The Royal Contract

It was a mistake that she should never forget. But how could she regret that night when it had given her a son that she adored despite who his father was? She could hate the man that hurt her but never the result of that unfortunate incident.

Her ex-boyfriend was a coward when he turned his back on his responsibility, but she honestly loved him. Therefore, it hurt that he only took advantage of her in her moment of weakness and then disregarded her afterward like yesterday’s thrash.

“Ria, Mr. Whitman requested that you should be present for the final signing of the contract. I think he was truly impressed with your proposal.” Brenda informed her excitedly as her supervisor stood by her table, beaming with pride.

“That is great.” She knew it was a big deal. She should be thrilled about it. It was not every day that a client would find her work satisfactory.

Working in the corporate world required that she should always be in her A-game. Or the next person beside her could suddenly take the position she wanted. Then, she would be back in the street, trying to make ends meet.

“Yes, Alex is happy about your performance. So, I hope you will keep this up.” Brenda tapped her on the shoulders and then turned around to return to her work.

.....

“Wait,” Ria called to her, having some questions about the contract signing. “Will Sir Alex be accompanying me in the meeting?” She wished to know so that she would know what to expect.

Her supervisor stopped before she exited the door and turned to her. “He would love to, but he had other matters to deal with, but he is not sending you alone. Zachary will accompany you on the trip.” Brenda casually said.

She blinked her eyes but realized that they were not the problem. It was her ears. She believed she heard her boss say she was not going with their CEO to this meeting. Was something wrong with her ears? Suddenly, she hoped so.

After that night in her apartment, she had done all she could to avoid being alone with that man. She still felt terrible every time she remembered how she had behaved in his presence.l

She was glad their boss had not assigned them to work together after that night with the client. She still felt mortified that she kissed him, remembering how she had surrendered herself so easily to him.

“Alex was impressed with your teamwork that he decided that you should both close this deal to the end.” Brenda clarified further.

“Zachary? There must be a mistake. I can’t go with him.” She suddenly realized from the look on her boss’s face that she heard her right. “And you mention a trip.”

“Is there a problem with Zach?” Brenda looked at her curiously as if she was studying her. “About the trip. Alona is still finalizing the details. You will know more about it later.”

“No, there is nothing wrong with Zach.” She suddenly realized that she was making a big splash of things. Nobody had to know what had happened with her and that man. But she had to play it cool. “I was just surprised.”

She had to be more careful of her emotions if she did not want to be the next gossip in this town. She remembered one secretary downstairs who had an affair with her married boss. But it went sour when the wife learned about it. Now, she had to resign because of the controversy.

What did she know about him? He might already be involved in a committed relationship. That was possible. Look at him. He was perfect. Or worse, he could be married with two sons and was playing her for a fool.

“Then, good,” Brenda announced with excitement. “You deserved to close this deal since you both worked hard on this.” She insisted.

Ria could not refute that since she could not have convinced the client without his help. She might have come up with the brilliant idea, but he had been very convincing and charming during the meeting.

They did work well as a team, but she blew it when she kissed him. But that was not entirely her fault. The alcohol had been the culprit. She had to blame something, not believing she was attracted to the man.

“Ok.” She could not think of anything to ask except to accept her fate and hoped she could get passed the awkwardness. The last thing she wanted was for them to sit across from each other in a meeting and could not even look each other in the eye.

“Now, don’t fret much about it. Just think of it as vacation with pay.” Then, Brenda was out of sight as she returned to her table.

She did not have any control over the matter. So, she could only plan for it and hope for the best. She could always ask Zach to forget all about it. Maybe it would not be such a big deal to him. Then, they could act professionally like before.

She remembered how his face turned when the door opened, revealing the young teenage girl carrying a toddler. Then, when she introduced Edison as her son. He almost lost all the color on his face.

Was that relief that nothing yet had happened to them that crossed his eyes? He could not excuse himself fast enough as he suddenly remembered a prior commitment, as he left like his feet were on fire.

Sadly, that scene was not new to her. She did try to date as men used to line up to seek her attention. However, those men also turned their heads like a boomerang when they realized she already had a child.

No man wanted a woman with a sad past and an unwanted child under the list of her accomplishment.

A bastard under her belt.