Chapter 281 - 281 Sneaking Out Together

281 Sneaking Out Together

The event did not end quite as we had all expected. In the end, the buzz of questions around Ace’s upcoming retirement from his position as the CEO did die down a little and the crowd of reporters was brought under control by the security team. There was a moment of peace before order was restored and the press’s attention shifted back to what was supposed to be the focus of the event which was the launch of the commercial.

I began wondering what would be covered more in the news between Ace’s retirement confirmation or the launch of the commercial. If I had to make a guess, I would bet on the topic of Ace quitting his job. Hopefully, Julianna had some backup plan to deal with this so that Project Alpha wouldn’t be impacted. There was also the possibility that the commercial might gain a lot more popularity and views by riding on the back of the news related to Ace. Whatever was going to happen, I prayed for the commercial to be a success.

Toward the end of the event, the questions turned back to Ace’s personal career again and many questions were asked about what he intended to do after leaving the company. Those questions really brought me to the edge of my seat although I had a feeling that Ace wasn’t going to give anyone a straightforward answer.

“Are there potential candidates for the next CEO already? Who will be taking over after you?” one of the reporters asked.

That was a great question. So far, I haven’t heard of who might be taking over as the CEO if Ace really left. The future of the company and all of its employees would rest with that new CEO and what he or she decided to do. I was certain that my life as well as the lives of the other employees would change greatly under the management of the new CEO. There wasn’t anything that I could do at that moment but wish for the best and to hope that the new CEO would have visions that aligned well with Ace’s values and how he managed and did things.

“We haven’t gotten that far in the process yet. Of course, when we have selected a new CEO, we will announce it to the public,” Ace replied casually with a smile.

All in all, I surmised that nothing was set in stone for the future and everything seemed pretty much unknown except for the fact that Ace seemed confident that he would be leaving the company. I wondered if his father would return and take over as the CEO once again. The Chairman was older now, but I could still see him doing very well in taking active management of the company. The real problem was that he had stepped down for Ace to take over, so I doubted that he wanted to return to actively manage the company once again.

Since the press didn’t wrap up their questions, it was Ace who decided that he had had enough of their questions. With a few polite words of parting, Ace stepped down from the stage and disappeared behind the stage to get away from everyone. That move brought about the official ending of the event. Now that their target of focus was gone from the scene, it did not take long for the reporters to take their leave. I stood to the side of the auditorium door along with the other staffs as we thanked the reporters for coming. It took a little while for everyone to leave the auditorium considering how fully packed it was in there before.

“That was…something…” Jeremy mumbled from close to me.

.....

Everyone was gone by that point and the team members were the only ones left in the auditorium. I had to agree that I also found it hard to describe how that event went down. For my own personal reasons, I had very mixed feelings in the pit of my stomach that made me feel slightly uncomfortable.

“I think it went pretty well…I guess…” I replied before trying my best to smile.

“Yup. The press is interested for sure. We’ll definitely get a lot of coverage, both on Ace and the commercial,” Jeremy voiced confidently.

“I agree with that,” I replied.

Just as the event team members worked hard to clear up the auditorium, my phone vibrated a few times in the palm of my hand. I turned around to shield my phone screen from everyone else before I turned on the screen to read the text message that I had just received.

‘Meet me at the car,’

Ace’s instructions were simple and very concise. Since he didn’t exactly tell me when, I assumed that he wanted me to meet him at his car immediately. After making up some random excuse, I quickly took my leave and headed for the parking lot.

…

“Let’s go,” Ace said as he opened the car door for me.

When I arrived at the car, Ace was already there. I had no idea why I was so surprised to see him already there waiting for me. The sight of him leaning casually against the side of his sportscar felt so attractive to me that for a moment when I first spotted him, I just wanted to stand there to admire him for a bit. That didn’t quite work out because he spotted me right away and quickly waved me over. He seemed very impatient to leave and I could understand why that was so.

“It’s still midday. Is it ok for us to head back already?” I asked when we got into the car.

Ace let out a sigh and drove off and that was probably his way of telling me that we were leaving the office regardless of what time of the day it was. I started worrying more than a little about Project Alpha now that the commercial had launched.

“Don’t we need to be in the office for the launch? What if something goes wrong?” I asked with clear worry in my tone.

–To be continued…