The Royal Contract

But when her friends saw her looking in his direction, they mistook it as interest. Since she was the last to arrive, she had to take on some silly punishment. It was a game that they had played since working for this hospital.

“Tell me your story. Why are you here and drinking alone when you could drink with your friends?” He suddenly asked.

“You see.” She pointed to the crowd that had been rowdy since he got here, “Those are my friends.” That made him turn to look at her friends, who were also looking in their direction. “They sent me over here as punishment.”

“Why?” He asked, looking curious. “What did you do to earn such punishment of accompanying a guy like me?” He sounded a bit insulted, but she did not take it seriously. She could tell he was only jesting.

“I was the last to show up.” Giving him her simplest explanation as she took another swig of her drink. “As punishment, I have to get your number since they think you are the hottest new guy here.”

She was not shy. She had no time for that shit. She also had no time for courtship or relationships, for that matter. She only had a few boyfriends that did not even last a month.

It was not because she liked to play with men. It was more because she did not have time. She had been balancing family, work, and school she hardly had time for herself.

Although her sister helped her with her finances, she still worked a little extra. She did not want to burden her sister with everything she needed. Now, she hoped that her residency would continue to go well, so she could become a full-time doctor and help the rest of her family.

.....

“Am I?” He suddenly asked as he looked at her.

Suddenly, she was confused by the question. “Are you what?” She asked, looking directly into his eyes, curious about his question.

“Am I hot in your eyes?” He looked like he was amused with her more than anything.

She could play his game. She was not the type who was afraid of men like him. She believed he was another self-centered man who thought highly of himself because women fell on their knees before him.

“Honestly, I think you are.” She looked at him, scanning his body from head to toe. “You look anatomically perfect. Your black hair, dark eyes, straight nose, thin lips, and nicely built physique made you look hot.”

Then, she scanned the rest of his body downwards, which she believed made him look slightly uncomfortable. “Ok. You made your point.” He turned to his drink and emptied his glass.

“Another one?” She offered as she emptied her glass too. Then, she signaled his friend for another round.

“Yes, but this time I am buying.” He said as he took the bill and paid for it.

She shrugged her shoulders, taking his offer. Besides, she believed it was bad luck to turn down a free drink since she did not see him as a bad guy.

“Fine.” Then, she took the new drink and sipped on it. Luckily, it was her day off tomorrow. Otherwise, she would have a terrible headache when she did her rounds. “Anyway, if you are not a doctor, do you mind telling me what you do.”

“Why don’t you guess since you seem to enjoy this game?” He offered, feeling the slight buzz of the alcohol finally hitting his system.

This woman certainly was making him forget about everything. At least he was enjoying their conversation, even just for tonight. Tomorrow, he would have to learn to leave without her. But tonight, he would like to forget her.

“Let me see.” She turned again to look at him. But she focused more on his face and his eyes. “I will need you to look at me.” He did. Then, he found her gazing through his eyes. It was as if she was reading his thoughts.

“Well, what is your lucky guess?” He asked after a few seconds before turning away again and drinking his scotch.

“I am having a slight difficulty here. I am debating between being a computer geek and a traveling salesman.” She said, laughing at her silly assumptions.

She was a doctor for a reason, not an investigator. Anyway, she had no idea what this man did besides drink. She could see that he had more than he could handle.

“I think I can be both.” He said without giving her any hint of what he did. But they kept talking about how he loved to play with his computers while traveling to different places to sell his wares.

“But was I even close enough.” She asked, knowing that she was not.

“For tonight, I can be whatever you wish me to be.” He answered her playfully, believing he was tipsy.

“I think you already had enough for tonight. That is what I think.” She answered him as she took another sip of her drink.

“That is the point of drinking, right? To get drunk.” He smiled at her, showing her two dimples on his cheeks.

She observed that he looked handsome when he smiled. But he had a point. Why drink if she had no plan to get wasted? She could see her friends already had more than their share of a good time as they laughed on the other side.

“I guess you are right.” She answered him. “Why not?” She lifted her glass to him and cheered him on. “Let us drink to your success. May you sell all your wares.” She added as a joke.

He clinked his glass with her and appeared to be thinking. “Ok. I will drink to that.” Then, they drank the content up to the last drop.

“One more.” He ordered as the bartender served them another, but he said it would be the last.

She understood, seeing that his new friend seemed at his limit. Then, she realized that she had forgotten to ask his name. “Hey, I am Roseann. What is your name?”

She extended her hand to him, seeing that she would need it to tell her friends. He smiled at her, appearing that he also realized that they had forgotten to exchange names.

“Adam.” He offered but did not supplement the rest. She did not mind since all she needed was the name. “You have a nice name, Roseann.

“It was nice also to meet you, Adam. But I have to go back to my friends.” With that, she nodded at him and said goodbye.

“It is nice to talk to you, too,” Adam said before returning his attention to his glass.

She walked away from him, knowing she might never see him again. He was a stranger who passed by their corner. And now, she was stepping away because she did not see a future with a guy like him or any other guy. Not until she had a more stable schedule in her life.

“So, what happened?” One of her friends asked her.

“Was he married or single?” Another one asked.

“I bet he was a jerk.” Another one said. She knew he had a crush on her, but she never liked to complicate her working environment by hooking up with a co-worker.

“He is fun to talk to, and his name is Adam. I don’t think he is married, but I am unsure if he was a traveling salesman.” She told her friends, who were anxious to hear more. “And I don’t think he is a jerk. Just probably going through something.” The last part, she said more in a whisper.

“Well, he seemed nice.” One said, but a few minutes later, talked about him gradually faded as they returned to their patients who had made their day exciting, exhilarating, and a living hell.

“We’ll see you around, Cris.” She said goodbye to the regular bartender, but she was also checking if he was still drinking, but she doubted since Cris had cut him off earlier.

He was not in the bar, so she could safely assume he had left already. Then, she walked with her friends outside until they parted ways. Their friends brought their cars while she was taking a cab.

But it seemed it was not her lucky night as she found the streets empty. But she knew a cab was bound to come as she stood by the sidewalk waiting.

Then, something moved not far from where she stood. It was slumping on the floor by the wall not far behind her. At first, she thought it might be a homeless guy who might be sleeping. It was partially dark.

But as she stared at him, she recognized him as Adam, the man from the bar. What was he doing there? Instinct kicked in as she ran and knelt to help him. She checked his pulse and determined whether he was stable.

Thankfully, she concluded that he was just drunk and almost passed out. He must have been waiting for a cab like her. But where was he going? Quickly, she checked his pocket and found his identification card. At least he was not lying about his name. But she was way off with her guess about his profession.

A few seconds later, she returned his wallet to his pocket and waited for a cab. The least she could do was take him home. Not at her place but at his.