The Royal Contract

Truthfully, she did not have a hangover since she hardly drank much. But she did stay up later than she wanted. She could not sleep. Unfortunately, it was not Edison that bothered her last night but some guy she did not even know.

“Good morning!” She greeted most of her colleagues as she made her way to her table. But she blankly gazed at her still empty desk as she sat on her chair, hardly moving much.

She was between dozing off and daydreaming as her eyelids drooped down and her shoulders slumped on the backrest. “Wake up!” She said to herself internally. “You have to stop this.”

But she could not take his eyes out of her mind. She could remember how he looked at her last night. It was like he was out there to get her. But that was crazy.

He could not be that mad at her just because she spilled a cup of coffee on his shirt. Maybe it was his only good shirt, and she just ruined it. After all, he was only working in the mail room. She could only assume he was just like her, crawling his way out of the bottom.

Nevertheless, it did not add up, and she believed something was off with him. Still, it did not give him the right to be rude to her. And he should not be stalking her no matter what she did wrong.

.....

“Ria, I know it is not a requirement to be early, but if you want to get ahead in this business, you have to make more effort than needed.” Brenda dropped some files on her table with her piece of advice, slightly snapping her back to reality.

Ria wanted to say that it was her boss’s fault that she was almost late, but she knew it was not. After her two drinks, if she would count the half of the content that spilled on the floor, her bosses did not stop her from leaving early.

She was home just an hour later than usual. Still, she considered it early and had nothing to do with her current state of mind. Besides, she could not blame them if she felt like crap this morning.

It was not their fault that she bumped into that guy that she now realized was working at the mail department of their company. At least she discovered that he was not her boss. That was a relief.

“Of course, I will try harder,” Ria answered her supervisor, understanding that her boss meant well. After all the praises she received yesterday, it was not the time to slack down. Now, she had more to prove to meet their higher expectations.

“By the way, we had a great time last night. I hope you will be free sometime so we can go out again.” Brenda informed her. It sounded like a notification rather than a suggestion.

Honestly, she had enjoyed being out with her boss and some new friends. She had never felt more alive and free. Truthfully, she had been working her ass to school and then Edison, that having a life had taken a backseat in her priorities.

It was a welcome change to feel young again, which she still was, even for a couple of hours. She would love to do more of it, but reality would not allow it. She had a responsibility that she could not ignore.

“I also enjoyed it. But let us see if I am available.” She could not outright say no to her boss when trying to impress her.

She heard they could hire one or two interns after the program and offered a good compensation package. She had to get the job because it was a rat race outside the real world. It would be hard for her to get another opportunity like this.

She grabbed the papers she needed to work on today and opened the first folder. However, she had been staring at it for a few minutes but only saw lines as her eyes were still slightly blurry. It was hard to stay awake when she did not even have time to get her coffee.

She knew another way to wake her up, but it might require extreme measures. She usually used this when she needed to stay awake while caring for Edison during untimely hours.

She quickly stood up from her seat and looked at her left and right. She was not crossing the street but only wanted assurance that the coast was clear. She did not need a witness to what she was about to do.

“One, two, three...” She started counting as she stretched her body and exercised. Sitting down was not working. She needed to make her blood pumping, or she would be staring into blank space all morning and accomplishing nothing.

Luckily, her table was in the far corner of the entire floor, hidden from the view of the other employees. Nobody would notice her unless they came to see her, which she doubted. Nobody usually came looking for her except her boss.

“... nine, ten.” Then, she lowered her body, bending on her waistline until her fingers could touch her toes. One thing she liked about her little hideout was the window at the side of her desk.

It was a small space, but it gave her a good view of their beautiful city. At that moment, she enjoyed the scenery outside as she bent a little more to reach the floor.

Finally, she could feel her blood flowing, making her believe it was working. After a few more stretches and movements, she sensed the energy flowing in her body. She could finally perform her task.

Maybe she could grab a coffee during her break time and some snack. She could hear her stomach grumbling, lacking any food from earlier. She needed to fix her schedule because she could not end up in a situation like this again.

“That is certainly a nice view.” A manly voice startled her, making her jump to her feet. If the exercise was not enough to make her heart pumping, the shock certainly did. “It gave me a broader perspective of things.”

She hurriedly straightened up and pulled her skirt down since it slightly lifted when she bent down and abruptly turned to face her unwanted visitor.

She did not expect anyone else to bother her except her boss because nobody usually looked for an intern. However, seeing the man eyeing her ass and then shifting to her breast was insulting and humiliating.

“So, this is what interns do on the top floors.” The man continued his snide remark. “Ms. Ria Barbara. Right?” He asked as one of his brows rose in question as if he was confirming his suspicion.

He looked at the white envelope in his hand and read the name on top of it. Then, he stepped closer to her table but stopped when he was a foot away from the edge. “I believe this is for you.” He pointed, still waiting for her to respond.

“What are you doing here?” She felt like her heart had exploded into bits, but she was trying to recover from the shock as she stayed calm.

She was not expecting to see him in her tiny room. She could not even call it an office. If it had a door and shelves, she might as well say it was a closet.

“I am here to deliver a letter.” He showed her the white envelope in his hand and placed it on her desk. “Special delivery.” He added for good measure. “It is nice to know you are working here as well. You just made my job here more interesting.”

Then, there was a glint in his eyes that she did not like. It was like a challenge that he was looking forward to accepting. Was he thinking of getting back at her? Was that it?

“Hey, what do you mean by that?” Ria could not believe this man was still holding a grudge against her. She would buy him a new pair of a shirt if that meant taking him off her back. But from the look on his face, it was not what he had in mind.

“You will soon find out.” That was all he said as he walked away from her room without saying another word.

But the smile on her lips and the whistling she heard as he moved away gave her the creeps. He did look like he was not over their little incident. Then, her eyes landed on the envelope with no stamp on it.

She wondered where it came from since she had never registered this place as her official address. So where could it come from, and why would they send it here?

“Don’t be paranoid?” She took the sealed paper and held it in her fingers. It could have come from anyone and could be anything or nothing at all.

Unless it came from him and he delivered it personally. But what could it be? Seriously! Different things were going through her mind. And it was not all good.

It could be a demand letter.

Was he suing her? For a shirt? She looked at the envelope incredulously, imagining the man doing that. She could not tell if she should laugh or cry.

That was just absurd. But it could also be something more cynical or life-threatening.

A death threat.