Chapter 73
What amazed me more than the private jet was the fact that Ace never failed to amaze and surprise me over and over again.
“The office got one made for you for business purposes, right? Remember?” Ace asked as he waved a passport book in front of me.
Shit. I totally forgot about that. How loosely does the company manage these documents? Ace can get his hands on anything so easily...
“Where are we going?” I asked once again.
“Get on and I’ll tell you,” Ace said teasingly before winking at me.
“What if I told you that I don’t want to go?” I asked as I refused to follow him.
“I wouldn’t believe you even if you did. Get on, you’ll want to go where I’m about to take you,” Ace said with certainty.
Where is he going to take me? Just where is this flight bound for?
.....
While I was still debating my very limited options to myself, Ace heaved an impatient sigh before turning to face me directly.
“Rina, if you don’t get on the plane on the count of three, I’m going to carry you...” Ace said slowly and very clearly.
“You’re kidding...” I muttered although I knew that he was far from joking.
“Three...” Ace started counting.
My eyes widened in shock as his light hazel brown eyes stared down at my face. Shit, I really don’t have a choice about this do I?
“Two...” Ace counted down again.
“Arghhh! Ok...” I cried out in defeat.
Once again, I found myself dancing to Ace’s tune like his favorite little puppet.
...
After getting on the plane, I sat in a very comfortable leather seat next to Ace and we were on our way somewhere I didn’t know.
“So...can you please tell me where we’re going now?” I asked.
“Sure, since the plane has taken off, I can tell you where we’re going,” Ace replied teasingly.
I arched a brow at him in disbelief. Was he that scared that I would get off if the plane was still on the ground?
“Where are we going?” I demanded for an answer.
“The country with the biggest dog meat trade,” Ace stated with a serious face.
Oh...wow...
“Wow...really?!” I exclaimed in excitement as the reality of this sunk in.
“Yes, really. How else are we going to come up with anything real if we haven’t seen, felt, or experienced anything real?” Ace said before turning to grin at me.
“So, this is a business trip...” I mumbled.
“Are you disappointed, Rina? Did you think that perhaps this was a date or a honeymoon trip for us?” Ace asked teasingly before he chuckled.
No, I...did not think that...
“You should have told me in advance. You planned this ahead, right? You could have told me...” I complained as I pouted.
Ace laughed a little at my reaction.
“If I told you then it wouldn’t be a surprise...” Ace replied casually.
“I didn’t pack anything at all. Also, I’m your secretary so if you wanted to arrange a trip, you should have told me. I could have done it...” I continued to complain while Ace continued to laugh at me.
He seemed to be in a good mood and although he had literally just hijacked me on a plane to a foreign country, I still couldn’t truly find it in me to be mad at him. The way he laughed made him look younger and the sound of his laughter tugged at my heart. Soon, I felt warm and strange inside like I was feeling happy for no reason at all. Before I knew it, I was smiling a little. Maybe I was happy that he decided to take me along on this trip with him.
“It’s going to be so fun. Let’s learn a lot of new things together. I want us to have some solid ideas on how to approach the storyline by the end of the trip. We can’t afford to lose to the other teams,” Ace said before smiling brightly at me.
“Lose to the other team? What do you mean?” I asked, confused.
“Oh, right. I guess I haven’t told you about this either,” Ace said in sudden realization.
He never tells me any of the important things. I just wanted to roll my eyes at him.
“Care to explain, please?” I demanded before pursing my lips into a thin line.
“This is something we do very often when we start on a new project in the CEO’s office. We form small teams of 2-3 people, and we compete to come up with the best idea for the storyline. Of course, it doesn’t have to be the whole story line and it doesn’t have to be anywhere as detailed as the final version, but it must be good enough to lead the direction of the work going forward,” Ace explained.
“Really? So, the other people are also going on trips?” I asked curiously.
“Some of them are, I supposed. Not all of them. Everyone is either paired up or in a small group now and some of them are visiting some dog meat farms and markets. Others have other ways to get ideas, it’s all up to what they decide as a team,” Ace replied casually.
“Are we going to visit the farms and the markets too?” I asked, my excitement truly taking over.
After doing so much research on the topic, I was more than interested and invested. I was eager to learn more, and I had to agree with Ace that nothing would beat seeing and experiencing the real thing.
“Of course. Why else are we flying over there?” Ace replied before chuckling.
He reached his large hand out and patted the top of my head before stroking my hair softly. In the short amount of time that I’ve worked with him, he’s done that quite a lot.
“I’m not your dog...” I muttered softly.
“Who says that I think that you’re my dog?” Ace asked teasingly before he began laughing a little.
I am definitely not his dog!
–To be continued...