Unexpected Turn of Events


    “No, thanks. I just dropped by because I wanted to experience the buzz and also to congratte you


    on the release of yourmercial. I’ll pass for today. I don’t think Karina would like me disturbing your


    dinner date,” Elizabeth turned down Ace’s invitation with augh and a dismissive wave of her hand.


    I blinked rapidly in surprise as I wondered if I had misheard what she had just said. It felt like the


    perfect opportunity for her to spend more time with Ace, but she didn’t hesitate to turn down his


    invitation at all. The more I tried to understand what she was thinking or what she really wanted, the


    more I got confused. Regardless of the reason behind her decision to turn Ace’s invitation down, I was


    thankful that she would be leaving us alone soon.


    “Thank you foring,” Ace thanked her with a smile.


    “I’m not exactly doing this for you. Enjoy your date!” she replied perhaps a little too cheerfully.


    This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.


    Just like that, Elizabeth Chase walked away while waving a hand over her head without looking back. I


    stared at her back until she got swallowed up by the crowd of people and disappeared from my view.


    My mind still struggled to understand what had just taken ce. Just like a rapid whirlwind, Elizabeth


    suddenly appeared and then left us.


    “I guess even Elizabeth was interested and excited enough about theunch of ourmercial for her


    to turn up here,” Ace said as he came to stand right by my side.


    I wanted to scream at him and ask him how she happened to turn up here but then I thought better of it


    and decided to hold my tongue. She was gone and it felt like there were other better things to do now


    that I still had time with Ace. I bit down hard on my tongue before tearing my gaze away from where


    Elizabeth had disappeared into the crowd to turn my attention back to Ace.


    “Do you want to go to dinner, or do you want to go back to the office?” I asked curtly.


    “You don’t look like you’re in the mood for dinner. Do you want to go back to the office?” Ace replied


    with his own guess of what I wanted.


    It was probably my fault for snapping at him. Despite my efforts to hide my anger, I guess it did show


    after all. I let out a long sigh with my eyes casted down on the ground. The crowd around us was


    making so much noise that it was frankly getting harder to have a conversation there without yelling.


    “Let’s go back to the office. Maybe we can go out drinking to celebrate with the others after theunch,”


    I suggested.


    “Sure…” Ace replied like he had absolutely no preference.


    I started making my way through the crowd while cursing Elizabeth for her ill-timed appearance and my


    inability to remain calm in her presence.


    …


    The ride back to the office felt awkward although we were not supposed to be fighting. Ace didn’t seem


    so bothered by Elizabeth’s appearance and he didn’t seem to care much about the fact that I was


    disturbed. I was so conflicted about hisck of reaction and then realized that perhaps I couldn’t me


    him while I was trying to act normal and fine at the same time. Everything was such a mess inside of


    my own head and I started regretting my decision to go back to help out at the office. I doubt that I


    would be of any help to anyone in the state that my mind was in.


    “Do you think Julianna’s entire team is still in?” I asked because I couldn’t think of anything else to start


    a conversation with him.


    After the almost silent ride, we finally arrived at the office, and I could get out of the suffocating


    enclosed space of the car’s interior.


    “I would bet on it. I think other members from the other teams will be there too,” Ace replied.


    Julianna and her team had booked out a veryrge meeting room to act as the war room for theunch


    of themercial. Although it was past working hours, I wasn’t surprised that the war room was still


    packed with people when Ace and I walked in. Everyone looked up and seemed quite surprised to see


    us.


    “Ace! I didn’t think that you would be here…” Julianna eximed as she stood up from her seat and


    approached us.


    “I didn’t think so either, but my secretary kept nagging me to do my job properly and so here I am…” he


    replied jokingly.


    “Well, I guess…good job Karina!” Julianna cried out happily.


    Despite the supposedly stressful environment, Julianna seemed to be in a better mood than she


    usually was in and that made me wonder if there was some good news that we had missed out on.


    “Is everything going well?” I asked in a small voice.


    “Absolutely! Everything is fine just as expected. Actually, everything is going so well that it’s starting to


    get boring…” Julianna said before she startedughing.


    I watched as she headed back to her seat where she started staring into the screen of the monitor on


    the table.


    “Julianna wants to go out drinking already…” a member of her team chimed in with augh.


    “Shut up. Don’t ruin my perfect image in front of the CEO!” Julianna snapped at her team member


    before turning to smile at Ace.


    “Juliana likes to drink…umm…quite a lot after clearing some big milestone…” Ace whispered to me in


    exnation.


    “Oh…I see…” I whispered back.


    I did not expect that from someone like her at all. Then again, I guess everyone has their own personal


    life outside of work and a human side that may not match with their persona at work. The overly strict


    and controlling Julianna probably had a side to her life that I didn’t know either. Thinking of that, I also


    had a side of my life that I was actively hiding from everyone as well. I nced over at Ace as he sat


    down on one of the chairs at therge meeting table and thought that he contributed to a major chunk


    of the secret that I was hiding.


    --To be continued…