54

Gretchen gave her a knowing look. “You kids haven’t killed each other over the weekend, huh?”
Scarlett giggled and began walking in the direction of her office. “Not yet.”
Gretchen made a knowing face and rolled her eyes.
It was half past ten when the intercom buzzed and Ace’s voice told Scarlett, “Can you come in here now?”
Scarlett picked up a notebook and a pen and wandered into Ace’s room. He was standing at his desk, reading over one of the open files. His eyes fell on to the notepad she held.
“The old-fashioned way?” he asked.
Scarlett nodded. “I like the smell of paper.”
Ace gestured to the seating area. “Sit, he’s in the elevator.” He walked over to his door and opened it. A smile came over his face. “Aiden, nice to see you, man.”
Ace shook hands with the man who walked in. Scarlett looked at him. He was tall and had hazel eyes; she had seen him in the papers many a time.
Aiden Carlisle smiled back at Ace, who ushered him over to the seating area. “Aiden, this is my PA, Scarlett Ambrose, I’ve asked her to take notes for us. I hope you don’t mind. Scarlett, this is Aiden Carlisle.”
Aiden shook Scarlett’s hand with a smile. “Gretchen still around?” he asked, after they had all taken a seat.
“She’s occupied right now, which is why I asked Scarlett to come in,” he sighed, “So, how have you been? How’s the baby?”
A glorious smile broke out over Aiden’s face. “Eliana? She’s absolutely the best thing I’ve seen.”
“She doesn’t look like you, I hope,” Ace joked.
Aiden shook his head. “She’s all Rosalie. Except the eyes; she has my eyes. In every other way, she’s Rosalie. Same light brown hair, same attitude.”
The men chuckled. “Is she keeping you on your toes?”
Aiden looked dazed. “I feel like I haven’t slept in weeks. God, I wish you knew.”
Ace stole a glance at Scarlett, with a smirk. “Oh, I can imagine.”
“What about you, man?” Aiden asked, “No special person to mention?”
Ace shook his head. “You know me, Aiden. I’m perfectly happy how I am.”
Aiden eyed him. “You may have everything you want, Ace, but do you have everything you need? Look, I’m not saying it comes in the form of a woman, but there’s more to life than the job.”
“Hasn’t fatherhood made you wise?” Ace said, jovially.
Aiden shook his head. “It’s not fatherhood, man. Maybe a little, but it’s mostly Rosalie. Being with her, the things that brought us together, I learned a lot. Getting to be with Rosalie really opened my eyes. When it came to my company, the trade, I would fight for everything, Ace. The smallest thing, I would fight for and make sure I got it. When it came to my father, and what he wanted, I didn’t really fight. It almost cost me the woman who means the world to me. If I hadn’t fought my Dad, I wouldn’t be here telling you about a daughter that I adore and a wife that I love. I don’t know who I’d be without Rosalie. Don’t make stupid mistakes like me when it comes to life, Ace. Don’t just fight for business, Ace. Fight for something with meaning. It lasts longer than business.”
Ace was quiet as he took in everything Aiden had said. Finally, realizing that Aiden wanted a change of subject, he puffed out a laugh. “The great Aiden Carlisle almost made a mistake, huh?”
Aiden cracked a smile. “And if you tell anyone that, I’ll buy you out. You know I can.”
They laughed to each other and got down to business. After an hour of Scarlett taking notes, Aiden got up to leave.
“Seriously, though. The business isn’t life, Ace, you know that, right?”
Ace nodded, slowly as they walked to the door. “Give my regards to Rosalie and to the little girl.”
“I will. Come over for dinner some time,” he said, before leaving.
Ace stood at the doorway to his office with Scarlett. “I need to send a gift for that baby.”
Scarlett thought for a moment. “Well, her name is Eliana. That means sunshine, so maybe one of those crib hanging toys with the sun or something?”
Ace gave a surprised smile. “Well, there might be some use for you after all, sugar.”
“No!” Scarlett exclaimed.
Ace raised his eyebrows high and looked back at her, questioningly. “What?” he asked, softly.
Scarlett shook her head, vigorously. “Don’t call me that
“Ambrose, I ”
“Just, it’s fine. Don’t call me that.”
Ace nodded, slowly and Scarlett began to walk away.
“Type those notes up and email it to me, alright?”
Scarlett waved her notepad in the air. “You got it, boss.”
Ace, utterly confused, watched her walk in the direction opposite to the direction of her office. Scarlett walked all the way into the break room, which she hadn’t really been in since she started working for Ace.
The conversation hushed as she entered, but Scarlett, being someone who commands attention when she entered a room, was used to this by now. She smiled, her head held high and walked over to the counter which had an array of boxes, filled with various snacks.
“You’re Mr. Hardwood’s new PA, aren’t you?” a voice asked from behind Scarlett.
She turned and smiled at the boy. “Yeah. Hi, I’m Scarlett.”
Everyone murmured their ‘hello’ to Scarlett and introduced themselves.
“So, what’s it like working for him?” one of them asked, “Isn’t it just so scary? That man is intimidating as hell.”
“Oh, God, I know,” another girl added, “He unexpectedly walked into one of the meetings we were having and he sat down right next to me. I was terrified that I would say or do the wrong thing and I wasn’t even the one who was doing the presentation.”
“I was in the elevator with him recently and we were alone. I greeted him; you know? And he was polite and said ‘good afternoon’ back, but I think I basically had to drag myself out of there because my legs had turned into jelly.” The boy who spoke gave a nervous chuckle.
The first girl looked at Scarlett. “He’s a great boss, I think. He’s smart and we don’t really have working conditions to complain about, but God, the man is frightening.”
The boy who first spoke to Scarlett spoke again. “It’s the way he carries himself and talks, isn’t it? Every word that comes out of that man’s mouth is just so smart. I sat in a pitch meeting and you should have heard the questions he asked. They were just so intelligent.”
“More than that, it’s the way he looks at you, isn’t it?”
Everyone agreed immensely with the girl who spoke.
Scarlett watched them discuss their scary boss and wondered about the Ace Hardwood she knew and the one they were describing.
“I think the only one who isn’t at all affected by him is Gretchen, I think,” the girl said, “Anyway, Scarlett, don’t you think he’s intimidating?”
Scarlett decided that it would be better to agree with them than to have them be baffled by Ace’s behaviour, so she nodded, thinking of the time that he had caught her in his study. “He’s scary, alright. Especially when he’s mad.”
A visible shiver went through the office.
“I really wouldn’t want to be in a meeting with him when he’s mad,” the first guy laughed.
“Well, if he’s mad before he leaves for a meeting, I’ll try to give you guys a heads up,” Scarlett volunteered.
The girl standing closest to Scarlett squeezed her arm. “God, you’re the coolest. I mean, Gretchen is so sweet, but she isn’t really scared of Ace. You’re a godsend, Scarlett.”
Scarlett laughed and picked up a protein bar. “Well, it was nice meeting you all. I’ll see you guys around.”
She left the break room, more confused about Ace than she had ever been before.
Ace Hardwood may have been an impatient man, but he was always composed.
His stoic facade hardly ever wavered. All his employees, counterparts, colleagues, rivals alike knew about Ace’s tolerance. Newspapers and tabloids may have always wondered about his love life, but never had there ever been a scandal where Ace Hardwood lost his cool. Never had he been involved in a physical altercation; never had he raised his voice to anyone; never had he caused a scene.
It was a fact that was almost universally acknowledged.
Which is probably what had made his rage on that particular day so surprising.
That morning he had arrived at office with his usual composure intact. He had greeted everyone in the elevator politely, as he usually did; he had complimented Gretchen on her choice of colourful scarf; he had retorted to Scarlett’s snarky comment about how he never tells Michael that his scarf is pretty and he hadn’t even minded when Scarlett mentioned that he had forgotten his tie pin.
At nine-thirty when he left for a meeting, everything was as usual.
When he returned at one in the afternoon, however, his face was clouded over, his eyes were murderous, his jaw clenched and unclenched and there was a clear sign of anger on his handsome face. He slammed the file he was holding into the trashcan by Gretchen’s desk and practically kicked in the door to his office.
Scarlett emerged from her office, hearing everything through her open door. She glanced at Gretchen, who was watching the trail of fire Ace had left in his wake. Gretchen looked back at her, as she walked down the short hallway.
Scarlett nodded her head with a frown, silently asking Gretchen what was wrong.
Gretchen gave her a small shrug and shook her head, indicating that she did not know.
Scarlett looked at Ace through the open doors. He stood at end of the room, leaning against the glass pane with one hand gripped into a fist, grinding his jaw. Without really thinking of what she was doing, she walked in, slowly, barely making a sound.
She went all the way up to Ace, standing a few feet away, listening to his deep, frustrated breaths.
They both stood in silence, watching the world below them.
When Scarlett broke the silence, she spoke quietly. “Tell me what happened.”
Ace’s hand that hung at his side was clenched into a fist, white at the knuckles. The vein in his neck looked close to bursting. His jaw was clenched and he said nothing.
Scarlett took one step closer to him. “I often find that saying what’s bothering me out loud helps me gain a lot of clarity on it.”
Slowly, Ace straightened a little. “I worked on that project,” his voice was low, like a rumbling, “I flew out to make sure that I have it intact to present it today. I could have made a change, but that bastard Terrence Burke beat me to it.” He slammed his hand against the window pane. “And he got it.”
Scarlett’s heart was already racing at the mention of Terrence. “The meeting you flew out for on Sunday?”
Ace shook his head in disbelief. “None of them even knew where I’d be. Even if they did, they wouldn’t have even known who I met. I lost a project I could have molded.”
Scarlett bit her lip. “Alright.”
She was quiet for a while and then, she sighed, “Do you still have your company?”
Ace looked at her. “What?”
“Do you still have control of your company?”
Ace straightened fully and crossed his arms over his chest. “Of course.”
“Do you still own everything you did before you left for that meeting?”
“Yes.”
“Do you still have projects you’re passionate about that are happening right here in this very building?”
Ace sighed. “Yes.”
“Was the idea that you had for this project the only good idea you’ll ever have?”
He rolled his shoulders. “No.”
“Are you going to let the loss of one small project shut you down?”
Ace exhaled, deeply and shook his head. “No.”
“Then, is this even a loss? This is just a case of how another man stole your idea. It’s only his gain if you let it be. You can sit here and bang your fist against your window pane until it shatters. Or you can see this as an opportunity to come up with a project that’s even better,” Scarlett said, insistently.
Ace’s green eyes flickered over to Scarlett as he considered this.
“Everything happens for a reason.”
Ace was silent for a while.
“Leave me alone for a while, Ambrose.” He waved his hand, dismissing her.
Scarlett walked out of the room, slowly and closed the door behind her. She went to her desk and sat down, trying to work. For what seemed like forever, she stared at the blank screen of her laptop. The icky feeling of Terrence Burke lingered in her mind.
She had actually been of use; she had gotten him some information that was useful to him. She was that much closer to closing this chapter of her life.
Unease filled her being.
She reached into her bag and fished around until she found what she wanted. Gripping it tightly, she stood and walked out of her room. She walked straight down the hallway, into the elevator and swiped her card, pressing the button for the top floor.
Once there, she walked up the flight of stairs and out on to the room.
The sun beat down on her harshly, as she walked across the roof to the edge, where she could find some shade. She leaned against the waist-high wall and pulled a cigarette out of the pack that she was holding and lit it with the lighter in her hand.
Taking a puff, she exhaled long and hard as she crumpled against the wall. There was a churning in the depths of her chest that made her want to reach inside and pull it out. She wasn’t familiar with the feeling, so she smoked. Fiddling with the cigarette in her fingers, she squeezed her eyes shut and lifted it to her lips.
“Ambrose, what are you doing?”
Scarlett opened her eyes and exhaled through her mouth, blowing out an artful cloud of smoke. “Hula-hooping.”
“That’s a filthy, disgusting habit.” Ace flicked his hand towards the cigarette.
“Believe me, buddy boy, you’re not the first one to tell me that,” Scarlett sighed, tiredly.
Ace held out his hand. “Hand it over. This stops now.”
“What do you care if I smoke?” Scarlett asked, bitterly.
“I pay your medical bills,” he flicked his hand.
Scarlett stared at him, but did nothing. Ace stepped forward and plucked the cigarette out of her hand and put it out against the concrete. “Now, hand me the pack.”
Scarlett looked at his open palm. She sniffed and slapped the pack on to it. Ace eyed her as he put it in his pocket. “If I catch you smoking again, you’re going for Nicotine Anonymous.”
Scarlett smirked. “If you catch me.”
“Believe me, I’ll smell that disgusting smell,” Ace told her.
“How did you know I was up here?” Scarlett asked, turning and looking out over the city.
The wind dances with her hair as Ace sighed, watching it.
He stepped forward and leaned against the wall, looking down towards the city himself. “Whenever you swipe your card in the elevator, I know where you go. There’s a log.”
Scarlett glanced at him sideways. “Stalker. Why did you come looking for me?”
Ace sighed. “I thought about what you said. That this is an opportunity to do something even better, and that this isn’t my last good idea. I’m not going to let this shut me down.”
Scarlett turned to look at him. Ace turned as well, looking straight at Scarlett.
“I guess I’m trying to say thank you; for giving me some clarity about what happened.” He gave her a small smile.
Scarlett gave a mock gasp and smiled back with a laugh. “Does that mean I get your office now?”
Ace’s small smile widened and turned into a laugh. “Not until you buy me out, Ambrose.”
She considered this. “So, I was thinking, maybe you could give me a raise?”
Ace raised his eyebrows in mock interest. “Oh? How much?”
“How much is your company worth?”
He laughed again, smile lines appearing near his eyes. Scarlett hadn’t seen him this way before. She watched him; watched his lips, the curve of them in his smile, the way his teeth made his smile even better.
“Come on, Ambrose. Let’s you and I get back to work.”
Ace nodded his head towards the door to the roof and urged Scarlett to precede him. She gazed at him before obliging and returning to her desk.
She received a text from Terrence which she deleted immediately after reading it:
Brilliant information, Scarlett. You should have seen the look on Hardwood’s face when I beat him to the punch. You’re proving your worth.
Scarlett pushed through the rest of the work day, trying her best to keep in mind the reason that she was there in Ace’s office: not to work for Ace, but for Terrence.
She reminded herself of everything Grace taught her and everything she knew from her experience: businessmen weren’t nice people.
She was more than happy to leave work that day, mentally exhausted from the things that had happened. Her mind was reeling with various thoughts, which even Ace noticed during dinner.
“You’re being awfully quiet,” he commented.
Scarlett looked over at him and immediately put a smile on to her face. “Just thinking about how you obviously care so much about me to make me stop smoking.”
Ace rolled his eyes. “I like you better when you’re quiet.”
Scarlett giggled. “I think we both know that’s not true.”
They stood in the kitchen, cleaning up after dinner.
“You haven’t had any lady friends over,” Scarlett commented, wiping a knife with the kitchen towel. Unknowingly, she wiped the blunt side of it, swiping her finger against the sharp side, cutting it open.
“Ah, crap,” she sighed, inspecting the cut.
Ace looked over at her and stopped dead. “What did you do?”
Scarlett shrugged, putting the knife down. “It was an accident. Don’t worry about it.”
Blood pooled on the cut and Ace’s demeanour changed. “Wash it off, Ambrose.”
“I will.”
“Now!”
Scarlett stared at Ace. He looked disheveled; a clear sign of distress had overtaken his face. He looked at her finger with a panicked frown on his face, like he wanted to look away, but at the same time, he couldn’t. She walked over to the sink and rinsed off the blood.
Holding up her washed finger, she looked at Ace. “There. Are you happy, Princess?”
“Just put a band-aid on it or something. There’s a first aid kit in that cupboard,” Ace shook his head.
“Are you scared of blood?” Scarlett asked.
“Ambrose, just put on a band-aid, alright?”
“Why are you scared of blood?” she pressed.
Ace turned to her; his eyes darkened. “I don’t ask you why you cower during thunderstorms; why you jump when someone calls you sugar. I don’t have to explain myself to you.”
He turned on his heel and walked out of the kitchen.
Scarlett stared, dumbfounded. For a while, she couldn’t move. Her eyes were transfixed on the door, her thoughts far away.
Slowly, she went over to the cupboard, cleaned her wound and put on a band-aid. After everything in the kitchen had been put away, she slowly wandered into the living room, looking for Ace, determined to do one thing.
Ace sat in the living room, holding a glass with fingerbreadth of an amber liquid in his hand. His jaw was set, as he glowered at the electric fireplace, a serious expression on his face. He heard Scarlett enter, but he didn’t look at her.
She slowly walked over to the mantle and leaned against it, her arms crossed, her eyes trained on the floor. Her voice was low and serious when she spoke. “My parents had been young and in love and eloped before they had me in their early twenties. They didn’t have anyone in the world, but they didn’t need anyone except each other.”
Ace slowly raised his eyes to look at Scarlett, whose expression was painful, coupled with a frown on her face.
“I was six years old. We were in the car. I don’t remember where we were going. They had just told me that I was going to have a baby brother or sister in a few months. I was happy. They weren’t, though. They were fighting.”
Scarlett’s fingers gripped her arms. “My Mom had just lost her job and they were worried about the added financial strain of another baby. That car ride,” Scarlett inhaled shakily, her eyes squeezed shut, “It was pouring rain. There was so much of thunder. I didn’t know which was worse, the thunder or my parents shouting at each other.”
“There was a flash of light. There was thunder. I heard my Mom scream for me. I heard my Dad scream for both of us. Ever since that night, every time there’s a thunderstorm, I relive that night, the night my parents died, over and over again. I never got over it. It became pretty much the only thing I remember about them. I hear my Mom’s voice screaming at me. I hear a sound from my Dad’s mouth that I had never heard before. It’s a nightmare that I can’t escape.”
Slowly, she raised her eyes to look at Ace, who was staring at her, an unfathomable expression on his face. “That’s why I’m so terrible with thunderstorms. I moved here because there’s barely any.”
She took a few steps towards him. “Why are you scared of blood?”
Ace raised his glass to his lips and took a sip. His eyes were on the ground. “I don’t owe you an explanation, Ambrose.”
His words knocked the wind out of Scarlett. She stared at his unreadable expression. He didn’t move, he barely blinked. She took a step back, with the sheer force of his words. “Goodnight.”
She turned on her heel and left the room, almost feeling tears prick her eyes. Clearing her throat to clear the lump that had formed, she went upstairs, feeling an anger that he had completely disregarded her. She slammed her door shut behind her and stood there, fuming, for a while.
Scarlett exhaled deeply, trying to calm herself.
All businessmen were the same; they didn’t care about anyone, but themselves.
She looked over at her desk and saw Ace’s pen drive sitting atop it. Picking it up, she walked back out, not wanting him to bother her if he needed it during the course of the night.
Ace hadn’t moved from his seat; he hadn’t even changed his position. Scarlett noticed, when she reentered the living room, that he had barely even sipped his drink.
His eyes raised and followed the girl from the entrance of the living room, all the way up to him.
She held up his pen drive.
He put his hand out.
She placed it in his hand, ready to turn around and walk away, but two of Ace’s long fingers entwined hers, making her stop and look down at their fingers entwined. His fingers were longer than her; his hand was bigger. She looked at him. Once she had, he withdrew his hand and sighed.
“My father wasn’t the nicest man,” Ace’s voice was monotonous and low.
Scarlett turned to him.
“In his eyes, I could never do anything right. I could never please him. I was his biggest disappointment.”