she left...and came back { ace | 2 }

Chapter 36:Suspicion

Itami pov
"I'll be home early, okay?"Ace says
I sighed."Yeah..okay. Love you."
"I love you, Itami. So much."
He gave me a kiss before driving off to work.

I sighed & began to have doubts about his promise.

'Will you really be home early this time Ace?'

You see, a couple months ago Ace got a job as a barman at the Moby Dick in town. Lately, he's been saying that he'll come home early, but every tine he'd come home at an ungodly hour. And really, I'm starting to have my doubts about every promise he makes.

'But Ace wouldn't do that...right? He doesn't seem like the type of guy to....to cheat.'

There's obviously got to be a reason about this. He can't....there's no way that he'd cheat. He just doesn't seem to be like that.

'But maybe...maybe he is..'

When it first started happening, I started to brush it off. But now it's starting to become an everyday routine. Every night I'd sit at home, wait & wait until I fell asleep on the couch.

"I dunno Kira, what do you think?"I say
"Well, I think that maybe you should ask the man himself, and make him tell you every important detail of his night at the bar. That's what I do to Marco, all the time."Kira says
I sighed."I hope....I hope he isn't actually cheating on me."I say
Kira put her hand on mine."Don't worry. I bet you he isn't doing that! I bet you he has very valuable reason to why he's been coming home late. Maybe his boss is making him work extra hours?"Kira says
I smile sadly."Lets hope so."I say

And so, that night when Ace cane home, I did exactly that.

"Ace..."I groaned out
"Hey..sorry I'm late."Ace whispered as he got into bed with me
"Why..."
"Hmm?"
"Why are you always home late, Ace? I'm starting to think...think that you're doing this on purpose."I say
"Why would I do that?"Ace asked."Itami I wouldn't do that to hurt you. It's just.....it's just everything had been really busy."Ace says
"Busy..huh?"I ask
"Yeah busy."He says

He's lying. Ace isn't acting like himself, his voice has changed when I asked him.

He is hiding something from me.

*The next night*
"Be home early okay? I'm starting to miss you."I say
Ace smiles."I promise I will come home early, okay? I love you, Itami."Ace says
I fake smiled."I love you, too."
We gave each other a parting kiss & Ace was gone.

As soon as Ace left, I ran over to our room & fished through my closet. I put on my black wig & gray contact lenses. I put on a black cocktail dress with sleeves & thigh high boots. I then got a taxi to the Moby Dick bar that Ace worked at.

Ace pov
"Welcome to the Moby Dick bar!"Everyone choruses

I looked up from the glass I was cleaning & found a woman who had long straight black hair, that went down to her hips. Her eyes were gray & mysterious, she wore a long sleeved cocktail dress & a pair of thigh high boots. The woman looked around & looked directly at me, she smirked seductively & walked over to me, hips swaying.

'Who she?'

Itami pov
I sat down on the stool in front of Ace. I glowered my gray eyes at him & smiled seductively

"What can I get you miss?"He asked
"Oh...something exciting."I say, changing my voice to a French accent. Thank god for drama & that language course.
"Alright, coming right up."Ace says

Ace turned & grabbed a glass & started to make me a drink. I watched with interest as Ace started to make me a drink.

"Here you go."
"Merci, monsieur."I say
"So....what's a woman like you here at this bar?"Ace asked
"Well,"I start."Tomorrow I fly back to Paris to see my famille. I decided that I should spend my last night here at ze Grand line in this bar."I say
"Oh? Why are you going back to Paris?"Ace asked
"I was doing a course here. But now it has finished & I can now come home."I say
"Oh okay...What's your name?"Ace asked
"Je m'appelle Étoile, et toi? What is your name?"I asked
"Ace. Your name sounds beautiful Étoile."
I giggled."My name means star in français."

After a while, Ace & I (as Étoile) talked a lot. Until I started to flirt a little bit, it took him a while to realize what was going on, until-

"Étoile are you flirting with me?"Axe asked
I smirked."Nothing wrong with that."
"Well...it sort of is. You see.....I have a girlfriend, and I consider her to be-please don't be offended-one of the mist amazing woman I have ever met."Ace says
"O-oh! Pardon me..I didn't realize!"
"It's alright."
"Can you tell me about her?"I asked

Ace smiled."Well to start off with,"Ace began."We have been dating for almost 2 years now. And I just cannot believe I'm with her. Everyday when I get out of bed, and I see her face, I always remember the way she told me she loves me. Though, whenever I come home from work, she acts as if she's mad at me, which I completely understand considering the work hours I get. I don't know if she's knows but......someone had stolen my credit card & has been buying junk under my name. I cancelled my credit card of course, but now I hardly have any money. So I decided to work extra hours so that we still have money. I've started to get paid more but..it meant that I hardly see my love during the day, and I really hate that."Ace says

I all of a sudden felt really guilty for thinking that Ace was cheating on me. The whole time he'd been working was to get us some extra money...

"But it's okay now, I'm starting to get paid heaps."Ace says
"Do you want my honest opinion?"I asked
"Yeah, okay."
"I think that you should tell her what's happened with ze credit card. I am a woman also, she would understand what your situation is. It is always good to tell ze painful truth, than to tell a beautiful lie to your loved ones."I say

"You really think so?"Ace asked
I smile."I know so."
"Thank you, Étoile....in all honesty, you sort of remind me of my love. She would say something exactly like that. You're a wise woman."Ace says
"Merci. The world is strange isn't it? But I'm afraid I must depart. I must get ready for tomorrow's flight."I say
Ace smiled at me."It was nice meeting you, Étoile."
"It was a down right pleasure to meet you, Monsieur Ace."

I left the bar & caught another taxj home. When I got home I felt really bad upon thinking that Ace would cheat on me. Why do I always think the worst of a situation?
I had a shower & put on my pajamas, hiding my party outfit in the back of the closet.

Later, Ace came home at 9:00, which is still late but early at the same time.

"I'm home!"Ace says
"Hey you're back! How did it go tonight?"I asked
"Well."Ace says."I need to tell you something."

Ace told me about the credit card, but I had to act surprised & worried about the whole thing. I think I did a pretty good job at hiding the knowledge.

"Well tomorrow I'll go into town & get you a new credit card & sign the papers & shit. How come you didn't tell me?"I asked
"I was afraid if how you would act. But with a little help, I realized that I shouldn't be afraid of something beautiful."Ace says
I blushed heavily."R-really?"I asked
Ace laughed."Really."

In the end, I told him that I'll start working, and Ace said that he'll quit his job & work as a teacher at Grand line high.