“I’m very sorry about this. If you’re ok with letting me slowly adjust then I guess eventually it would be possible for me,” I suggested with a small hopeful smile.

“I get it, you don’t have to worry about it too much. Just take it at your own pace,” Ace readily agreed without pushing me any further.

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To my surprise, Ace was less adamant about his demand than I thought that he would be. By that time, a part of me had gotten used to being pushed to my limits by Ace on both my professional and personal fronts that it came as a slight surprise that he was letting me take things at my own pace when it came to this. Needless to say, my pace was always slower and a few steps behind his.

“Thank you, Ace. I’ll try to stay over more often,” I promised.

“What about tonight?” he asked invitingly.

“Sure…I can start with that…” I found myself agreeing without thinking much about it.

“Good. When you move in with me, you can stop renting your apartment too. It’ll help you save up on rent,” Ace pointed out another good reason for me to move in with him.

“I guess that makes me feel kind of bad. You know, I’ll be relying on you again…” I murmured as I hesitated.

“I’m not going to let you pay me rent if that’s where this is going,” Ace said with a clear look of disapproval on his face.

I had to say that I expected as much; however, that didn’t make me feel completely comfortable with living with him without helping him bear any of the expenses although he probably didn’t need my help when it came to anything financially related. I wondered how this ‘money issue’ worked out between other couples from very different financial backgrounds and standings.

“Well, guess I’ll have to find other ways to earn my keep…” I said before flashing him a smile.

“Don’t over think it. When you stop renting your place, you can just use that money to buy your mother something nice or you can give it to her to save up,” Ace suggested.

“That’s a pretty good idea…” I mumbled when I thought about sending more money to my mother.

Living in the city is expensive and after taking care of rent and every other expense, I didn’t have much to spare to send to my mother. If I could save on rent, it would be a big help and maybe this time my mother can stop working and rest up for a while. The unfortunate truth was that my mother wasn’t going to get any younger as the day passed us by.

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“I know that it is, that’s why I’m suggesting it. Anyways, just let me know when you’re ready for it,” Ace said to conclude our discussion on the matter.

I smiled at him as I willingly let that conversation come to a close. Honestly, I felt thankful to Ace for suggesting that we move in together and a part of me wished that I could have just leapt without thinking at the opportunity. I kept my eyes on Ace’s face as I wondered if once again, I was making him pay for the mistakes that he didn’t make.

…

The fact that so many people were gathered in front of the office building only showed how much the employees cared about their CEO. It felt nothing like the time when we returned from the event of the announcement. As if everyone knew that Ace would be arriving, the whole crowd went wild when Ace stepped out of the car. Loud cheering sounds echoed everywhere along with the sounds of people calling Ace’s name.

“Come along…” Ace said to me softly as he waved for me to scoot over to exit the car.

I should have known that something like this was bound to happen, and I should have known better than to join Ace on his ride to the office together. Ace’s personal driver was used to having me share rides with Ace but the same couldn’t be said about the rest of the company employees.

“You should go ahead, I’ll just go to the parking lot with the driver,” I quickly suggested.

Ace immediately shot me a look of clear disapproval before he offered me his hand. Everyone was waiting for Ace to get out of the car as if they had never seen Ace in person before. That just meant that I didn’t have too much time to hesitate or argue my case.

“Come, Rina…” Ace repeated once again.

“I can get out myself. Thank you…” I said just so that I wouldn’t have to hold his hand.

Getting out of the car with him in the morning in front of the crowd like this was bad enough without layering in cream and adding a cherry on top by holding his hand. I waited a few solid seconds before getting out of the car after Ace. Once I was out of the car, I found that I was probably worried all for nothing. No one paid me any attention at all, and it felt like I didn’t exist in the world to them. Everyone’s attention was on Ace and everything that he was doing. The feeling I got when we returned to the office after winning the competition made me feel like some kind of hero but the way everyone seemed to revere Ace made me feel like he was God or some holy being.

I did not mind the lack of attention that people were paying me and used that opportunity to blend in with the crowd before slipping away. As expected, Ace got caught up and had to shake a few of the people’s hands and answer some questions. All in all, I thought that he handled everything smoothly and he looked so radiant in his CEO mode. That was what I observed before slipping away in the crowd to head to his office.

“That was…tiring…” Ace complained loudly as he shrugged his suit off.

--To be continued…

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