241 Caught by Surprise

Ace took my hand just as the driver opened the car door for us. He helped me out of the car while I tried my best not to trip. I could feel the attention of the press on us as the large crowd of reporters and cameramen swarmed us like bees attracted to raw honey. The security team quickly came in to control them. It might just be me, but I felt like they were extra excited to see Ace.

After a lot of shouting from the crowd that was hard for me to pick up any coherent words, Ace seemed to give in and allowed for a short interview. I felt extremely uncomfortable, but I knew that I had to do as Ace had instructed. While smiling as politely as I could, I stood by Ace’s side as the reporters shoved their microphones closer to us. It was all thanks to the security guards that we still had some space to ourselves otherwise, I was certain that the reporters would have stepped right on us.

All attention was on Ace as the reporters took turns flooding him with questions about his business. Everything seemed ordinary until one of the questions asked caught my attention.

“How do you feel about your birthday this year? This event is even bigger and grander than the other birthday parties that you’ve hosted in the years before,” one of the reporters asked.

My eyes widened before I could control my shocked reaction from letting it show too openly on my face. Did the reporter just say that this is Ace’s birthday party?

I glanced over at Ace, who did not feel surprised or affected by the reporter’s words at all, as he smiled and nodded a little in response to her question.

“I guess you could say that the party this year is a little more special than the other ones,” he replied smoothly.

Ace did not deny it. So, does that mean that this grand party is actually his birthday celebration instead of a business-related party?

I wanted to scream and rip my hair out at the craziness of this unexpected development. Was it usual for anyone to have a birthday party this elaborate and grand?

.....

It was extremely difficult for me to wrap my head around and with the many reporters still around us and cameramen taking photos and filming us, I couldn’t turn to ask Ace whether or not it was true. Something told me that it probably was, although it was still hard for me to swallow.

Why didn’t he tell me about this before? He could have just simply told me that he was inviting me to his birthday party.

Instead, Ace kept all quiet about it and all the details. Was this his way of surprising me?

It truly worked because I was beyond surprise, that’s for sure. Ace continued to answer some other questions while I was too lost in my own thoughts to properly pay attention to anything that he said. Once again all of my worries were for nothing at all. I had feared that Ace wouldn’t get to celebrate his birthday properly because of the business event; however, it seemed like Ace had some big plans on how to celebrate his birthday all along.

“Let’s go, Rina...” he said as he held my elbow softly to guide me.

I stiffened a little at his touch, mindful of the countless pairs of eyes on us but Ace didn’t seem at all concern. The guards did their job of clearing a path for us although the reporters continue to shout their questions at Ace as we walked passed them to the entry of the venue. Once we were inside, things were a lot less chaotic. I wanted to ask Ace some questions, but I lost my chance when two men dressed in immaculate suits approached us and began greeting Ace. I could tell from the way that the men interacted with Ace that they were close.

“These guys are my friend. This is Thomas and this is Greg,” Ace introduced them to me casually.

“Nice to meet you. We actually already know who you are,” Thomas said before he winked at me.

I wondered what he meant by that. I glanced over at Ace’s face questioningly as I wondered what he had told these two about me. Did he just tell them that I am his personal secretary, or did he disclose more than that about our relationship?

The men chatted for a while before Ace took my hand and led me deeper into the venue where I found out that a ton of people were having fun drinking and socializing. The party was already well underway, and the atmosphere seemed nice and relaxed.

“Ace, why did you tell me that this was your birthday party?” I asked accusingly.

“I thought it would be a good surprise. This is your first time attending my birthday party after all,” Ace replied like it was supposed to be normal.

“I thought it was a work-related event. You never told me anything about it being your birthday party...” I muttered.

“I didn’t?” Ace asked innocently before he smiled at me.

The way he looked so smug and guiltless made me feel a little irritated at him. It was great that I didn’t have to worry about not being able to plan anything special for him on his birthday, though.

“No, you didn’t. You even lied to me and said that it was a business event with one of my favorite clients...” I reminded him.

“Let’s call that half a lie. I might not be your client but I am your favorite, right?” Ace whispered close to my ear so that no one else would hear his flirtatious words.

“That’s so not funny...” I muttered before I rolled my eyes at him.

No matter what, I couldn’t stop the corners of my lips from curving upwards into a little smile. It seemed like everything was working for the best so I was willing to let that slip by. A surprise now and then wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

–To be continued...historical