The Royal Contract

In another part of the city, another couple was out for dinner. Was it a date? Technically, yes. But in her mind, it was only a friendly date. There was nothing romantic about going out with him to show him around the city.

In all honesty, she wanted the night to be full of hearts and flowers. She wished Lance to say that he was here for her. She dreamed that they would fall in love and live happily ever after. 

"Don't you like the food?" Lance's voice penetrated her consciousness, rousing her out of her trance.

He had been observing her since he first saw her walked into the restaurant. He offered to pick her up from her apartment, but she insisted that she meet him instead.

Something was different about her. She was not the same girl he met back home. Although she was as beautiful or more than before, her aura had changed.

"I do. I am just not that hungry." She excused herself, realizing that she had been zoning out. 

She looked at her plate, and she barely touched her food. She did not have an appetite since she had been anxious once she saw Lance earlier.

Jacky promised earlier that she would treat this like they were just friends. But she could not help what she felt for him. She wanted more than friendship, but who was she to demand anything from him. 

He might be a prince, but she was no Cinderella. She did not have a fairy godmother, a pumpkin carriage, or glass slippers. She was just Jacky, who only had Dani at her corner.

"Would you like something else, or do you like to go anywhere else?" He asked, hoping to see the spark in her eyes. The one that enchanted him to her in the first place.

She seemed so lost, more than the first time they met. Did she end another relationship? Was she heartbroken again? By who? He could only speculate unless she offered him the answers.

He suddenly felt like comforting her. His instinct was to take her into his arms and help her get over him. Whoever the guy was. But the table separating them prevented him from doing that.

"No. I am ok. Let us eat." She told him, smiling in the process, cutting on her food and putting it into her mouth. 

She chastised herself internally for appearing less than enthusiastic about seeing him again. She should be ecstatic that he was here. It was easy said than done when she knew at any time he would be gone again.

Instead of eating, he extended his hand on the table and held her hands firmly in his. "If you need a friend to talk to, I am here." He spoke softly, afraid that he would worsen the situation.

He could sense that something was not right, but they just saw each other again. He did not want to pry when Jacky seemed not forthcoming with the answers.

"I'm ok." She answered him with a smile. "I'm sorry if I was not such a good company tonight. Something happened, and I am a bit down." She did not want to lie, but she felt it was necessary.

How could she tell him that he was the reason for her sadness? Seeing him again the other day gave her heart hope, but her mind quashed it instantly before it even began to beat. 

Because her mind was right, there was no hope for hoping for the impossible, if that made any sense. Jacky was only leading herself to a colossal heartache with no possible cure.

"That's ok. I hope I can help in any way to alleviate your sadness." As he continued to hold her hand, not wanting to let it go just yet.

He began to question his presence in her life. Why he had this need to see her again? The last time that they saw each other, he promised to let go of her.

Then, why was he entertaining a notion of seeing her again when he was not sure of a future with her. What was his intention of continuing to befriend her? Did he desire something else from her?

"Will excuse me?" She pulled her hand gently away from him and stood up from her chair. "I need to go to the powder room."

She did not wait for his answer as she slowly walked away from him. She needed some air, a space away from him for a few minutes to recompose herself. Feeling his touch on her skin brought back memories of the time that he had shown her a different affection.

For the first time, she felt special, as if she was breakable porcelain that needed to be handle with care. Lance made her realized that she should not settle for less than what she deserved.

"What are you doing?" She asked herself in the mirror, frustrated with herself for acting such in a way.

What if she now believed that she deserved someone like him. Should she act on getting him whatever it took? But that was plain stupid. She could not just come up to him and say that she wanted him. Could she?

But he was a prince, she muttered to herself. But he was also just a man. Her heart and her mind debated in her head. She quickly opened the tap and dabbed her face with water, hoping that would clear her mind.

After a minute, she took a deep breath and started at herself in the mirror. "I hope you know what you are doing." She said to the woman on the other side of the reflection.

Luckily, no one was with her inside the bathroom, or else they might think that she had turned cuckoo. She immediately fixed her face, removing the slight smudge of her makeup.

Then, she stood straight, preparing herself for what she was about to do later. For now, she would appear as normal as she could and enjoy the rest of the dinner.

"I'm sorry again for earlier. Don't worry. I am perfectly ok now." She gave him a megawatt smile that lighted up her face. 

It was not an easy task, but she had learned to do it with the years of training on being tough. She had smiled through her pain. She had laughed behind her cries. She did it before, and she could do it now.

"I'm glad to hear that. But my offer still stands if ever you will need it in the future." He helped her back to her seat and resumed their dinner.

He could still sense that she was hiding something from him. Maybe he would figure it out later, but for now, he was letting it go. He was just glad that she would seem to be genuinely smiling again.

"I'll surely take note of that." She jokingly answered, hoping she sounded convincing.

This time, she ate with gusto, despite not tasting much of the food she put inside her mouth. She showed Lance what he wanted to see and that she was ok.

"So, tell me, how have you been these last months.." He asked, hoping to hear some answers to his unspoken questions.