129 Why He Invited
“Just like I said. Don’t worry, they’re working hard to investigate the issue,” Ace said before he took my hand in his.
To my surprise, he kissed the back of my hand tenderly. The softness and warmth of his lips against the back of my hand made my heart skip a beat, and for a mont, I forgot what I wanted to say.
“But how can they investigate the issue without talking to
about it?” I asked in wonder.
“They’ll call for you when they are ready. This is a sensitive issue so they’re being extra careful and detailed about it,” Ace replied smoothly.
“I see...” I murmured.
Shortly after, we arrived at the event and Ace helped
out of the car amidst the large crowd of reporters and caran that have gathered to greet us on the red carpet. Ace smiled and was very calm, probably because he was used to this. The sa couldn’t be said about how I was feeling inside. I stood next to Ace and plastered a smile on my lips as we got our photos taken together. I wasn’t even sure if it was fine for us to have our photos taken together like this.
This is for work. I reminded myself repeatedly.
Ace was imdiately welcod by the host of the event who was also one of our prominent clients. Since I’ve never been to this kind of event before, I felt out of place. I smiled politely at our client as the two n greeted each other warmly.
“This is my secretary, Karina,” Ace introduced
as he wrapped his arm around my waist.
.....
My body imdiately stiffened but I managed to smile at our client. The middle-aged man with thinning light brown hair smiled at .
“Welco to the party. Glad that you could make it,” he said.
“Thank you for inviting us. It’s always an honor to be a part of your success,” Ace replied professionally.
“Of course. I do look forward to working with your company again very soon in the future,” the client replied followed by a booming laugh.
I soon found out after the host left us alone about the real reason why Ace had
escort him to this event. Ace kept his hand on the small of my back as he escorted
inside the large venue where the main event was taking place. The event space inside was decorated with colorful flowers all around the open dance floor where many couples were already engaged in their dances. There was a band that played many classical waltzes. Big screens showed the comrcials that were produced by our company.
“They all look so good up on the big screen...” I comnted in awe.
Ace’s eyes followed my gaze.
“The color tone turned out much better than we had anticipated. Hopefully the launch of this brand does well,” Ace replied.
Jewelry display cases lined all around the side of the venue where attendees could take a look at them while on break from the dancing. Overall, I thought that it was a very spectacular set up; however, it really wasn’t sothing for .
Since stepping in the main venue, I could feel many pairs of eyes on us and although I tried to ignore it at first, I began to feel a little nervous. It didn’t take long for
to realize that we couldn’t avoid those gazes forever and that the real deal was just about to start.
“Excuse , Mr. Hills. I’m Clarisse, if case you don’t recall...” a woman with very light wavy blond hair greeted Ace sweetly.
She stood in front of us in her pale pink dress as she smiled beautifully at Ace. It was clear to
that in her line of vision, I didn’t exist.
“Good evening to you,” Ace replied politely.
“I was wondering if...” Clarisse began saying in her sweet voice.
“I am very sorry, but my partner isn’t feeling so well. I’ll have to stick to her side tonight,” Ace replied with regret in his voice.
“Oh, that’s fine. I hope you have an enjoyable evening. I’ll see you next ti,” Clarisse replied before flashing Ace another smile.
Around a minute later, a very similar incident took place with another woman. She ca up to offer Ace her valuable company and he turned her down citing that he was already with . A couple of minutes later, we were onto our third woman for the evening. This ti Ace told her that he’s here strictly for work and that I, as his secretary, was keeping an eye on him. After the fourth woman turned up, I stopped counting.
“Let’s dance...” Ace said invitingly as he tugged on my hand.
I let him lead
towards the dancefloor. Glancing back, I could see many won with their eyes on us. Sothing tells
that this isn’t going to end in a very pretty way.
“You just want to get away, don’t you?” I asked knowingly.
Ace wrapped his arm around my waist and took my hand as he waltzed
around to the music. Thanks to my instructor, I could manage my dance quite easily now even with the dress on and Ace was a magical dancing partner.
“Guess you’ve already figured that out...” Ace admitted with a chuckle.
“Is that...you know...normal?” I asked curiously.
I recalled the many gossips and news that I’ve seen about him and his various affairs and I didn’t know why I was still surprised that sothing like that happened.
“Unfortunately, it is. It really gets in the way of business...” Ace replied while sounding bored.
“Aha...” I murmured in reply.
“Thank you for saving
so many tis so far tonight,” Ace thanked
with a charming smile.
His smile made my heart skipped a beat and I had to look away so that he wouldn’t catch
blushing at his words. Sotis the things he says is really bad for my heart.
“I didn’t do anything. You can thank yourself for saving yourself,” I replied.
Ace just laughed at my coback. I didn’t find it very funny, though. Even though he told
right off the bat that this event was for work, I might have harbored so hope that he was inviting
because he wanted to. He even sent
to dance class, and thanks to that, I could now dance decently well. I honestly never thought that Ace invited
here to use
as a shield against other won.
–To be continued...
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