The Royal Contract

She was walking to the conference room where her next appointment was to take place. This was one client that she was not particularly keen to deal with.

After last night, she thought that he would finally leave her alone, but she was mistaken. He was a much hard-headed man than she realized.

She texted him that she had no plan to see him or any other day or time in the future. She even told him that he could pull out his funding on her pro bono case because she did not need that hanging over her head. She would find other ways to get funding for it.

She knocked on the glass door, seeing her boss already discussing something with their very important client. "Good morning!" She greeted as she stepped inside the room. Not showing any fear that would indicate that she was intimidated by his presence.

"Good morning, Dani." Evan was the first to respond to her. "Why don't you join us?" He gestured to the seat next to him. Alexander was the one seating on the head of the long conference table. While Evan and Marcus sat on either side of Alexander.

"Good morning. Dani." Marcus said as she sat down on the table while Alexander only nodded his head in her direction, not saying anything at all.

"Why am I here?" She finally asked, believing that she had no business to be included in this meeting. She was not aware that she had a pending case with Alexander's company.

"It came to our attention that one of the head executives might be embezzling some money from the company of Mr. Princeton," Evan stated as he handed her a folder.

She perused quickly the papers inside the folder to get updated with the case. She looked up and saw from her peripheral vision that Alexander was eyeing her. As if she was burnt by his stare, she swiftly looked away, concentrating instead on the papers in front of her.

"Can't you handle it internally?" She asked, knowing that the company had its legal team, with Marcus as its head.

"We could but we suspect that it was not an isolated case. Some other executives in higher positions might be involved in the scheme to steal from the company." Marcus interjected. "We rather outsource the handling of this sensitive case to avoid complications and conflict of interests."

She did agree with their decision. "But there are more experienced partners in this firm that could be more capable of doing this job than me." She reasoned out, closing the folder and pushing it back to Marcus.

Although she knew that she was trained to handle this case, she would rather give this case to another partner. She just wanted to avoid working with him more closely.

"Isn't it you who said that experience was just a number but it should not be the basis of your capability? Now is your chance to prove that." Alexander spoke up with a challenge in his tone.

"I know what I said and I am more than capable of handling this case." She accepted the challenge, knowing that he was daring her to defy him. She would not give him the satisfaction of making a fool of her profession.

Evan and Marcus discussed with her the case further. Evan would still be overseeing the case with her. She just took this as an opportunity for her to prove to her boss and the other partners that she had every right to be part of this firm.

"I guessed that concluded the meeting," Evan stated after they had finalized their plans for the case. She would be getting the other files of the case later on for her to review and double-check for possible anomalies that they could use as evidence.

"Will it be ok if I ask Andrew to help me out?" She asked, already expecting several boxes of papers that would be delivered to her office later.

She immediately thought of one of her new friends on the bullpen. Andrew was sharp and easy to get along with. He would be a great help if she could convince him to help her out with her task.

"You can ask Andrew if he is available or one of the other paralegals to help you out." Evan gave his consent, knowing that what she would be dealing with would be more than she could chew by herself.

"I better leave because I still have another client in ten minutes." Evan made his excuse, standing up from his seat.

"We better go too," Marcus announced.

"Then, I should also be on my way." She also stood from her seat, ready to leave with the papers in her arms.

They all shook hands before going on their ways. She moved back to her office and told Jacky that she did not want to be disturb. To hold all her calls and to get some lunch for them. She had no plan to go out today.

After a while, the opening and closing of her door did not make her look up from what she was working on. "Just leave the food on the table. I'll eat later." She had no time to spare for chitchat with her friend.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I did not realize that I was supposed to bring one. But I am here to invite you to lunch." A familiar voice said as he stood by her door. She let out an exasperated breath upon realizing who was her uninvited guest.

"Why are you here?" She said nonchalantly as she continued working on her papers. Not bothering to look in his direction.

He walked confidently inside her office and just sits quietly studying her for a few seconds. "You should not have stood me up last night." He said accusingly.

"I have no time for your games. We already discussed your business earlier, so there was no point in this meeting. You can leave and close the door on your way out." She had to make sure that this time, he understood that she was not someone he could easily manipulate.

He was more amused with her reaction than insulted with her dismissal. The more she pushed him away, the more he found their situation more intriguing and challenging. He was more convinced that she was perfect for the job.