Ace’s silence as he kept on staring into my eyes made me feel uncomfortable.
“I’m sorry that you have to go through with this, but it is for our future together. So please, let’s both hang in there a little longer…” I said pleadingly before I would lose whatever courage I had and just call it quits.
Ace continued staring at me and then his hand began slowly stroking my back. Without saying anything, his hand slowly moved upward along the curve of my waist and then up my arm. His lips curved into a little smile exactly at the same time as when his large hand landed on the top of my head.
“You know, sometimes I wish that you would act a little more jealous and demanding…” Ace said before he laughed softly.
I wasn’t sure if I understood what Ace was thinking. His words were very unexpected, and they caught me off guard and confused me. However, I was relieved at the same time that Ace no longer seemed angry or irritated. The look in his hazel eyes had softened as he smiled at me adoringly while his large and warm hand caressed the top of my head. The warm sensation that welled up in my chest and made me smile must have been love or something very close to it.
“You want me to be jealous and unreasonable?” I asked teasingly.
“Acting a little jealous could be kind of cute but not too much and none of that unreasonable business,” Ace replied before he grinned at me.
“Wow. Someone surely is picky…” I replied playfully and I quickly found that I couldn’t stop smiling.
“Don’t blame me because you were the one who asked,” Ace replied like it really wasn’t his problem or fault.
“Umm…will you do it?” I asked before biting down on the inside of my lower lip while I waited in anticipation for his response.
“Only if you’re going to be fine with it and only because you’re asking me to…” Ace replied with a serious look in his eyes.
His gaze held mine as if he wanted to test and see if I would truly be fine with going ahead with Elizabeth’s plan. The truth was, I wasn’t at all sure how fine or affected I would be. However, I knew that if I looked away from him now, we would be back at square one because just like he had just told me, Ace wouldn’t go ahead with the plan. Because I was simply scared that my voice would waver if I answered him, I decided to nod my head once firmly to affirm the choice that I had made.
The sound of applause that echoed in the room all around me snapped me out of my thoughts. I was once again back in the auditorium filled with reporters and Ace was doing a fabulous job of playing Elizabeth’s boyfriend. He led Elizabeth by the hand and helped support her up the few steps up onto the stage. I flinched slightly when he placed his arm around her waist to support her.
Although I knew that it was all just an act, I couldn’t quite calm the rapid beating of my heart or the way that the palms of my hands had started to sweat. The two of them were all smiles when they sat down next to each other on the seats that had been prepared for them on stage. The many microphones from the press agencies were in front of them and the whole room seemed eager to finally hear what they had to say.
“Thank you everyone for your time and coming all this way for us…” Elizabeth said before she paused to smile at the crowd and then at Ace.
“Thank you for coming. Since we know quite well just how busy everyone is, we’ll try to keep this short and very direct. Of course, we’re fine with answering any questions you may have so please save your questions for the end,” Ace spoke quite formally.
“As everyone is undoubtedly aware, there have been some rumors circulating in the media for a few days now about us and our relationship. After discussing things with Ace and our two companies, we have reached the decision to set up this conference to address the rumors,” Elizabeth explained patiently.
I felt my mouth go dry and it became difficult for me to swallow as I stood in the same place and watched the announcement unfolding. Even though I knew what the two of them would announce, I still felt anxious as I waited for the announcement to be made. The tension in the room was getting to me and so was the way that the two of them paused to stare lovingly at each other.
It’s all just an act…
I repeated that phrase over and over in my head to separate the truth from the reality that I was seeing right before my eyes. Seeing isn’t always believing and what you see right in front of you may not be true.
It was all supposed to be just an act, but I couldn’t help thinking just how real everything looked and felt. Without me knowing it, maybe the two of them had taken acting classes because they truly looked like the ideal perfect couple. Even if it wasn’t real, I could understand why the public would be keen on supporting their relationship given how great they looked together.
After staring at each other for a moment, it seemed like an agreement had been reached between them and it was Elizabeth who leaned forward to approach the microphone. I squeezed my hand together as I waited for her to finally make the announcement.
“We would like to apologize for the confusion that we’ve caused, and we would like to use this opportunity to confirm that the rumors about us dating is in fact true…” Elizabeth announced before smiling confidently at the audience.
Her confirmation clearly surprised everyone in the room. Silence was immediately disturbed by various murmurs from the audience. The well-organized atmosphere was gone, and everyone had started chatting with each other and many questions were raised.
--To be continued…
