The Royal Contract

She gazed out of the window on her side and waited for her friend to arrive. But every minute that ticked on her watch was more tension pulling on her nerves.

She knew nothing terrible would happen to them. But still, her body reacted negatively to the scene before her despite the day being uneventful thus far. She was simply sitting down and waiting, but her mind was already mildly panicking.

He pulled her hand and covered it with his, feeling the fear that gripped her. “Hey, Dani, they are coming. Marcus said that they were already on their way.”

He had everything checked by his team thoroughly. Nothing would get passed them this time. The horrible experience they endured would remain an isolated case. It would never happen again.

He looked out the window and only saw his team scattered around the area. Tim had assigned his very best men to tackle the task of protecting them. And he trusted Tim to know what he was doing.

“Oh, ok.” She expressed with a deep breath. “It is just that we are already waiting for ten minutes, and there is still no sign of them.” She clasped her hand tightly on his, absorbing his warmth.

.....

Then, she looked away from the window to stare into his eyes. Those beautiful orbs that mesmerized her until now. It always had a way of calming her down.

Eventually, his eyes locked with her, communicating his desire to protect her. To keep her safe at all times. She knew at that point that she had nothing to fear.

“Have I told you that you look lovely today?” Alex knew that dwelling on her fear would not do them any good.

He took her hands and planted a few tender kisses on her knuckles. Somehow, it made the slight tremors stop. Then, her breathing slowly evened out.

He placed his fingers on her chin, guiding her face until his lips touched hers. With his little gesture, her heart sped up. But he knew, this time, it meant something else.

“Hey, honeymoon starts after the plane lands.” A voice by the entrance shouted at them. “Not on the plane.” She continued, walking in the aisle towards the couple.

Jacky was surprised to see a plane waiting for them at a private hangar. But she was more shocked to see her best friend and her husband making out inside.

“You are truly full of surprises today.” She mumbled to Marcus as she gazed at the couple.

She would cover her eyes for decency purposes, but it was just too interesting not to see the scene in front of them. Eventually, she did stop staring and stopped on her path.

She turned around and smiled at the man walking close behind her. She held her hand on Marcus’ eyes, preventing them from seeing what she already had seen.

“I told you, you will like it,” Marcus mischievously answered, grinning from ear to ear as they waited not too far away from the other couple.

The last thing he saw was the two scrambling to make themselves appear more decent. He did not mind catching them in such a situation.

“Why are you grinning like that?” Jacky narrowed her eyes at her partner, seeing the evil glim in its depth. “You and your naughty thoughts.” She reprimanded him when he winked at her, sliding his hands down her arms.

She could feel the excitement running through her veins at his suggestion. Igniting her blood to a boiling point, but it was not the time and place. He just had to wait.

“Jacky, finally, you are here.” Dani greeted her best friend, abruptly standing up from her position after buttoning up her blouse. Then, out of the arms of her husband. “What took you so long?”

She grabbed her friend by the shoulders, pulling her in a warm hug. Her earlier apprehension seemed to have vanished, distracted by being in the company of the people she cared about. Or was it by her earlier activity?

“From the way, I saw it, we were just in time.” Jacky teased her friend, gesturing to Alex, who was now busy talking to Marcus.

This earned her a pinch in the ribs, but it did not hurt, but more like tickled. In turn, both burst into laughter, finding the indecent show entertaining.

It was not what she wanted, but she was glad that her friend arrived in the nick of time. A minute later would have turned into a bigger disaster.

“Anyway, any idea where these two clowns are taking us?” Jacky asked as they sat comfortably beside each other to talk while waiting for the captain to declare their departure.

She had been bugging Marcus to reveal it to her during their car ride, but he was tough like a solid rock. She could not squeeze any information from him.

“No idea,” Dani replied, shrugging her shoulders, still clueless about the plan.

She only knew that Jacky was coming because she refused at first to join him on this trip. She claimed to be busy with her work and other stuff. But she would admit, flying still gave her the creeps.

However, Alex was right as usual. She could only overcome her fear by facing it. She could not keep hiding behind her work. Because eventually, it would catch up with her.

“At least we are going on this trip together.” Jacky voiced out her excitement, giggling like a schoolgirl.

She grabbed her friend’s hand and shook it with her as she jumped up and down, already thinking of the fun ways they could enjoy this trip.

She finally gave up on trying to guess where they were going. She just had to trust the boys to know what they were doing. But, she believed it was time to get the show on the road.