The Royal Contract

Waking up that morning was a bit of a struggle for her, but she was going for a jog. She needed to expel those unwanted thoughts and feelings from her system. She had to clear her mind so that she could focus on her job today.

She immediately changed and fix herself and ran out of the apartment before she changed her mind and just lazed around. When she stepped outside of her door, she accidentally bumped into someone, making her slipped, out of balance.

Luckily, strong arms caught her before she hit the floor and helped her get her equilibrium back. 

"Are you ok?" A manly voice said, behind her, as he still held on to her. 

"Oh! So, sorry. I did not see you." She mumbled as she turned around to look at her savior. She knew she was at fault since she was in a rush and not looking as she was tinkering with her music player, trying to find appropriate music to listen to while she was running.

"No need to apologize. It was just an accident. I hope you are ok." He looked at her as if he was waiting for her reply, finally letting go of her.

"Yeah, I'm ok. By the way, thanks, Troy, for not letting me fall." She finally recognized who he was when she saw his face. 

"No worries, Dani." He replied as they stood in the hallway of their apartment. "Are you going out on a jog?" He asked, seeing her outfit.

"Yeah, are you finished?" She questioned because he was also in his running clothes and shoes, but he was already returning to his apartment when she bumped into him.

"Actually, I am just starting, but I forgot something in my apartment." He explained why he was also rushing back. "If you don't mind, maybe we could run together. It would be nice to have some company."

She contemplated for a few seconds about it. She never had someone running with her before. She tried to encourage Jacky several times before but she always declined. 

"Sure, why not?" She thought that it might be fun. He seemed harmless and friendly enough.

"Is it ok if you wait for me here while I run fast to my apartment?" When she nodded. "Just give me a second." He moved fast towards his home, while she waited by the elevator.

She wondered why she never bumped into him before. Except for the incident in the elevator, this was the second time she had seen him. Anyway, they must have different work schedules or something. Besides she was always busy to notice most of her neighbors.

A minute later, Troy was back and they rode the elevator together down to the lobby.

"I hope I did not make you wait too long." He tried to make conversation because the silence was deafening inside the small space they were in.

"Nah, it was ok. At least I was able to do some stretching while waiting for you." She always used her spare time to do something productive. 

"Good. Do you jog often?" He was genuinely curious about his neighbor. He had barely seen her and her companion. Thrice if he would count. This would be his fourth. But this would be their second time to converse.

"Not much lately. I have so much work to do this past few days that I barely had time to do anything else." She found it odd that she was feeling comfortable talking to him about her life. He was still basically a stranger to her.

Their conversation halted when the bell chimed inside the lift, indicating that they reached the ground floor. He held the door of the elevator open while he allowed her to go out ahead of him.

Outside, she could feel the nice morning breeze. Something she was looking forward to, every time she went out on a run. This was one of the few things she liked about her place. Its proximity to the park.

"Hey." Troy tapped her in the shoulder when they were halfway around the park.

"Oh! Sorry, you were saying something." She was so engrossed with the music that was playing in her ears that she did not notice that he was already talking to him. In truth, something else was going through her mind and she wanted to quash it out of her mind.

"I said maybe you would want a break." They both stopped in front of a bench to get a breather.

"Ok." She suddenly felt her muscles complaining after a long run without stopping. She grabbed the water bottle that was strapped in her waist and drank enough to quench her thirst. He did the same.

"You run decently. I seldom find a running partner who could keep up with me." Although he did slow down a bit from his usual pace, still she was able to catch up with him and ran this long without stopping.

"I love to run. It is one of the best exercises for me. At the same time, I like the fresh air. Never like being coop up in a gym with sweaty bodies." She never did like going to gyms. If she wanted to work out, she might as well do it in her place. But running was still her favorite.

"Same here. I guess we have something in common." He gave her a friendly smile. "I also love to run. It releases all my frustrations. It felt like you are leaving your problems behind."

"Yeah, I know how that feels." She agreed with him. "But, I think we better get back. Don't want to get late."

They hit the path back to their building. Running at a comfortable pace this time. But keeping their thoughts to themselves.

"It was fun. Maybe we would run into each other again sometime." Troy said as he left her at her doorstep.

"Yeah, I had fun too." She was not committing to a running buddy. But if they would run into each other again, maybe she would not mind joining him again. She did enjoy his light humor.