The Royal Contract

"What happened last night?" Jacky walked through the kitchen in her robe, holding on to her head, and slumped down on the counter. The last thing she remembered was going out of the club with Sebastian holding her, probably guaranteeing she did not end up in a ditch somewhere. "What about Sebastian? Where is he?"

"You got wasted. That was what happened. Don't worry. Sebastian probably went home safely after dropping you home last night." Dani informed her as she prepared a coffee that her friend badly needed.

From the way she looked, coffee might not be the only thing she needed. She would highly recommend a shower since she still reeked of alcohol.

"Oh!" Jacky moaned as she pulled on her hair to ease her pain. Her brain was still hardly functioning as she stared at the steaming cup in front of her.

"This came for you." Dani placed the flowers in front of Jacky with the card still intact.

She was not Jacky. She never liked snooping on things that were not hers. Although she did not mind when Jacky did it, she was used to her. Sometimes, she did find it funny.

"From whom?" Jacky asked curiously, but Dani only shrugged her shoulder.

She quickly checked on the note, and as expected, it came from Sebastian. He said that he had a magnificent time last night. He hoped that her headache gets better.

It seemed that the way she disgraced herself last night had not sent him running for the hills. Well, maybe they did have a future together, she thought as she stared at the flowers in her hands.

"This also came with that." Dani handed her a pill for her headache.

The doctor did earn a few good points with his thoughtful gesture, in her opinion. It would seem that Sebastian was just what the doctor recommended for a broken heart.

"That is so sweet of him," Jacky stated, feeling delighted as she swallowed the pill in one gulp. She badly needed it to get her head together so she could survive her tasks for the day. 

But the thoughtfulness of Sebastian was not lost to her. She appreciated the gestures he was showing her.

"Why would you suggest playing that game and agreed to drink when you have no plan to answer and do all those dares?" She still could not understand how her friend's mind works sometimes.

"I thought it would be fun, and Troy kept asking those stupid questions. Why did I always end up with Troy doing the asking and the dares?" Was it just her bad luck last night when she kept ending up against Troy, who would seem to be just as bad as her. Or maybe it was karma getting back at her.

"I don't know. But why did you keep dodging the questions?" She asked, curious about her reasoning. "Normally, you would have no problem telling us what is in your mind."

She believed that her friend did act strangely last night. As if she was playing out of her character. 

"Because I was hoping to make an impression with Sebastian. I don't want him to know my past, not yet anyway." Jacky explained to her friend. "I want to get to know him better and for him to know the real me before I tell him what I did in my past."

"Are you sure that it is the right way to do it? I feel it would be better if you tell him outright who you are before he found it out somewhere else." She suggested to Jacky.

"Don't worry. I don't intend to keep it forever, just a few more dates." Jacky assured her. "But you know what I realized." She held again on her head as a new onslaught of headaches hit her brain.

"What?" She waited for her friend to continue her revelation.

"I want to give Sebastian a chance." Jacky picked up the coffee that Dani offered and sipped on its hot goodness. She badly needed the caffeine boost.

"Great! He seems to be a nice guy. It appears that he genuinely likes you." She was happy with her friend's conclusion.

"Really? I hope so." Jacky still did not feel the same giddy feeling she had with her other recent relationships, but she was willing to try to see if she could develop it with Sebastian over time.

"Just give it time." She said, hoping that her friend would finally find what she was looking for in Sebastian.

"I guess not everything happened all of a sudden. Not everything is about love at first sight." Jacky contemplated on her current situation.

"I believe so too." Dani could not agree more. But she spoke too soon.

"Look at you and Alex. You started not liking each other, but eventually, the attraction developed in time." Jacky said, citing her relationship with Alex as an example.

"Enough about me." Jacky was about to say more, but Dani cut in and blocked whatever she was about to tell her.

"Yes, enough about last night. I am..." Dani was saying, but her friend also interrupted her.

She suddenly felt guilty that she had not mentioned to her best friend that it was not the case between her and Alex. Attraction came first before their relationship.

"You always do this when you don't want to talk about yourself. Stop avoiding the subject. I think I just confirmed that Troy is quite interested in you." Jacky pointed out what she remembered of last night's game.

"Troy is just a friend. Nothing more. Besides, I already told him I am serious with Alex." Dani did not want to put too much thought into the game last night. Well, she did not want to talk about herself anymore, period.

She did not want to dwell on the subject that was not supposed to be an issue because it was not. Troy would always remain just a friend. And she would make sure again that he understood it, or else she would have to end their friendship.

"Where is Alex, by the way?" Jacky asked, looking around the place for a trace of him. He was usually bustling in the kitchen when he was around.

"He had to rush home early this morning because his parents surprisingly arrived today without a hint that they were coming." She said, using a neutral tone as she finished the breakfast she prepared and gave half of it to Jacky.

She related to her friend that his mom called. They were arriving that morning and wanted to have breakfast with him.

"Why did you not go with him? Shouldn't you be there with him having breakfast with your soon-to-be in-laws?" Jacky asked her with a raised brow.

"I can't leave you in your condition. But Alex and I plan to have dinner with his parents tonight." She reasoned out, but deep inside, she was freaking out. At least, she still had time to prep herself up for tonight compared to if she had gone with Alex this morning.

"Really? As if I need a babysitter. Don't give me that crap. What's wrong?" Jacky confronted her friend with his two hands on her hips. Dani might be able to lie in front of the court, but not to her. She could not use her poker face to fool her. 

"I feel awkward seeing them again. Now that Alex and I are in a relationship." She admitted to her friend.

It was different when they were pretending to be a couple. But now that Alex and Dani were in an actual relationship, she could not help but stress out, especially regarding seeing his parents again.

"Don't worry about it. Alex's parents already love you, so the tiny lies you told them would not matter anymore. Besides, you are serious about making it work with Alex, so stop stressing about seeing them." Jacky encouraged her.

"Well, coming from you, I feel much better." She teased Jacky.

But she never thought that Jacky would someday be advising her about relationship issues. But she was glad that she did.

"Dani, what about..." But Jacky was interrupted again by a loud shrill of Dani's phone.

"Hi! Did you miss me already?" She immediately and excitedly answered her phone, thinking that it was Alex. Who else would call her early in the morning?

"Wow! That is a sweet way to greet your mother." Her mom spoke on the other line to her surprise. "Yes, princess, I miss you too."

"Hi, Mom. I thought you..." She suddenly changed her mind and discontinued what she was to say. "Anyway, what's up, Mom?" She was surprised that her mom called. It was not as if she did not call her at any time of the day. She was not expecting it this morning.

"I called because I was wondering if you are not busy now. Maybe you would like to have lunch with me." Laura said with a slight noise in the background.

"I'm not busy. I can meet you for lunch. Just text me the details." She told her mom, feeling a bit guilty because she barely bothered to call her and see her mom since they got back from their trip.

"That is wonderful. I will give you the details later. I can't wait to see you. my princess." Laura said, but she could hear another voice in the background.

She could already guess that her father was listening to their conversation. She suddenly contemplated the sudden purpose of their lunch date. 

Was his parents' sudden arrival had anything to do with her mom inviting her out? Was it a mere simple date because her mom missed her, a coincidence perhaps, or was there something more to it?