The Royal Contract

Zach stopped by the nearby coffee shop on his way to work. The coffee provided to them in his department tasted like shit. If he would survive two months in this place, he, at least, needed a decent coffee.

“I am sorry! It was an accident.” A feminine voice anxiously said as he saw a hand, in his peripheral, waving before him. “Let me help you with that.” Then, she dabbed a piece of tissue in his soiled shirt and coat.

“Stop it! You are just making it worse.” He irritatedly swiped her hands away from him, not appreciating her effort to help.

“I will pay for the dry cleaning. Please, you can send me the bill.” Then, the girl started rummaging through her bag. She took a piece of paper and a pen and started scribbling something. “This is my number.” She offered, handing the crappy paper to him.

“I don’t need your number.” He ignored the paper and continued to check on his clothes. “Do you know how much this suit cost?” Then, he looked at her from head to toe. “I don’t think you can even afford my tie.”

He was angry, frustrated, and disappointed at how his day had started. It was like it was still about to get worse, seeing the time on his watch. He was late.

.....

Well, he went to his father to discuss his situation with Alex. In truth, he met with him to complain. But instead of listening to his sentiment, his father sided with his boss.

He even threatened to disown him if Alex complained about his performance. Even his mother agreed with his father on this. His mother said that it was an election year. They could not afford to lose Alex’s support for his father’s candidacy.

Now, he was stuck. He could not afford to lose the lifestyle he had enjoyed all his life if he disobeyed his father’s wishes.

“Hey, I said I am sorry. You don’t have to be mean.” She responded with an equally high pitch. She knew it was her fault. That was why she was apologizing. But it did not give him the right to ridicule her.

She was not wearing signature brand clothing, but it was decent and respectable. This arrogant piece of shit, this man, had no right to judge her just because his tie might be worth more than her entire salary for a month.

She grabbed a twenty-dollar bill from her bag and shoved it in his chest. She believed it was more than enough to cover the dry cleaning of his clothes, but she was not buying him a new pair.

“Here, buy yourself some good manners.” She turned around, not caring if he would pick up the bill or not. As far as she was concerned, she had already apologized and paid for the damages.

Besides, she could not care less what he thought. She doubted that she would see that man again. People like him did not usually cross paths with people like her. But good riddance. She did not like dealing with him anyway.

She continued on her way, knowing that she was late. She was only supposed to pick up a coffee for her boss. But now, she had wasted her time with this egotistical and narcissistic fool.

With hurried steps, she made her way to her office, located on the top floor, where she worked as an intern. It was her first day at work, and she would like to make a good impression, not ruin it by an unfortunate accident.

“Please hold the elevator.” She shouted once she was on the lobby floor, but it was too late. The doors closed before she could even reach halfway through.

Damn!

It would cause her several more minutes to wait for another lift to open. She tapped her feet on the floor, staring at the numbers as they continued their way up.

Then, she repeatedly pressed the button, hoping it would dramatically speed up the motion. She looked at the other elevators, but this one seemed the fastest.

Then, finally, her long wait, which was a few minutes, had arrived. The elevator doors opened. She immediately rode with the others and stood at the back since she would be going down last.

The doors were about to close when someone shouted. “Wait!” So, someone held the doors for whoever it was.

She looked at her watch, hating the waiting game. It might be minutes or seconds, but it counted in her book. Late was late, even if it was just a millisecond.

Then, the agonizing torture of stopping at almost every floor when someone went out and someone else entered. It was like fate was playing with her. The more she prayed for the metallic cart to speed up, the more it seemed to slow down.

She almost wanted to jump out of the lift and run on the stairwell. But it was still a long way up. She kept looking at her phone, but there was no signal inside the box. All she could do was wait.

Then, “Shit!” she expressed out loud, making the people turn around and look at her. She hastily ducked, hiding behind a tall man standing before her.

She just saw the man she had an unpleasant encounter with by the door. She was surprised that he was also going to this building. Was he also working in this place?

Wait! Could he be one of her bosses? Shit! That would be awkward. She might get fired on her first day.

“Please, don’t let it be.” She mumbled to herself silently.

She peeked again behind the man, hoping that the man would exit on the lower floors so he would not see her. But every time the door opened, he remained by the door until there were just four left inside the small box.

Fortunately, he was too preoccupied with himself that he never cared to look at his back. There was one more floor left. Either he would go down to the next floor, or he was on his way to the same floor as hers.

She closed her eyes, but only two went down, leaving him and her. Now, she knew that it was the end of her career. She was dead meat.