Separate Discovery


    “I see…” I murmured.


    There’s just got to be something that I can do. Something more than just sitting around and waiting…


    “Where are you going?” Jeremy asked.


    Without knowing where I was going, I had already stood up from my seat. I felt so useless just sitting


    there in the war room without knowing how to help the team. Maybe Ace felt the same way and that


    was why he got up and left.


    “I’m not sure…” I mumbled an honest reply.


    I had no idea where Ace went but if I went after him now, I might be able to catch up to him. With that


    thought in mind, I headed for the door. Even if I couldn’t find Ace, taking a walk outside or going out to


    observe the audiences might help. Luck wasn’t on my side, and I couldn’t find Ace on the floor that we


    were on anymore. After heaving a sigh, I was forced to admit that I had probably lost him, and he had


    probably headed to another floor in the building. Either that, or he headed out of the officepletely.


    My hand clutched at my phone tightly as I hesitated about giving Ace a call. I knew that he was working


    and thinking hard now on how to crack the problem at hand and that made me hesitate to disturb him.


    Without knowing it, I had started pacing up and down the hallway as my mind raced to think of what I


    should do. My hand still held my phone tightly and I continued to hesitate about getting in touch with


    Ace.


    N?velDrama.Org (C) content.


    I didn’t want to disturb him…but…


    With a resigned sigh, I gave myself the excuse that it probably wouldn’t disturb him too much if I just


    sent him a text instead of calling him. If he didn’t want to see me then he can just ignore my text.


    Before I lost my nerve, I started typing a short text on my phone before sending it to him.


    ‘Where are you?’


    After spending a while staring at my phone screen and waiting for Ace’s reply, I realized that an


    immediate reply was probably unrealistic. Ace was probably busy and I should find something


    productive to do while I waited for the arrival of his reply, whenever that may be. I stared out of the


    window and looked down below at the busy road where cars were driving by and many people were


    walking along the footpath.


    Suddenly, it felt like the right move to be outside. Clearly, the answers that we were looking for wasn’t


    hidden within the walls of this office building. It might be a bold move, but I guessed that there was


    nothing wrong with taking a blunt and direct approach to at least understanding the problem. Before I


    could change my mind, I quickly took the elevator down to exit the building.


    If I wasn’t wrong, the closest location that our advertisement was being yed in public would be a


    short walk from here in the middle of the business district. The sidewalk was filled with people walking


    along busily when I arrived outside. The sun also felt brighter than usual but the wind felt quite nice. I


    began walking in the direction where ourmercial was being disyed.


    The walk there took slightly longer than I had initially anticipated, and I had to pause to catch my breath


    a little when I finally arrived there. Unlike that first day in the shopping district, there wasn’t a crowd of


    audience in front of therge screen where ourmercial was ying on repeat. Unlike the buzz of


    the young and free crowd that were hanging out in the shopping district, the crowd here were probably


    too busy with work and just getting through the day to even pay any close attention to ourmercial.


    I took in a breath and let out a sigh when I realized that it would be harder to interview anyone like this.


    Different audience groups always have different characteristics and also served different purposes in


    the sess of a campaign. I knew that although young audiences are easier to reach than older ones,


    the younger audiences are the least likely to make any donations simply because of the low disposable


    ie that they had on hand. Most had not started working for real yet and didn’t have money to


    spare to donate to any cause.


    On the other hand, older and more affluent audiences have the money to donate. The challenge is


    reaching them and capturing their attention long enough for them to want to support the cause. With


    their busy schedule at work or with life in general, it was hard to get even a fraction of their time. I stood


    around for a while in front of therge screen as I observed the reactions of the people passing by to


    ourmercial.


    To say that most people were not interested in ourmercial might not be exactly urate. It was


    more like they didn’t have the time to stop by to watch it. I had thought that I might be able to talk to a


    few audiences and get some insights on their views of making donations, but things didn’t quite work


    out the way that I had nned.


    Suddenly, my phone started vibrating in my hand and I looked down to see that I had received a text


    message from Ace. I wondered if he had already returned to the war room after taking his walk to think.


    It seemed likely enough that that would be the case. Surprisingly, the message that I got from Ace


    exactly mirrored my own.


    ‘Where are you?’


    I quickly typed up a reply and sent it to him. After that, I clutched at my phone while I stared at the


    screen as I waited eagerly for his reply. Even though I knew that there was a high chance that Ace


    would reply immediately, I was still surprised when my phone vibrated and the text that he sent to me


    was disyed on the screen.


    --To be continued…