Chapter Three

Arrienne Pov

I peeked before fully entering. Jace's spacious office greeted me. It was painted white with black furniture. It wasn't cramped because it only contained the essentials.

JASON THOMAS T. GARCIA - President

That's what was written on his desk. There was no doubt, he was our boss. This wasn't a dream. It was really happening.

Aissh. When will I stop thinking this is just a dream?

He was hunched over the files on his desk, seemingly oblivious to my presence.

"Ahm, excuse me Sir." I called out to him. "Here are the reports that Ma'am Remy asked you for." I said, handing him the folder.

He looked up at me with furrowed brows. But his expression quickly changed to surprise. He probably didn't expect to see me.

"Ok, just leave it there." he said, pointing to a part of his desk. He went back to what he was doing after saying that.

I placed the folder on the exact part of the desk he indicated, but I didn't leave immediately. I don't know why, but I felt like something was missing. Like something else was supposed to happen.

He must have sensed that I wasn't leaving, because he looked at me again.

"Do you need something else Ms. Ramos?" he emphasized "Ramos."

I couldn't speak immediately. There was anger in his tone. Especially when he called me Ms. Ramos.

"Hey."

"Ahhm. No Sir. I'm leaving now." I said, turning around.

I quickly left his office and practically ran to the elevator.

Why is this happening? I should be happy that he didn't bring up our past, right? I don't want to talk about it anyway. But I'm still annoyed, and I don't know why. Ahh, I don't understand myself anymore!

I thought again about what he called me. Ms. Ramos? What was that guy thinking?

Jace Pov

It felt weird. After almost three years, I saw her again. I knew we would meet again, but not like this. I searched for her for a long time, but I gave up eventually.

How is she doing? I was too embarrassed to ask. Who am I, right? Well, there were many ways to find out. If I couldn't find out from her, I would find out from someone else.

I picked up the phone and dialed.

"Hi Ms. Candy. Good afternoon. Could you please send me all the information about a certain Arrienne Jill Ramos? She's our employee."

"Ok Sir. I'll check our files then I'll send it to you." the voice on the other end replied. She was the Head of the HR Department.

"Thank you."

I just stared at the monitor, waiting for Candy's email while playing with the stress ball in my hand. I don't know why, but I was excited for that email. After all, I don't really care, right?

A moment later, the phone rang. I answered it and didn't speak. I just waited for the person on the other end to start.

"Ahhm, Sir Jace?" I looked at the caller ID. It was Candy.

"Yes Candy, is there a problem?" I asked, furrowing my brows. I was just asking for simple information, so there shouldn't be a problem, right?

"Sir, we don't have an employee named Arrienne Jill Ramos." she said hesitantly. "Are you sure she works here?"

"Are you sure she's not there? I just talked to her."

"Yes Sir. I double checked it but she's not here."

"Ok Candy. Thank you." I was about to hang up the phone when I had an idea. "Wait." I waited for the person on the other end to speak, hoping she was still there.

"Yes Sir? Do you need anything else?" she asked.

"Just check if there's a Jilliana Garcia."

"Ok Sir, I'll check."

Arrienne Pov

As soon as I got back to my station, the flirtatious old woman scolded me.

"Why are you just getting back? Ma'am Remy's office is just in the next room!" she stood up and approached me.

She looked like a monster with steam coming out of her nose. What's with this woman? Why do I have to deal with her?

"Ma'am Remy asked me to deliver some files to Sir Jace." I explained.

As soon as she heard the name "Jace," she seemed to be transported to another world. Her eyes sparkled as if she had seen her prince charming, whom she had been searching for a thousand years.

"Is that so?" she said in a coquettish tone. The kind of tone that sounds like she's blushing. Seriously? She's acting like a teenager. She didn't wait for me to say anything else and went back to her seat. I watched her as she walked. She looked like she was walking on clouds.

Finally, I could go home. I barely got any work done because I couldn't concentrate. It's a good thing my work wasn't urgent, so even if I did it tomorrow, it would be okay. The whole afternoon was spent thinking about that Jace. It's starting to annoy me. Even though I don't want to think about him, he keeps coming back to my mind.

Why is he so handsome now?

I need to talk to someone and vent about the crazy things going on in my head right now. I hope Jacky is home.

Jacky has been my friend since college. We live in the same condo, which we rent from another friend of ours, Joy. It's right here in Ortigas extension, near where I work, so it's convenient. Plus, the rent is cheap. She actually doesn't want us to pay, but we insisted. It would be embarrassing not to pay.

I saw Jacky lying on the sofa as soon as I got home. I couldn't help but shout in excitement that he was there.

"Jacky!"

He seemed surprised and quickly stood up. That's when I noticed that he wasn't wearing his pajamas yet. He must have just arrived from work and fell asleep on the sofa because he was tired.

"Where? Where? Let's go out now!" he said frantically, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the door.

I pulled my hand back, stopping him.

"What are you talking about? Why are we going out?" I asked, confused.

He looked at me with furrowed brows, "Isn't there a fire?"

"Huh? No! I just called you." I said, unable to contain my laughter.

Jacky's eyes narrowed, and he put his hands on his hips in front of me. I stopped laughing and gave him a sweet smile.

"You scared me, you witch!" he said, pretending to hit me.

I put both my hands in front of my face to block his pretend hit. He lowered his hand, so I turned around and walked towards the sofa.

"I have something to tell you. Sit down here, quick! You won't believe it." I started.

He approached me and sat down next to me. "Well, I wouldn't believe it anyway, so why are you telling me?" he said seriously, but I knew he was joking.

"Aiish. Jacky, come on! I'm serious."

"Okay, okay. Tell me. What is it?" He turned to me, waiting for my story.

"We saw each other again." I didn't continue what I was saying. I waited for his reaction.

"Who?" he asked lazily.

"Jace." I simply answered.

"Ahhh, Jace." he said lifelessly, nodding his head. He seemed to be waiting for me to say something else while examining his nails. I just watched him until he suddenly stopped. "Jace?" he said, shouting, and his eyes widened as he turned to me.

"Yes, Jace."

"As in Jace, your prince charming? The skinny one?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes, right? Jace. But what prince charming are you talking about! Get your act together! He's not skinny anymore." I said continuously.

"He's not skinny anymore? Oh, nice! Is he fat now? That's tragic! Anyway, tell me what happened." He seemed interested in my story now.

"He's my new Boss."