The Royal Contract

"Jacky, I'm going out on a jog. Maybe this time, you would like to join me." Dani shouted outside her door, but all she heard was a muffled sound and a loud thud behind the closed door.

She had opted to come home last night to her apartment after a tiring day at the office and the hospital, while Alex had a very late meeting and decided to crash on his apartment. She did not mind a night without him.

As the saying went, absence made the heart go fonder. So, a few moments without Alex by her side would not hurt. Anyway, once she married him, it was more likely that they would be inseparable.

"Fine, I'll see you later." She shouted again before leaving the apartment without waiting for a reply from her friend.

Although she saw Jacky every day at the office, she did miss her friend. It had been a long time since they were able to spend some time together, just the two of them.

She was already halfway through the lobby when someone shouted at her back, stopping her in her tracks. "Dani, wait for me." She quickly turned around, stunned to hear a familiar voice.

"What are you doing, Jacky?" Dani asked once her friend caught up with her on her way out of the building. She had to burrow her brows, believing that her friend might be sick.

It was the first time that she saw her friend in exercise clothes. She was not even aware that Jacky owned such clothing. Jacky hated anything to do with sweat and strenuous activities.

Finding Jacky running after her, dressed up and ready to get her body sweaty, was the last thing on her mind. Dani was only teasing her when she knocked on her room earlier and invited her to join.

"What? I miss you. I never get to spend some time with you." Jacky spoke up defensively as she tried to catch her breath after rushing to get dressed and running after her friend. "I thought I might join you today on your run."

Jacky never felt the need to run to get the figure that she wanted. She was satisfied with her body and the way it curved in the right places. 

Besides, she never liked looking and smelling sweaty in front of other people. It ruined the image she portrayed of herself. Anyway, she could not see the purpose of it.

"Well, you are always welcome to join me in all my runs." She offered to her as she pulled Jacky outside the building and into the open air. 

She guided Jacky towards the path that she had taken since she started jogging this park. She would like to take advantage of having her friend with her at this moment.

The possibility of this repeating twice in this lifetime was unlikely to happen again. Dani could already foresee Jacky regretting joining her in this jog. She might even blame her for dragging her into this.

"So, are we running all the way?" Jacky asked after a few minutes of trying to catch up with Dani. "Or, can we just walk a bit?" She held on to Dani's shoulder as she tried to stop her from going any further.

"We barely made a dent on our running path," Dani complained to her friend, who was already ready to give up. "Come on, a few more stretch." She tried to encourage her.

Although, it was already a stretch that Jacky was running with her this morning. She appreciated her friend more for the effort, though Dani slowed down her pace for her.

Jacky could get away with eating anything and not get anything sticking on her body, unlike Dani, who had to work hard to burn those extra calories.

"Are you serious? Why do you have to torture yourself in this way?" Jacky complained some more, but she pushed herself to run alongside her. 

"I'm not as lucky as you are, remember?" Dani reminded her about the time where she neglected exercising. It caused her to gain a few extra pounds that she had to put on additional workouts to get rid of it.

"Fine, but we need to stop before I collapse due to lack of oxygen," Jacky held out her hand to her, stopping Dani from running any further.

She quickly grabbed a vacant bench and slumped down on it as she inhaled deeply. She could feel her lungs were burning up from the lack of the necessary air, and her vision was spinning probably from the lack of oxygen in her brain.

Dani quickly grabbed the bottled water on her side and handed it to her friend, who was ready to pass out. Jacky immediately took a huge chugged of water into her mouth, not caring if she made a mess.

"So, are you going to marry Alex?" Jacky asked her friend, who seemed to be on cloud nine since the proposal.

She could not blame Dani for wanting to marry Alex. He was a great catch. Anyone would be lucky to marry a guy like him. She might not know him that much. But from the few times that she was with him, she had seen his genuine character.

"Yes. I can't wait to be married to Alex." Dani sat right next to her friend as she also breathed heavily. "I think he is the right one. My soulmate."

She never believed much about soulmates and destinies, but ever since she fell for Alex and the circumstances of their meeting, she started to think that maybe they were meant to be.

"I am happy for you," Jacky agreed with her, also thinking of the same thing.

"What about you?" Dani turned to her friend, using this time to question her dating life. "Are you and Lance finally together?"

She knew that Lance had to return home quickly after the issue with Prince Edward, but based on Alex, it was just a temporary thing. Lance was returning soon to continue his training under Alex.

"We had an entire night to talk about us. He explained his situation, and I told him mine. But we never had time to act on it since he had to fly back home the next day." Jacky explained to her friend her complicated affair with the elusive prince.

"You mean?" Dani was about to ask her friend, but she interrupted her before she could finish. She could only speculate about what was going on with her friend. 

"I mean." Jacky stopped her. "Nothing happened. We are still one big question mark." 

Jacky was neither happy nor disappointed with the way things turned out between her and Lance. She did not mind if Lance decided not to return and forget all about her.

It had always been her plan in the first place. She did not presume much from this relationship because she always felt it was doomed even before it had begun.

But if Lance decided he wished to return and continued with where they left off, maybe she might give him a chance. But it would all depend on Lance and his intentions. Jacky could only wait and see. 

"Are you sure you are, ok?" Dani asked, studying her friend for any telltale sign that she was heartbroken once again.

But from the smile on her face, Dani could see that she was handling the situation quite well. Jacky did not appear like she was having a difficult time now that Lance had left her again.

"I'm great." She was not that affected by Lance's sudden disappearance again. "I guess I am not in a hurry to be in any relationship anymore." She told her what she felt.

"Then, I am happy to see that you are happy with your decision." Dani would support her friend as long as it was what she needed.

"But I will feel much better if you get married soon. Do you already have a date?" Jacky asked her friend, changing the topic of conversation. 

They started moving again back in the direction of the apartment. Dani slowed down her pace a bit more to accommodate her friend. She could already see Jacky struggling in every step she made as she tried to keep up with her.

Dani decided that it was the last time that she would drag her friend into this activity. It was one thing that they could never share, and she had to learn to accept that.

"We are already discussing it," Dani told her friend excitedly. "Honestly, I can't wait to marry him." She confided to her friend.

They rode the elevator back to the apartment with Dani on a high while Jacky was dragging herself to keep up. But Jacky was happy for her friend. She, too, could not wait to see her friend married to the man of her dreams.

Dani still could not believe that her initial charade to marry the prince would eventually turn into reality.. The man she thought was just a figment of her imagination one fateful night would turn out to be her future husband.