The Royal Contract

“You should watch where you are going.” The woman hissed angrily at him, blaming him for the incident.

“Excuse me, but you are the one who bumped into me.” He argued, believing it was not his fault as he scooped on his knees to pick up his files.

He might have been rushing to get to the elevator, but she suddenly came out of nowhere, probably looking elsewhere instead at her path. She was probably expecting people to step aside because she was about to pass by, but he did not have enough time.

“Don’t try to pin this on me. You should know your manners.” She also bent down to retrieve the papers scattered on the floor, snatching a few pieces away from his hand. “Those are mine.” Pulling them harder when he would not easily let them go.

“I was only trying to help. But suit yourself.” He responded, feeling insulted for trying to diffuse the situation.

Of course, everybody could guess what came next with her when he finally let go of the papers. She ended up sprawled on the floor. It was not funny, but he could not help it. She got on his nerves.

.....

“You’re a jerk.” She countered as she collected herself and her files and stood up, fixing her dress. “Don’t you know who I am?” She angrily said but suddenly bit her lip, realizing her mistake. “Never mind.”

“Anyway, I am just wasting my time talking to you.” Snobbishly looking at him from head to toe, knowing that no good was coming from this unfortunate encounter.

He had already ruined her morning, and she had no time to debate with him. She was already late for a meeting, and her documents were all messed up.

Besides, she was starting to attract little attention from the crowd. At least, the incident. The last thing she needed was media attention. Somebody was bound to notice who she was. And that would not be good.

“Me? A jerk?” He questioned incredulously, finding her accusation hilarious because he was pretty sure she was the one who bumped into him. “But you are right. Talking to you is a waste of time.” He shouted to the woman retreating away as he grabbed the last paper on the floor.

His plan to apologize had just flown out the window when she acted rude and all high and mighty. He did notice how beautiful she was, but he had no time for a spoiled rich girl, judging from her clothes and well-manicured fingers.

Who was she, acting like a brat? Did she own the fucking building? But, he did not care to find out. All he could say was good riddance.

Besides, he was already late for a deposition as he rushed to his appointment. Luckily, he was able to salvage the meeting and managed to reschedule for a continuance.

However, that was not the worst part of his day as he realized in the middle of his argument that he had lost an important file. It was not in his file, but he remembered checking it earlier.

He could only conclude that she must have taken it by mistake. He had to find that woman to retrieve the file before she threw it in the dumpster out of respite.

But. “Fuck!” How?

Quickly, he went to one of his connections from the security of the building, asking for assistance. It helped that several of them owe him a favor or two.

He did not come from money, but he had worked hard to get to where he was today. So, he had no time for people who thought of themselves as someone privileged because they were born with a silver spoon.

“So, Adam, who are we looking for?” It seemed that the security was busy in the lobby, that nobody saw their incident in the inner hallway.

The man in front of the security panel started scanning his specified time frame, searching for the incident a few hours earlier. All he needed was a name, then the rest, he would figure out later.

“Here. Found it.” The tech guy pulled the screen into a wider frame, watching the scene, and eventually started chuckling.

“That’s her.” He pointed at the screen as they reviewed the footage. “I need her name. And stop laughing. It is a life and death matter.” He was baffled at how these two clowns were enjoying the clip at his expense.

The two securities with him looked at each other and laughed some more. “Seriously, you don’t know that woman?” His security guy tapped him on the shoulder as if he could not believe it. “What world are you living in, man?”

“What? Who is she?” It seemed that his friends knew something that he did not. He was the educated one in this trio, but he had no doubt he looked like the idiot in this case.

“Really? You don’t recognize her at all.” The other security asked him, tapping his fingers on the keyboard. “What again do you need from her?” Now, he looked suspicious.

“Should I?” Now, he rummaged his brain, trying to remember meeting someone like her from somewhere. “As I said, he accidentally took some papers that belonged to me.”

He watched the scene again, noticing his file mixed with hers. “See.” He pointed to his friends to disperse their suspicion. But who was this girl they were trying to protect anyway?

“Fine.” His friend finally conceded. “If I did not owe you a favor. I will not tell you her name. I might lose my job because of you.” He cleared the screen and returned it to the regular size.

Then, he turned around to face him. “Swear that you did not get this from me.” When he nodded, he continued. “That is Sir David’s younger sister. The famous actress, Serena Anderson.”

“Now, do you know her?” The other security asked him.

He only nodded, feeling foolish about himself. Honestly, he had heard the name, but he was not a movie buff. He could not care less about famous people unless they ended up in his cases.

Then, of course, he knew that his friend, David, had a sister, but he did not hang out much with them back in college since he studied on a scholarship program. So, he did not exactly have the chance to meet her.

Now, what? How could he find this famous superstar?