We were just colleagues who got closer because we were working together on the same project. I had no idea since when it became a crime for us to have lunch together. “You should be careful,” he repeated his warning sternly. I looked around to make sure that we were not attracting any unnecessary attention from the other people in the room before returning my attention to Richard. This would truly get out of hand if he got the wrong idea. “Listen, I don’t know why you’re getting these ideas just because I went out to lunch with him but there is nothing going on. Thank you for the warning…” I said in a desperate whisper. “Romance between employees is strictly forbidden in this company. If I were you, I wouldn’t do things that would attract suspicion,” he said before shooting me a glare. I took in a deep breath before letting out a loud sigh. I was certain that there were many other instances of colleagues going out to lunch alone together. Just because we had lunch a couple of tim
“Are you going out today?” I asked.“No, I’ll be here to clear up some work. I’m leaving things on that end in Elizabeth’s hands for now until I hear back from her again,” Ace replied before showing me a warm smile. “Alright, then. Please try to make it to your meetings on time. I’ll be heading over to my project room now if there’s nothing else…” I said politely as I switched into my secretarial mode. “Good luck, Rina. Enjoy your day at work,” Ace said before he smiled at me again. “Thanks, you too,” I replied simply. The outlook for the day did not look bleak at all. Everything seemed bright enough although there were always uncertainties around us. I had a spring in my steps when I left Ace’s office to go to my project room where Richard was undoubtedly waiting for me. I told myself once again that I would work hard, do my best, and impress Richard one way or another. Seeing Richard reminded me a little of the warning that he gave me. It bothered me that someone might have mis
It was probably the first time that the three of us went out to lunch together out of our own free will. It was strange but after spending months working together, we had never gone out to lunch together in our free time. The tense atmosphere that seemed to drift around us as we sat down together at the table in the center of the restaurant was clear evidence of that fact. The restaurant was busy since it was lunchtime and I had never been so thankful to have all the other tables filled with people before. I had a feeling that the awkwardness between the three of us would just get worse had we been the only patrons in the restaurant on that day. “Umm…should we order?” I asked hesitantly after we had been staring at our menus for a while in silence. It wasn’t like I had made up my mind about what to order but that was the only thing that I could think of to break the silence. At that point, I didn’t think that it mattered anymore what I ordered for lunch because I was sure that I wa
There were many large office buildings in the area and people take lunch break around the same time of the day, so it was to be expected and I had nothing to complain about. Just getting to have a proper lunch with my colleagues already felt great. Although it started off as quite a big challenge, I think that the lunch ended decently well, and I was kind of glad to have lunch with Richard. Maybe I could get closer to him and learn more from him just as Ace had suggested when he staffed me on this project. We were very close to the office when I felt my phone vibrating in the pocket of my suit. One look at the screen and I found out that the call was from Ace. My first thought was that the call might be about something urgent at work and that made me answer the call immediately. “Ace?” I said his name questioningly. “Where are you?” he asked, and his tone felt rushed. “Umm…” I murmured. “Where are you right now?” he repeated his question, this time with more urgency than before.
Our little lunch outing had quite an unexpected ending. The two men began talking about something related to the crowd in front of the building but what they said was lost to me as I began to worry more about Ace. “I should get going. I’ll see you guys later,” I said as I took a step away from them. “Right, good luck with your errand,” Jeremy said before flashing me a smile. “Thanks,” I thanked him before turning to nod at Richard. Without any hesitation, I turned and walked away from them and away from the office. I had no idea what was going on and I was scared, confused, and extremely worried. Despite all that, I realized that if Ace had bothered to give me a call while all this hell had broken loose, then the best that I could do for him was to follow his instruction and as soon as possible. I walked away as fast as I could as I controlled my urge to turn back and stare at our office building. My hand clenched around my phone tightly as I prayed for Ace to be fine. Although I
Turning on the television just made matters worse. Live broadcasts on the television and on social media channels were not difficult to find and I could watch the situation in front of my office building. It had been a while since I got home but the crowd had not thinned and there were no signs of anyone coming out of the building to address the crowd. The building’s security team was present to control the situation but that was it. I wondered if Ace was still in the office or if he had managed to use another exit to make his way out. Usually, Ace wouldn’t panic over something like this, but his tone of voice revealed that this matter had shaken him and that made me even more worried than usual. I knew by that time that I was a pro at overthinking and getting paranoid about everything; however, the sickening feeling that developed in the pit of my stomach told me that there was something lurking beneath the surface that no one knew about. What if someone is behind this sudden devel
Although I couldn’t see him, I could imagine Kyle squirming and suffering endlessly through that. While I wouldn’t call myself a sadist, it did amuse me to see him suffer. Unfortunately for him, there seemed to be a very dark spot in my heart, and I must have been a mean person. I could have easily told him something to reassure him, but I didn’t feel the slightest urge to say anything that would ease his pain or worries. “I don’t know anything. Maybe, just like you, I’m just Ace’s plaything. So, he doesn’t tell me much. If you want to know anything, you should just ask your wife...or you can simply just watch the news,” I replied lightly. “Rina…” he growled, and I could feel his anger.A part of me wished that I could see his face at that moment. Even though I knew that I had nothing to gain from his apparent suffering apart from my own satisfaction, I still couldn’t find it in me to help him. “My name is Karina,” I replied coldly. I did wonder what else he had to say to me, but
“I’m sorry that this happened, and you have to worry so much,” Ace apologized softly.His hand moved to stroke my hair while I listened to his steady heartbeat. The regular rhythm of his hand stroking my hair and the sureness of his presence helped to calm me down. “It’s not your fault so why are you apologizing?” I asked as I hugged him a little tighter to me. “We should have been more careful, Elizabeth and I…” he replied calmly. “The photos were of that night when you two came back together, right?” I asked. “That’s right but then there are many others as well. Of course, all of them taken out of context…” Ace said before letting out a sigh that sounded so regretful. I agreed that when taken out of context the photos of them together made them look like the perfect couple. Given the history that they were engaged before, I could understand that people would have biased view when seeing those photos. Photos of them sitting together or just walking side-by-side could be misinter