Recovery Dinner

“Well, now that that is out of the way, want to go out for dinner with me tonight?” Ace asked in such a cheerful voice that my eyes snapped up from the tightly clenched hands on my lap to his face.

His sudden invitation caught me by surprise. It seemed like the formal part of this chat was over and now Ace had reverted into the version that he was usually like when we were alone.

“Umm…” I murmured hesitantly.

I had no idea how to react to that.

“This is for you…” Ace said as he passed me a couple of tissue after pulling it out from the box on his desk.

“Thank you…” I thanked him while taking the tissues from his hand.

Realizing that my face was probably still a mess, I quickly dabbed at the tears in my eyes and the tear stains on my cheeks. Ace watched me with a look of pure sympathy and a strong feeling of guilt flooded my chest again. Now that I was at it, I decided to blow my nose as well.

The loud sound that my nose made brought out a chuckle from Ace. I glanced over at his