The Royal Contract

Soft, cuddly teddy bears covered every surface of her room, at the entrance, even the chairs. She knew Alex was sweet, but this was over the top. Everybody might think that she had opened a toy shop inside her office.

"I hope you don't mind, but I took several of these cute, cuddly bears," Jacky announced as she followed her into her office. "I placed it around my workplace. It is surely fun to see."

She was the first to arrive in the office earlier since Dani had to stop by at the partner's meeting. Just like Dani's reaction, she was also surprised to see all the boxes of those fluffy toys addressed to Dani.

When she peered inside, she found a note for her boss. Automatically, she knew that it all came from Alex, which she confirmed by his handwriting.

"I assume that you already knew where it came from." She knew that only one man would do this for her. After last night, she had known better that he would perform a romantic gesture like this.

"Yep." Jacky pointed to the biggest, white bear in the batch, with a red tie, sitting at her chair. Tied around its arms was a card.

"He should not have done this. It is just too much." Dani spoke out, but instead of her usual annoyance, her tone only indicated jubilation at his gifts.

She quickly moved towards the big bear, at least three feet high, and a very soft, fluffy, stout figure. She pulled the ribbon on its arms and started reading the note.

To the one and only person that painted colors to my life and stirred my heart to beat again, I hope you will love it.

Because I love you.

Alex

She could not stop the smile that spread on her lips as her face lighted up like a lamp at the way Alex expressed his feelings. She never thought that those simple words could overwhelm her with so many emotions.

"So, am I to assume that he already proclaimed his undying love," Jacky uttered dreamily, displaying in front of her a brown teddy bear. On the bear's hand, it held a red heart with an I LOVE YOU sign. It was an inscription written in the middle.

That was the only explanation for all of this, she thought. Besides, she already guessed as much that Alex and Dani were already heading in that direction. 

It was only a matter of time until they finally admitted it to each other. Finally, Jacky could assume that was the case. Her friend finally found the person she would love and love her back.

"Yes." Dani could not help the giggle that came out of her lips. She felt like a schoolgirl who just heard her crush said that he liked her. 

"Yes, what?" Jacky could not contain her excitement after hearing her answer. But she wanted confirmation that they were talking about the same thing.

"Alex told me that he loves me." She finally admitted to her friend what was the cause of her smile since she walked into her office.

She still felt like she was floating in the air as she reminisced the feeling of being in his arms the entire night. Sleeping with the knowledge was like dreaming over and over again.

Knowing that he loved her had changed everything about their relationship. It felt like it suddenly leveled up to the clouds, and she had no idea how to come down.

"That is great. I am so happy for you." Jacky ran to her side and enveloped her in a crazy hug as she shook her with excitement.

She was genuinely happy for her friend. Well, at least one of them was happy, but she was not giving up on her happy ending too. Someday, she would also find hers.

"Thanks, you are a true friend." She hugged her friend back, happy that she could share this with her.

She knew that this must be hard for Jacky after her many heartbreaks. But she believed that just like her, Jacky would eventually find the right man for her.

"I think we should celebrate," Jacky announced as she moved towards the door.

"What is all this? And what are we celebrating?" A voice suddenly interrupted their conversation, making them stopped in their tracks and turned to the source of the sound.

"It is..." Jacky was about to answer Evan, but Dani decided to interrupt whatever her friend was about to spill to their boss.

Talking about her love life during office hours was not professional. There was a time and place for those things. Now, she had wasted valuable time instead of working on a case.

"Jacky is just going back to her desk. What can I do for you, Evan?" She suddenly changed the topic, hoping that their boss would not pursue his earlier question.

"I'll leave the two of you. I think I heard the phone ringing." Jacky quickly moved away from them and exited the room.

"I'm sorry if I interrupted something personal, but I am here because of this." Evan moved further inside the room and handed her a beautiful envelope that looked like an invitation, that was if she was not mistaken.

"You were not interrupting anything. It was not that important." She told him as she stared at the envelope in her hand. "But what is this?" She asked as she opened it and checked the content.

It was an invitation for a charity event based on the first few lines. As she read further, she realized that Alex would be sponsoring the event. But why was it the first time that she heard about it? Alex had not bothered to tell her about a big event like this.

But before she jumped into any conclusion, knowing Alex, he might have a very sound explanation for not telling her about it. She could not think of any reason why he would intentionally hide something like this.

"As you can see, Alex will be sponsoring a charity event next weekend. Our company will also be joining the event. So, naturally, we are all invited to attend." Evan explained to her.

"Oh, ok." She understood the reason for the event. "But you should just send this through a messenger instead of delivering it yourself." She said, finding it a waste of his time to come here, to hand her an invitation.

"No, there is something else why I am here." Evan moved to a chair and made himself comfortable.

He was unsure why David gave him the task to deliver the invitation and the news, but he did not mind. He liked mingling with Dani. She always had a sharp mind and an intriguing point of view when they conversed.

"What else?" She asked, also moving to her chair and sitting across from her boss. She always felt comfortable talking to him because he always treated her like an equal.

She could not think of any other reason why her boss would make the trip from his office to hers. They just had a meeting earlier, so what else was there to discuss.

"The fundraising would be including your cause in the event." Evan finally said the gist of his visit.

"My cause?" She was puzzled. She had no clue what Evan was talking about with those words.

"One of the reasons for the fundraising is for your pro bono cases. It was Alex's idea. David and I agreed that it would certainly expand your coverage." Evan further explained.

He could not tell if Dani was ecstatic with the news or enraged by how her face turned blank. Maybe she was in shock that her cause was picking up too much attention and support. Well, he hoped that was it.

"That is amazing," Dani finally answered him. But she could not say if it was. 

Her mind was reeling with many questions about the event. Questions liked how Alex came up with this idea and why he failed to mention any of it to her when she was involved with it.

"Glad that you think so." Evan suddenly felt relieved after hearing that she liked the idea. " Well, I will leave you to your work. I'll see you then at the event." Evan quickly excused himself and walked out of her office.

She found herself contemplating the said event. But then again, she would never locate the answers in her head. She would need to talk to Alex all about it.

A charitable event should mean helping the people who are in need. She hoped that this event meant that and not another ploy to take advantage of others.. Many did use these events for selfish intentions.