The Royal Contract

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! 

The knock, alternating with the buzz of the doorbell, echoed in every corner of the apartment. It continued for a few minutes more before Jacky finally realized that someone was at the door.

She did not want to open her eyes, not wanting to lose the wonderful dream she was having. She was almost at the climax of her fantasy, not wanting to cut it short.

"Ohhh!" Jacky tried to cover her head with a pillow to stop the buzzing sound, but it persisted, irritating her until she had no choice but to wake up.

She opened her eyes to the bright light coming from her window, but it was still no reason for her to wake up at this hour. She tried to recall her dream, but it was slowly fading away.

"Now, look at what you have done." She blamed the person behind the door that continued to pester her so early in the morning. She could sense that her dream was slipping away until she had forgotten all about it.

She shoved her blanket away from her body and dragged herself out of bed. She could kill the person who had the nerve to disturb her beauty rest.

She was definite that it could not be Dani since she had access to the apartment. But who else would come to visit today and at a very early hour?

Another buzzing sound, followed by a knock on the door, almost blew her fuse. That would certainly earn her a few complaints from their neighbors.

"Stop buzzing before I call the police." She shouted as she neared the door, sprinting to reach the door before the unknown intruder started a series of disturbances again.

She tightened her robe, not wanting to expose herself to whoever was visiting her or Dani. She checked herself quickly one last time if she was a little presentable before moving closer to the door.

She peeked through the hole in the door, checking on the identity of the intruder outside. She quickly opened the door with an angry expression once she had confirmed who he was at the other side of the door.

"Finally, I have been waiting here for a long time." He said exasperatedly, feeling a slight relief that she finally opened the door. "I almost banged your door just to make sure that you are ok."

He had started buzzing on her door thirty minutes ago. But after waiting for a long time, he became impatient and started knocking and buzzing continuously to wake her up. 

The perpetual silence inside made him think whether she was out or something might have happened to her. Although, he did remember that she loved her sleep in the morning.

Another ten minutes, he was contemplating whether to use drastic measures to assure himself that she was ok. But he was glad that he did not have to resort to that, now that she was ok.

"Don't be dramatic. There is no need for you to act like my knight in shining armor." She retorted back, not liking the way he was acting and the disturbance he just created.

She stood her ground, placing her hands on the side of her waist as she waited for him to tell her why he was outside her apartment. She could not think of a reason for his presence.

"I am just concerned that something might have happened to you since you did not respond to my buzz and call." He explained, seeing that she was irritated with his presence.

He was hoping that she had mellowed down since their last encounter. He did apologize to her sincerely, and she somewhat accepted. But from the way she was acting, it would seem that she was still mad at him.

"I am just a sound sleeper, and you just disturb a good dream." Jacky did not know why she had to mention that to him, but she regretted it when she heard his statement.

"Am I included in it?" He did not know why he said that. Maybe old habits, but it was not intentional. It just slipped his tongue, and it was already out by the time he realized his mistake.

He already admitted to himself that he did miss her. Ever since they broke up, he had regretted hurting her in such a manner. He knew then that he had no right to come back and beg for her to take him back.

"If you were part of my dream, then it would not be good. It would have been a nightmare." She could not help but feel exasperated with the man in front of him.

She suddenly tightened her hold on her robe when she noticed his eyes roaming down her body. He did not have any right to talk and look at her that way.

"What do you want, Marcus?" She quickly added before he could respond to her last remark. "Why are you here?"

She was sure that he was not here to visit her. There was no reason for him to see her anymore. But if it had to do with Alex or Dani, he must be aware that they were staying almost every night at Alex's place.

"I am looking for Alex. I was trying to contact him, but his phone was off. I also tried Dani's number, but the same thing happened. They were both unreachable." He told her.

He did not usually disturb Alex on the weekends. But today, he needed his approval on an urgent matter. However, he could not get hold of his whereabouts.

"Did you try to check on his apartment? Dani told me that she was staying with him last night." She suddenly felt alarmed, worried for her friend.

"I came from his place, but the front desk only knew that they left before daybreak. They had no idea where they went." He suddenly regretted not taking the phone numbers of his bodyguards.

He did not want to think of the worse, but he had to find a way to talk to him soon. He had an important matter that he needed to discuss with him. It could not wait until tomorrow.

Alex did not mention anything about going out of town with Dani, but it did not mean that it was unlikely that was what happened.. He did love to surprise Dani with dates and trips in the past.