A Little Celebration


    My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open at his simple words. I stared at his face before my eyes


    wandered to the faces of the other team members in the room. Their faces mirrored the exact


    expression of shock that I had on my face. We were shocked but in a very pleased and exciting way. It


    wasn’t normal for Ace topliment something so directly like this. Plus, he didn’t have any other


    “Do you really mean it? Thismercial is fine now, right?” I asked breathlessly.


    “It is. Make sure that we confirm our next meeting with themittee. All relevant teams, please


    submit the final ns for theunch of hismercial to the public so that we can get moving first thing


    after we get themittee’s approval,” Ace instructed professionally.


    I was too over the moon happy to care much about the next steps that the other teams had to handle.


    For me, it was already a miracle that themercial finally passed its review with Ace. All the noises


    and everything seem to fade away as I retreated into my own little world to celebrate this sess.


    We’ve worked so hard on this right from the beginning up until this moment and finally, we have made


    it.


    I still remembered the first day that I joined the team and the first task that I was given on this project. I


    had to say that things were tough in a very different way back then. I received many harshments


    for the first work that I ever presented as part of this time. Looking back, that was probably the start of


    my rapid learning journey and I have made so much progress from that day up until today.


    The meeting came to an end, and everyone made their way out of the meeting room to work on their


    the hallway after losing sight of him for a while.


    “Ace…” I called his name when we were finally alone.


    He turned to me and didn’t look at all surprise that I had called out his name.


    “Rina…” he murmured my namezily.


    “Thank you, Ace…” I thanked him before showing him one of my brightest smiles.


    “What are you thanking me for?” he asked.


    “Well, for giving the green light for themercial to go ahead, I guess…” I replied.


    “If that’s the case then there’s no need for you to thank me for it. I didn’t let thatmercial pass


    because I wanted to help you. It was good enough to pass and that was why it did,” he replied bluntly.


    I should have expected a response like this. Of course, Ace wouldn’t do anything like let my work pass


    if it didn’t truly pass just to help or please me. And that was what I liked so much about him. He really


    cared about the quality of the work, and he never lowered any of his standards. I was sure that the


    future of thispany was going to be a bright one with Ace as the CEO.


    “Even if that’s the case, I want to thank you anyways. You helped out so much on this project. Thank


    Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    you…” I said before smiling gently at him.


    “Come in,” he instructed.


    By that time, we had made it to the front of his office. With work being so busy, I’ve ended up spending


    most of my time in the team working room along with Jeremy and other members of the team rather


    than spending time working in Ace’s office. I obediently followed him into his office while I thought of


    how much I actually missed working here. Hopefully, things will settle down soon after the end of


    Project Alpha.


    I was about to sit down at my desk when Ace turned to face me. His eyes stared into mine and I started


    to wonder what it was that he wanted. My body froze and I remained standing up as we continued


    staring into each other’s eyes.


    “Come inside…” Ace murmured.


    I watched as he turned and walked away from me into his personal office. My head cocked instinctively


    to the side in wonder. Does he have something important to talk to me about?


    Knowing that I shouldn’t keep Ace waiting, I quickly followed him into his personal office before closing


    the door behind me.


    “Lock the door,” Acemanded curtly from where he sat behind his worktable.


    “Ok…” I whispered before reaching for the door and locking it.


    I could feel Ace’s eyes on my every movement and that made me even more self-conscious than


    before. When I turned back to face him, I could see him staring at my face before his gaze lowered to


    my chest and then the rest of my body.


    “Umm…” I muttered.


    “Come here, Rina…” he instructed as his index finger crooked to gesture for me to approach him.


    I wasn’t sure what he wanted but I decided to do as I was beckoned. Ace beckoned for me to get even


    closer to him until I was standing right next to his chair, and he was looking up at me.


    “Let’s celebrate a little…” he suggested with a charming smile.


    “You mean for the sess of themercial’s production?” I asked before returning his smile.


    If that was what he had in mind, he should have just told me. I wanted to celebrate with him too and if


    he was free, I was going to suggest that we go out for dinner together after we were both done with


    work for the day.


    “Yes, what else?” he asked yfully.


    “What about going out for dinner together tonight? Would that work for you? I can book a private


    restaurant for us…” I quickly suggested.


    I should have known that getting that milestone out of the way would also earn me a celebratory date


    with Ace. If I had known that I would have added that to my list of motivating factors to get the work


    done faster.


    --To be continued…