"So, tell me who I see
when I look in your eyes.
Is it you, baby,
or just a
brilliant disguise?"
~ Bruce Springsteen
"Are you excited?"
Ace blinked at the beaming Scarlett standing outside his door. His tie hung undone around his neck, coloured in a shade of rich emerald, doing wonders to bring out his striking eyes.
He looked at Scarlett who wore a dress in shades of blue that brought out hers.
"What?" he asked.
"Are you excited?" she repeated, "For the launch?"
"Ambrose, you do understand that it's happening only this evening, right? Not right now?" Ace asked, moving aside and letting her walk in.
Scarlett waved a hand, dismissively.
"You can still be excited." She plopped herself down on to the made-up bed and looked up at him.
Ace began to do his tie as the weather report played.
"Sunny skies expected over Devon Falls for the rest of the week, but after Saturday, we expect some storms like the one we had earlier this week, John," said the weatherman.
"I guess it's a good thing we won't be here next week," Ace said, glancing at Scarlett out of the corner of his eye as he pulled his tie through a loop.
She sighed, leaning back on her arms and then smiled, playfully. "What? You don't want to sleep in the spare bed in my room to keep an eye on me in case I spontaneously combust again?"
Ace smiled. "I'm always worried that you're going to spontaneously combust, Ambrose. Not only when the sky breaks loose."
"Then why did you sleep in my room that night?" she asked, despite the fact that her heart was pounding loudly in her chest. "If it's no different from any other day?"
Ace shrugged. "I guess childhood trauma is something I can understand."
He looked over at her properly and found her watching him intently. They stared at each other the way they had been doing increasingly over the past two weeks.
Scarlett bit down on the inside of her cheeks in thought. It was the second time that Ace had stayed close to her during a storm and her heart swelled in gratitude for her boss; a man that everyone seemed to fear and respect.
Slowly, she stood up as Ace watched her, adjusting the knot of his tie against the collar. He watched her eyes as she came close to him and stood right in front of him.
Slipping her arms around his strong torso, she pulled him in for a hug, gently. She inhaled his scent, the familiar smell of Ace Hardwood, mixed in with his expensive cologne and sighed. All she wanted to do was to relax into him and let her inhibitions down and make sure that his warm hands didn't leave her back, but she couldn't. She pulled away, after a few seconds, making Ace drop his hands.
Looking into his eyes, Scarlett leaned forward and pressed a whisper of a kiss to his cheek. "Thank you," she said, in the softest voice that Ace had ever heard her use.
She stepped back and cleared her throat, putting that bright smile of her back on to her face. "Shall we to breakfast, sir?" she asked, in a mock-posh tone.
Ace wanted to catch her hand and tell her that he could finally see behind that excellently done false smile of hers, but he didn't. Instead, he threw on his jacket and followed her to breakfast.
Scarlett walked a step ahead of Ace at all times and avoided his gaze in the elevator. She knew that if she looked into those questioning, insistent eyes of his, she would probably tell him many more things that she had ever told anyone. Not wanting to do that, she avoided his gaze, all throughout breakfast.
They spoke about the weather, the hotel and the conference, but nothing else.
She was only too happy to skip away from him at the end of the meal, ready to go in for the last discussion panel that she would sit through.
Scarlett was about to walk into the hall, when someone caught her arm.
"Scarlett." Terrence Burke's salt-and-pepper hair came into view.
"Are you crazy?" she hissed at him, glancing around, "Are you asking to get caught?"
"Calm down," he told her, laughingly, "I'm sure it's perfectly acceptable for a man to be speaking to a beautiful, young woman, isn't it?"
"Possibly not when the man is married," she told him, making him laugh.
"I haven't had the opportunity to speak to you all week, Scarlett."
"For good reason. Do you want Ace to find out?" she asked, in a low voice.
Terrence smirked. "Would you be upset?"
"No, I'm thinking that you might be," she stated, rather venomously, "Given the fact that you wouldn't get any more information about him."
His smile didn't leave his face. "You're as smart and spunky as you were on the first day that I met you, Scarlett. It's good to know that Ace Hardwood hasn't changed you."
She wanted to tell him what Ace Hardwood had done, but she bit her tongue. Instead, she put a bright smile on to her face so that they didn't look suspicious.
"Why don't you just put the moves on him, Scarlett?" Terrence asked, leaning in, "Don't pretend that you don't know how to please or attract a man. I think you and I both know that you do."
Scarlett glared at him. "Ace Hardwood isn't like the other men. I think you know that he's different. I can't be brazenly open with my advances and have him want that. He's not that kind."
Terrence smirked. "He's special, is he?"
Scarlett rolled her eyes. "A part of my job is to identify what the person is like. Haven't you heard? Don't play the game, play the player?"
The man's lips curved into a sinister smile. "I think you're playing the player, alright."
"I've given you the information that I have for now. If something else comes up, I'll let you know. Now, leave before someone finds this fishy," Scarlett said, through gritted teeth.
Terrence nodded and began to walk away. "I hope that the information you have given me is right, Scarlett." He walked away, but not before he made a chill run down Scarlett's spine.
She exhaled deeply.
"What was that?"
"Oh God!" Scarlett jumped, holding her heart and turned to see Ace, frowning at her, "You scared me."
"What was that?" he repeated, looking in the direction that Terrence had gone.
Scarlett swallowed because her mouth suddenly felt dry and exhaled again.
"Was he bothering you?" Ace asked, looking at Scarlett.
She began to laugh, nervously and her chest tightened at the thought of Ace being ticked off that Terrence had been bothering her.
"No," she shook her head, "He just told me that I looked familiar."
Ace sniffed, unhappily. "Stay away from him. He's friends with Brad." He turned and walked away in the direction of his conference hall as Scarlett slipped into the panel room.
Evening had fallen and there was a tinkling of conversation behind Scarlett as she stood in the garden, overlooking the lake, letting the breeze dance with her loose hair. The proceedings of the conference were finally over and all that was left was the launch dinner later that evening.
The thought of Ace presenting his own work made her feel slightly sick.
She had a feeling that after Terrence's demo tonight, Ace would put two and two together and kick her out. The thought of being cast out of his life made Scarlett feel a bit green around the gills.
Ace, surveying the crowd for his assistant, found her standing on the grass, the heels of her stilettos digging into the dirt. She seemed to be in pensive thought, but he couldn't see her face.
He stepped out on to the grass and walked up behind her slowly. "Penny for your thoughts, Ambrose?"
Scarlett turned to meet his eyes and gave him a small smile. "They're worth a lot more than that."
He gave a small laugh that she had become accustomed to over the past months of living and working together. "I'm sure they are," he said, leaning his elbows against the waist-high wall.
"How important is this launch to you?" Scarlett asked after a few silent minutes where the two of them just watched the water.
Ace sighed. "Very. It sort of decides things for the rest of the quarter."
Scarlett sighed.
"Don't worry, Ambrose. I've got this in the bag," Ace assured her, thinking the nervous look on her face had come from place of concern that he would be worried, "Let's go get ready for this thing, shall we? You're going to come with me?"
Scarlett smiled and turned to him. "I even brought my lucky red dress."
The launch was just beginning when Scarlett and Ace walked into the grand hall. People were milling around, dressed lavishly.
Scarlett was turning heads in the red, satin dress that she wore. Brad and his friends watched from one side of the room as the pair took their seats at the table with their friends.
Scarlett easily slipped into a conversation with Isabella Hammond and the night began.
Very soon, the inhabitants of the hall were sitting through various presentations and demos. Once the launch demo videos began to play, everyone stood and moved closer to the screen to see better.
Scarlett stood next to Ace, watching his face from time to time.
When the video for Terrence's company was announced, Scarlett bit down on the inside of her cheeks, increasing the frequency of looking over at Ace. She watched the video, realizing the places where Terrence had taken ideas from Ace.
Throughout the video, Ace didn't even bat an eye.
His stoic expression didn't change and he didn't in the least bothered by the familiarity of the content.
There was a round of applause at the end of it, which Ace joined in.
Scarlett leaned into him. "Wasn't that a bit like yours?" she asked, making him look at her, "I saw your board, remember?"
Ace smiled and shrugged. "Sometimes, people have slightly similar ideas, Ambrose."
"You're not upset?" she asked.
He shook his head. "I told you, Ambrose. I've got this in the bag."
He turned his attention back to the screen and Scarlett slowly followed suit. She wondered why he seemed so confident in his idea. They watched more videos silently, applauding at the end of each.
When the demo for Ace's company was announced, Scarlett held her breath. She put out her hand and squeezed his arm.
Ace kept his eyes on the screen. An introduction was played and faded out and as the pitch began, Scarlett started to realize that there was a difference to what she had seen in that file. A frown etched itself on to her face as the video progressed.
Slowly, she started to recognize the concept behind what was being spoken about. Words flashed across the screen, surprising her. When she saw the figures that were on the screen, her grip on Ace's arm tightened. The video ended and the crowd applauded.
Ace turned to face her and laughed, softly, seeing the look on her face.
"You –"
"I hope you don't mind, but I used your idea," he told her, softly.
Her eyes that were still glued to the screen widened and she turned them to look at Ace. "You – you liked my idea?"
"I did, Ambrose," Ace nodded, "I told you that. What you said about equaling out the funnel rather than broadening the top was really good. I was impressed. So, I hope you don't mind that I used it."
Scarlett couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. She gripped his arm and bounced, ever-so-slightly on her feet. "You really think it's going to help?"
Ace chuckled and nodded. "I really do."
She squeezed his bicep tightly. "Oh, that's so cool. I've never contributed to anything."
"Well, Ambrose, I think I just might have to give you a raise," he joked.
Scarlett gazed at him and slowly shook her head. "I don't need a raise," she told him, sincerely, "You don't know how grateful I am that you actually – that I actually," she sighed, happily, "Thank you."
Ace shook his head, "Thank you, Ambrose." He covered her hand with his and patted it, "If not for you, I'd have had a run-of-the-mill demo."
Scarlett's eyes glittered, happily. "I'm so glad you did well," she whisper-yelled to him, leaning in close.
For the rest of the evening, she floated on a high of being recognized, especially by someone as respected as Ace Hardwood; someone she had come to respect. No one in her life before had wanted to think that the pretty girl who spoke in a sultry voice and wore red lipstick all the time had anything worthwhile in her mind, but not Ace Hardwood.
Wanting to rest her feet before the flight back to the city, she left the hall early, while Ace was still surrounded by other businesspeople.
She stood in the deserted lift-lobby, waiting for the elevator, when Terrence Burke cornered her.
"What the hell was that?" he demanded, springing a surprise on her.
Scarlett's head snapped in his direction in time to see him lunge at her and grab her by the arm. She stood her ground and frowned at him.
"I make a demo wanting to slap Ace Hardwood in the face and he shows me up?" Terrence spat, "What is the meaning of this?"
"He changed it in the last minute," she said, calmly, "I didn't know that he would. The last time I saw his report for this, it said everything exactly the way that I told you."
"You better hope to God that for your sake, that's true," he said, a murderous glint in his eyes.
"It is," Scarlett insisted, setting her jaw. In all fairness, it was true. She had had no idea that Ace would actually take up her suggestion. "You know that Ace doesn't let anyone in on his business plans."
"Next time, I want good information. If I don't have some good information for the product launch banquet, I can't be responsible for what becomes of you," Terrence said, staring her down, "Don't let me down, Scarlett."
He shoved the arm he was holding, turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Scarlett motionless in the lift lobby.
Do you think Terrence will hurt Scarlett?
This is their last day in Devon Falls. Will things be different when they are back in their city?
Anyway, my loves. I have been writing the whole day today and I am also working on the next book, which I will reveal soon enough.
As always, don't forget to let me know what you think.
Much love!