The Royal Contract

He could see the other patrons and the servers were curious about his date since he had been sitting at this table alone for a while. The manager might have asked him to leave if he had not been a good customer.

He had occupied a good table but hardly ordered anything except the expensive wine. He knew how many other customers would want his space.

“Sir, would you like something else?” That would be the third time or the fourth a server had asked him that question, but he said the same thing.

“I will order when I am ready.” He snapped at the boy, slightly irritated that they could not wait.

But he knew they were only doing their job. But he did not understand why his date had not yet arrived. He took his phone out again and checked for any messages.

But after that first text, he believed nothing else came from her. She did not call or text him again. He tried again to call her, but it still went to her voice mail. He had no way of contacting her aside from leaving her several messages and hoping she would respond soon enough.

.....

“Hello!” He finally decided to call someone else, hoping she might have any idea where his fiance went. He knew she met with a client, but where. Would it take her hours to drive from where she took them?

Besides, he was beginning to worry about her condition. It was not like her to be this late. Maybe a few minutes or a maximum of an hour, but not more than two hours without calling or texting him.

And now, he could not even reach her on her phone. He could sense that something might be wrong. Maybe she had a flat tire somewhere and needed help. Then, her phone might have died on her. Or maybe?

The last thought was not something he did not want to consider as he heard another voice on the line. “Hi, David!” His sister answered immediately. “Do you need anything?” She quickly asked, probably wondering why he was calling.

There was no quick fix to magically patch their differences, not with a few calls and meetings. Although both tried to open their hearts and minds, it might take a few more before they could say that they had once again bonded as brother and sister, not just because they shared the same blood.

“Serena, have you, by any chance, heard from Rosella?” He hesitantly asked. Lately, the two had been calling each other. Rosella insisted that they strengthened their ties through constant communication.

So far, he believed that they were fast becoming friends. It seemed that the two had many things they liked. They even planned to go on a vacation when the situation on his sister’s end settled down.

“Rosella?” His sister asked as if thinking. “Yes, she called me this morning. Why?” She seemed to be puzzled. “Wait. Aren’t you supposed to be together?”

He had told her about the dinner plan. He even asked her for tips on how he could surprise his fiance. But it seemed his sister had no communication with Rosella tonight.

“Yeah! We are supposed to meet for dinner, but until now, she has been a no-show.” He confided in his sister, something they had never done for a long time.

When was the last time he told his younger sister about a girl problem? It must be more than a decade ago. They did not talk much since she moved out and cut them out of her life to follow her dreams.

“Do you want me to find out what is wrong? She might have a valid reason for standing you up.” Serena offered, probably thinking Rosella might have changed her mind about showing up. But he doubted that it was the reason.

Something in his gut feeling was not sitting well inside him. Suddenly, he sensed that the reason might be more complicated than that. But it was still something he did not want to consider.

“No, there is no need. I think I am just overthinking it.” He stopped his sister from going to the trouble. “She did send a text that she was going to be late.” He added, not wanting his sister to worry.

But he was getting concerned as he said goodbye to his sister and hung up the phone. He tried to call her phone again, one last time, hoping this time, she would answer. But the same thing happened. Her voicemail answered him.

“Can I have the bill?” At this point, he knew that he had to attempt to find her. The situation was not the same as the previous times.

She would not keep him waiting this long unless something happened. He just hoped her reason had something to do with her work and nothing else because the other options were unthinkable.

Soon, he walked out of the restaurant, moving toward his waiting car. But as he passed by the staff near the door, he heard something that had piqued his attention for an unknown reason.

“Have you seen the accident outside?” One of the uniformed security said to the woman on the receiving podium.

“What accident?” The woman asked, looking curious as she waited.

“It happened a bit earlier. One car tried to beat the red light and caused several vehicles to tangle in one big pile of mess.” The man continued his story. “Until now, traffic is heavy outside.”

Then the man turned to him. “Sir, I will avoid going in that direction.” He suggested when he saw him and guided him to his car. “Traffic is still a mess.”

He turned to his other side, looking at the roadblocks not far from where he stood. It seemed it was a massive accident based on the number of police cars and ambulance filling the street.

He suddenly walked in that direction, leaving his car and walking toward the accident scene. It could be that he wished to help since he had volunteered a lot on rescue missions. Or it could be something else.

Instinct or not, he found himself on the sideline, unable to believe what caught his interest.