230 A Private Celebration

My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open at his simple words. I stared at his face before my eyes wandered to the faces of the other team members in the room. Their faces mirrored the exact expression of shock that I had on my face. We were shocked but in a very pleased and exciting way. It wasn’t normal for Ace to compliment something so directly like this. Plus, he didn’t have any other comments and that was the best thing of all.

“Do you really mean it? This commercial is fine now, right?” I asked breathlessly.

“It is. Make sure that we confirm our next meeting with the committee. All relevant teams, please submit the final plans for the launch of his commercial to the public so that we can get moving first thing after we get the committee’s approval,” Ace instructed professionally.

I was too over the moon happy to care much about the next steps that the other teams had to handle. For me, it was already a miracle that the commercial finally passed its review with Ace. All the noises and everything seem to fade away as I retreated into my own little world to celebrate this success. We’ve worked so hard on this right from the beginning up until this moment and finally, we have made it.

I still remembered the first day that I joined the team and the first task that I was given on this project. I had to say that things were tough in a very different way back then. I received many harsh comments for the first work that I ever presented as part of this time. Looking back, that was probably the start of my rapid learning journey and I have made so much progress from that day up until today.

The meeting came to an end, and everyone made their way out of the meeting room to work on their net steps. I quickly made my way out of the meeting room to follow after Ace. Thankfully, I found him in the hallway after losing sight of him for a while.

“Ace...” I called his name when we were finally alone.

He turned to me and didn’t look at all surprise that I had called out his name.

“Rina...” he murmured my name lazily.

.....

“Thank you, Ace...” I thanked him before showing him one of my brightest smiles.

“What are you thanking me for?” he asked.

“Well, for giving the green light for the commercial to go ahead, I guess...” I replied.

“If that’s the case then there’s no need for you to thank me for it. I didn’t let that commercial pass because I wanted to help you. It was good enough to pass and that was why it did,” he replied bluntly.

I should have expected a response like this. Of course, Ace wouldn’t do anything like let my work pass if it didn’t truly pass just to help or please me. And that was what I liked so much about him. He really cared about the quality of the work, and he never lowered any of his standards. I was sure that the future of this company was going to be a bright one with Ace as the CEO.

“Even if that’s the case, I want to thank you anyways. You helped out so much on this project. Thank you...” I said before smiling gently at him.

“Come in,” he instructed.

By that time, we had made it to the front of his office. With work being so busy, I’ve ended up spending most of my time in the team working room along with Jeremy and other members of the team rather than spending time working in Ace’s office. I obediently followed him into his office while I thought of how much I actually missed working here. Hopefully, things will settle down soon after the end of Project Alpha.

I was about to sit down at my desk when Ace turned to face me. His eyes stared into mine and I started to wonder what it was that he wanted. My body froze and I remained standing up as we continued staring into each other’s eyes.

“Come inside...” Ace murmured.

I watched as he turned and walked away from me into his personal office. My head cocked instinctively to the side in wonder. Does he have something important to talk to me about?

Knowing that I shouldn’t keep Ace waiting, I quickly followed him into his personal office before closing the door behind me.

“Lock the door,” Ace commanded curtly from where he sat behind his worktable.

historical

“Ok...” I whispered before reaching for the door and locking it.

I could feel Ace’s eyes on my every movement and that made me even more self-conscious than before. When I turned back to face him, I could see him staring at my face before his gaze lowered to my chest and then the rest of my body.

“Umm...” I muttered.

“Come here, Rina...” he instructed as his index finger crooked to gesture for me to approach him.

I wasn’t sure what he wanted but I decided to do as I was beckoned. Ace beckoned for me to get even closer to him until I was standing right next to his chair, and he was looking up at me.

“Let’s celebrate a little...” he suggested with a charming smile.

“You mean for the success of the commercial’s production?” I asked before returning his smile.

If that was what he had in mind, he should have just told me. I wanted to celebrate with him too and if he was free, I was going to suggest that we go out for dinner together after we were both done with work for the day.

“Yes, what else?” he asked playfully.

“What about going out for dinner together tonight? Would that work for you? I can book a private restaurant for us...” I quickly suggested.

I should have known that getting that milestone out of the way would also earn me a celebratory date with Ace. If I had known that I would have added that to my list of motivating factors to get the work done faster.

–To be continued...

Thank you for reading.

Please check out my other books: The Alpha Prince’s Purchased Maid, Lust Contracts, Forbidden Heat, Conquering the Emperor, Love Slave to the Mafia Boss’s Passion.