“Congratulations! Wow! I’m not sure what to say…” I said as I felt a sense of overwhelming happiness. “Let’s not celebrate too early. The announcement doesn’t happen until the day after tomorrow,” Ace said before winking at me.The day after tomorrow?“That soon?” I gasped in shock as my eyes widened. Ace just grinned at me as if he had already anticipated that reaction from me. The news was a great one and one that I had been waiting for for quite a while now. Now things seemed to be progressing forward at such a fast pace that I was taken aback. The announcement of the merger would take place the day after tomorrow already and it just doesn’t feel real to me at all. “Yup. Elizabeth and everyone involved have been working on it for a while so you can expect it to be great. Hopefully this will be good news for everyone,” Ace said while truly sounding hopeful.Unlike the times before he didn’t sound completely confident, and I could understand why. There was no guarantee that everyo
**The Day of the Announcement**The day that the upper management and the representatives of the two companies would announce the merger finally arrived. Although I had promised Ace to help out with the preparations, the event was of a grander scale than an amateur like me could handle. Instead, professional event organizers were brought in to ensure that everything proceeded smoothly. The announcement was undoubtedly a big deal and that also made it a large-scale event.On top of the expected large crowd of reporters, the prominent shareholders and board of directors of both companies will also be there at the event. Trying to keep the news of the mergers under wraps also meant that Ace could not involve that many employees in the preparation of the event. Thinking of it from that perspective, I could understand why such an experienced team was brought in to handle the entire thing.“Are you sure that you don’t want to be there?” Ace asked me the night before the announcement.It was
The risk of us losing our jobs from the merger or whatever could happen to the business was low compared to the other people. It was sad and unfortunate, but the truth we all knew was that if there was a downsizing in the workforce, it would be the poor performers who would have to leave first. In that respect, our job felt quite secure. “I really wonder what this is about…” Julianna said lightly. “Ace hasn’t been around the office lately, so I bet that he’s up to something again,” Richard muttered with his eyes glued straight ahead. “Can I sit here?” I turned around toward the familiar voice that I hadn’t heard in a while to see Jeremy standing quite close to me. It was the first time that I saw him in person ever since that day that he turned up to join us in Ace’s office. “Sure,” I replied with a little smile. Before things could get awkward between us, the lights in the auditorium dimmed slightly and that served as the signal to everyone that the announcement was about the s
I chewed on my lower lip as I wondered how Ace was feeling as he calmly delivered his speech. He sounded so professional and in control that it wouldn’t be challenging to trust him to handle everything. After a moment of pause where Ace seemed to be looking in the direction of where the shareholders were seated, he continued with his speech where he addressed the other parties to ease them of their concerns. “Last but not least, I would like to address our employees, everyone working for both companies. Undoubtedly, this is going to be a big change for everyone. However, we strongly believe that this will be a change for the better. From this, we will all emerge stronger and in a more competitive position with a brighter and more secure future,” Ace announced. Although I was watching his speech on screen and he wasn’t there right in front of me, he still felt so close, and I could hear the sincerity in his voice. I knew very well that Ace was very concerned about the wellbeing of hi
**6 months later**“Karina, can you help take a look at this?” my new supervisor requested as she waved me over.“Oh, sure…” I replied before making my way over to her side. Bending a little and looking down at the screen of her laptop, I could see a very well-organized storyboard of the new commercial that we were working on. It has been six months since the announcement of the merger and many things have changed since then for the two companies, its employees, and also for me as well. “This part here, what do you think?” she asked as she pointed to a certain scene in the storyboard.“I think it should help with the flow and make it easier for the audience to understand the benefits of the product,” I replied with what I honestly thought. “Umm…I’m not sure about it to be honest. I feel like the scene might feel a little out of place here. What about moving it a little later on? Maybe here instead?” she suggested as she directed her index finger to point to a later part in the stor
Even though I was technically allowed to date Ace now, he was still technically in a relationship with Elizabeth. Their relationship seemed to be very much a cover up now more than ever before with the two not seeing each other much outside the context of work and now that the first phase of the merger has come to an end, the two will probably see less of each other. I wondered what was going to happen now that Ace was free from his role at the company. Ace arrived shortly in his car, and for the first time in forever, I got into the car without having to look left and right to check if someone was watching us. It felt strange and I was sure that it would take some time for me to get used to this. “It feels kind of strange that you were the one who organized everything although we’re supposed to be celebrating your last day at the company,” I pointed out while feeling slightly regretful for not doing anything special for him.“It’s good enough for me that you’re here. Thanks for suc
Most of all, I was thankful and proud of the fact that we were still together despite everything that happened and all the obstacles that stood in our way. I did realize that there were still many obstacles in our way, but I was certain that we would be able to overcome them somehow if we just stuck together like we always have. “Congratulations, Ace. I’m very proud of you,” I complimented him openly before letting out a giggle.It was funny how I just couldn’t stop smiling because I was just that happy for him and also for us. With the merger and our relationship as boss and secretary out of the way, maybe we could focus more on our relationship. It still felt kind of sad that I was no longer his personal secretary and that I wouldn’t get to work with him anymore. It was so ironic how much I hated this position of his secretary when I first started working for him. I could still remember how against it I was back then. To make matters worse, I somehow convinced myself that he only w
“You don’t have to be stuck there you know…” Ace said before showing me a very charming smile. “What are you trying to say?” I asked as I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously. “Well, you could just quit and move in with me and live an easy-going life,” Ace replied teasingly. I knew well enough that he knew that I wouldn’t do something like that. Given how wealthy Ace is, I had no doubt that he could live an easy-going life in luxury without ever having to work again his entire life. However, things were different for me, and I couldn’t imagine myself living off of Ace like a leech. On top of that, I still had dreams and career aspirations of my own. I still enjoyed the job that I was doing, and I also liked my colleagues even though working with new colleagues from Chase Creatives could be challenging. I was determined to adapt and make the best out of everything. Since my mother is a single mother and we were not well off, I also needed to work in order to support her. I still re