The Royal Contract

She blinked her eyes twice, thrice, but the view did not change. She doubted that this was a dream. Then, the memories returned to her gradually as she stared at her beautiful room.

“Good morning!” She mumbled in the air, knowing no one would hear her. She was alone. Her son was not here to wake her up.

Then, the thought of calling her son came to her mind. “What time is it?” She could not help but ask as she stared at the sunshine radiating through the window.

It was so bright that it almost made it difficult for her to stare at it without blinking and partially covering her eyes. It could be midmorning by the look of the sun’s rays.

“Damn!” She abruptly sat up from her comfortable bed, realizing she had overslept. She snatched her phone from the side table and looked at the time. She was not mistaken.

Damn! What did she do?

.....

She ran towards the bathroom to get herself fixed. They had an early breakfast meeting with the other team, and she had slept through that. She wondered if she could still catch up with them.

She remembered that Zach had come by her room last night. They discussed the plan that their boss required for the final negotiation. Their meeting did not take long since they both agreed on almost everything.

“This is your fault.” She chastised her image in the mirror as she applied mild makeup on her face, seeing a trace of an eye bag on the bottom of her eyes.

She should have been relieved and immediately gone to sleep when he left her room early last night. But she had to toss and turn on her bed and end up watching a movie to get him off her mind.

Was she expecting that something would happen? For example, he would say he was sorry for his reaction the other night. Then, he would take her in his arms and kiss her.

She was gravely disappointed because he only came because of the meeting and left as soon as it was over. Nothing about his actions seemed to remind him of that kiss.

“You should stop thinking about him and forget that unfortunate accident.” She pointed at her reflection. “Because that was all it was, an accident.” She repeated the last word. “An accident that he probably regretted.”

She closed her eyes and shoved the memory into the very recesses of her mind. She had to focus because she was wasting valuable time. She was already very late.

She managed what she could do with the short amount of time, putting her hair in a messy tie because there was nothing else she could do at that moment. Then, she quickly dressed up to make herself presentable.

“What now?” She heard the bell ring as she ran out of her bathroom in a hurry to get her things.

She could not help but wonder who it was. It could be her partner who was finally checking on her because she did not attend the meeting. Or it could be hotel staff.

She quickly opened the door to find her first guess to be the correct one, discovering her partner at the other side of her door. He looked different from what she expected to find. He wore casual clothes as if he had not gone to the meeting but was about to go out to the beach.

“Zach!” She greeted, a little out of breath. Because she was running, not because she found him attractive in his black shorts and white-fitting shirt. “How was the meeting? Why did you not wake me up? What is going on?”

She rattled her questions, not giving him time to answer. She was rambling like an idiot because she could feel her heart beating more than it should.

Why was she even nervous upon seeing him? Or was it even fear or something else causing her skin to shiver? It did not make sense, but her mind was nagging at her.

However, it did make perfect sense, but she refused to acknowledge what she felt. Because that would mean she could get hurt. It was clear now that she was attracted to this man, but it seemed he did not feel the same.

“Good morning, Ria.” He greeted her without answering any of her questions. Then, he looked at her from the top of her messy hair down to her shoeless toes. She was about to wear her shoes when she was interrupted.

“First, You need to change since you are not dressed appropriately for the occasion. There was a change in plan.” He continued after sizing her up. “The clients canceled the meeting this morning. Instead, they wished for us to join them at the beach.”

She could only stare at him as if he was some alien giving her instructions. “But I did not pack anything for the beach.” The words slipped out of her lips before she could stop herself. Well, she was surprised by the suddenness of the situation.

Suddenly, all their comments about considering this trip like a vacation came crashing down on her mind. Maybe she should have taken them more seriously, making her regret not taking any casual clothes with her.

Before she knew what was happening, he entered her room and grabbed her keycard that was on the side table. Then, he quickly glanced her way before he moved further inside and picked up her shoes on the floor.

“Come on, put on your shoes.” He instructed, kneeling before her.

“What are you doing?” She asked him, slightly embarrassed to see him shoving her shoes at her foot. “Stand up.”

Suddenly, an elderly couple walked by her door and looked in their direction. They smiled as if they enjoyed the little show, making her more mortified with their situation. She could already imagine in her head what they were thinking.

“Lift your feet so we can go.” He adamantly commanded, ignoring her protest. “We will be late if you keep fighting me on this.”

She could kick him out of her room, but that would sound childish. Nevertheless, how he was behaving toward her was not appropriate either. What was wrong with him?

“How did you know about the change of plans?” She could not help but wonder because she did not recall anything about that last night before he left her room.

“If you bother to check your email, you might have seen the notification.” He informed her, making her remember that she barely looked at her phone except check the time.

Now, she felt guilty that she had not called her son again. She planned to phone him when she woke up, but the meeting had her jumping out of bed and into the bathroom. Soon, calling him was the last thing on her mind.

“Where are we going anyway?” She finally conceded, allowing him to assist her with her shoes.

But relief was the last thing she felt when he stood up and dragged her outside her door, locking it behind her. First, she did not have her phone, and her bag was inside the room. Then, her keycard was inside his pocket, out of her reach.

“Wait!” She shouted as she tried to open her door. “I left my bag and my phone inside.” She complained to him, wanting her card so she could get it.

“That could wait for later.” He looked at his watch as if he was counting the minutes. “As I said, we will be late if we do not hurry.” He repeated as he continued to walk down the hallway with her dangling along.

“Where are we going again?” She asked, still puzzled by his behavior. She tried to pull at her hand, but he firmly held it in his. It was not too tight that it hurt, but it was not loose enough for her to get away.

Or was she pulling enough?

“We are going shopping.” He finally said as they waited for the elevator to open that would take them to the lobby or wherever he was planning to go.

“No, we are not.” But before she could say another word, he pulled her hand and entered the elevator.

She could not do anything as she watched the doors closed on them. First, she needed the clothes, knowing she could not attend the event in her business attire.

But she did not want him to pay for her clothes, thinking she did not have her purse. But what else could she do? She could demand that he should take her back to her room. But she doubted he would oblige.

“Yes, we are. Consider this one of the company perks.” He offered with a wink of his right eye, telling her that the debate was over.