If what I’m seeing was a mirage, then I was more than willing to be tricked. “Where is Karina?” Ace asked.I froze at the mention of my name. Before I knew what I was doing, I had retreated back behind the van as I tried desperately to hide. I felt the hardness of the van against my back as I pressed myself against it. Of all the places that I thought that Ace could be, I never expected that he would randomly turn up here. It didn’t seem like the other staff members knew that he was going to turn up here either. My eyes closed as I thanked the heavens that he was here before I let out a long sigh as relief flooded every cell in my body. If Ace was here, then it meant that Kyle and I had been worried about nothing at all. It was a long ride to get here so Ace was probably driving here all the while I was trying to get in contact with him. I wasn’t sure why he didn’t pick up my calls, but it was enough for me that he wasn’t with Elizabeth as I had thought.Why am I still hiding? I kn
I would have felt much better about it if he had said it in some other way and without that suggestive wink that he gave me. “Thank you so much and thank you for your hard work today,” I replied politely. I was sure that the director was just teasing me because I doubt that he could act so casual and relaxed if he truly suspected that Ace and I were really dating. “Let’s head back. It’s already getting late. Good work, everyone…” Ace said.Before anyone could delay our departure, I followed Ace to where he had parked his car nearby. Now that we were alone, I felt extremely awkward. “Thanks…” I thanked him when he opened the car door for me.I got into the car after offering him a smile that I believed didn’t look natural despite my efforts. My heart beat fast inside my chest and it wasn’t because I was excited. My chest felt tight, and it felt like all the guilt that was bottled up inside me was threatening to spill out for Ace to see. Ace got into the car and started driving. I
“Hopefully it was a good learning experience. I would feel bad if I sent you out here for nothing,” Ace replied with a sigh. “It was a good experience. Filming people is hard enough on its own but today we have a dog and a puppy as well. It really did add to the challenge even though they were both so cute and well-behaved,” I said with a smile. “Exactly. This director is very experienced, and I’ve worked with him many times before. I thought you could learn a thing or two from him while watching him work,” Ace said excitedly. “Right. It was interesting to watch him work. He’s very committed and even I can tell that much,” I replied. The truth was far from it. I was probably too worried about everything to pay enough attention to the work at hand or learn from the director as Ace had planned. If I could turn back time, I would make sure to pay more attention to the director and every little thing that he was doing. However, I knew better than anyone that I couldn’t turn back time.
“This place looks even better than in the photos!” I exclaimed in pure delight the moment that I step foot out of the car.We arrived at our destination around half an hour earlier than planned to due light traffic. That meant that I had more time to spend in this awesome place with Ace. “The weather is nice too…” Ace said lazily as he got out of the car. The staffs were already there to greet us and help us with our bags although we didn’t pack a lot of things for this trip. It was just for the weekend, and we were only staying for one night. I wished that we could take some leave days and extend our trip; however, I didn’t want to leave Jeremy to deal with all the work alone. Life at work was already tough and I didn’t dare let him shoulder my responsibilities on top of his own. Our trip was going to be short but that was all the more reason that I wanted to make the most of it. “We can take your things to your room for you first in case you want to head straight to the beach…” t
“We should come here or go on trips like this more often…” Ace said wistfully. Well, it wasn’t like it was impossible for us to do that. We just needed to take care of our projects better. The workload work at work would be better for me once we are done with Project Alpha and the competition is finally over. Both the company’s future and our future were on the line for this competition. We can’t afford to lose after coming this far. “What are you thinking about? You’re frowning…” Ace said as he peered closely at my face.I hadn’t realized that my thoughts had caused me to frown. To not worry Ace or ruin the mood, I turned and offered him one of my best smiles. “It’s nothing…” I replied although it wasn’t entirely true. “Don’t think about work. We’re supposed to be on holiday,” he warned.His large hand stroked my hair before pulling my head down onto his shoulder. Leaning against him comforted me in a way that words couldn’t describe. It made me feel like he was here for me and t
I had no idea why I was in love with Ace. There were many things that were very unusual about the circumstances of how we met and how our relationship started. On top of that, there were countless obstacles in our way, and nothing seemed simple even on a very good day. However, in that moment, I truly felt no regrets at all. If anything, I had never felt as certain of my feelings or him as I did in that moment. It could have been my optimistic genes acting out of order, but I truly felt and believed that we would be together forever despite everything. I really love Ace…so much…“Rina…?” Ace called my name softly.“Hmm?” I made a questioning sound when I finally focused my attention on him again. “Stop spacing out. The sun has set. Let’s go in to clean up and then let’s start dinner,” Ace suggested.“Oh, right…ok…” I readily agreed. His large hand on my head ruffled my wet hair before he shook his head a little at me. Ace took my hand in his before leading me back toward the buildi
I chewed on my food while keeping my gaze on Ace as I wondered if asking him about that would count as talking about work or not. Looking at it from another angle, it could count as talking about personal matters because the company’s expansion plan does have quite a solid connection to the future of our relationship. “How are things going with your plans to grow the company?” I asked while trying to keep my tone light.“It’s going well enough,” he replied casually before smiling a little my way.His attention immediately shifted to the food on his plate, and it became apparent that he did not wish to add any additional comments or details to his answer. After all the effort that I put in to ask him that one question, I didn’t learn much from his response at all. While I debated with myself inside my head whether I should continue pressing him for answers on that topic or not, Ace spoke up before I had made up my mind. “How’s your mother? I guess you’ve been too busy with work and h
Ace had not mentioned anything about it to me and I didn’t think that he would. However, since I am his secretary and also his girlfriend, I knew his birthday. Now it seemed like the tables have turned and it was my turn to have a hard time figuring out what Ace would want for his birthday present. I should get him something special, but I wasn’t sure what. “Let’s go back to our room so you can see the gift I got you clearer in the mirror…” Ace suggested as he got up and offered me his hand. “There’s no need for that. I’ll like it no matter what you give me…” I told him reassuringly. “That’s no good. I want you to see it clearly and let me know if you like it or not. If you don’t like it, we can get it exchanged for something else or another design…” Ace said stubbornly. “There’s no need for that. I already told you that I like it. It’s good enough that you got it for me so of course, I like it,” I desperately tried to explain. However, the look on Ace’s face told me that it was