Ace nodded solemnly without saying anything. An uncomfortable moment of silence filled the room like a void that refused to disappear. What made me the most uncomfortable was the fact that Elizabeth had not said anything at all since taking her seat.
“Umm…have you two had dinner? Should I order something nice or maybe make some coffee or tea?” I offered as I tried to play the good host.
The truth was, I wanted to get away for a while to give Elizabeth some personal space and myself some time to think things over. The tension in the air was too high for me to take.
“Some coffee might be good. I’m not hungry and Elizabeth’s clearly not in the mood to eat,” Ace replied for both Elizabeth and himself.
…
When I returned with coffee for the three of us, Elizabeth was still staring absentmindedly into space. Ace was seated at the exact same spot, and it seemed like the two of them had not spoken to each other since I got up and left to prepare us all some coffee. Unlike me, Ace didn’t seem bothered by the silence.
I wanted to talk to Ace alone and a huge part of me wondered if there was something that I could do to help Elizabeth out with her situation, although, I doubted that there was anything that I could really do to be helpful.
“Some coffee?” I offered while trying to sound cheerful.
To my surprise, Elizabeth turned and offered me a smile. Instead of letting me put the coffee mug onto the table in front of her, she took it from my hand before bringing it to her lips.
“Thank you…this is nice…” she thanked me softly before her lips returned to the rim of the mug.
Many questions ran through my mind that I dared not ask right away as I sat down on the sofa again. Just like Elizabeth was doing, I started to sip on my coffee as I let my mind consider my next move. I wondered what Elizabeth was going to do and what she would decide. Then I started to wonder if Kyle even knew what was going on.
“He wasn’t always like this…my father…” Elizabeth murmured so softly that I didn’t quite hear her at first.
After being silent for so long, I was a little astonished that she had decided to break the silence. Despite the daunting situation that she was in, Elizabeth sounded quite calm; however, there was a hint of sadness in her voice.
“This isn’t how things are supposed to be. Honestly, when I spoke to him before about the merger, he was very hesitant about it. But when I told him that Ace would allow me to sit as the new CEO, my father thought that it was a very promising opportunity for me and a great chance for me to propel my career forward. Because he had this merger in mind before, it didn’t take him long to understand the synergies that could come about. In the end, he really agreed to it…” she explained her version of the story.
Ace didn’t seem surprised as he nodded along, and it was clear to me that he had heard this part of the story from her before. I didn’t say anything as I waited for her to continue with her side of the story.
“He was supportive, but he wasn’t sure if Ace’s father would agree to the deal after it had pretty much broken down once before when we cancelled our engagement. That did put quite a lot of strain on the relationship of the two companies and it wasn’t very friendly in the first place. That was when I reassured him that I’ve been in contact with Ace and that he could bring his father around,” she continued before taking a pause as if to gather her thoughts.
I knew how Ace managed to get the Chairman to agree to his demands. In the end, he kept his end of the bargain with Elizabeth, and everything should have progressed as planned.
“When Ace told me about the deal that he made with his father, I thought that it was a crazy idea. Actually, I thought that it was impossible because growing his company to that size would mean eating so much of our market share. Of course, as the CEO of Chase Creatives, I can never let that happen. I really questioned how Ace would make it possible and that was when he told me about the possibility of bringing back the merger,” she said before she flashed Ace a smile that I thought looked quite sad.
“Sometimes I feel like it’s my fault for telling you too much…” Ace said softly.
“It’s definitely not your fault. Just blame it on me because I was the one who asked,” Elizabeth said before heaving a heavy sigh.
“What happened next?” I asked when I couldn’t wait any longer to find out more.
“Do you remember when I told you that I’m also in this for my own sake and not for Ace’s sake?” she asked as she directed her gaze at me.
“Yes. I guess it does make sense for you because you’ll end up as the new CEO,” I replied while recalling her words.
“Half correct. You are only half correct. It is true that I’ll get to be the new CEO after the merger is successful but that’s only half of it. Looking back on it, I think what I did was very stupid and childish, but it was the only way that I could think of at the time,” she said before she paused with a faraway look in her eyes.
I wondered what she was seeing or recalling from her memories during those few seconds when she was silent. My eyes glanced over at Ace, and he showed me a little smile that told me to be patient.
“My father and I had an argument one day. I’d been arguing with him about my relationship with Kyle for ages now so it really was nothing new or so I thought…” she said before she pursed her lips into a thin line.
--To be continued…
