**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
“You’re coming with me,” he said with a firm nod of his head.“Me?” I asked with widened eyes.“Of course. Who else? Don’t you dare think that you’re getting out of this one,” Ace said with a satisfied laugh. “You can’t be serious. You do realize that I’m not longer your secretary, right?” I asked as I batted my eyelashes at him teasingly. Although I wanted to tease him, it was true that I was no longer working as his secretary. The thought of being dragged to all the farewell parties along with him excited me a little but it also felt like a hassle. Above all else, I knew that I wasn’t a big fan of big gatherings and meeting so many new people all at once. “You’re not going as my personal secretary. You’re going as my girlfriend,” he replied like it was supposed to be obvious. “Umm…isn’t it too soon?” I asked as a frown formed in between my brows.“Don’t look so worried or you’re going to make me feel bad,” Ace said although he ended up laughing a little at my reaction. “The new
“Are you suddenly worried about your job security or something?” he asked teasingly before he chuckled.“You know well enough that I don’t mean it like that…” I said before rolling my eyes at him.Ace just laughed a little at my reaction. Although I was trying to be serious, Ace had no trouble finding some way to joke about it. I did realize that a part of why he was doing that was to make sure that I didn’t overly stress about things. “Nothing major will happen. Everyone will panic to a certain degree but soon they will realize that whatever personal relationship that I have with Elizabeth isn’t going to impact their professional careers and lives at work. That’s just all there is to it. The merger will go on as planned and great things will happen now that the company is merged into a big, experienced, and well-equipped monster,” Ace announced quite proudly. “I really hope that that will be the case. I think we’ve all had more than enough shock this year as employees of the compan
“Thank you for your time. We’ll try our best to answer your questions at the end,” Ace wrapped up quite professionally. The reporters bombarded them with questions, but I wasn’t interested to listen anymore beyond that point. It was enough for me that the announcement had been made. Finally, their fake relationship was over for real. Just like that, it was over as if had never happened in the first place. I still thought that it was ridiculous that they had to announce their relationship and also the end of it in press conferences like that but that was just how things had to be. I spent the rest of the day listening to the reactions of my colleagues and what they thought about Ace and Elizabeth’s break up. That was when I found out for myself just how many supporters they had. The majority of the people felt disappointed about their sudden break up. Employees that were originally from Jessen’s and Hill’s took the change much harder than those from Chase Creatives. Naturally, that w
After reaching an agreement that I should simply stop renting my place and move in with him properly, we scheduled a weekend to make sure that the move would happen. Of course, it was Ace’s idea and his persistent insistence that made it all happen. “Should I help you unpack?” he offered.“Oh, no. That’s fine. I’ll get it sorted myself,” I quickly turned down his suggestion.“If you’re lazy, you can take it slow. There’s no need to unpack everything today. The guest bedroom is free and so are some other rooms, so you can just put your stuff there for now,” he pointed out. “Thanks, I’ll do that,” I replied. I understood why Ace was insistent, but I still had my reserves about our relationship. It had only been around two months since Ace and Elizabeth announced their breakup. I could already imagine what people would have to say if they found out that we were already dating and that I had already moved into Ace’s place. I didn’t need to be a genius to figure out how our relationship