“At first, I thought the luxurious branding of the outlet worked well but now we’re not so sure. After adding in more trendy brands that cater to the younger adult population, we fear the current branding might seem too old fashioned for the younger generation,” Johnny chimed in with his view.

The conversation went on as we switched from food to drinking some wine. Of course, I drank very moderately to make sure that I didn’t get anywhere near drunk or even tipsy. Just staring at alcohol nowadays gave me a bad feeling and I couldn’t help but recall the disaster that had just taken place when I overdrank that one night. It was just that one night, but I ended up sleeping with Ace. No more drinking for tonight!

I placed my wine glass down firmly and pushed it out of the way. Ace was sitting right next to me and it would be another disaster if I added alcohol into my blood stream. I should never mix the ingredients of disaster together to create another disaster again.

By the time that the dinner with the client finally came to an end, it was already quite late in the evening. The driver drove us back to the office just as Ace instructed.

“How are you getting home?” Ace asked once we arrived at the office.

“Oh, I’ll take the train,” I replied with a small smile.

“This late?” Ace asked as his eyes widened at me.

I take the train even when it’s late at night all the time. It wasn’t like I had much of a choice because I didn’t have a car and taxis were expensive and may potentially be more dangerous than the train for a woman travelling alone.

“It’s pretty safe…” I said before smiling a little at him.

“I’ll drive you,” Ace stated decisively without asking for my preference.

“There’s no need for you to do that…” I quickly countered.

“Come along,” Ace said casually as he took my hand in his and held it firmly.

“Wait…Sir…” I said but Ace didn’t listen.

“Call me Ace. There’s no one else here,” he reminded me as he dragged me along after him.

“I can go back by myself. There’s no need for you to drive me back,” I repeated once again.

“I want to drive you back,” Ace said as if that reason alone should suffice.

Right…

Not knowing what else to say to change his mind, I just nodded my head once in acknowledgement. The next thing I knew, Ace had dragged me to the parking lot where his car was parked. The parking lot was empty since everyone had left the office already at this time of night. The wind blew and my hair fluttered all around my face.

It was a little surprising at first when I found out that Ace drove himself instead of having a driver to drive for him all the time both during work and off of work but when I saw his car, I completely understood why having a driver wouldn’t work out.

Ace’s car was one of those fancy and ultra-expensive Ferrari supercars. Thankfully it wasn’t bright red because that wouldn’t suit his image at all. Instead, Ace had opted for a metallic gunmetal color which I thought suited his devilish self perfectly. The devil could substitute his chariot for this Ferrari in the modern day, easy.

“What’s your address?” he asked casually.

I told him my address and he inputted it in the GPS navigator while I buckled my seatbelt. When he saw that I was done we were on our way. It was late and the traffic was light around the business district where our office was, but I felt that that wasn’t enough reason to justify the high speed at which Ace was speeding.

“Umm…do you always drive this fast?” I asked to soften my complaint.

“Too fast for you?” he asked as he turned to smile devilishly my way.

My heart skipped a beat, and it wasn’t from the fear of speeding along an empty road.

“Maybe you should keep your eyes on the road…” I managed to say to cover up my own embarrassment.

Despite the high price tag of the car, the car’s interior was small and that made me even more conscious of how close Ace is to me right now. I took in a deep breath and turned to look out the window just so that I could keep my eyes off Ace.

“How was your first day as my secretary?” he asked.

Although he did not stress on the word, I felt a strange yet pleasant feeling when he called me his secretary. Karina, get a hold of yourself please or you’re going to end up in a bigger mess than the one you got into with Kyle, I warned myself over and over again.

“I think I’m still not great at the job but I’m starting to understand what I have to do. Hopefully, I’ll be more useful to you soon and I think it’s good that I’m learning and getting to see many new things,” I replied humbly.

“Interesting. I think you’re doing well,” Ace replied.

“Really?” I said excitedly, before I could stop myself.

Suddenly, I found myself smiling just at that slight compliment that he offered. Why do I feel like a puppy waiting for my master to pet my head after completing a good deed?

“Yup. I like having you around,” Ace replied with a small laugh before he turned to smile charmingly my way.

The effect that his smile had on my poor heart made me look away instantly before he could see the blush creeping up my cheeks. Unfortunately, the car had to make a stop at a red light and that meant that Ace had a moment of free time from driving.

“Do you have a fever; your face is all red…” Ace said with clear concern in his voice as he leaned from his seat over towards me.

“Umm…” I murmured in a panic.

He’s so close and the car is so small that I can’t evade him.

--To be continued…

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