The Royal Contract

In another part of the city, back in his apartment. He had been wide awake even before the break of dawn, laying on his bed, unmoving. With his eyes wide open, he replayed the scene he saw last night. 

He had avoided calling her after she left, thinking she might need her space to calm down. He did not want to push her buttons and make the situation worse.

At last, he decided to pick her up that night, learning that she was still in the office. But then again, he stopped in his tracks, seeing her walk out of the elevator with a guy.

"That was so stupid." He regretted not confronting Dani with what he saw. He should have walked towards her, declaring his presence. Then, he would have known that nothing was going on with her and his boss. 

Instead, he sneaked up like a creep on the sideline, observing Dani walk towards her car with Gerald escorting her. He remained in the shadows, just watching.

What was he trying to prove? He asked himself as he stared at his white ceiling, unable to return to sleep. He could never believe that Dani was capable of cheating on him, especially with a guy like Gerald.

Although he would admit that Gerald seemed to be a decent guy, he did have an impressive portfolio. He would know because he already had him investigated when he offered Dani the job. 

His excuse for the background check, he had to protect Dani from those who might want to take advantage of her. He was her responsibility not only because her father asked him to but because he did not want any harm to come her way. 

"What are you thinking?" He mumbled to himself, hating that he doubted Dani even for a bit just because he saw her with another guy. 

He did not even lay a finger on her as he said goodbye to her before she drove off. Her boss quickly turned away and headed to his car without looking back.

He believed that Dani would never fall for a man like him. She would never look at another man the way she looked at him. She would never let anything hurt their relationship.

The way he was acting was more of a threat to their relationship, remembering the mixed anger and disappointment he read in her eyes before she left him yesterday.

"Aaahhh!" He also felt frustrated and angry with himself, considering that the problem was on his part.

He should be confident with their relationship, so he should not be acting like a jealous prick, thinking of the worse thing that a man and woman could do behind his back. Dani was not Tyra, and she would never betray him like that.

And another thing, he should start accepting that she was a capable woman, able to defend herself. He should stop acting like the prince charming that would always be to the rescue.

She was correct that he would never be able to protect her all the time. He should learn to trust her and respect her wishes once in a while. This time, he was willing to compromise to make this relationship work.

"Get yourself together." He thought aloud as he stood from the bed, giving up on returning to a peaceful slumber.

He walked outside his room and checked on his phone that he left on the kitchen counter. He dropped it on the top marble while fuming last night when he read her text that she was not coming home.

He should have acted like an educated man and checked on his facts before jumping to a conclusion. Now, he could only blame himself for her reaction.

"Hey, sorry for waking you up." He said to the other man on the line, hearing him grumbling, not happy with the early morning call.

He suddenly realized that he should be thankful that he did not confront Dani and Gerald last night. Or else, he might have said something stupid and messed up his entire relationship with Dani.

He should learn to think things through when it had something to do with Dani. He usually acted in impulsive behavior that sometimes led him to unfavorable results. 

"What now? Unless there is a fire in your house or someone shot you. You are not allowed to call me at this hour." He grumpily whined on his phone, seeing who the caller was.

He had been working hard lately with all the projects Alex was dealing with he barely had enough sleep. Also, he had been having some restless sleep, for some reason not relating to work.

He turned his light on and checked the time. But he was sure that it was still too early since the view outside was still very dark. He patiently waited and listened to the silence on the other side.

"I'm sorry, Marcus, but I do need your help." He cleared his throat, not wanting to sound quite troubled.

He was not the kind of man who would talk to his friend about his relationship problems. But, lately, he had been making many mistakes in the way he was handling his relationship with Dani. 

He figured that maybe talking to someone might help him figure out how to handle it better. But he could only think of one friend at the moment who would be at his beck and call.

"Is there something wrong with the merger?" He was suddenly awake, hearing the frustration in his voice. 

He could not think of anything else that might be troubling him except their recent project. That was unless there was another situation that arose that he was not aware of yet.

As far as he knew, all was doing fine when he left the office earlier. Did something happen? But he doubted it since someone would surely call him to inform him of the matter.

"No, this had nothing to do with the company." He quickly stated, then he slightly hesitated before continuing. "I think I messed up with Dani."

He was not exactly sure how to phrase his situation to Marcus. They did not discuss relationships and love affairs with one another except on rare occasions. And it had nothing to do with deep feelings.

Besides, Marcus did not do a serious relationship. He avoided love like it was a disease. How could he be able to understand his situation when he had not been in one.

"Oh!" Well, Marcus, slightly taken aback, shook his head, thinking if he heard him right. 

It was not exactly what he was expecting to hear from his friend. He was so sure that it had something to do with a problem in the company.

But him asking him for help in relationship matters was a bit out of the ordinary. He was not exactly equipped with situations that concerned the heart.

As his records would show, he was good at wrecking relationships and not mending them. Alex might end up just like him if he kept seeking his help, loveless.

Thus, in conclusion, Alex should not be asking him for any love advice if he ever wanted to fix her relationship with Dani.