The Royal Contract

The morning was almost over, and she was still conflicted about accepting the case with Gerald. She did find it quite interesting, but something was still holding her back.

When her instinct conflicted with her logical thinking, she usually went with the former, but she also believed that opportunities like this were rare.

"Jacky, do I have any pending calls or meetings." She asked her friend and assistant. She knew she was only looking for something to distract her mind from finalizing her decision.

But sometimes, it helped to find something to divert her attention, and when her mind relaxed a bit, that was the time that she would go back to the dilemma in her hands..

"You are all clear for this morning. Well, except for your meeting with Mr. Brown." Jacky informed her.

Jacky strolled around her room, taking the files Dani had finished dealing with and clearing her table. Then, she placed the new files that she had to deal with for the afternoon meetings.

"Thanks." She took a deep breath, turning around and gazing at the tall skyscrapers ahead when Jacky moved out of her office.

She allowed her eyes to wander around the view outside, but deep inside, her mind was circling with the situations she had to face. First was her father's condition, then whether to take the case.

She could not understand her hesitation from tackling such an opportunity to work with a good case and a great mentor. Anyway, it was probably because of her father. She finally concluded.

"I'm going to Mr. Brown's office." She notified Jacky, stepping out of her office, carrying the file she had been studying for the last hour.

As she rode the elevator to his floor, though she already made a decision, her mind still kept arguing between the pros and cons of accepting the job.

But as she neared his office, she knew that she already made up her mind. There was no going back from her decision. She greeted his secretary and waited for her turn to enter his office.

"Mr. Brown will see you now." The pretty blond informed her as she opened the door to his office. 

She quickly walked into his office and took a seat offered to her. "Hi, Gerald." She greeted him.

"It is also good to see you. I hope you have already come up with a decision?" Gerald was not known to playing around.

Time was significant to him, and so were his cases. Right now, he needed her decision. He was hoping that she would agree. He was looking forward to working with her.

From the first time he met her, he already could tell that she would do amazing things. So far, he only heard good things from what she had done for this company. This firm was lucky to have her.

"I have." She answered him, blowing a bit of air to ease the shakiness of her voice. "I am taking the case." 

That was it. Dani had finally made a decision. She was taking the case whether her instinct was telling her that she should not. But there was no valid reason for her not to take it.

Except for the fact that it would be a difficult one to handle and time-consuming, she could not think of anything else. Those had always been part of her job description, so that was never an excuse.

"That's great then. I am excited to work with you and pick your young mind." Gerald expressed with a friendly grin.

He was indeed glad that she accepted to work with him. It was an opportunity to learn more about her and see what she was capable of doing.

"But I do have a condition." She never did like asking for preferential treatment, but in this case, she needed to. "I will only be able to devote time to it, at the earliest will be in two weeks." 

She wanted some time to deal with the charity event this weekend. She knew that Alex had made a lot of effort to make it extra special for her. Although she never asked for it, well, she still appreciated what he was doing for her.

Then, another week to take care of her dad. She wanted to be at her mother's side when the operation of her dad happened. She certainly could not work on a case if she felt a bit overwhelmed with her situation.

"You want the case to wait for you until you are ready," Gerald asked, quite surprised with her appeal.

"I know it is a bit unusual request, but I have a personal issue going on at home. If you think that it will impede the case, and then I will have no choice but to give it up." She would feel disappointed if he decided to give it to someone else.

But she was not that special for him to wait for her. Many eager lawyers in this firm would probably jump at the chance to work with him on this case.

"I'm sorry if you think I only wasted your time. I do believe it will be better if you give it to someone else." She hurriedly added, seeing the flabbergasted expression on Gerald's face.

"If there is nothing more. I think I better leave." She stood from the chair, feeling that it was the right decision. She could not keep the case from proceeding because she had somewhere else to be.

"No. Wait." Gerald quickly halted her from her steps and caught her attention. "I was not expecting that from you, but I think I understand." 

He stood from his seat and walked towards her while she stood in place, unable to process what was happening. 

"I think I can ask some other associates to help me while you wrap up whatever you have going on. Well, are you still interested?" He finally asked her, standing a meter away from her, waiting for her answer.

She could not believe what she was hearing. Gerald was willing to consider her request. She was still going to be working on the case if she accepted it.

If she already closed a door and a window still opened, that should mean that she should grab the opportunity.