I ran a hand through my hair and looked up to see Alex coming inside with hands tucked in his pockets. As usual, Alex could never know the meaning of knocking.

"Hey," he casually said and sat on the opposite side of my desk.

"Morning," I said as I scrolled through my e-mails.

"I kinda wanted to talk to you.."

"Yeah what's up?" I said and closed the lid of my Mac as I averted my attention to him.

"You know it has been over two weeks since Ace...you know...," I could see the struggle he was putting in to say this nonchalantly, "So I was thinking that as her secretary you should be taking his place until he's back."

"No way, Alex. I can't do that," I said and shook my head no. I couldn't sit in his office everyday when I knew he wasn't going to come around any time soon. I wanted to not think about all that was going on and I didn't think that taking his place in the enterprises and doing all of his work would help.

"Oh come on Belle, you know Ace would have wanted that. We can't just leave his spot like that. I'm trying my best to keep up with everything but with the tours and Ace not being here to look after the company, it's just getting harder..." he trailed and I could sense the pleading in his voice.

I sighed heavily, "Fine, I'll think about it."

***************

Two months. It had been two months since Mr. Rhodes was gone and not even a single day had passed when I didn't go over to him and tell him about my entire day at work.

I nodded at the receptionist and she smiled at me. She was used to seeing me coming over everyday.

I entered his office and sat on the chair beside his bed before holding his hand in mine and kissing his palm.

"Well...it's safe to say that I had the shittiest day ever...I mean not ever because that would be the day I got a call from Alex telling me that you're here but hush up that's not the point here," I continued talking to him, "How did you do all that work man? I mean I've taken over your place for barely a month now and I'm already running for the hills."

"I kinda envy you for being so smart you know," I played with his fingers, tangling and untangling them with mine.

"No wonder you were always so grumpy," I chuckled lightly.

"Hey you know I used to call you grumpy ass when you first hired me," I smiled thinking about it and rested my head on his chest, "I bet you would have fired me if you knew."

I continued talking to him for a while. Of course I got dissapointed when each time I didn't get a reply back but I was telling myself that it was alright and I had to be strong and patient for him.

"I miss you," I wrapped my arms around his torso while my head was still on his chest, "Come back to me."

************

It had been over three months since he left me and suffice to say I was hanging on. Times got harder in between when I would wake up in the middle of the nights and start crying but I still had hope. I mean it was just my gut feeling telling me that he was going to wake up. Sooner or later, he was going to wake up and tell me that just like me, he had missed me too.

Currently I was walking to the hospital. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and Alex told me that he and Noah were also going over to see Ace to I decided that might as well join them.

I stepped in and was instantly hit with the smell of medicines and that unique smell of 'hospital'. As much as I had hated hospitals since like forever, I had to visit them more than I'd like to.

I stepped inside his room and saw Noah, Alex and a woman sitting there on the chairs beside Ace's bed.

Noah was holding a guitar and Alex and Emily were smiling, talking about something.

"Oh hey, Belle. We were waiting for you," Alex stood up and gave me a light hug and I turned to Noah and shook his hand when the woman, who I assumed was Noah's wife stood up and wrapped me in a hug.

"Ah finally. I'm Emily and it's so good to finally meet you," she said and I smiled. Her voice was small and timid. Even without makeup, she looked breathtakingly beautiful.

"Isabelle," I extened my hand towards her and she chuckled.

"Oh I know," she gave a light chukle as I sat on the seat beside her.

Although the baby bump was small, but I could tell that Emily was pregnant but she was still rocking the low waisted jeans so well.

"So Isabelle, Noah here was trying to wake Ace up with his Godzillian voice -if that's even a word," Alex told me and I couldn't help but laugh.

The three of them seem to be having a lot of fun. I knew they were really close to him and it must hurt to see him like this but all of us were really great at hiding our emotions.

I, sometimes did break down but, other than that I was holding up okay.

"So what trimester are you on?" I asked Emily lightly as the two boys indugled in their own conversation.

"It's my second trimester and let's just say the mood swings are kicking in real bad," she scoffed and I laughed.

Emily seemed like a nice person to be around. I had never really gotten a chance to meet her before because I usually visited Ace after work but I had heard that Alex and Emily visited in the afternoons, whenever they did.

The next hour was spent chit chatting and I actually had fun with these people. I mean you couldn't exactly have fun in a hospital when a person important to you was in coma right before your eyes, but you get my point.

The four of us hung out at a nearby cafe after that and had some drinks before Noah decided that it was time for Emily to take some rest. I loved how both of them looked after each other. I mean the way Noah would steal glances at her when she wasn't looking and the way Emily would shake her head at some silly joke Noah would occasionally crack but still there was a smile lingering on her lips. I wanted all that. I longed to feel that way and the fact that the person I wanted this with was in the hospital was eating me alive day by day.

****************

"Hey Belle.." Alex called my name as I was about to step out of his car.

"What's up?" I turned around to look at him.

"I just wanted to say thank you...I mean handling the company so well, looking after Ace..all of it means a lot to us," he smiled and looked at me with adoration and a hint of gratefulness in his eyes, "I'm so glad Ace found you."

"You don't need to thank me Alex. I'm doing all this because I want to. And I'm glad I found you guys, too," I gave him a genuine smile and squeezed his hand before climbing out of the car and making my way inside the house.

In such a short span of time, these people had become so important to me that the mere thought of losing any of them gave me chills.