434 Perceptive Feeling
“I see,” Ace said without adding any comments.
“Umm…during dinner we talked, and he told me what the committee said and also about how he’ll also be receiving an official warning about what happened. I am very worried about him, and I honestly think that it is so unfair that we both have to go through all this trouble when the rumors about us aren’t even true in the first place,” I said before coming to another pause.
Ace stared at me intently as he waited for me to continue with my story. A huge lump formed in my throat as I quickly approached the climax of the story and what I truly needed to confess to Ace. With each passing word and second, I was getting closer to telling Ace what I really needed to tell him and that made me feel maddeningly nervous. To my relief, Ace did not rush me as he waited in silene for me to continue.
“I guess I started complaining a little too much about that. It was quite shocking to me at first how Jeremy seemed fine with everything and the punishment that the committee had decided on. I felt mad in his place and then he told me something even more shocking…” I said while speaking quite fast before I had to come to another pause.
The way Ace was staring at me with his impressive hazel eyes told me that I had his undivided attention and that made me feel a little more nervous than before. I bit down on my lower lip hard while telling myself silently in my head that I could do it and that I needed to say it.
“Jeremy told me that he’s not mad because the rumors about us aren’t entirely false. I didn’t get it at first but when I asked him about it, he…told me that he likes me…” I unveiled everything while ending in not much more than a murmur.
I wasn’t quite sure what kind of reaction I was expecting to see from Ace but the very calm and then slightly thoughtful look that he had on his face wasn’t quite what I had in mind. I had thought that he would be more surprised even if not as shocked as I was when I first heard Jeremy’s confession.
“So, he really does like you…” Ace said with a slight satisfaction in his voice.
Ace nodded his head slightly a couple of times as if all the dots had finally connected in his mind. His reaction confused me a little at first before it surprised me. It seemed like Ace already had a hunch that Jeremy might have liked me.
“You knew?” I asked without hiding my surprise.
“Not really, but let’s just say that I had a feeling,” he said before smiling my way.
“How did you know? I mean, what made you think so?” I asked curiously.
I felt the weight of his arm around my shoulder before he pulled me closer to him. I did not hesitate to lean my weight against him as I placed my head against his broad chest. The warmth of his embrace helped to calm me down, but it did not ease my curiosity.
“From seeing how he acts around you, I guess. Also, Richard tells me things…from time to time…” he said before letting out a small chuckle.
“Richard tells you things? You mean like, he’s been reporting stuff about me to you?” I asked in pure astonishment after lifting my head off of Ace’s chest so that I could meet his eyes.
“No, he doesn’t really report to me. He’s also not supposed to know that we’re dating so why would he report about what you’re up to to me? He does voice his worries to me when I have some chats with him. He’s been on my team for a while so it’s not like we’re strangers. Plus, he’s a very observant person,” Ace said before grinning at me.
I had no idea that Richard was acting like a spy and reporting my every move to Ace. Even if he told me that Richard doesn’t report to him, I was sure that Richard would tell Ace anything about me if he asked. I wondered how much Ace learnt about my everyday life while we were apart from Richard.
“So, you’re not surprised at all. Here, I was struggling so hard to tell you the truth about everything,” I said before letting out a sigh of disappointment.
“I appreciate your effort and hard work, Rina…” Ace said before showing me a teasing smile. ????????????????????????????????.????????????
“I can’t believe Richard has been spying on me. I wonder just how much he told you and I also bet that he thought that Jeremy and I were dating as well or something along those lines,” I muttered darkly as my eyes narrowed.
At that time, I was convinced that I had a few things to say to Richard the next time that I saw him. The only silver lining in all of this was the fact that having him misunderstand the relationship between Jeremy and me was way better than having him catch on that I was dating Ace.
“Don’t be so harsh on him. Let’s just say that he’s very worried about you as his colleague. I did tell you that he’s a nice person, didn’t I?” Ace said with a very amused look on his face.
Just like always, Ace had managed to find a way to get some fun out of my sticky situation. Although I didn’t want to admit it, I began to see that Ace might be right about Richard. That did not make me like the fact that he had been discussing me with Ace, though.
“I guess that’s better than him thinking that we’re dating…” I muttered as I folded my arms defensively over my chest.
“Rina…” Ace called my name, and his tone was suddenly tender.
When I looked up at his face, his face was so close to mine that our noses were almost touching, and his face was coming even closer.
