176 Our Peaceful Days

That smile was so unfair. We ended up laughing together and I was quite relieved that he wasn’t offended by what I just said. I wondered if he meant it, though, about wanting to be a househusband. I felt like his job was something that he could be proud of, and I had no idea why he didn’t seem to love it. I stared at Ace for a while longer as I leaned against the counter.

No, there’s no way that I can work and feed someone who lives a life like Ace Hills.

“Take a seat at the table. I’ll serve you food,” Ace said.

“I’ll help you,” I quickly offered.

“No need. Just sit down, Rina,” Ace refused as he waved me towards the long marble dining table in the room.

There were so many chairs that I had a hard time deciding which one to sit on. I couldn’t help but wonder if Ace brought guests over often. With the size of this place, he could easily host a party. Ace served us food before taking the seat opposite from me at the dining table. Ace was spot on when he said that he could fix up a decent breakfast. What I saw in front of me was going above and beyond decent by far.

“You should leave some of your clothes here for when you stay over next time,” Ace suggested casually.

“Yeah...” I murmured in reply.

I glanced over at Ace as he checked something on his phone while putting some food into his mouth. Everything about him was attractive to me, even the way he held his fork. I wonder if Ace realized that he had pretty much invited me to stay over again. If I had clothes here, then wouldn’t that mean that he’s expecting me to stay over with him here more often. It wasn’t my first time spending the night with Ace at all. In fact, Ace slept over at my apartment quite often up until it was barricaded by the paparazzi and reporters.

.....

However, having him invite me to stay over at his place felt like something new and special. It was like he was willing to show me more of his private self and a part of his personal world. Just thinking of it that way brought a smile to my lips and before I knew what was going on, I couldn’t stop smiling anymore. My smile didn’t last for too long before my dear dreamy bubble burst spectacularly.

“If we don’t hurry, we’re going to be late for work...” I reminded Ace when I realized that I didn’t take leave today.

“Let’s just take the day off. I’ll take the day off and you can just extend your sick leave,” Ace replied casually.

“Ok...if that’s the case, what do you want to do today?” I asked blankly.

“That’s up to you,” Ace replied as he smiled at me from across the table.

“Staying in might not be so bad...” I murmured.

Spending time together here might be just what we needed for our newly mended relationship.

“Then let’s do exactly that,” Ace replied without any hesitation.

“What should we do first?” I asked excitedly.

I had no idea why I felt so excited about just staying in with him for the day. The answer was probably because I looked forward to spending time with Ace no matter where we were or what we were doing.

“Umm...I can take you on a little tour of my place,” Ace suggested as he pulled on my hand.

I found myself immediately up and on my face from the force of his tug. His idea sounded like the right plan to kickstart our day together.

“This is going to be interesting...” I mumbled as he led me out of the dining room.

“This is the living room that you’ve seen before briefly yesterday. I like the sofa, it’s very comfy. Shelves of books that you may not find that interesting...” Ace explained before he grinned at me.

I knew immediately that he was being absolutely sarcastic especially when he spoke about the books that lined the shelves. His collection of books related to our field of work, art, and creativity, seemed very exhaustive and included some rare books that were hard to get in hardcover as well. I stood in front of the bookshelf as I admired it.

“These books are amazing. I should steal some of them sometimes...” I said with a laugh.

“Please do...” he replied casually.

“Which one would you recommend?” I asked.

historical

“Umm...how many years have you been working now...let’s see...” Ace said thoughtfully as his eyes seemed to scan the titles of the books on the shelves.

“What did you read when you first started out? Well, I’m a few years into this job but...” I asked before trailing off.

“This one. I think it really helps with structuring your thought process and channeling it into the right output. You know, when you’re young and full of ideas it might be a little hard to choose which ones to focus on and how to piece it all together. This one is perfect for teaching you how to do that,” Ace said as his hands reached for a decently thick book and pulled it off the shelf.

He turned to me and offered me the book with a warm smile. I looked up into his eyes and I was immediately touched by his kindness.

“This is for you. You can have it,” Ace said.

“Thank you so much, Ace...but I’ll just borrow it. I’ll return it when I’m done reading it,” I replied with a cheerful smile.

I had never looked forward to reading a book this badly before in my life. Suddenly, I felt like a young schoolgirl, and it was a very rejuvenating feeling.

Ace took my hand in his and with our fingers entwined, he led me to the other rooms and parts of his large penthouse suite. On top of the very impressive living room, dining room, and bedroom, there were so many rooms and facilities on Ace’s floor. There was a home theatre room, a fitness and sauna, and he also had his own outdoor private poor with the skyline view to match.

–To be continued...