The Royal Contract

The food and wine were fine, but the company was questionable. That was what it felt like as Jacky sat across from Marcus in a classy restaurant not far from the palace.

At least she only had to deal with him and not an entire crowd. She kept telling herself as she listened to his idle chat about some uninteresting business transaction.

"It sounds like you did a great job in closing the deal." She stated, unsure if her statement even fitted the situation. She just knew she had to say something from the way he was waiting for a response.

In truth, she was barely listening to him, only catching a few bits and pieces of the story. Her eyes were more focused on the way his lips moved, distracting her from the topic of conversation.

She kept trying to look away, directing her gaze to her food or the other diners around them. However, at some point, her eyes were magnetized as it returned its attention to admire those lips, those eyes, and that body she knew so well.

"I hope so." He answered, a bit confused with her answer. He did detect that she was a bit distracted as her eyes kept wandering around. 

He did feel frustrated, debating whether to charm her back to his arms or to bore her to death until she decided to call it a night. It would seem that he chose the latter.

But he did notice, once in a while, how she would look at him. It was as if she was devouring him with her eyes. He could see the reflection of his own hunger as if he was looking at a mirror.

"Anyway, it had been a tiring day. I think it is time that we get back to the palace." She suggested, deciding she had enough of torturing herself by sitting across from him and not being able to touch him.

It appeared that she was not over him as she initially thought. Or maybe she was just feeling lonely. Whatever her reason for feeling this way, she did not plan to entertain acting on it.

She would shove the thought way beyond her consciousness. She would bury the feeling in the deepest recesses of her heart. In her opinion, he just did not deserve to earn her trust again.

"Sure." He knew that somehow he did mess up. He could see it in the way she looked at him. As if she had made a decision. It was the same look she gave him when she ended what was between them.

He could not blame her for coming up with the same conclusion. He had hurt her, and he could not assure her that it would never happen again. He never believed he deserved a second chance.

He was just about to leave her by the palace entrance when they bumped into someone who was on his way out. He suddenly stood his ground beside her, deciding not to go just yet.

"Lance?" She was surprised to see him at this late of the hour. But then again, she might not be the reason why he was here. It was a mere coincidence that they had bumped into each other.

But as fate would have it, she still saw another person who she wished to avoid today. Maybe it was just not her lucky day. But when was she lucky, anyway.

"Jacky, I have been searching for you. I came as soon as I heard that you had arrived." Lance greeted her, pulling her into a hug.

He had agreed to remain friends with her and keep in touch despite what happened to their failed love affair. Or the lack of enough love in their relationship.

He had dropped some papers for the Duke to sign. So, he figured to see her while he was already on the premises. He would have loved to catch up with her.

"I was out." Jacky simply explained to him without adding any details. She slightly pulled away from his embrace, but he never completely let go of her as he continued to hold on to her hand this time.

She did not try to snatch her hands away from him, finding a bit of comfort in his touch. She had always been so comfortable around him that she never needed to pretend to be anything else.

She was indeed happy to see a familiar and friendly face in this seemingly alien world. She welcomed Lance's presence like it was the only natural thing to do under the circumstances.

"I gathered that." Lance retorted back, finally acknowledging the other man at her side. "Marcus, it is nice to see you." He seemed to be brooding, standing quietly on her other side.

He wondered if he had interrupted a date or something more. Judging from their different reactions, maybe not. But then again, he might be mistaken.

Although, he would not be surprised if the two rekindled their love affair. It had been quite transparent to him that what Marcus and Jacky had was truly special.

He felt that it was probably one of the reasons he could not fully commit himself to Jacky. Because he could see that she was still holding back. She was still stuck in the past and could not let go.

"Lance, good to see you too." Marcus could not help but feel the slight pang of jealousy at how the two greeted each other. He could sense the closeness that the two shared.

He had heard rumors that they went out, but he never confirmed if they were in a relationship. He was not even aware if they were currently seeing each other.

If they were, and then she would not have gone to dinner with him. But still, that did not answer the question. Observing them under subtle scrutiny, they did appear to be very close.

"I hope I am interrupting with..." Lance was about to add your date, but Jacky stopped him by replying quickly.

"Not at all. Besides, we only went out for dinner to discuss the preparations." She said, denying that it was dinner between two people in a relationship and immediately correcting his presumption.

She could guess that he assumed she went on a date with Marcus. But she would not consider this anything resembling that. It was just a friendly dinner and nothing more.

"You are not interrupting at all." He also interjected upon hearing her response. 

He could not blame her for how she reacted. It was clear that he was an unwanted character in this scenario. He was only interfering with the rest of their night.

"In fact, I think it is time for me to leave. It had been a delightful evening." Marcus nodded in Jacky's direction before turning to Lance. "She is all yours." Saying it as if he meant it.

Marcus turned around with a plastered smile on his face, not waiting for Jacky's response anymore. He continued to walk back to his car, which was still parked in the driveway.

He did not want to look back, afraid to see what he would witness between the two. Until now, he was not ready to let Jacky go. 

He still hoped against hope that he would find a way to win her back to his arms. That by some miracle.

But he had to learn to forgive himself so he could finally forget about her. He could not keep hoping that Jacky would be better off with him. Because he could never guarantee that.

"She is all yours." The word kept repeating like a broken record in his head. "What was that?" He held his head in the palm of his hands as he remained seated inside the car, lent to him by Alex.

After a few seconds, he started the car and drove away, with no particular direction. All he knew was that he had to get away. He had to clear his mind.

But he believed that he had done the right thing. He never had a chance with Jacky, especially when there was a better man than him, like Lance.

Lance was a true gentleman and a genuine prince. Unlike him, a douche bag with a long list of bad records of charming women into bed. "She was better off with him." He kept convincing himself.

He believed despite his promises to change for the better, there would always be that possibility that he would revert back to his usual foolish behavior. He was a lost cause.

Like a leopard could not change its spots, he, too, could never change his essential nature.. He was afraid that once a cheater, always a cheater.