â**Chapter 3**â
â¢Ace
"Again?" irritation washed over me as I wandered around her office.
We just got back from lunch, and just like the last three days âsince she started working hereâ the room was filled with gifts and flowers. What irritates me more is that most, wait, no, all of this is from male employees.
And the fuck, they're not even trying to hide their feelings. Cards with confession and some were trying asking her out.
"Uhmm, I think thisâ too much" she mumbled, but her bothered voice is unmistakable.
I really need to talk to them.
I let out a sigh, trying to hide how pissed I am. "I'll talk to them, come on."
We have a meeting to attend in ten minutes, and as my secretary, she needs to come with me.
"I'll be there in a second, You go first. I'll just take a quick call with Zane."
"Okay, I'll wait for you there."
I stepped out of her office and made my way to the hallway, where the janitor happened to be there too.
"Good Afternoon, Mr. Ashford."
"Good Afternoon, Can you go to Mrs Ashford's office and clean the mess there, throw all of it away."
Dismissing him with a simple wave and having a quick call to the guards to give them some order, I went straight to the office room where they're all waiting.
Most of them were also here three days ago when I introduced her, and there are some new faces from the Finance Department and Sales Department. We're now discussing the Brooklyn Fashion Week, and Charity for the Little Home Orphanage whose helping homeless children, together with the Collaboration with TenTop CompanyâZane's Companyâ for Spring Festival that will be held before the summer ends, two months from now, we're doing that so people who hadn't enjoyed the summer will have a time to be happy before the school year starts, it's like a mini concert, more like a Summer Ball.
Walking in front of them I knocked on the table to get their attention, and like always, a success.
"Before we start this, I just want to tell all of you again that Madison is my wife." cold rushing through my veins as I look at them with a death and warning glare. "So stop sending her gifts every fucking lunch. If you guys even try to give her something again, then pray that that won't be the last time you'll be able to step in her office and in this company. I want all of you to stop bothering her with this bullshit, understood?"
Nodding at me while looking down, not wanting me to see their terrified eyes. They're always like this.
With that, she went into the room with papers and her laptop in her arms. Noticing the awkward silence surrounding her, she looks at me weirdly while making her way to her seat.
"Okay, let's start now."
Taking the seat next to her as she whispers. "Did something happen?"
"Just give them a warning. A warning."
She nodded at me, still dumbfounded while looking at them.
****
The meeting went well, just like the last time, they just informed us that everything is now in hand. We'll just need to wait for the Organizer, so we can put things in time. Hopefully next week, the material for the clothes that the models are going to use will arrive, so they can start tailoring them.
I was outside the meeting room waiting for her as she's having a conversation with the supplier of the canvas. I could have stayed there, but she doesn't want me there. Likewise, I was supposed to get mad, but I didn't because she had a reason why. And I know why, it's simple.
She can't concentrate.
Distracted by my presence
I may be thinking high on myself, but that's the truth. The way she looks away every time I move next to her, the way she turns red whenever I tease her about being red, and the way her heart beats rapidly whenever I'm holding her hands. I noticed that in just four days of being together.
And it made me somehow smile at the thought of her being shy, more likely embarrassed in front of me.
Hearing the click of the door being opened had me looking at her.
"Done?"
"Yep, We need to discuss something about this."
Striding towards her as I take her papers and laptop that's in her arms. She looks struggling with it because there are a lot of papers and folders, she even has her iPad for my schedule and a water bottle in her hand.
"Don't you think it'll look bad if they saw the secretary letting her boss carry all of her things?" She walked next to me, trying to catch up while drinking.
"Don't you think it'll also look bad if they saw the husband letting her wife carry all of her things?" countering her words as we both came to halt.
Did I also forget to tell you that she's turning red whenever I'm using the term Husband and Wife?
Yep, and there she is.
"I'm amazed by how your face can turn from milky white to red-tomatoes in a few seconds." I said, smirking, trying to tease her more.
"Because it's cold here." she reasoned while touching her cheeks and playfully glaring at me
"But it's much colder in the meeting room, Right?"
"It is, butâ what are you trying to say, Mr Ashford?" crossing her arms over her chest as she looked into my eyes.
"You know what I'm trying to say Madi, But if you don't really want to admit it then, I want to ask why are you blushing?"
"I am not, it's because it's cold. Don't get me wrong."
"Yeah, sure, You're not." Smirking at myself as I continue to walk, leaving her back.
I was on my way to my office when she suddenly ran to me and held my arms.
"My office is there, give it to me." She tried to take her papers from me, but I held her hand to stop her.
"From now on, Your office will be here too." Dragging her in the room as I put her papers down on her table that's placed in front of mine.
"What theâ When did this get here?" shocked cleared her voice as she stood next to me looking around my room.
That's what I asked the guards earlier to do before the two-hours meeting started.
"I guess this is much better, so I can help if you need to, more like so no one will give you any of those ridiculous gifts anymore."
A chuckle left her cherry lips, but still in disbelief. "Who would have dared to send a flower in your office. Make sense."
It does, at the same time It doesn't.
I never really had a soft spot for having someone in my office when I'm working. Actually, I never really like having someone in my office, or anywhere near me.
But this is different.
"Oh, Like I said, we need to discuss something about the supplier."
"Go ahead" walking to the couch, I sat down followed by her.
"They said they don't have the specific Autumn color. The only yellow is flaxen and canary, for brown is cedar, russet and pecan, for orange is orange-yellow, aerospace and Persian orange. And they want the final order by tomorrow lunch because the day after tomorrow is Saturday, we will need to wait until Wednesday before they agree to ship it out. If we don't give them the order by tomorrow, then the delayed arriving time should be expected." She looked through her iPad and showed it to me. The schedule.
Then she added as I started looking at it. "If they have our order by tomorrow, then they will ship it out by Saturday night, and will arrive here by Monday afternoon. Then by Friday, we'll deliver them to the workshop. It'll take the manager two days to check them and in two weeks after it was delivered, they'll start working on it. Hopefully they can work on it for three weeks."
"What do you think? Should we just use the shade they only have, or use another color combination?"
"Why are you asking me that? You're the boss." she scoffed while raising an eyebrow.
"Because you're good at fashion, you can make any color combination look good. So? What do you think?"
She just stared at me before biting her lips and leaning back to the couch while staring at the ceiling.
What I said is true. Just like today, she looks fancy with her smoke-gray oversized turtleneck sweater tucked in her maroon mini skirt. With her open coat, having a crimson-red, ash-gray, and black stripe design. And knee-length brown boots.
What makes it more stunning is because her hair is down.
It's perfect.
"Have you heard of the Golden Hour Palette?" she suddenly snapped, breaking my thoughts. Grabbing her iPad as she starts to look for something, I assume it's the Golden Hour Palette she's talking about.
"Here, look at this." She scooted closer to me while showing me the picture of a sunset, a Tennessee Sunset picture. "It looks warm, and delightful at the same time."
She's right, It looks warm. The last time I appreciated the sunset was two years ago.
When I was alone, but not really. There's a girl a few feet away from me at that time.
"What's the combination, then?"
She exchanges glances at me and the screen before tilting her head and focusing on the screen.
As Zane told me, about his sister whom I didn't know yet, that is her, she loves art and music. She loves color, shades and palette. I'm amused that I remembered it, even though I didn't care what he's talking about at that time.
"It's Golden Brown for this, where the sun sets, Dusty Gray for the sky where it's almost dark, Flamingo for the pink skies right about the Golden Brown and Creole for the land shadowed land. So Golden Brown, Dusty Gray, Flamingo, and Creole are the combination."
"Okay then, let's go with that."
"Aren't you going to ask them first if they find it good or not."
"They're not in the place to decide."
"And I am?"
Seriously? She could be really dumb some time. And she has proven it to me so many times already in four days.
"Of course, This is my company,, so it means it's yours too."
"Ahh, This is also one of the things I wanted to talk about with you. Ace,, please, don't treat me differently from your other employees."
And I know she didn't mean that. What she meant is, stopped doing things like this for her.
"In the company, I'm your secretary"
"Sorry, but I didn't see anything on our marriage certificate that's indicating that you're not my wife inside this company. Especially not the thing that I can't treat you differently from them."
"Butâ"
"No buts, If they happened to be married to me too, then maybe I can do the same thing I'm doing for you." and that sarcastically escaped my mouth.
Letting out a sigh, she looks away before looking at me again. "I get it, now, let's get back to this."
She just wanted to change the subject because she knows I'm right, and what she's asking me is dumb.
â¢Madison
It's already dark when we arrive at the villa, and I'm freaking exhausted.
As soon as I removed my boots that I've been wearing for the last twelve hours, I threw myself on the couch âcan also call it a bed, the two of us can really fit hereâ. Taking off my coat, I lay down and put it on top of me.
I want to sleep now.
After walking around the building to look for the managers and team leaders the whole afternoon, my feet gave up.
"Drink."
Opening my eyes after almost falling asleep, I look at him who just sat down next to me âmore like above my headâ. Slowly sitting up as I stare at the orange juice he makes sitting on the round table.
He makes it, because he's literally the one who squeezed it.
"Thank you."
Giving me a nod, he took the remote and turned on the TV to play some random relaxing video, but it'll sate muted. He just likes to turn it on, so we can turn the chandelier off and just keep the light from the kitchen, besides the lights from the patio, reach here, so it's not really dark.
"What do you want for dinner?"
"You're going to cook?" I ask, forgetting something.
He looked at me with a done face before flicking my forehead so hard that had me sitting up straight, as I touched my forehead I glared at him.
"What was that for?"
"For the fourth fucking time, I don't fucking know how to cook. Do you need me to say it every day?"
The glare in my face while rubbing my forehead slowly turns into a crazy grin before laughing out loud, I swear I see him rolling his eyes making me laugh even more that I again fall on my back but this time, my head falls on his lap. Putting my hands on my stomach as it starts hurting.
"Ohh- ohh- gosh, my stomach hurts from there." wiping my tears away while taking a deep breath as I gaze at his reddened face. "Why are you blushing, Mister?" I still asked, even after knowing why.
"I'm not, It's just hot here."
"Hot? But the ac is on."
Still looking up at him, I raise my eyebrow, waiting for him to look. And he did.
"If you don't get this conversation back about the dinner right away, you'll be the one who'll blush for the rest of the night, I swear." he said softly by teasingly while caressing my cheeks.
Shit.
And now I know, I'm the reddened one.
"Waitâ I have a better option for my dinner." I know he's just teasing, but fuck, it turns me on. "With a dessert."
"I-I'll cook."
I was about to get off him when he suddenly grabbed my arms and pulled me back. To his chest now.
"I thought you already look good in pink, it seems like you look even cuter with red." he whispered right in my ear with that deep voice of his.
Not wanting to add more embarrassment in me, I played along.
"I look good in everything." with that sarcastic tone of me, his soft hand went to my collar bone together with his eyes before smirking and looking up again.
"I bet you also look good with nothing."
"Impressive words Mister." finally getting off him with a defeated smile.
"Then I should get some impressive food too."
Smirking at him, I smile. "I never disappointed anyone with my cooking skills."
Leaving him in the living room, I went to our room and took a quick half bath. Changing into a pair of silk pajama shorts and long sleeve shirt, with a cute cactus imprinted on it.
I was about to leave the room when I suddenly remembered Hazel. Our last call was two days before the wedding, I guess I need to call her later.
Hazel has been my best friend since we were 12, and I know she's already upset that I didn't let her come to my wedding. One of our thousands of promises is we need to be each other's Maid of Honor to our wedding. Which I broke. But that won't change the fact that I love her more than the man sitting in the living room outside, for now, I think.
****
"What did you cook?" he suddenly went behind me while peeking over my shoulder.
"London Broil Steak, and fried stick mashed potato." I turned around to face him when he moved back away to the bridge to get some water.
I walk to the table and put the food down, followed by him. As I went back from taking the plates and utensils, I caught him sniffing the steak.
He looks cute
No, he's everything but cute.
"Stop staring at me like your eye fucking me"
My eyes narrowed at his words, that stupid smirk is now on display again. He's crazy, isn't he?
"Fuck you." giving him his plates as I sit on the chair in front of him.
A chuckle escapes him as he stares at me.
"Zane called me earlier while you're in the room, he said he'll stop by at the company tomorrow."
"I'm now thinking if he loves you more than me." I said while cutting my steak in half.
"Because it was meant to be a surprise." he explained, understanding me.
"Then why did you tell me?"
"So you won't think about leaving my office. For the whole afternoon, I only saw you twice, and that was when we got back to the meeting, and we're going home."
Home.
That's what he said.
This is our home.
"Then should I act like I know nothing tomorrow?"
"Probably."
Chuckling at him as we both start to dig in.
"How was it?"
"Good, Just like the normal steak I always have."
Okay, I admit, I was a little hurt by that. How can he call it normal when I did everything I can just to be different from others. And he'll call it, just like what he always has. But just a little.
"I'll take that as a compliment." I said as I continued to eat.
I'm aware that I've become quiet because I'm searching for the taste he said, just like the others. There's no way it can be the same because I use vinegar and a bit of salt in it, which is not in the knowledge of 'others'. It's because my Mama taught me about that secret, and it's the best.
I hate it when they compare my work with 'others'.
Fuck it.
This is one of my million toxic mentality.
Even simple things are affecting me.
****
I was now laying on the lounge beside the pool while holding a book, but my attention was somewhere else.
Someone.
Ace Ashford, the man with six-pack abs who's only wearing a trunks and nothing else in front of me. Well, not really in front. His broad shoulder is just right for him, with his ogling type of back.
I came here to read and to look at the beautiful night sky, but what I'm doing right now is none of the above.
The last time I got attracted to a man was six years ago, he's not even the right one.
And because of that, It now feels illegal to ogle this man, in front of me.
"Want to swim?"
He swam near me before brushing his hair up. God, that was sexy.
"No, thanks, doing something." I shrugged while showing him the book.
"Ohâ I thought you might want to swim with me, since you keep gawking at me." He said, sounded mock. But before I even say anything, he added. "Well then, I'll leave now." He smiled at me before turning his back away, but halted before he even got farther. "If you have time, Can you teach me how to read an upside down book? It's kinda cool."
My jaw dropped, making him smile before swimming away.
Looking at the book as, I realize that it was really upside down. Slapping my forehead as I let out a grunt.
"Why am I so dumb?"
I whisper to myself before putting my slippers on and running inside the house.
That's fucking embarrassing.