoy Lance's company while he is here. And not get work out for nothing." Jacky finally concluded. "Thanks, I will let you go back to your work."

Somehow talking to Dani eased her anxiety of seeing Lance again. Instead of thinking of the future, she should only focus on today. As of now, Lance offered friendship, and she should concentrate on that.

Dani returned to her work when Jacky stood and walked out of her office. But she wondered about her advice if it applied to her. Was she afraid of the way she felt about Alex?

She quickly shoved the idea away. As of now, there were tons of work she had to finish, and mulling over her feelings for Alex was not the time. She could do that later. But would she have the courage to admit her feelings for him?

"Hello there. I hope it is not a bad timing to visit a friend." A man knocked once on her door and spoke up, slightly startling her in the process.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, forgetting to be courteous to her visitor. If she could call him that, she thought. "Where is Jacky?" She wondered where her friend was.

"Well, nobody is guarding your door, so I thought I would just say hi since I was in the vicinity." He stated as he moved a step forward. "Can I come in so we can have a small chitchat just to catch up?"

He could see that she was hesitating, but that did not easily dissuade him from pursuing his interest. He was not known as someone who gave up when he wanted something badly enough.

"You have to forgive my manners, Prince Edward. Please come in. I hope you don't expect me to bow down." She slightly sarcastically muttered the last part.

"Of course not. Here we are friends and equal. And Edward would do just fine." He said as he proceeded to enter the room and sat down on the available chair.

"Well, you have not answered why you are here?" She asked in her most civilized tone.

Despite not liking him, she knew that she still should show him professional etiquette. She could not help but wonder if Alex knew that he was here.

"If you must know, Alex asked me to discuss some contracts with David and Evan, but it seems that I have a few minutes to spare. So, here I am." Edward stated as if that should answer her question.

"So here you are. Although I would probably enjoy chitchatting with you, as you can see, I still have plenty of work to finish." Pointing to the papers in front of her. "Maybe some other time."

She hoped she was clear about what her intention was. But when Edward did not move or say anything, she thought that he completely ignored her. He just smiled and looked at her as if he was amused.

He finally stood up, "Some other time then," Edward buttoned up his coat again and walked towards the door. "I'll call you then to set up a date." He said, turning to her before walking out the door, not waiting for her reply.

She did not expect his parting words, but he was gone before she could turn him down. But she was not afraid of him. She knew she could manage a man like him.

"What was the prince doing in your office?" Jacky suddenly popped up in her office upon seeing Edward leaving her office.

She chastised herself for being gone, longer than she should. Now, someone was here to mess with Dani, and she was not there to protect her. 

Not that Dani could not defend herself, but it would have been better if she could stop him from getting close to her. Just like Dani, she never liked the man, even if he was a prince.

"Nothing, he just wanted to play catch up," Dani stated uninterestedly, wanting to go back to her work. "By the way, where were you?" She asked, curious why she was not at her desk.

Edward was not someone she should be befriending. He was a dangerous man, and she should be wary of dealing with him. But she knew she could not avoid him because he was, after all, Alex's family.

"I went to the bathroom." She excused herself, but she omitted the part that she finally answered Lance and decided to have dinner with him later. "I better go back to my work." 

Alone again, she was back in her thoughts. She realized that being in a relationship would always be complicated even if they liked each other a lot. 

There would always be people around them that would not make it easy for them. They would find a way to insert themselves into the relationship and messed it up. 

She just hoped that what she had with Alex would be strong enough to withstand the obstacles in their path. She suddenly wished that he was her forever. Maybe marrying him would not be that bad.

Was she seriously contemplating saying the words, I do, but what about love?