The Royal Contract

She had no idea why the management suddenly changed their minds and gave the story to someone else. But that was not a loss that she would like to contest. She was glad that for whatever reason they had, she was free from a sure disastrous situation.

“Hello, my darling.” She greeted her sleeping child. She did not wish to wake her up, but she had missed her so dearly that she could not help it.

Her nanny said her little princess had been cranky all day, but she did not seem sick. She concluded that her baby probably missed her since she had been coming home late.

“Hey, I knew I heard Luisa cry.” Her friend had shown up on the doorstep a few minutes after Luisa complained about her, ruining her sleep. “I did not hear you come in.”

“I tried not to wake everybody up.” But she seemed to fail when she woke Luisa up. “The nanny said that she had been throwing tantrums.” She asked her friend, hoping that it was nothing serious.

“Yeah, I think she is still adjusting to her new nanny.” Amelia tried to assure her that nothing was wrong with her child.

.....

They all knew that she had to pick a nanny that would be there for Luisa when the time came that Amelia had to leave. She was getting married soon and would not be around to care for Luisa anymore.

But Luisa did not seem to warm up with the nanny she chose. So far, this was the second nanny she hired in a week. But Amelia was right. They had to give her time to adjust to a new person taking care of her. After all, they were still strangers.

“Good.” Making her feel a bit relieved. Then, she danced with her little angel in her arms, loving the feeling of caring for her. She had a tiring day, but feeling the warmth of her child close to her heart seemed to relax her, easing her body of exhaustion.

“Wait!” Amelia uttered with a slight surprise. “Why are you here?” She questioned her with curiosity.

“Dah! This apartment is my home.” She answered sarcastically, but she knew that was not the answer her friend wanted to hear.

After she failed the dinner date with the restaurant owner, her friend set her up with other blind dates. But she always managed to find a way to shut it down.

However, tonight, Amelia managed to corner her and force her to agree to a blind date. Now, she was wondering why she was here instead of her date.

It was late if she came from work, but it would not be late if she had come from a successful date. So?

“Don’t tell me you did not like him?” Her friend asked, looking quite disappointed. “He is a great guy, and he liked children.” She continued, lobbying for her recommended date.

How could he not like kids when he was a pediatric doctor? But that was not the point. “I am sorry. I am sure he was a great guy, but I never got the chance to meet him.” She could not lie to her friend.

“Eida, are you serious? What is wrong this time?” She asked, feeling exasperated this time as she ran her fingers through her long hair. “Why did you stand him up?”

“First, nothing is wrong with me,” Eida answered her friend calmly. “Second, I called him an hour before to cancel.” She was hoping that would calm her friend this time. At least she bothered to inform him that she was not showing up.

“Why?” Amelia looked at her with disbelief. “Why would you do that?” As she paced the floor in front of her. “I told you that he is looking forward to meeting you.” Stopping before her to get an answer.

“I was going to meet him, but as I was packing up for the day, my boss called me for an emergency meeting. I am sorry, but I could not turn my back on my job.” Eida explained to her friend.

She was not lying about that. She was on her way to meet him but could not say no to her boss. Well, the last part was a lie. But her friend did not need to hear that. But truthfully, she was relieved that she had an excuse to back out of it without having to make up excuses.

She had been dreading it the entire day, even going as far as praying for a miracle to happen. But it seemed it was an answered prayer as fate intervened on her behalf.

“As if people are going to suffer if you don’t get the gossip out on time,” Amelia mumbled around her, still bitter that she did not show up on her date. “Now, he would think you are not interested in him.”

She wanted to spell out to her friend that she was not. But that would hurt her feelings. “Maybe fate is saying he was not the right one for me.” She hoped it sounded better than her telling her friend to stop it.

But she loved her friend, and the last thing she wished to do was to make her feel bad. She knew she had been under tremendous stress with the wedding. She could not add up to what she was going through.

But she could not go on a date again, not after the last one. Her date was charming, attractive, intelligent, and a true gentleman. But she was not ready for him.

“Why don’t we talk about your wedding? Do you need any help?” She wished to change the topic, knowing Amelia would not rest until she got another date.

However, she could not use another person to forget another man. She had done it before and looked at where she found herself now. But she was not closing her door to the possibility of falling in love again and finding her true love.

She knew she had found him.

But maybe she could find it again the second time around.

Once she was ready, she might date again, but not until then.