Ace opened the can, and took a refreshing sip of the ice-cold beverage, he sat down on the couch, and thought over the next few weeks.
He was more tired than he had been in a long time, probably due to the constant jets of endorphins and adrenaline his body was dispensing throughout his system. While his muscles were fine, on the inside, he was tired, his body would probably need some rest to get back up to peak performance.
The Tower would be ready soon, as in, two weeks, soon. The first, guests, those who had paid insane prices for their room - sums which not only consisted of cash, but also favours, as well as various properties, would come quickly after. They would arrive in three weeks, and by the fourth week from now, there would be some serious traffic.
His grandmother wanted him to be there, which meant he would be here for one more week, before flying to the Tower. It was fine by him, he knew the experience he could gain from being there would be enriching, and he would still be able to have fun, since some of his friends would most likely make their way there at one point or another.
It would be his time to learn from all the people there, he would take part in an uncountable number of meetings and deals, probably as an impartial witness, but also as a sign of respect towards the only heir of what would soon become the biggest business empire in the world.
He would also have the pleasure of dealing with a variety of *sshats and douchebags, those who thought that the Tower should not be in the hands of his family, and so they would try to 'buy' it. Ace would love dealing with those.
All in all, it was shaping up to be a life-changing experience, which is why it was such a shock when his grandmother called him to let him know he would not be going in a few weeks. He would be going now.
"I assure you, you will want to see this.", was all she said, before mysteriously informing him that the jet was ready, and that he did not need to take anything with him.
Ace shrugged his shoulders, 'What the h*ll, there must be a reason as to why she is doing this.', he thought, 'Might as well leave then, although it will suck to leave the others, we already had some good plans. I will make it up to them.', Ace thought, as he got on his phone, and called Ray.
"Hey, I got some bad news…", Ace heard the sigh, and cringed, honestly, this sucked, but he had to go, his grandmother would not have called him unless it would benefit him greatly. "Ok, I understand, and I'm sure the others will, but still, you have to make it up to us, especially her. You know she was going -.", "Yeah I know, and I feel horrible, but I have to, it's important. Tell them I will make it up to them, big time. They should just let me know when they have a week where they are all free - and you guys as well."
"Ok then, enjoy your trip.", "Thanks, have a great day.", Ace said, before he hung up.
His bag was already ready with a laptop, along with a tablet and a camera, and he was ready to go. It was a twenty-minute drive to the private airspace, and they were up and rolling in another ten.
The flight was nice - like always, the hostess and the pilots were all kind people, who he knew from previous times. They already knew what he liked, so after serving him a glass of water with some ice, they went to do their own thing.
Ace spent the time thinking over what could be happening, and figuring out what it was he could do to fix it. He ended up with a variety of scenarios all of them wilder than the other, but nothing prepared him for what he was about to encounter.
As he got off the plane, he was met by a butler, who led him into a private lift, and he went up to his own room. He had already been there before, he was the one that had designed and conceptualised it. It was at the top of the tower, and it was one whole floor. The beauty of it was that the whole floor was surrounded by glass windows that faced the outside. This meant that he had a 360-degree view from the top of the Tower, something he thought was insanely cool.
The actual 'room' had no walls that separated it from its office, games area, lounge… And the only room that was slightly separated was the bathroom. It was beautiful, and due to the massive windows, natural light always came in, which meant that it alighted the decor that had been specially customised for this purpose. This caused the ambience of the room to change throughout the day, which was beautiful, especially in the afternoon, when the sun began to take deeper orange and pink hues, which created an almost mystical atmosphere.
Ace took a shower, and dressed up for dinner, he had no idea where exactly they would be eating, so he decided to just play it safe. He wore a simple light blue linen shirt, sleeves rolled just below the elbows, along with some white trousers and white sneakers.
He then headed downstairs, where his grandmother said she would meet him. As soon as he got there, he noticed that she too was dressed semi-formally, so he knew he had nailed the look. He greeted her, and hugged her as soon as he got close enough.
"So, what's up?", Ace asked, as he expanded his senses to see if he could spot something that was out of order, but as expected, it was all fine, and there was nothing that was in its incorrect state or place.
"Well, I guess we should go in, you will see then.", his grandmother said, as she led him towards the lobby of the restaurant she had chosen, a fancy seafood place. As they approached, a maitre greeted them, and led them towards the only table that was set up, funnily enough though, there was someone already seated, and as they got close, Ace spotted who it was. He stopped in his tracks, and looked at his grandmother, "What the f*ck is she doing here?"