The event did not end quite as we had all expected. In the end, the buzz of questions around Ace’s upcoming retirement from his position as the CEO did die down a little and the crowd of reporters was brought under control by the security team. There was a moment of peace before order was restored and the press’s attention shifted back to what was supposed to be the focus of the event which was the launch of the commercial. I began wondering what would be covered more in the news between Ace’s retirement confirmation or the launch of the commercial. If I had to make a guess, I would bet on the topic of Ace quitting his job. Hopefully, Julianna had some backup plan to deal with this so that Project Alpha wouldn’t be impacted. There was also the possibility that the commercial might gain a lot more popularity and views by riding on the back of the news related to Ace. Whatever was going to happen, I prayed for the commercial to be a success. Toward the end of the event, the questions
“Julianna will handle it. It’s mostly marketing and monitoring now. She’s a pro at that, so I don’t see anything going wrong that she can’t possibly handle on her own. Of course, she’ll give me a call if anything major turns up,” Ace replied confidently while navigating the roads.“Right…umm…what about us?” I asked in wonder.It was still midday so it probably didn’t make much sense for us to head back to his place right away. Even though I wanted to spend time with Ace, I was too excited and concerned about the commercial that I was torn about what I wanted to do. If only, there was a way that I could be with him while doing some work to support to project at the same time that would be completely perfect. “You’ll see…” Ace replied vaguely. I stared at the side profile of his face as he kept his eyes on the road ahead while I wondered what exactly he had in mind for the remainder of the day. The traffic wasn’t too bad during the midday and we arrived back at Ace’s place in no time
Although it was the middle of a weekday, there were many people in the shopping district. I guessed that just goes to show how into shopping people were. Then again, most people that were there were younger people who haven’t started working yet or the elderly. Many tourists were among them as well. I was certain that within a few hours, this entire place would be packed with people. I fully assumed that Ace knew where we were going. He must have spoken to Julianna and the team already and that meant that he knew all the spots where the commercial would be displayed. My heart began beating harder and faster in my chest at the thought of how close I was to finding out the audience’s reaction to the commercial that we had worked so hard to produce.Many couples walked hand in hand as they looked into the many attractive shop displays. I wondered if we looked like a couple on a casual shopping trip together as well as I walked with my hand in Ace’s. Seeing our reflection in the shop dis
“A little less than half an hour…” he replied before pressing his chin on the top of my head. “Umm…are we going to…stay like this until then?” I asked hesitantly. “You were the one who turned down my invitation for a meal…so…” he replied with a hint of teasing in his tone.His arms around my waist tightened a little more than slightly and I had a pretty good idea of what he had in mind for the remaining time until our commercial would start playing. I wondered if we looked strange standing there like that. Before I could come up with the words to get Ace to let go of me so that we could stand normally, my stomach let out an embarrassingly loud growl. Heat immediately rushed to my face as I blushed wildly. Ace started laughing softly from behind me and that was enough confirmation for me to know that he had heard my stomach growling loud and clear. I didn’t even feel that hungry so why did my stomach have to make a noise like that now of all times. Embarrassment flooded every cell o
3…2…1! The commercial that held so much significance for the future of our company and the future of our relationship finally appeared on the large screen above us. The opening just felt so surreal and beautiful that I couldn’t bear to look away. “Rina…” Ace called my name and then I felt a tug on my hand.“Y-Yes?” I said questioningly as I tired my best to tear my eyes away from the commercial to look at him.“You’re supposed to be observing the audience and not watching your own commercial…” Ace pointed out quite correctly.“Oh…you’re right…” I murmured. Ace just shook his head at me before he grinned. He turned away before I could say anything more to him and I realized that he was already doing his job. That meant that I had to do the same thing. Quickly, I began looking around at the various faces in the crowd of people that were walking by. It felt amazing enough that some of them looked up to take a glance at our commercial on the screen. My heartbeat so fast and hard in my
“There’s a lot more people here…” I muttered.“You’re right. More people and younger people too…” Ace pointed out. Looking around, I had to say that he was right. Although it was just a walk away from where we were and we were still in the shopping district, the crowd here was very different. The people around us were younger and they seemed more excited to see our commercial. Ace tugged on my hand and led me closer to the screen where our commercial was playing. A small crowd of people had gathered around the front of the screen, and I could tell that they were paying attention to our commercial. Just like we did in front of the first point of display, we silently observed the reactions of the audiences and carefully listened in on their comments. I truly wanted to ask some of them a few questions about how they felt about our commercial but decided to do that a little later on in the evening when there were more people around. For now, it seemed like silently observing would be en
If only we could spend all our days working together like this, life wouldn’t feel so bad. I had to admit that work had become so much more fun and challenging at the same time since I started working in Ace’s team and also as his personal secretary. Although our relationship came with a lot of ups and downs, I couldn’t deny that everything made me grow so much more as a person. The joy that blossomed in my chest suddenly felt very bittersweet when I thought that there was no way that days like these could last between us. It was an unfortunately yet seemingly unescapable fact that these days were coming to an end. Our next stop was only a couple of minutes’ walk from where we were previously. Ace held my hand all the way until we arrived there. I didn’t miss how he paid extra attention to me when we were crossing the road together even if all the cars were at a stop at the red light and there were so many other people crossing the road with us. All the small things that he did for m
Why is she here? “Elizabeth wanted to drop by to congratulation us on the launch. Unfortunately, we were no longer in the office. I didn’t think that she would really turn up here to join us,” Ace explained to me casually before turning his attention back to Elizabeth. I was still too stunned to say anything as I watch the two of them conversing. Ace pointed something in the commercial out to Elizabeth and she looked quite impressed as they both watched the commercial on the screen together. As for me, I couldn’t stop wondering why Elizabeth had to turn up here. Was it normal for her to drop by to congratulate her main competitor on their commercial launch? So many wild thoughts ran through my mind as I stood glued to the spot with my eyes staring at their backs. I had no idea what was really going on or perhaps I was just over reading into everything. However, the way the two of them talked together made them appear to be closer than before. It was like any rivalry that existed b