Another week or more has gone and Jason was not giving up on Ivy. This time he decided to let her take on a tougher challenge; to meet clients with him. He knew it was risky for fear she would act up in the middle of the meeting but he knew she was desperate for money too. Hence, he doubled the wage from last time and added meals and transport allowances as the meeting would be in another town instead. He was convinced it was an offer Ivy would not be able to resist again as he instructed Marcel to bring Ivy in.
This time, Ivy was worried over her recent monthly exam's results which she had collected earlier. She sat at the cafeteria seeking refuge from a cup of ice tea while waiting for her next lectures to start. She scored averagely lower compared to her friends and some subjects were the lowest compared to other months. There wasn’t anyone to bother with her results except herself and she was also the only person who was giving herself pressure and expectations.
She was rather disappointed with herself for not attempting accounts’ exam this time round due to lack of confidence and having insufficient time to prepare. She was more agitated with Jason and Marcel for abducting her at the wrong time. It had clearly affected her studies despite solving her financial issues. Besides, she still couldn't find her lost pencil box and has been very upset ever since.
She sighed at the thought of being an adult. There was endless trouble coming her way and she was too tired to endure or fight them sometimes.
She reminded herself about the college’s homecoming debate in two weeks time which was an event Andrew was keen on and signed them both up for old time sake. She didn’t want to disappoint him as she knew he missed debating alongside with her just like the their high school time but they weren't going to take up debate as an extra curricular as Andrew had decided to pursue psychology and Ivy who was still contemplating on her choices of faculties to pursue didn’t want to join alone. The competition itself gave her even more pressure to ensure they win it for a good memory and record on their college’s certificate. In the midst of all her frustration, Marcel appeared out of nowhere at the cafeteria.
"It was only last week I met Jason, what else is he selling me this time." She thought to herself.
"What is it this time?" Ivy asked Marcel with annoyance as she looked away while sipping her tea.
"Mr. Rahi would like to meet you." Marcel said.
"I still have lectures. Why don’t you wait for, say another hour and a half? I am sparing you and myself from trouble. I will explain the delay to him later." Ivy said as she checked the time on her watch. She was exhausted and tired of Jason's absurd ways that she thought she should finally find ways to compromise at least.
Marcel was skeptical at first but eventually thought she sounded serious about it as he sent a text message to notify Jason and nodded in agreement to Ivy.
"Good. I will see you at twelve. In fact, you could get to work on other errands first. I am thinking of driving over to his office. Don’t worry I won't bail out on you this time. I need to speak with him." Ivy purposely emphasised on her last sentence to Marcel before walking away.
"I'm good. I will wait here." He sat on the bench as he watched Ivy walk back to her lecture hall. He could tell Ivy would want to make a negotiation this time as he wondered if Jason would finally achieve his goal.
Ivy did feel bad for Marcel as he needed to do such a ridiculous level of tasks for Jason that she decided it was time to end this once and for all with a compromise plan. She was trying her best to pay attention during her double lessons of math and single lesson of morals but Jason’s internship offer kept bothering her mind. She knew Jason wasn’t taking no for an answer and her results were out but not as good as she expected. Although she really wanted to accept the offer many times, her results were holding her back.
"Ivy, a triangle consists of 180 degree angles right? Then, what about finding cosines?" Andrew asked as they were trying to complete their math assignments in moral class where the lecturer instructed them to memorise the list of moral values by themselves which meant they were free to do anything they wanted.
"Just ensure all the three angles add up to 180 degrees, then whichever is found, take 180 and deduct both ends. Use the formula for cosine." She leisurely said while looking outside the window as she continued to contemplate on Jason’s offer and questioned his recent aggressive approach. She knew she had to get him to meet her somewhere in the middle of their compromised plan otherwise, people would start to suspect her constant sudden disappearance, especially Andrew and Sandra.
Ivy peeped at Andrew’s book while he calculated on the calculator and knew which question he was stuck on but she was too lazy to explain in detail. There were more tricks to it and it was on the format keyed into the calculator for the answer as she closed her completed math assignment book.
"But I couldn't get the sample answer. Come on Ivy, save my weekend!" Andrew pleaded. She was annoyed at Andrew's pleas as her mind was already frustrated with Jason and her poor exam results. She passed her exercise book to him as a reference instead. When he found out what to do, he corrected his answer and the bell rang signifying the end of the week.
"Still need my book? Otherwise, I am leaving it with you." She asked as she packed hastily.
"Hmm... " Andrew thought for a while as he flipped his pages. Ivy was getting impatient and restless as she had impending matters she had to settle with Jason as soon as possible.
"Hurry! I need to go somewhere." She urged while sounding annoyed.
"Chill, chill. What's the rush? Alright I'll take it then just in case." Andrew said as he packed too.
"Don't forget to return my book to me! Bye!" Ivy said as she quickly barged out of the lecture hall to find Marcel.
"What's with her lately? She seems very busy and distracted." Andrew said to Sandra who got back from the washroom but managed to spectate the last moments of Ivy being annoyed with Andrew about her book. Both of them had noticed her being disoriented but they thought it was due to exams.
Sandra shrugged as they both packed to leave the hall. "Boyfriend perhaps like you said before?" Sarah joked.
Andrew laughed while packing. "You gotta be kidding me, Sandra!”
“Happy weekend, folks!" He cheered to everyone as he walked out of the lecture hall with Sandra.
Ivy went straight for her car and drove behind Marcel when she caught him at the same spot she left him earlier. They were trying their best to get out of the mad jam at the college entrance.
While they slowly ease out of the jam, Ivy was still thinking of ways to stop Jason from his madness. She was considering to strike a deal with him if she was going to accept his offer where they both lay out their conditions and compromise if there were any differences. She shook her head thinking it would be a long day again with Jason.
She parked next to Marcel in the lobby of the office when they reached as she walked calmly into Jason's office by herself without Marcel having to guard her. Jason didn't notice her standing in his office till after a while.
"Very quiet of you today? Why did you make such a request?" Jason stood to greet her but couldn't help to tease her at the same time. He gave her a sinister smile while waiting for her to react as though he was feeding on her annoyance.
"Well, you're definitely not a guardian of mine. Hence, there's no need to listen to you. You paid your employee to work for you but if he went against you because of the law, that makes him right too. I'm in the position to sue you and bring up whatever you did to the authorities as well as the college’s Dean. So let's see what consequences I should drown you in for harassment and abduction." She warned as she crossed her arms.
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"Seeing you still standing here and for the previous times, you got paid for the jobs you have done, I don’t see what I did wrong." He retaliated.
Ivy was on the edge of bursting with rage as she kept quiet while closing her eyes forcing herself to keep her emotions under control. Jason took the chance to explain himself briefly instead.
"I wanted your help earlier considering it’s Friday and your last few lessons were your expertise. So I thought you wouldn't need to attend them. What made you want to stay?" He asked.
"How did he know all this? Has he been stalking?" She thought to herself and couldn’t take anymore of his absurd ways.
"I have no idea how you find out all this but for goodness sake, I need time to study and maintain my grades! Despite having an expertise doesn't make my grades any better this month. Thanks to you for abducting me at the wrong time! Of all the time, why when I was about to attend an extra class for science which was my weak subject? Why take me in when I was studying for my accounts which I didn't even attend classes! I had to study outside of college hours for it, did you know that?!" It was another side of Ivy Jason met today and he knew he had crossed their boundaries.
There was a momentary silence between them as Ivy was close to tears but she was trying to calm herself down by tightening her grip and ignoring the pain inflicted by her piercing fingernails. Jason wanted to apologise but he caught a glimpse of an important email replied from his potential investor whom he was hoping to confirm the weekend meeting in another town with. He quickly sat back at his desk to acknowledge the invitation.
"Would you stop and listen?" Ivy noticed he was ignoring her as she walked to the front of his table and said in a serious tone. She crossed her arms standing in front of him while he continued typing hastily on his laptop.
She knew he was listening but pretended to be busy perhaps she thought as she sighed at her effort trying to make a compromise deal.
Jason was slightly frightened by her tense self but was also trying to get his appointment booked because it will affect the deal he was about to offer Ivy. He quickly typed through his acknowledgement of meeting the potential investor before hitting the send button on the email. At the back of his mind he reminded himself that he would have two meetings apart from his part time emcee job over the weekend.
"Was he afraid I would leave and report him perhaps?" Ivy questioned herself as she laughed.
When he heard her laughing, he thought "Was she thinking this is getting funnier? Let's see how she will handle this."
"So, it is funny now?" Jason asked while walking to face her on the other side of the table. She twirled her tongue inside her mouth, tempted to continue the fight but thought it wasn't a smart move if she wanted a change.
"I want to make a deal. You ought to agree to the compromised plan. I cannot afford to continue with your mischief and likes. It's getting absurd!" She said calmly but still managed to voice out her enthusiasm in trying to achieve her point of coming to meet him.
Ivy knew she was under a lot of pressure lately that if she didn't fight him to agree, she was heading downhill. Seeing a new side of Ivy today has made Jason remind himself that he had gone overboard and he should try to agree to a compromise deal as he nodded to her request.
"I require you to not interfere with my school lessons. Do not get your bodyguards or secretary or whoever to grab me and leave college just like that!” Ivy was raising her voice as Jason listened meekly.
“Do you know how much it would worry my friends if they knew? Then, I don't want the lecturers or the Dean to get involved! It's not necessary to worry other people with my sudden disappearance of your petty nonsense!"
Jason knew he had to tell her his offer whether it would add more oil to her nerves or not.
"Fair enough. In return, you would have to work with me over weekends even when I am on business trips. The company will pay for your accommodation and travel expenses. You should let your parents or guardian know that you’re on an internship program with my company which provides a great exposure for your future." Jason offered.
"Is my presence that important, really?" Ivy blurted out of frustration and in defeat as she sat on the top of the sofa holding on to her forehead, thinking hard of ways to accommodate while trying to fight her emotions as she knew weekends were too occupied for studies.
He couldn't help but to notice she could break down anytime. He wanted to say yes as he enjoyed annoying her but instead he filtered his mind and returned to business.
"Not just important but essential." He said quietly as his thoughts wandered back to the potential investor's predicament and the possibility of Ivy being the person they were looking for.
She wanted to ask for a reason as she closed her eyes in frustration while she continued to press the middle of her forehead. She couldn't help but to wonder the reason for her presence to be so essential but she had a lot on her mind as she decided to agree with his terms for now.
"Alright, fine. Next, my exams ... " Her voice cracked a little as she paused and blinked her eyes dry from the springing tears. Her emotions betrayed her just when she thought she had overcome her disappointment with her exam results. Jason wanted to pat her back to comfort her but decided against it, for fear his gesture would provoke her further. "...are every last week of the month and I need to study." Ivy forced herself to finish her sentence in a shaky voice.
"I will let you study when you're with me over the weekend. When I am free, I can teach you whatever lessons too. So pack your books and notes along especially on your extra subject. The job only requires your service for a few hours starting from evening till nearly midnight and it’s usually one or two nights." Jason explained as his mind swap his initial task of meeting his client other than the potential investor to something more fun at his part time emcee job for Ivy.
She calmed down and was less tense as she finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. "Fine.” She took a deep breath and continued. “Do you know, not everyone is as rich as you?"
"Clearly and obviously." Jason started to tease her again while folding his arms. She rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"Stop abducting me and leave my stuff wherever I was. Am losing my pocket money to buy them again, especially my stationery."
"I have plenty here in the office. Feel free to replenish." He offered as he recalled Marcel retrieving her pencil box and knew she was talking about it. She knew he was testing her limits as she squinted at him.
"Not everything can be bought with money, Jason! Things have sentimental values too!" She snapped as she stood and marched forward towards him one step but he didn’t barge. He couldn't stand her edgy self today as he wondered how bad her poor exam results were and what else was bothering her but he knew he had to stop his mischief and get her to join the internship to keep her close when he struck a deal with his potential investor at a later stage.
"Fair enough. I will stop disrupting your lectures and extra lectures. And worry free you won't get your things lost again. I will teach you when you're with me. Pack your school books and references like I said. I will make it comfortable as long as you agree to work on weekends’ business trips and you will be here in the afternoons from two onwards, every Thursday and Fridays. Having said that…" Jason walked closer to the tired but yet willful Ivy.
“We are not flying every weekend. You will still get your own personal weekend. I will pay you the last amount I paid you for weekends which is what every intern gets when they work here. The rate for weekdays would be half of what is paid for weekends. Deal?” He asked as he looked eye to eye with her. He could tell there was a lot going on in her mind but he didn't want to pry as knowing her ego, she would deny.
She gave it a thorough thought and finally let go a sigh of defeat. "Fine."
"Great, free tonight and tomorrow? We shall start this weekend. We are heading to Landsfield." Jason said while clapping his hand twice as he walked back to his seat and knew it was time to return to her the pencil box she lost.
Just when she thought they had made peace by coming up with an agreement, he got onto her nerves almost instantly. "You're really a ten pound twig, good for nothing!" Ivy blurted although she thought it wasn't a bad idea since getting away would help to take her mind off her issues. Studying in a different environment or town could stimulate a better result as well. The sight of her pencil box halted her from scolding any further as she quickly collected it and checked the insides were exactly the same she left them.
He knew it was her way of agreeing as he observed her checking her pencil box with a relief look. "Great. I will pick you at seven tonight. Flight's at ten. You should probably mention to your parents, you won't be home till late Sunday." Jason said while testing to see if she would reveal about her parents whereabouts.
"They aren't even around." She said quietly. "A courtesy at least Missy." He said without looking at her while hoping for her to explain or perhaps she would catch the point to at least inform a guardian of her whereabouts.
She sighed as she saw it was half past three and walked out of the room instead. She drove back home nearly an hour later due to the heavy traffic and quickly packed her luggage as there wasn’t much time left. She took her debate notes as well as her accounting reference books which she worried the most about before grabbing some clothing and thought formal wear should be included too.
She was reminded of Jason’s words to let her parents know where she was heading. She wondered if she should let Auntie Soh or Sandra and Andrew know but decided against it. She didn’t want to get them involved since it was only an internship she wanted to do to help herself decide which faculty she favored more.
She looked around the house and realised it was her first time leaving it for awhile ever since her grandma left. If only there was someone who lived in this house with her whom she could call to inform like Jason said.
A part of her was still excited despite the bittersweet feeling she had in realising no one was there to tell about her trip since it's a trip to a new place and she might be able to study better. However, she was worried if it was a bad idea since Jason and her were always bickering. If she didn't abide by the deal, who knows what he would really do.
She was startled by the sound of the horn as she went to the front door with her luggage only to be greeted by Marcel who had found the secret hilly road up to her rooftop house from the left side which is unknown to many. Marcel helped her to load her luggage into the car as she said a little prayer, hoping things would go well when entering the back seat of the car and sat next to Jason.