Touching the Heart of Ace

??Again!??

Jason screamed near my ear.

??That is enough, dear. Go to sleep, you two.?? She kissed my cheek, rubbing my head.

??Aww... One more time.??

I heard my mom giggling. ??We lived happily ever after. The end.??

??It is cheating.?? Jason grumbled.

Mom covered us in a blanket. ??I only wish you came into our life earlier. I lost so many years of you. Papa Bear would have loved you so much.??

?? You sure? I was a brat.??

?? You are still a brat, Jace.?? I put my two cents in.

??You shut up, Dave. You are just jealous.?? He huffed as I snorted.

??Do not wet the bed.?? Mom waved from the door.

??She was talking to you.??

?? You know, you are the one with wetting problem, so just shut up.??

Jason waited until mom was gone.

??I am here.??

I was going to laugh but it came out shaky and I was crying on his chest. I did not mean to.

??He... he did not even... I was there, Jace... He behaved as if... Why did he come back if he was going to treat me like this? All I wanted was a phone call, slave... Am I a joke, Jace??? ??I... I honestly do not know what Robert thinks. You always say I am good at reading people. But he... The only time I could read that man was when you went MIA from him.??

??I do not even know what to do. I thought I had everything in control.??

?? You never have anything in control. Not when it comes to him. But... then again, he doesn??t either.??

??Do you think he misses me???

Jason only sighed.

And I cried harder.

I was there, standing in the lobby expecting him to come back alone. He had done that before; when I was so wary of him. He isolated me from everyone, trapped me in a bathroom stall and had his way. ??Did you miss me as much as I missed you, baby??? His hand was covering my mouth and I could only moan and that was enough for him. ??I swear to god; I will never let you go.??

An atheist, promising me in the name of God.

I was there that day; waiting for him for how long, I had no idea. But only mom came back and I was so depressed to go back to my college. Mom called dean and lied to him that I had a fever. She had missed me enough to lie. I did that to her.

But staying with mom meant, bottling up my emotions, my heart and fucking mind. I was feeling a lot better, now that, Jason was here.

??Please stop crying this much, Dave.?? Jason was rubbing my back. ??Chris said we should consider talking to someone.??

?? You think I am crazy???

??Dave...?? Jason warned. ??You had two terrible panic attacks in short periods of time. He is worried.??

I did not bother to reply. I was not going. I never had a panic attack when I was with Robbie. When the coldness seeped in, all I had to do was to run to him, then it would go away. But then again, I never had that creepy coldness before Robbie. I only had that when it was related to him.

I chuckled dryly.

Oh, Robbie, what are you to me?

??I am worried too.?? Jace added softly.

I was worried about myself too. How did everything end up like this? This was not how it was supposed to be. Was this our end? I did not want this to be our end.

When had I fallen in love with him?

I always had a crush on him. There was no point in denying it myself. After the initial awkwardness of getting over the fact that he was Janice??s friend, he was an amazing company. Then I thought he was the most attractive man I had ever met.

I could put a lid on my crazy crush after his marriage; but it never went away. Then he started to come for my body and I just let it happen; each and every time, promising myself that it would be the last time he would get away with it.

I did not do anything to stop him. I begged, I cried, I slapped him but I honestly did nothing to stop him forever. I could have told my mother, or my uncle Fred or Frankie but.....

I was slowly falling... deeply and one day out of nowhere I started thinking of him as my husband. The thought brushing past my mind as Jason, Liz and I were having dinner in our favourite restaurant. It settled in my core.

What made me yearn for him?

I thought it was that day, I began to yearn for the forbidden Robbie was feeding me.

Mom dragged me to one of her business dinners, which I hated but she wanted me to expand my horizon because one day I was going to be the heir of the Truscott legacy.

I was a loser among ambitious business tycoon babies, who stared stocks and share marketing in their diaper days. They made fun of me, mocking me behind my back when I could not understand all the economic terms related to the business.

They would purposefully ask me about my opinion on crashes, deals and graphs.

??Do you know; it went from 14.0 to 13.68 in a matter of days? It is... I cannot fathom it. Father is worried. He is planning to include me in the board meeting once I turn 21. What about you Truscott??? PJ, asked me with a smirk. It was his time to shine in front of all the girls.

??Uhh... Mom is not worried. She played piano last night. She would not have played it if she was worried.??

They all laughed.

??Oh, Truscott. If I were your mom, I would be adopting soon.??

??Oh well, first be the son your father wants you to be before becoming a mom.?? Robert slid next to me handing me a drink. ??Heard that your father is more interested in making your half-brother the president. I think it is smart from his side. Benji has it all - your father says.??

??Oh, Benji is so cool. He is the one to ask my dad to hold on to Utemp shares. Pretty smart.?? The new girlfriend of PJ gushed to her friend.

??He has dated Valentina, I heard. And he is the one to break up. Can you believe it? Break up with Valentina. Oh my god. I so want to date him. Do you think he will be interested in me???

PJ stormed off pushing his girlfriend off his lap.

I was close to crying. They all were making fun of me. I had no idea what they were talking to. But Robbie stayed close to me during all the event, including the dinner.

He brought up the topic of family business and ambitions of the kids not-so-subtly to the dinner table and I froze.

I was appalled when some of my mother??s partners outright threatened their kids to be good in business or they would be disowned.

I was close to puke on my salad, the way I got scared.

Robbie slipped his hand on my thigh, and it felt good, to have someone on my side.

??Miss. Truscott, it is a shame to have a son who is not interested in business.??

I gulped.

??Why would I be??? Mom asked with a bite in her voice.

??Well, of course, all his inheritance is going to waste. I mean I would sure be ashamed to have my son if he is not emotionally invested in Crown. Co.??

??That is so sad, I cannot imagine my son not being in my life or not being proud of him. I would be so ashamed if I cannot find the goodness in my own baby without peeping into his wallet. My son has his own life. And he is successful in his line of interest. Wasn??t it last week when the F.B.I asked for your assistance, hon???

I blushed bright red. ??Mom, you promised.??

??I promised that I would not tell your classmates or friends. I am sure none of the people in this table belong that category.??

I noticed how several parents glared at their kids. Interested in business or not, my own net worth was higher than their family??s combined net worth. They wanted their kids to be friends with me, so I would invest blindly in their future business ventures. I knew they hoped their kid to be my business partner solely because of my inheritance.

I sighed, Robbie patted my thigh in assurance. ??There was a threat on their security systems; the government requested several of the reputed colleges to look into the matter. My mentor, Dr. A, recommended me to the panel. We succeeded.??

??Wow! The issue must be severe if they had to ask for outside help.?? Robbie, so conveniently added.

??I would not call it severe. More of a delicate issue. We had a lot to sign before getting involved.?? I was not being modest. The issue was simple but they could not pin the culprit down. I just helped. That was

all.

??He helped to get the bad Boogey Man.?? Mom chuckled.

??Mom, stop embarrassing me.??

She chuckled. ??He was the only one below the age of thirty in the whole panel. His colleagues were professors and doctoral candidates.??

That was true. I shrugged.

??What was the issue??? Mr. Chen asked curiously.

??I am sorry, Sir. It is a federal confidential secret to be revealed by any of the members of the panel. I am sure you have read the watered down version in the newspaper.??

I knew they would not have. The only news they read were business oriented.

??I am so proud of you, son. You do what you like, kiddo. I just hope one day you start monetising your skills. Not that I care, you give your services for free but I am your mom. I worry. I want you to be able to look after yourself, when I am not around. That is all. We, Truscotts, do not need to be in the family business to be successful.??

I felt bad when all of the kids in the room looked at me in jealousy. I knew many of them never hear a word of pride from their parents.

??I love you, mom.??

??I love you too, sweetheart. Eat. The Beef Wellington is delicious. Could you please get my son a glass of fermented grape juice to go with it??? She asked the server, pointing to me.

I laughed. ??Mom, fermented grape juice is wine. I am underage.??

??Shh... Nobody knows.??

??Shh...?? I mimicked her and we both giggled, ignoring others.

That was the first business dinner I enjoyed. Then Jason came along and I had no reason to be alone in such situations.

Robbie took me home early with my mom??s permission.

??Thank you.?? I mumbled when we were half way home.

He stared at me through the front mirror.

??Sit by me.?? He stopped the car by the side of the road.

I gulped. Was he going to... I nibbled on my lips but obeyed him. Nervously climbing to the front passenger seat.

He held my hand whole way. With each semi-dimmed road side passing by, I expected him to ravish me. But he did not. And I had no idea why my heart was beating so crazily.

He did not let go of my hand for a long time when we reached home. We sat in the car in silence holding hands, lost in thoughts.

He picked me up, cradling me to his chest, finally when he came to some kind of conclusion to his thoughts.

??Close your eyes.?? I did not ask myself why, but obeyed him instantly. He kissed my eyelids and carried me to my room.

??Fell asleep on the way.?? He answered to worried Frankie. ??Go to sleep, Frank. Madam will be back only after four, Lucas is with her.??

??Thank you, Sir, for informing me.??

?? Of course. I know you are worried. And please call me, Robert.??

??Yes, Robert. Good night, Sir. Good night Young Master. Have sweet dreams.?? Frankie brushed my hair with his fingers before leaving.

I opened my eyes only when he gently placed me on my bed. He sat by the corner.

??I... I...?? He tried again. ??You know I am not that good with my words. What I want to say would not come out the way I think.?? He looked at me for acknowledgement and I nodded.

I knew he had trouble opening up sometimes. We were friends after all. Even after whatever the things happened between us, I still remembered when he was my friend.

He sighed, itching his nape. ??You don??t have anything to be ashamed of. You are amazing the way you are. Business is not the for you and your mom understands it. Accepts it. I... as a business man, is happy that you are not interested in it.??

He took my hand again. ??Never let that people kick you down. You should be proud; the way we are proud of you.??

His eyes begging me to understand. Not to let their words hurt me. His eyes were afraid that they had permanently wounded me with their words.

??I don??t care about what they say. They are nobodies. It is just... when I am alone with them... I... They just ask lot of questions on economics to make me uncomfortable.??

I looked away when he kept on staring at me.

Was he going to press me to bed?

I was a bit sad, when he stood up. His thumb rubbing circles on the back of my hand.

He pressed a wet kiss on my forehead. ??Sleep well, babe.?? He walked away without looking back.

I did not know I was waiting for him to come back, until I sighed relief when he slipped behind me in the middle of the night. I held my breath when his hand looped across my waist.

I waited and waited for him to cope a feel like he had done several times; but that night, he did not.

And I fell asleep sooner than I thought I would.

I woke up curled contently on his chest, to an insistent knocking. I jumped up in horror; Frankie was at the door. But Robbie pushed me back to the bed, his eyes hard and unforgiving.

??What? Cannot see my face???

??Robbie...?? I hissed.

??Sleep again! Right on my chest. Sleep!?? He angrily whispered pinning me to the bed.

?? Are you awake? The breakfast is ready. Should I come in??? Frankie was still here. What was Robbie doing? What if he came in?

??Frankie, I will come down.??

??Oh, you are up. I am coming in.??

??NO! I... I am not decent.??

I heard a laughter on the other side. ??Come out, son. I got your coffee.??

Shit!

??Robbie...?? I somehow managed to drag Robbie into my walk-in closet. ??Shut.the.hell.up.?? I scolded him, worriedly looking at my room door.

He yanked me back and kissed me right on my lips trying to keep me in.

??Robbie... Frankie is here. Stop.?? I pushed him away. ??Get out when we leave.??

I smoothed down my night shirt and ran to Frankie, praying Robbie stayed until we had left.

That was the moment I understood, that whatever I had for Robbie might be a bit deeper than I thought at first.

I... I loved that Robbie always wanted me with him.

But...

Not anymore.

Fresh tears pricked my nose.

I was almost on the verge of sleep when a soft ringtone woke me up from memories.

I scowled, looking at Jason who was snoring a few inches away from me.

I almost dropped my phone in surprise seeing the caller.

My jerk calling.

My hands were shaking so bad when I attended the call.

??H... Hello... Robbie??? Did my voice come out broke? Why was I scared? What was he going to say?

??Angel???

I gulped down the heart that jumped to my throat at his voice.

??Robbie...??

??My Angel... I thought... I promised myself, I would not drag you to this... but...?? Was he crying???I cannot, Baby... I miss you so fucking much... I cannot... without you by my side...??

I chuckled; wiping my tears off...

I climbed back to the bed, listening to him, whining to me about how lost he was without seeing my face every single second.

My Big Baby.☐☐☐☐☐☐☐