204 Sent Away

“Let’s go! I love you, Ace...” I said before smiling brightly up at him.

Ace leaned down and kissed my forehead softly. The warmth of his arm around me and the softness of his lips as he kissed me made me want to believe that everything might have just been a misunderstanding.

It would be a few days until our trip, and I was determined to work my ass off so that we could have an undisturbed trip together this coming weekend.

“You seem too excited about this,” Ace said with a grin.

“That’s because I really am so excited about this. Let’s have a fun trip together!” I said cheerfully.

Ace just laughed a little at my reaction before he got out of bed. He didn’t have any clothes here and since he turned up in his casual clothing from last night, Ace had to head back to his place before he could go to the office.

“I’ll leave first. Don’t be late to work...” Ace said, and he was already at my door.

“I should be telling you that...” I muttered in response.

...

.....

“You didn’t get the email about it?” Jeremy asked as he raised his eyebrows at me.

“No...” I replied as my fingers frantically scrolled through my emails on my phone.

Apparently, an email was sent last night about requesting Jeremy and me to join the production team at the filming site for one of the scenes. It wasn’t usual for some scenes of the commercial to be shot outside of the company’s studio and it also wasn’t usual for the design team to help supervise the shooting to make sure that it aligned with the concept of the design. However, I didn’t think that I would have to personally go there myself and on such short notice.

“You’re wearing a skirt which isn’t ideal but who cares...” Jeremy commented dismissively.

“When was the email sent out? I don’t think I got it...” I said as my frustration started taking over.

“Stop looking for it. We have to head out soon,” Jeremy said with a casual shrug.

“Who asked for us to join the shoot? Did the head of the production team ask for this?” I asked curiously.

“Nope. Ace did...” Jeremy replied.

“What? Ace...asked for this?” I asked with clear surprise.

Since when did Ace meddle with something this low down the corporate ladder? Matters like this are usually dealt with by the head of the departments and the team members. It wasn’t something that the CEO would normally dictate.

“Yup, he requested it,” Jeremy replied.

historical

“Why? Is...something wrong with the progress of the shoot so far?” I asked as I failed to understand what was going on.

“Not really. Maybe he just got worried because the deadline is approaching...” Jeremy stated his best guess.

It didn’t bother him at all; however, I was worried. Staying late to work at the office was one thing but going on an offsite location shoot meant that I wouldn’t even be in the same building as Ace. Maybe I was just paranoid about everything but...

“Where is the shoot today? Is it far?” I asked as a frown creased my brows.

“Yup. Very...” Jeremy replied before he let out a sigh.

I was just with Ace last night. In fact, I was just talking to him this morning so why didn’t he tell me anything about sending me to an offsite shoot?

“Let’s go, Karina. You don’t want to be late. The director this round is very strict about time and we’re taking the bus along with their team,” Jeremy said, and he was already heading for the door.

“Right...” I murmured while still quite confused.

It wasn’t like I had another choice. Work was work. I grabbed my bag and some stuff that I thought that I would need before quickly following Jeremy.

...

When Jeremy told me that the shoot location was far, I didn’t think that he meant that it was this far. The shoot location was almost a two hours’ drive from the office. Maybe it might have taken us less time if we hadn’t been stuck in traffic. Regardless, it was further than I had imagined.

Today, we were shooting a scene of a boy running and playing with his puppy, a man with his dog companion, and an elderly man with his loyal dog. The scene that we had to come offsite for was a large field with tall grass next to a riverbank. It all made sense, there was no way that a scene out in the open like this would exist in the heart of the business district where the office and the studios were located. It was almost lunchtime by the time we arrived and after a round of briefing from the director, everyone went to work.

“What are we supposed to do here exactly?” I asked Jeremy while trying to keep my irritation under control.

I wonder what Ace is doing right now. According to his schedule, he should be sitting in a meeting with some of his managers from the finance department. Knowing Ace, he might be napping, or he might have gone out to meet someone else...

Should I call to ask one of the managers to ask if Ace attended his meeting or not?

No, I shouldn’t do that. I’m totally mixing work and my personal love life together. This is so unprofessional.

Why did Ace send me out here anyways?

What does he exact me to do here?

“Karina...” Jeremy called my name.

“Yes?” I replied.

The look on his face told me that that wasn’t the first time he’d called my name. He shook his head at me before he sighed.

“What is up with you? Focus. Ace told me that he wanted to get the timing of the movements of the three generations of people right. You know, so the transition doesn’t look funny...” Jeremy explained.

“Oh...” I mumbled before I nodded my head once.

“Focus. We have to explain that to the director before they start shooting after lunch. Now we’re quite free because the team is setting up. The real work starts after lunch,” Jeremy explained.

–To be continued...