“Are you nervous?” I asked even though I guessed that that probably wasn’t the case. “Me? Of course, not…” Ace replied dismissively. “That’s good, I guess. I’m really hoping that everything would go well. We’ve put in so much effort and time into this…” I said as I started to feel nervous instead. Why wasn’t Ace getting to the point just like he always used to? It felt like he had something to tell me. Why else would he pull me into a private meeting room just when the press conference was about to start like this?“Rina…” Ace called my name softly. “Yes?” I replied in such a soft whisper that I almost couldn’t hear myself.My throat suddenly went dry and my heart began racing in my chest as I waited anxiously for his next words. Instead of going on right away, Ace reached for my hands and held it a little too tightly in his as he stared deeply into my eyes. Although I knew that he wasn’t going to formally propose or anything like that, it felt like he might. I plastered the best
“You’re right. Let’s save the rest for tonight,” he said before he flashed me a smile. I didn’t know how to respond to that bold hint of what I was to expect later tonight when we returned to his place together so just tried my best to offer him one of my best smiles. Ace responded just like he could read my mind and I was thankful for that. “There’s not much time left. You should head back to the auditorium first,” I told him quite sternly. “Yes, Ma’am…” he replied mockingly. He gave me a nod and a smile before he went on ahead. I pressed a hand against my chest as I took in a few consecutive deep breaths to calm the rapid beating of my own heart that hammered against the palm of my hand. It was far from the first time that he had kissed me this way, but I still couldn’t stop myself from getting so excited from his kiss. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh as I tried to collect myself. Just like Ace, I should head back to the auditorium soon as well because there may be things th
“You’re right. There’s nothing else that we can do now but pray…” Jeremy replied in a hushed whisper.I could sense everyone’s excitement and anticipation as they waited eagerly for the event to finally come to a start. The dim lighting casted an eerie glow over the room, adding to the sense of mystery and expectation. The lack of lighting made it difficult for me to see around and that only worked to heighten my sense of hearing. The sound of people whispering to each other in hushed whispers filled the air before the light on the stage suddenly turned on. The orange glow of the spotlights shining down onto the stage brought silence immediately to the restless crowd of audience. I found myself holding my breath as I stared at the stage that was now bathed in a warm golden glow. The silence felt deafening and although I knew that Ace was about to make his appearance on the stage, I couldn’t stop myself from feeling excited. The sound of applause flooded the hall in one big explosion
That was when I gasped in shock as I started to see people standing up from their seat. A moment later, the sound of applaud erupted throughout the auditorium. It was the loudest round of applaud that I had ever heard in my life, and I couldn’t believe it at first that they were applauding our work. If there was such a thing as a ‘dream come true’ moment, then I was pretty sure that that was it. I had to admit that I was extremely worried if the commercial that we had made would be able to connect emotionally with the audiences. As my eyes adjusted a little to the bright light that now lit up the entire auditorium, I could tell from the faces of the audience that there was nothing for me to worry about anymore on that front.We did it. We’ve connected it. The story and the emotions that we wanted to portray, I believed that the audiences understood it and that they felt exactly what we wanted them to feel. The change that came about as time changes things. The bond between man and
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