228 Unfortunate Clash

“Why are you suddenly asking me this? Did something happen?” I asked in return.

historical

“Nothing at all. I was just curious. It’s always good to evaluate how you feel about the job regularly and it’s been a few years since you started so I just thought that having a good reflection might be good for you too,” he replied before he smiled warmly at me.

“Thank you...for helping me reflect. I really like the job, so you don’t have to worry about me quitting anytime soon...” I replied followed by a teasing laugh.

“That’s good to hear. Retaining our top talents is also a big part of my job,” Ace replied simply.

“I see, Mr. CEO...” I replied teasingly.

Ace just grinned at me, but he didn’t say anything else. Silence crept up on us again, but the atmosphere was lighter than it was before. I flicked my tongue along my lower lip as I summoned my courage to bring up the issue with Elizabeth again.

“Ace...” I murmured softly.

“It’s late. You should go to bed and get some rest. Sorry for dropping by out of the blue...” Ace said as he slowly got up from the bed.

Is he leaving already?

.....

“Ace...you’re not...staying over?” I asked a little hesitantly.

Ace slowly turned around to face me and our eyes met as I stared up into his face. His hazel eyes felt so unreadable when he looked at me.

“Do you want me to?” he asked.

“Please stay...” I replied a little shyly.

...

The day finally arrived for us to review the edited version of the commercial that we had been working so hard on. Sitting in the dark room along with members of Project Alpha and members of the production team, my heart raced fast and hard in my chest as I waited for the commercial to flash up on the large screen.

“Excited?” Jeremy whispered from next to me.

“More like...super nervous...” I whispered back.

I heard him chuckle and that made me wonder why he didn’t seem nervous about this at all. Perhaps he was more optimistic about me about the outcome. We did supervise all the key scenes and all the transitions as well. Thinking about it objectively, there wasn’t supposed to be a large room for error and there shouldn’t be anything so unexpected. Even though I knew that I still felt extremely nervous to see the outcome of our endless dedication and effort.

“Please watch carefully and take specific notes on the edits. We don’t have that much time to get this right before it needs to be reviewed by the committee. If it passes that screening then this commercial will be released for everyone in the public to see,” the director reminded us sternly.

The other person that this commercial needed to get approval from was Ace. The director didn’t mention Ace, but I was sure that everyone was more than aware that Ace was probably a bigger hurdle for us to pass than the committee of the competition. I took in a deep breath and then let out a loud sigh. Right at that moment, the large screen lit up and the commercial started playing. All of my worries and nervousness evaporated immediately as my eyes and attention focused on taking in all the small details of the commercial. My hand moved to write down notes on my notepad for the director to work on some minor edits.

Jeremy had more notes than I did by the time the short commercial came to an end. We thanked the director and everyone else before proceeding to our office to discuss the notes that we had taken down. The edits were minor, but these minor details could determine who would be the winner in the competition as well as the emotional impact that the commercial would have on the audience. There wasn’t any detail that was too small for us to ignore. Everything had to be perfect.

“I’ll talk to the director later today about the notes that we’ve compiled. If you have anything else to do, you can work on that first,” Jeremy suggested before he smiled at me.

“Thank you, Jeremy. I’ll leave this in your capable hands...” I thanked him honestly.

He nodded and left the room. Now that that was settled, I opened my laptop to check on the email from Ace that I had been waiting for. Last night he mentioned a party that would take place this weekend and that he would send me more details about it. I opened my email and saw that email regarding the party that Ace had just sent over.

My eyes swept over the details in the email. The venue told me that the party would be a big and glamorous one. However, the detail that bothered me the most was the date that the party would be held. If I wasn’t wrong, and I was sure that I wasn’t, the date of the party landed on the exact same date as Ace’s birthday.

I leaned back on the chair that I was sitting on and closed my eyes. My hand moved to rub the sensitive skin in between my brows as I willed the frown that had creased my skin to go away. I wanted to buy Ace a present for his birthday and then I thought that we could celebrate this birthday peacefully together. Of all the days, why did this party have to be on the same day as Ace’s birthday?

Ace didn’t mention his birthday to me, and he didn’t seem bothered at all by this party. At his age, Ace probably didn’t care much for birthday parties or presents anymore; however, I really wanted to make it a special day for him and for us. My eyes stared at the date in the email again as if staring at it intensely enough would make the date change. Of course, something as ridiculous as that wasn’t possible. Ace wanted me to attend the party with him and that was what I intended to do. Even if we couldn’t have a private dinner together because of the party, I guess I could still get him a present.

–To be continued...