Private Time


    The day that we had been waiting for had finally arrived. Thinking to make a big bangunch, Julianna


    nned a very busy day for theunch day of themercial that we had worked so hard on.


    ording to her n, Ace would lead a press conference to announce theunch of themercial


    which would go live in the evening of the same day.


    “We’ll build up a lot of hype on the day itself. The news would cover theunch for the whole day and


    then themercial will finally go live in the evening,” Julianna exined.


    “Are you sure that’s enough time to get the word out? It doesn’t seem like enough time,” Jeremy asked


    with a frown between his brows.


    Right at that moment, I had to say that I was on Jeremy’s side of things. One day to get the word out


    seemed like a very tight schedule indeed, even if it meant that we wouldunch ourmercial at least


    a few days before ourpetitors.


    “Words travel fast these days. Plus, waiting for too long between the press conference announcement


    and the actualunch could make people simply forget about it and we’ll lose the hype that way,”


    Julianna exined.


    “Oh, I see…” I murmured after hearing her logic.


    “Did Ace approve this?” Jeremy asked while still sounding skeptical.


    “Yes, he did. Why would I do something this major without consulting Ace first?” Julianna snapped back


    like it was supposed to be obvious.


    “I guess you’re right. If Ace is fine with it, then everything will turn out fine,” Jeremy said with


    confidence.


    I giggled softly to myself at how easy it was to convince Jeremy. As long as Ace was involved, Jeremy


    didn’t seem to doubt that anything could go wrong. I was once again amazed at how much Ace


    influenced and inspired the people around him.


    That decision brought us to this moment when the press conference was about to start. Instead of


    hosting it at some fancy hotel, Ace and Julianna had chosen to host the press conference at thergest


    auditorium in our office building. I was on pins and needles all night sincest night because I was so


    excited and scared that I would arrive to workte the following morning.


    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.


    The press conference was scheduled to start at 10AM and that meant that we had to be in a couple of


    hours earlier than that. I didn’t want to risk anything going wrong and had decided to tag along with the


    other team members to check everything beforehand.


    ‘Where are you?’


    Ace texted me in the middle of the preparation as I was following the team around to perform various


    checks in the auditorium. If I hadn’t been holding my phone in my hand, I would have missed the


    vibration that notified me of the arrival of Ace’s text message.


    ‘I’m checking things in the auditorium,’ I texted back.


    “Umm…when is Ace supposed to be here?” I asked the organizing team.


    “Half an hour before the start of the conference,” a member of the team replied.


    “Doesn’t he need to get in earlier than that?” I asked in surprise.


    “Nope. Ace is used to this, so he should already know what to do. 30 minutes of standby is more than


    enough for him,” another team member replied before smiling at me reassuringly.


    “I see…” I mumbled.


    I looked at my watch and figured that it would be a while before Ace would arrive here if that was the


    case. Although I wanted to see him already, I was thankful for the chance to get everything ready


    before he made his appearance. At least that was what I thought until the phone in my hand started


    vibrating non-stop. I nced down at the phone screen to see that Ace was calling me.


    “Hello…” I answered the call while walking way from the other team members.


    “Are you still at the auditorium?” Ace asked.


    “Yes, I am…” I replied while feeling a little confused.


    It hadn’t been that long since I told him via text where I was. As that thought was running through my


    head, the door to the auditorium opened and I gasped in surprise when I saw Ace walking in. I blinked


    rapidly in surprise because ording to the staff he wasn’t supposed to be here yet. His sudden


    appearance wasn’t the only thing that surprised me. The fact that he was making a beeline in my


    direction had me wondering what was really going on.


    “Rina…” he called my name as he came to stand right in front of me.


    Thankfully, no one was really around anymore after I had walked away from the other team members


    to answer his call earlier.


    “You’re here early. The organizing team members told me that you won’t be here until 30 minutes till


    the start of the conference,” I said as I stared up into his face.


    “Come with me,” he said as he grabbed my wrist and tugged on it.


    “Wait…” I protested as I nced around to make sure that no one saw us together like this.


    Ace seemed to be in a hurry, and I wasn’t sure what was going to happen or where he was taking me.


    There was still some time before the start of the conference but not enough time for us to waste. After


    walking down the hallway for a moment, Ace opened the door to one of the smaller meeting rooms and


    dragged me in there after him. Him turned and locked the door behind us when we were both inside.


    “What’s going on?” I asked nkly.


    “Nothing. I just need to talk to you about something,” Ace said as his hazel brown eyes stared intensely


    into mine.


    Suddenly the room felt cold, and the atmosphere became a little tense. I could tell that Ace was serious


    and I wasn’t sure what had taken over him.


    “Is something the matter?” I asked in wonder.


    “The press conference is going to happen soon…” he said as he kept his eyes on mine.


    --To be continued…