The Royal Contract

1025 First-name basis

She stared at the four walls of her room with nothing else to do. She tried to watch a movie, but nothing caught her attention. But something else piqued her interest. A paper bag she had left on the floor.

Zach was wrong about buying a swimming suit since the meeting only involved eating and nothing else. She pulled out the skimpy garment from the bag and stared at it.

“What a waste.” She whispered as she thought of the price it had cost to buy this exquisite piece of clothing in her hands. Then, she threw it on the bed, moving toward the balcony to smell some fresh air.

It was a refreshing feeling to breathe the coolness of the wind coming from the shore. It was indeed free of harmful and toxic contaminants that polluted the air in the city.

She suddenly realized that maybe they were right about this trip. She could finally feel like she was on vacation as she stared at the clear blue sky and the vast blue-green ocean before her.

It was certainly different from where she had grown up, finding the place peaceful and void of the busy and noisy buzz of the city. Would she love living in this kind of place? Maybe.

“I think it is time I call my son.” She reminded herself before she forgot all about him. She turned away from the enchanting view surrounding her and returned to the room to look for her phone.

She called him earlier but barely said a few words before Sasha told her he had fallen asleep while listening to her voice. It was his nap time. But he might be awake by now as she dialed the number.

“Edison, it is your Mom.” She heard Sasha call her son. She could also sense the commotion and excitement in the noise he made.

.....

“Mamaaaa...” He said in his cute voice that she had been missing since she left him. “Missie youuu...” She could tell that he was imitating what Sasha instructed him to say.

“I miss you too, my darling.” She gently spoke to him, wondering what he had been doing while she was away. She asked him a few questions but could barely understand his responses.

She could only surmise that Sasha was telling him what to say, but he could hardly catch up to most of it. But the important thing was, she knew he was ok. That was good enough.

Then, she heard the bell ring, indicating someone was at the door. Somehow, she could guess it might be her partner since she was not expecting anyone else.

She could ignore him, pretending that no one was inside, but it could be about their job, his reason for seeking her out. After all, she left him with a beautiful woman in his arms. Therefore, he might not be interested in her.

Besides, his interest in her was only fleeting. It must be over by now.

“Wait!” She finally walked toward the door with her phone still in her ears as she listened to his son mumble words she did not understand. Well, he was trying to tell her a long story of what happened to him today.

If she was with him, she could understand him more clearly since he would use his hands, body, and facial expression to tell her more about his story. But she could only imagine what he might be doing while talking to her.

“Yes?” She was suddenly surprised to see not her partner but someone else. It was not the hospital staff since he seemed to be wearing expensive casual wear.

Moreover, she believed she had introduced himself to her earlier as the hotel owner they were staying at since he was present in the meeting. He was one of the other clients that they met only this morning.

But what was he doing at her doorstep?

“Hello, Ms. Barbara.” The man greeted her with a friendly smile.

“Hi there, Mr. Stark.” She responded with slight hesitation as she returned his warm greetings.

“I am sorry but do you think you can spare me a few minutes of your time.” He eloquently asked as he remained standing outside her door. “I hope I am not interrupting an important call.” Pointing to the phone still in her ears.

She still listened to her son, but her mind was trying to figure out what this man needed from her. Why was he here, talking to her, instead of Zach, the coordinator assigned to this negotiation? Usually, it was him they contacted, not her.

“I am currently talking to my son, but if you could wait a minute.” She offered instead since she could not just hang up. But she could not turn her back on the man since he might be here about the contract. She pointed to the phone in her hands as she gestured for him to wait.

“Sure.” He responded as he stood by the door while she closed her door without inviting him inside her room. He was a stranger even if he owned this building.

“Honey, I need to go for now. But I will call you again soon.” She had no choice but to cut her conversation with his son short. But she could not do it in front of him. “I love you.” She replied to his jibberish words.

“Lab yu, Mommmiiieee...” His words still stuttered, but she still understood it.

“I love you so much.” She repeated, but they could not keep talking as much as she wished. “Can I talk to Sasha?” She requested, knowing the girl was listening to their conversation.

After telling her a few things and listening to her short report, she had to end their call. She hung up the phone and prepared herself for her visitor, still waiting outside her door.

“I am sorry for making you wait.” She was surprised that he was still out there. Most of these people would not bother. Instead, they would send their assistants to deal with her.

But here he was, not at all, looking bothered by her action. “Don’t worry about it. I also have a daughter that I find hard to leave alone.” He shared with her as he patiently stood outside.

“Oh!” But that should not surprise her, she thought. “How old is your daughter?” She could not help but ask. But a man like him could be married by now. Although, he still looked young to be a family man.

“She is turning four soon.” He answered her. “But if you don’t mind. Shall we continue this conversation at my office? I just had a few things I need to clarify with the contract. It seemed that my secretary could not get hold of your partner.”

She was not surprised by that one. Judging from the woman in his arms, he might be somewhere they could not reach him. He must have turned his phone off since he believed that his responsibilities were over for today.

She could already imagine what he might be doing. But she quickly shut them off, not wanting to picture the complete detail. The last thing she wanted was to cloud her mind with terrible thoughts of him with a woman.

“Oh. Sure.” She did not mind since it was her job to present their proposal and smoothen things with their clients. “Can you give me a second to get my things?”

After a few minutes, she sat before his desk as he pointed out some things that he felt were vague in their proposal. Although some were just additional incentives, she still explained them thoroughly to him.

Truthfully, there was nothing much to discuss on the contract but some minor details, as she observed. But it was her job to clear all these few confusions.

Then, he invited her to lunch when his secretary opened the door, and a man in uniform carried several trays of food. “I hope you don’t mind since it is lunchtime. It will be rude of me if I will not ask you to eat with me.”

He stood from his desk and ushered her to the other table, where the server laid out all the food. She could see some variety, but it was too much for just two people.

“I don’t mind eating in my room.” She was about to make her excuse, but he stopped her.

“Please, I know you have not ordered anything yet.” When she raised her eyebrows at him for questioning, he quickly added. “I checked with the staff before I ordered this food. But it would be a crime to waste all this food. Please join me.” He requested with a dashing smile.

When she seemed to be unconvinced, he again pleaded with her. “Please, it is just lunch. I only want to hear more about your company.” He continued. “We can discuss it more as we eat.”

It sounded like it was a legit reason, so how could she say no to that? Besides, she could always leave if she felt uncomfortable around him. So far, he seemed to be a gentleman and genuinely interested in her company.

“Ok. But I need to leave as soon as lunch is over.” She told him, not wanting him to think that she would like to stay for more than that.

She allowed him to guide her to a chair while he took the opposite one. “Do you mind if I call you Ria while you call me Jay?” He suggested as he offered her the food before them.

She was unsure if it was wise to call a client on a first-name basis.

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