The Royal Contract

It was a successful evening as they enjoyed each other’s company and talked about their lives. Well, it was mostly Angela who had been sharing her most colorful and delightful experiences in life.

However, she noticed her older friend was not as agile as before, and sleeping late seemed hard on her too. After all, she was not getting any younger, and her sickness had been causing her difficulty as of late.

“Of course, you are right, my dear. I am quite exhausted.” Angela fanned herself as if she was a bit short of breath from their activity.

“Bea, would you help Angela to her room?” Amelia said when she saw Bea come out of Luisa’s room. Angela’s nurse aide probably heard the commotion of their return and decided to check on them.

“Of course,” Bea answered, rushing to Angela’s side. “You looked like you had a great time.” She commented, seeing the smile on their faces.

“Yes, it was fun,” Eida responded with a nod. “How about Luisa? How was she?” Eida asked Bea, who had volunteered to babysit her child while they took the night off to celebrate.

.....

“Luisa is both the angel and the devil.” She teased Eida since Luisa could be both at one point and another. “But don’t worry. She is already sleeping tightly.”

When Luisa was quietly playing or asleep, she looked like an angel that could not do any harm. But she started demanding to be fed or grumpy from wanting to sleep. She could create chaos like no other. But, of course, they all knew that.

Bea slowly guided Angela toward her bedroom, leaving Amelia and Eida in the living room, still on a high. Amelia pulled Eida to the living room, sitting on the couch side by side, still slightly chuckling until all the laughter died.

Both fell into silence, lost in their thoughts.

“I guess we better get some rest too.” Amelia finally stood up, realizing it was getting late. She still had a few things she had to do in the morning.

“I think I will stay a bit longer. I am still not sleepy.” She informed her friend as her body remained buried in the cushions.

She knew she should be getting into bed, too, since she had worked early the next day, or better yet, in a few more hours. However, she did not plan to lay awake all night. She would prefer to exhaust herself to sleep. But what to do?

“Ok. But don’t stay up too long. You have work tomorrow.” Amelia reminded her. “I will check on Luisa before I retire. You go and enjoy the rest of the night.” Her friend held her hands and squeezed them gently before walking away.

“Good night, Amelia.” She said before she disappeared from her sight. She continued to stare at the view before her. But she barely saw anything. It was like her mind was blank, suddenly empty of any thoughts.

Maybe it was the fatigue of overthinking things, but now her mind finally gave up. She could not even come up with anything to think about, yet, sleep still evaded her.

She looked around, but everyone seemed to be inside their rooms, probably already falling asleep. She did not want to check on Luisa, not wanting to wake her up. Besides, Amelia had already checked on her. The last thing everybody needed was to stay awake all night.

“What about a late snack?” She quietly mumbled as if thinking aloud. When was the last time she lay on her couch like a sack of potatoes and ate popcorn while watching a movie?

She quickly rushed to the kitchen and shoved a pack of popcorn in the microwave while making some juice. A carbonated soda would be better, but she was still breastfeeding. She did not want her baby fed with all the junk she loved to eat. At least not when she was still young.

Soon, she was back on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and a glass of juice in both hands. She took the remote of the television and began scanning the channels for something interesting.

Undoubtedly, there must be a movie she would like to see on one of these numerous channels. Finally, after scanning half of the selections, she found one that seems interesting.

She had no idea what it was since she rarely looked at advertisements lately. However, it looked intriguing enough as she focused her eyes on the screen.

“Now, that is not fair.” She muttered under her breath as she munched on her popcorn while complaining about the narrative. She took her juice and drank it, unsatisfied with how the story ended.

However, sleep was far from visiting her doorstep. She decided that a few more minutes would do the trick. So, she picked up the remote and scanned the channels for something else.

Then, something finally caught her attention. It was not a local network but an international talk show reporting a worldwide affair. She watched on the screen as the host informed the public of an upcoming grand celebration.

“Isn’t that sweet of him, taking his fiance on the race track to give her a spin? I will surely want to ride him...” The female host flirtatiously spoke, winking at the audience, causing the girls in the crowd to cheer with excitement.

“Don’t you mean ride with him?” The male host corrected his partner with her error. But, of course, everyone knew it was intentional to please the viewers.

But it was not the only thing that captured her awareness. The photos flashed on the screen and had her eyes glued. She could not even blink as she examined each one with unbridled interest.

Pictures of them on the race track, during dinner, and some other social events, always touching, staring at each other’s eyes flashed before her. Then, the host talked about the impending union of Prince Lance Wellington and her fiance, Camille McKinley.

It was like she was reliving a nightmare as she gazed into his eyes when she froze the screen. She had seen it before in her dreams. The look on his face and the darkness in his eyes. As if all the life in him had died.

He was marrying her out of obligation, not love.

She killed the man who she knew had always been full of life.

She did this to him.

She did this to their child.

She ruined their lives.

Tears started forming in her eyes as she thought of the what-ifs. Regret filled her heart with sorrow. She could have given her child a better life than what she could give her. Luisa could have been with a father who would love her more than his life.

But instead, she chose to be selfish and think of herself. Her fear drove her to run away instead of fighting for them. Now, no matter what she did, it was too late. There was nothing else she could do but watch at the sideline and regret her life choices.

“Eida, is everything alright?” She heard her friend’s voice at her back, probably wondering why she was crying.

She was once again a crying mess.