The Royal Contract

"What is your plan man?" Marcus asked as he stepped inside his office and sat on the chair across from him with his legs cross. "Alex, may I remind you that you only have a week before your birthday."

He just wanted to make sure that whatever was bothering his friend for these past few weeks would end together with his birthday. He was positive that his obligation to his family despite his repeated defiance to his father was weighing heavily on him.

He might not admit it, but he loved his family too much, to even put them into shame. So, despite not wanting to follow their tradition, he was hell bend on doing it, even for the day. He just could not put his father and mother in a very compromising position.

"I know and I am already working on it." He told his friend as he checked his phone for any messages. It had been more than a day since he left the contract with her and she had not called back.

He already tried to contact her several times, but she always found a way to avoid his calls. He was now wondering if she did reject her proposal. But he was willing to give her another forty-eight-hour before he opted for his Plan B.

As much as he hated to do it, he would not have any choice but to choose from the list that Marcus gave him.

"By the way, what was the contract for? Did you finally choose from the three candidates I showed you?" Marcus asked, remembering the contract he asked him to draw up for him.

"No, it's not for them. It's for someone else not on the list." He finally disclosed it to his friend. He had to inform him. One way or another, if she finally said yes or if she had any questions about the contract, she might contact Marcus about it instead of him.

That was if she would say yes. If in any case that she said no, then who should he pick from the list? Three fitted the criteria they were looking for. First, she must come from a refutable family which was already set. Then, they must at least be to his liking, in physical appearance.

The final criteria were the trickiest ones. She must have a weakness that they could exploit so he could convince her to agree to his terms in exchange for his help. After careful digging into their backgrounds, the three were the most likely to fit his requirements.

"Don't tell me you are considering Tyra for the role. I don't think she would be easily persuaded to act the part. She would want the real thing." Marcus stated what he already knew. But he had another girl in mind and that was not Tyra.

"It's not Tyra. As you said, she would not fit into my plan. I am thinking of someone else for the position as my fake fiancé." He took out a file on his desk and shoved it to his friend.

When he took the file, he easily recognized the name written on the folder tabs. It was one of the background-checked he had done a few weeks ago. "What does Dani had to do with this?" He was confused.

He knew that he had asked him to dig on to her background and credentials, even personal affiliations because he was interested to hire her as one of their outside counsels. But looking at her file, he did not see the relevance of her to what they were talking about.

"Are you saying that you would ask her to be your fake fiancé?" It just did not make sense to him. "Do you even know who you are talking about?" Remembering what Jacky said about her. "This woman is an ice queen. She doesn't date or do relationships."

"I know what I'm doing. And for that same reason that I think she would be perfect for the role." He pointed out. He had thought about it thoroughly, checking all her background.

She came from a very reputable family. Not necessarily royal blood, but in this city, her father was the king and she was a princess. He was sure that his father would approve of her even if it was just a fake relationship on his part. They never had to know.

Then, of course, there was no question that he was attracted to her physically. She was stunning and every man would be proud to have her by his side. The final thing he liked about her was her passion for her work. They both shared their devotion to their ambition.

The least of their priority was to have a relationship that could only hinder their priorities in life. To him, she was perfect to pretend as his fiancé until he could get out of it. Long courtship and engagement were common to their tradition, so he was confident that he could find a way to end it before they reached the point of marriage.

"But, how can you convince her to agree? As far as I gathered, she is one very stubborn woman. Even her father could not make her bend to his wishes." Marcus once again reiterated the obvious.

That was the problem he was having at the moment. He was not even able to talk to her ever since he gave her the contract. He wondered if she even opened and read it. If he could not find serious leverage against her, then he could probably kiss his plans goodbye.

"I'm still working on that." He admitted to his friend. Remembering how she shut him down with the funding of the pro bono cases. He knew then that it was not easy to bribe her. It would take more than money to convince her to help him.

"Well, better work fast because your time is ticking." Marcus showed him his watch and began to imitate it for good measure.

The joke was not funny, but he knew that Marcus was right. He needed to think fast or else he would end up with the other people on the list or worse yet, married which was the last thing on his mind.

He had to find a good motivation for her to put up with his plans.