194 Smells of Trouble

I stepped into his office and my body froze as I struggled to process what I was seeing. A blonde woman sat on Ace’s table with her legs crossed seductively and I had to say that her skirt was a little more than too short. At first, I couldn’t see her face and Ace paid me no mind even though I was standing there. The two seemed very engaged in just staring into each other’s eyes.

Did I walk in at the wrong moment?

Definitely.

“Oh...it’s you...” the woman said as she turned around and spotted me.

Her face was definitely one that I had seen before.

“Elizabeth...” I murmured her name softly.

Why is she here...exactly?

“Ace and I have unfinished business so if you don’t mind...can you...” she said before she sweetly at me and shooed me off with her hand.

What on earth is going on?

.....

Why is Elizabeth Chase here?

My eyes glanced over at Ace as I hoped for him to do something to correct the situation for me. Instead of telling Elizabeth to get off his desk and pull down her skirt, he turned and shot me a look.

“Leave us for a moment. I need to talk to her,” Ace said dismissively.

“You heard him. Leave us alone please...” Elizabeth said before she glared at me.

I hated myself for feeling out of place although I was the one who should belong close to Ace. Despite the sickening feeling that bubbled up inside of me, I tried to tell myself to stay calm. There were probably discussing some important business and it was my fault for butting in the middle of their conversation.

However, something just felt very off...

“Ok...” I murmured.

'

I turned around and quickly left the room. After closing the door to Ace’s personal office behind me, I pressed my hand to my chest as I tried to calm the rapid beating of my heart.

What did I just walk in on?

Ace’s meeting with Elizabeth wasn’t on his calendar so it’s not an official meeting, right?

I absentmindedly headed to the sofa before flopping down onto it. My legs had lost their strength and I couldn’t keep standing anymore. So many confusing thoughts floated around in my head as my mind kept on churning up hypothetical reasons why Elizabeth was with Ace in his office. Her position and her attitude toward me just made everything worst. She knows that I’m dating Ace so why is she doing something like this?

How long are they going to stay alone together in there?

Time seemed to tick by so slowly as I sat there alone on the sofa as I waited for Elizabeth and Ace to emerge from his office. So much for working so hard to come to see him early.

It was a little over half an hour before the door to Ace’s office opened and that was accompanied by Elizabeth’s playful laughter. I watched as she walked out of his office while running her fingers through her hair.

“I know I should have listened to you sooner than this...” Elizabeth said as she turned back to face his office.

Ace soon emerged from his office and then he whispered something to her that I couldn’t hear from where I was seated. Whatever he said made her laugh even louder than before and that made my mood worsen. He bent down a little and whispered something directly into her ear that made her smile.

“You should divorce that dumb husband of yours...” he said after he stood up straight again.

I caught those words of his so clearly as if he wanted me to participate in that conversation of theirs as well.

“I’ll think about it...” Elizabeth replied before she smiled up at him.

After they seemed to have reached the end of their conversation, Elizabeth turned towards me before she smiled a little my way.

“Well, I wouldn’t want to take up more of your time. I’ll drop by again soon...or you can come over to my place,” she said invitingly.

With one final smile at Ace and a look my way, she walked proudly out of his office and closed the door behind her.

What just happened?

I was too stunned to do anything, so I just sat there and watched her leave. Ace has got to explain to me what just happened.

“Your work ended early today?” Ace asked as his attention finally rested on me.

“Umm...yea...” I murmured in response.

My mind couldn’t focus on anything else but the fact that Elizabeth was in Ace’s office. What were they talking about just now?

I waited for a moment to see if Ace would explain anything to me. However, instead of telling me the purpose of Elizabeth’s visit, Ace began typing something on his phone instead. It seemed like he didn’t think that he owed me an explanation and that made me so angry. Pain shot through the palms of my hand and looking down made me realize that my nails were digging into the palms of my hand as I clenched my fists tightly in frustration.

Why is he pretending and acting like nothing happened?

“Ace...” I called his name.

“Hmm?” he made a questioning sound, but his eyes were still glued to the screen of his phone.

His lack of proper response and interest only made me even more furious at him. Doubts and insecurities flooded my mind as I struggled to understand why that woman met up with Ace. The vibe between them didn’t tell me that they were engaged in a business meeting. Neither could I think of any reason why Ace would have a business meeting in private with the CEO of one of our largest rivals.

“What were you two talking about?” I asked.

“You mean with Elizabeth?” he asked in return as he finally put his phone back into the pocket of his pants.

The way he said her name pissed me off. Everything was putting me on edge, and I hated how helpless I felt.

–To be continued...