“Have you decided?” Ace asked before I could even finish my sentence.
I guess I didn’t even need to say it. Ace already knew what I was here to talk about.
I couldn’t help but wonder which part of his request was referring to? The becoming his secretary part of becoming his girlfriend part?
Regardless of which part he was referring to, my answer was the same.
“I’m very sorry but I can’t accept the role of being your personal secretary nor taking a place in the CEO’s Office team,” I stated firmly.
“…and why is that?” Ace asked as he lifted his brows at me in wonder.
Because I got this opportunity because I slept with you and if I continue being around you then I’ll probably…
I didn’t let myself finish that thought, fully aware that we were in the same room that we got extremely intimate very recently. Honestly, I didn’t even dare let my eyes travel to the sofa where he played with me until I cried out loudly from the pleasure. My body trembled slightly at the thought before I completely shut it away.
“Well…I…” I said in a small voice before I hesitated to go on.
How do I tell him that I didn’t want to sleep my way up?
“What is it?” Ace asked, urging me to go on with a hint of impatience in his voice.
He’s the CEO so he probably doesn’t have all day to spend with me here while I struggled to get my words out.
“The thing is…I…” I began again but couldn’t quite go on.
Ace cocked his head to the side as his eyes narrowed dangerously at me. I had a feeling that he would kill me if I failed the third time at spitting it out. The so-called three strike rule or something…
“Well, this might sound very strange but, I can’t accept this position because I don’t want to sleep my way up the corporate ladder. I really want this position, but it doesn’t mean anything to me if I didn’t rightfully earn it,” I said in one breath before I lost my nerve again.
After spitting that out, I felt a brief moment of relief. However, that didn’t last long. One look at Ace and I regretted the things that I had just said. It was clear from the way he looked at me that he didn’t like what he had just heard, and he seemed more disappointed than angry. After a few seconds of staring at me, he heaved a loud and long sigh.
“What makes you think that?” he asked calmly as he leaned back in his chair.
His eyes never left my face and I felt small and extremely intimidated by his unwavering stare. My throat felt so dry, and I wasn’t sure how to answer his question.
“Well, you offered me this job because we had that one-night stand…that night at the hotel…right?” I asked in return.
Ace did not immediately deny it but neither did he confirm my doubt. He just stared at me with a look of complete disbelief on his face before he shook his head from side to side slowly.
“What a ridiculous thing to say about yourself…” Ace said, and he clearly sounded extremely disappointed.
“Excuse me?” I asked, confused at what he was getting at.
“How can you say something like that about yourself? How much do you have to look down on yourself and your self-worth for you to say something like that, Rina?” Ace asked before he grinned disapprovingly at me.
Me? Look down on myself?
What does he even mean by that? It’s precisely because I don’t want to look down on myself or have anyone else look down on me that I’m refusing his offer. Which part of that doesn’t he understand?
“I don’t get what you’re saying at all…I’m sorry…” I said while trying to sound polite.
“Don’t sell yourself short, Karina,” Ace said curtly.
“I’m turning this position down precisely because I don’t want to do that. I don’t people to misunderstand that I got to join the team because I spent the night with you…” I tried desperately to explain.
“And who told you that that was the reason why you were chosen to join the team?” Ace asked with an amused look on his face.
The way he was looking at me made me feel like a young child who doesn’t understand the way of the world. I may be younger but I’m not dumb…
“No one did but I heard about the new role after I spent the night with you so…” I mumbled softly.
pAn,Da n<0,>v,e1 “So, you assumed that I offered you this position simply because I slept with you once?” Ace asked as if what I said was the most ridiculous thing on earth.
Not sure what else to say, I just nodded my head once. Ace stared at me before his lips curved into a smile that soon turned into laughter. I watched in confusion as Ace started laughing louder and louder as if I had just told him the best joke ever.
“You think…excuse me…you think that I gave you this important job because I slept with you once? Really? You know, I told you not to look down on yourself, but do you honestly think that your sex was good enough to make me enlist you into this company’s dream team?” Ace asked as he shook his head.
I stared at Ace blankly as he continued to laugh some more at me.
“Such confidence…” he scoffed at me before laughing some more.
“Then…you didn’t offer me the role because…of that?” I asked in a soft whisper.
“I don’t know what you take me for but, there’s no way I would do something like that…” Ace said before he turned around in his chair and opened a drawer.
I watched as he pulled out a folder and began flipping through it as if looking for something. When he found what he was looking for, he turned around to face me once again before placing a piece of paper on the table.
“What is this?” I asked softly.
“If you don’t believe me, then why don’t you take a look at this” Ace replied calmly.
--To be continued…
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