The Trap Of Ace

Chapter 13

Read The Trap Of Ace [by Eva Zahan] Chapter 13 – “So you mean, he literally declared that he wants you? That you’re his?” asked Cassie, with her jaw on the floor.

“He didn’t exactly say that.”

“But this is what he meant with whatever he said. Even a kid can see through it!” she argued.

I threw the cards we were playing on the table and sat back against the couch, huffing. After the auction I got a call from her to meet at her place. With a feeble flu, she was getting bored out of her mind. So I came to give her company.

“G*d! I’ve seen people being crazy in love before. But this? This is insane!” She shook her head in disbelief. “Buying an entire company just to bring you closer to him, forcing you to join the board meetings so that he could meet you more and wasting a million over just a canvas?”

At the mention of the ‘L’ word, I sat up straight. “There’s no love! It’s- it just could be a want of possession or obsession of his. I don’t know. But there is nothing like that you’re implying!”

She raised a brow. “Even Jeff Bezos wouldn’t do something as crazy as buying an entire company that would cost him a fortune just to bring a girl close to him he wants.”

I rolled my eyes, but the skip of my heart didn’t go amiss. After I found out from Tobias that OC Textiles’ owner was Ace, and not Caleb, I was shocked. I even had a doubt that he’d something to do with my transfer, it wasn’t just Caleb. Though, I wasn’t sure. And when I told Cassie accidentally about this, she got this illusion that he bought that company from Mr. Cooper for me. Even though I didn’t want to believe her, but it did make some sense.

“He must’ve had some other agenda behind it. And it could be a pure coincidence that he found out I’d be working in that company, and so he told Caleb to transfer me here. That’s it.” I still denied.

“Really? And what about the message he sent you just the previous night? That you can’t escape from him anymore? Your time was over and blah blah? Can you explain that?”

I opened my mouth and then shut it. Crossing my hands over my chest, I shrugged.

She gave me a look. And to my utter surprise, she changed the subject. “How’s Warner?”

I cocked my head. “Uh, he’s good?”

What was she trying to do now?

She nodded. “You guys talk everyday?”

“No. Both of us were really busy the entire week. But he did call this morning.” I checked my phone but there were no calls or messages from him. “He was supposed to call me again tonight.”

“So long-distance is already at its work,” she hummed.

My brows creased. “What do you mean?”

Her shoulders lifted as she grabbed her coffee mug and took a sip, sniffling. “Isn’t it simple? Even strong relationships don’t work with long-distance most of the time, and here we’re talking about your one sided relationship.”

“It isn’t one-sided.”

“Oh?” She raised her brow. “So you love him?”

Silence.

“Knew it. Look, Em-” placing the mug back on the table, she leaned in, “-you and I both know that what you and Warner have, isn’t gonna last long. And now that you’re worlds away from each other, and with your a new, slash old lover is back in the picture, you should take a decision on your relationship with Warner now. You and he, both are aware that you were never in this. You never had any feelings for him other than seeing him just as a friend. Yes, maybe he does like you, but trust me, in deep down, he also knows that you won’t be able to love him no matter how much he tries.”

I looked down at my lap. “It’s not my fault that I can’t do it. I tried, I tried my best to love him. But…”

“But your heart still belongs to someone else?”

My eyes snapped up to her. “No! I don’t have any feelings for him anymore. Yes, he does effect me still, but… it’s just the awkwardness. Nothing else.” I averted my eyes from her piercing ones. “And I and Warner are doing good, you don’t worry about that.”

“Don’t lie to me. I know you more than you know yourself, Em. You still want him as much as you did back at you siblings’ birthday party that night. You’re just scared to get hurt again, that’s why your denying your feelings, aren’t you?” she asked. When I didn’t answer, she sighed. “Don’t you think you’re doing wrong to Warner? Even if he was the one who insisted to try, but you know that you won’t able to love him no matter it’s because of Ace or not.”

Closing my eyes, I put my head on my hands. I knew I wasn’t doing fair with Warner. It’s been eating me out for a long time now. But I was too selfish to let him go. Though I didn’t love him, but his friendship did give a huge support. Truth to be told, him being my boyfriend helped my mind a little bit to assure myself that I’d moved on. I could show it to the world, to him. But in deep down, I knew the truth. I knew I was using Warner for my own selfishness.

My eyes pricked as guilt cut through me. Though even I was thinking to talk about it with him for last some months, I couldn’t do it. My selfishness, fear, fear of facing him alone stopped me from doing it.

“Hey!” Rounding the table, she sat beside me, placing a hand over mine. “It’s okay. I know what you’re feeling. But don’t. It’s not your fault. Though Warner doesn’t know about Ace, but he does know that why you agreed to be his girlfriend. Talk to him, I’m sure he will understand. He deserves to know the truth, Em. Tell him everything.”

I nodded. “I will talk to him. But not now, I need to do this when we’re face to face. He’s coming at Tess’s wedding.”

“Will you tell him about Ace?”

“No. There’s nothing to tell him about Ace.” I casted her a glance. “I will just talk to him about us. I just hope he will still be my friend after everything is over.”

She squeezed my hand. “He will, I’m sure!”

After a silence, she shifted and cleared her throat.

“So?”

I turned to her. “So what?”

“Now that the issue of Warner is sorted, will you give Ace a chance?”

I shook my head in disbelief. “So you talked me into breaking up with Warner so that you can pair me up with Ace? I can’t believe you!”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please! It’s not that you weren’t going to do that in some time anyway. Specially now that Ace is here.”

I scowled at her.

“What? I’m just helping my best friend with her love life dilemma. You and I both know what’s is your heart’s desire. And I know, in deep down, beside the fear of another heartbreak, you were stopping yourself from leaning towards Ace because of Warner. You didn’t want to cheat on him. But that’s now sorted now, right?”

“Are you for real? I’m not going to do anything with Ace. And about Warner, i still haven’t broken up with him. He’s still my boyfriend.”

She waved her hand. “He will be out of the picture soon. It will be better for his own good anyway. Because assessing your Valencian’s obsession with you, I don’t think he would take this nicely if he has any competitor in the way of getting you.”

“You know what? I’m leaving. I’m not talking to you anymore about this!” Red in the face, I got up and collected my purse and phone.

“Do whatever you want, girl. We both know that Achilles Valencian has played his card. And now, you’re stuck in his trap. No matter what you want, you can’t escape him. And you know why?”

I stared at her, waiting for her to finish.

“Because you don’t want to escape. Your heart won’t let you.”

***

The elevator pinged, opening up for another person to reach their destined floor leaving only me and Liza inside. My one hand was filled with files and the other occupied with a cup of tea. After the small talk with Cassie, her words didn’t let sleep last night. Some of my own realization haunted my night.

I was beginning to accept my fate, the change and him around me again. It didn’t scare me as it did the first couple of days. And it scared me the most. It’s just been not more than twenty days I met him again, and I was already thinking about him more and more. I was turning weak again. Just like years ago…

No, Em. Don’t go there. You can’t fall weak this time. Be strong, use your head. Don’t let yourself fall into his trap. You don’t know what happened seven years ago. Even if he knew about your feelings, you don’t know if he really had anything for you in his heart. But that wasn’t possible, if he did feel something, then he wouldn’t do that with your sister.

But Tess did say that she didn’t love him…

Then why did they do it? If there was nothing between them, then why? Or there was? Or it could be a moment of heat between them? But do best friends do that?

I blew out a sigh. It was all so confusing. I didn’t know what to think anymore. All my life I had been thinking that my sister betrayed me, but the truth was she didn’t. Or she said she would never hurt me.

I wanted to ask Tobias about it. The truth of what actually happened seven years ago. But I didn’t know how to start this conversation with him. Did he even know what happened that night?

“G*d! It’s not even noon and I’m already so tired! The preparations for the meeting with Arabs is taking a real troll on me,” Liza complained.

“What’s so important about this meeting though? I mean, the way everyone is taking it over seriously, it’s not usual.”

“It’s a very big deal the boss wants to crack with them. He doesn’t want it to go to our rival company. These chipmunks now started a new clothing line when they found out about our new business in this field.” She shook her head. “I tell you, these people can’t take any success of this company.”

Oh! So that’s all the fuss about. Then something caught my eyes as we reached the last stop, forty-ninth floor. It was a fifty floor building, then why there were only forty-nine buttons on the elevator panel?

“We’re here,” she announced, once the doors opened.

“Wait, why there are only forty-nine buttons? It’s a fifty floor building, right?” I asked, strolling out behind her.

She bobbed her head. “Yes. The boss’s penthouse is on the fiftieth floor, and no one can go there other than his closed ones. So the common elevator doesn’t have access there. They go there by the VIP one.” Her chit jutted towards the other elevator beside the ordinary one.

The golden one.

I did know that that was for VIPs, but I didn’t know only that one had access to the fiftieth floor.

Once we were with the team that was working on the presentation for the meeting, we d*****d our heads in the work to finish the final touches. As Liza said, the boss, meant Caleb didn’t want any deficiency with anything. I didn’t know these people were that terrified of Caleb. Even the word, ‘the boss’ was enough to drain color from their faces.

“Phew, finally done! How much time is left for the meeting?” asked Matt, a guy from the management department. He was always paranoid with every little thing.

“Don’t worry, Matt. There’s still one hour left,” said Sierra, checking her watch.

“Yeah, not that much of time. The boss can arrive at any moment and demand a recheck himself.” He huffed.

“Anyways, let me print those papers in the meantime,” I said, gathering the sheets.

“Alright, but be fast. We’re leaving in fifteen minutes. You know Matt and you’re joining us in the meeting, right?” Liza asked.

“Yeah, don’t worry. It will need only five minutes,” I told her, getting up from my chair. But my hand accidentally bumped with the tea mug I had put at the side and the cold content spilled on the table,

splashing half of it on my clothes. “S**t!”

“Here!”

Liza passed me some tissue papers, but it was already ruined. The stain marked my white blouse dark. D**n! Did I have to wear white today?

Cursing under my breath, I threw the tissues in the bin.

“Oh G*d, we’re leaving in fifteen minutes. You need to clean this up fast!” Sierra was up to her feet.

“There’s no time to clean it. Even your jeans have some stains. You’ve to change your clothes.” Liza eyed my appearance.

“But where would I find clothes at this moment? I don’t have that much of time to go home now.” I bit my lip.

Suddenly her eyes lit up as she spoke, “Why don’t you go up to the penthouse? Your sister had stayed there a couple of times. I’m sure there’s some clothes of her in one of the rooms.”

“Penthouse? But what if Cale…”

“The boss wouldn’t mind at all! At least not for you. Just go and change your clothes. We don’t have much time left.” Cutting me off, she pushed me out of the door. “I’ll print those papers. You go on.”

Heaving a sigh, I went to the golden elevator and hopped in.

There must be some guards up there to control the unwanted accesses. They know Tess, but not me. Would they even let me pass? Should I call Caleb for permission first?

Too late, I was already there.

As the doors opened, my suspicion was right. There indeed were two huge built guards hovering outside. But much to my surprise, when they saw me, something flashed across their faces as they stood straight and greeted me with a polite nod.

Well, I was allowed?

Flashing a smile to them, I walked through the spacious corridor. But there stopped me a second barrier. A fingerprint scanner beside the door. D**n it! Now how would I go inside?

I should just go back and try to get these stains off somehow without wasting my time here.

Just as I turned to go, one of the guards appeared before me, his eyes on the floor. “My apologies to block your way, Miss. But if you don’t know, you’ve access in the penthouse. You just have to press your thumb on the scanner.”

I frowned. I’d access inside? But how? When did Caleb collect my finger print for it?

Confused, I turned around and placed my thumb on the scanner. And it did recognize my identity and unlocked the door. Whoa!

Strange.

Still surprised, I thanked the guard and walked inside before closing the door. And I just stood there for a moment. The entire penthouse did justice to Valencian’s name. Stunning would be an understatement. The white marble and dark panelling, and the combination of white and grey classy furniture just enhanced its beauty.

Remembering the shortage of my time, I walked upstairs not knowing where to go and entered in a master bedroom. Not even a single piece of a thing was out of place. It felt like no one really ever lived here. It definitely wasn’t the room Tess visited. Because she wasn’t one to keep a place that tidy like this.

Not wanting to waste my time anymore, I padded inside the walk in closet. Seeing the tons of ironed suits and jackets lined up in the rack, I assumed it was Caleb’s room. The closet was filled with the smell of laundry. Even the clothes seemed untouched.

I couldn’t wear his suits, so I searched for some t-shirts or something that I could fit into. And I did find one in the back. Though it seemed too big for me but I would just adjust myself into it.

Going back into the bedroom, I placed the black t-shirt on the bed and collected some more tissues to pat on the stains my jeans had. They weren’t that noticible, so I just rubbed on the wet patch a few times and let it be. The t-shirt was big enough to cover them anyway.

Throwing the tissues into the silver bin, I went back to the bed and removed my sticky blouse off. Once I was done wiping the dampness on my chest with it, I flung it on the mattress. And just as I grabbed the t- shirt in my hand, the door of the bedroom flung open, and soon followed a curse under someone’s breath making me freeze in my place.

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