338 Where I Belong
My hand flew to cover my mouth as I jumped up from the sofa in my extreme shock. My phone continued vibrating as I gripped it tightly in my hands. For a moment, I was too stunned to know what to do. I cleared my throat as my eyes kept on staring at my phone screen in disbelief.
It felt like the rain clouds in the sky had finally parted after the havoc of a rainstorm and suddenly there was soft warm orange ray of lights shining down on me like a spotlight of blessing from above.
Ace was calling me!
“Ace! Where are you?!” I shouted into the phone so loudly that I was shocked at my more-than-little outburst.
“Rina, where are you right now?” Ace asked with clear urgency in his voice.
“I-I’m at your place. I’ve been waiting for you. I tried calling you so many times, but I couldn’t reach you…” I replied as my voice shook with emotion.
“Calm down. Just wait there for a bit. I’ll pick you up in less than an hour,” he told me and this time his tone was back to its normal calm and reassuring mode.
It must have been obvious to Ace that I had been crying. I nodded my head as I felt another tear rolling down my cheek. Relief flooded my chest and brought with it some warmth to thaw out the cold void that had been there since the moment that I realized that Ace had disappeared.
“Why did you just disappear? I tried looking for you. I was so worried…” I managed to croak out before I went right back to sobbing again.
.....
Although I knew that I shouldn’t be crying and having an emotional breakdown like this, it was impossible to control. The sound of my crying must have been loud and clear to Ace who was on the other end of the line. I hated this weak and pathetic version of myself and wondered if Ace would get tired of me because of it.
“Why are you even crying, Rina? I’ll pick you up soon and I’ll explain everything. I promise,” he said.
“Ace…” I whispered his name and that was all that I could say.
“Stop panicking and stop crying, Rina. Wash your face and just chill while you wait for me. I’m a little far away but the traffic shouldn’t be bad at this time. I’ll be there in less than an hour,” he told me, and I could tell that he was trying his best to comfort me.
“Ok…I’ll wait for you…” I replied before I sniffed and held back my sob.
“Good girl. Just hang in there until then,” he said.
“Ok…” I murmured.
There were so many things that I wanted to say to him, but Ace had already hung up. It seemed that whatever I wanted to say to him had to wait until I met him face-to-face.
…
That day I found out that one hour could feel as long as a year or even longer. I would be lying if I said that I managed to collect the pieces of myself together at once after receiving that call from Ace. The truth was, I spent more than ten minutes sitting there on the sofa as I tried my hardest to piece my mind and my emotions back together. It was difficult to understand what I was feeling when I was feeling so many different emotions all at once.
On one hand, I was so relieved and happy that Ace finally contacted me. Most of all, it seemed like my dark fantasy of him leaving me behind and going out to some faraway land didn’t materialize into reality, thankfully so. On the other hand, I was still mad at him for letting me worry so much for him and also about us.
“This is such a mess…” I said to myself as I wiped my tears away from my eyes.
I sniffed one final time and realized that I had calmed down somewhat although this whole episode was far from over. Ace, being as mysterious as he was, didn’t tell me where he was going to take me or why he had suddenly disappeared like that. Once again, I had to hang in there and wait in order to find out anything at all.
It was really close to an hour by the time that the elevator doors opened, and Ace entered his suite. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to embrace him or hit him. I also wasn’t sure whether I wanted to yell at him or simply cry in his arms so that he could comfort me all over again. The conflicts that raged inside of me seemed endless and I didn’t know why I had to decide what I wanted to do with him.
“Ace…” I whispered his name once I laid eyes on him.
Ace was still dressed in the same outfit that he wore to attend the award ceremony. Although his hair was slightly tousled, I thought that it made him look sexier and even more charming than before. I didn’t have to debate much with myself because my instincts immediately took over and I was racing towards Ace. I flew into his opened arms and hugged him tightly to me. The scene must have looked like a very cliché along-awaited heartwarming reunion between two lovers that have been apart for years.
The truth was, we had only spent a few hours apart but that didn’t matter to me. I just wanted to hold him tightly in my arms and feel his warm embrace around me to reassure myself that he was really still here with me. Ace’s large hand stroked my back comfortingly as he held me tightly in his arms. My body trembled a little at first but soon I felt calm and truly at home with his strong arms wrapped around my body.
“What happened? You must have cried so much. Your eyes are all puffy and red…” Ace commented sternly as his eyes stared at my face.
–To be continued…
