Ivy was diligently practicing on her accounts exercises in the odd hours of dawn with her earpieces blasting her favorite songs when she noticed the sky was brightening but the sun wasn’t rising.
“Are the dark clouds scaring you today, sun?” She asked in her mind as she checked the time on her phone showing seven in the morning. She stretched on the bench overseeing the white horizon filled with dark clouds before continuing with her studies.
Jason woke to his alarm which Ivy couldn't hear due to the high volume of her music player. He could see Ivy was engrossed in her studies with both earpieces on her ears and wondered if she slept after her nightmares or was she awake that early. Being half worried, he remembered his appointment at nine with her father. From their conversation last night, Jason knew Ivy was not aware of her father’s whereabouts and neither was she aware of her inheritance. He felt a little guilt crept up on him as he thought of his plans.
He went to get ready in the dark before he slipped out of the room for the meeting. He decided to leave her a note telling that he won’t be back till late afternoon and told her to meet him at five at the lobby wearing formal clothes for her part time job. He ended the note with a postscript telling her to freely order room service while studying.
She was so focused that she didn’t notice he left the room. It was only when her stomach started growling that she checked the time again which showed ten in the morning. She went into the room to find she was all alone and read the note on the dressing table. She thanked her lucky stars for remembering to add a pair of formal clothing in her luggage which packing.
She picked up the phone on the dressing table to order brunch and decided to settle for a mac and cheese. As she waited for the room service, she set an alarm at four in the afternoon to remind her to get ready for work before she continued with her accounting practices.
“Alright Jason, understand that it would be a three day roadshow. This proposal looks good on cultivating an awareness on the importance of work-life balance among my top management who are always so focused on getting more revenue from real estate sales.” Mr. Ophal said as Jason smiled.
“It’s all thanks to companies like you who are taking care of your employees' welfare so well. So, I will be preparing an agreement and issue an invoice as per our discussion.” Jason replied as he stood and shook hands with Mr. Ophal.
“Join me for lunch? I would like to discuss our potential merger in detail.” Mr. Ophal offered.
“Sure.” Jason said briefly while his thoughts went back to Ivy whom he left in the room alone. He wondered if she had read his note since it was already lunch hour.
As they entered the restaurant, he noticed it was raining heavily and they could hear the thunder.
“The weather is very unexpected these days.” Mr. Ophal said as they took their seats.
“Sure is. Does it flood here?” Jason asked. “Not really but if this doesn’t stop, I am sure it will in the next few days.” Mr. Ophal said as they both flipped the menu.
“You’re here alone?” Mr. Ophal asked as he closed the menu knowing his orders. “Oh, no.” Jason realised he shouldn’t let him know about Ivy so soon as it would be hard to explain their relationship and Mr. Ophal might be able to recognise her which would then lead to him suspecting his hidden agendas.
“Sorry I mean yes but I'm thinking of meeting up with a friend staying around here.” Jason quickly came up with an excuse.
“Oh, I see. I thought you would have brought your wife here.” Mr. Ophal said.
“I’m not married, sir.” Jason smiled.
“A girlfriend?” Mr. Ophal pushed. “None.” Jason smiled as Mr. Ophal laughed.
“Young man, you’re not getting any younger as time goes by. When it’s time to settle down, you should. Don’t wait too long.” Mr. Ophal advised.
“Yes, sir.” Jason smiled. “You may call me Peter.” He took a sip at the glass of water as Jason nodded.
“Shall we order?” He asked as Jason nodded again and waved for the waiter.
Jason’s thoughts wandered back to his past relationship which was still a responsibility he committed himself to. He wondered if he made a wrong choice to hastily promise his ex-girlfriend's grandmother on her deathbed to make her grand-daughter his responsibility forever but instead got cheated on. Somehow, he still finds himself abiding to the promise and has not been very interested to start a new relationship thereafter although he didn't mind anymore whom she dates so long she is well taken care of.
“Aren’t you ordering?” Peter asked as Jason quickly snapped out of his daydreaming and pointed out his orders to the waiter.
“About the merger…” Peter said after the waiter left them.
“Yes, Peter. I saw the details and picture you sent.” Jason’s thoughts returned to his business dealings.
“I don’t want to give you the impression that I am not interested with the offer you made. It’s indeed a win-win situation whereby your consultancy firm could help coordinate my company’s real estate roadshows while my company could also provide yours with manpower in your other roadshows provided there are beneficial contributions towards the revenue of my company. We have been dealing with each other for a long time. Hence, I would not hesitate to be honest with you. The picture I sent was of my second wife and my eldest daughter from my first wife on our first and last trip together as a family.” Peter explained as he took another sip on the glass of water.
“Thereafter, I lost contact with her because my first wife prohibited any contact with my daughter or her grandmother after our divorce was finalised. The reason why all this matters is because I had put my daughter’s name as a shareholder in this company and she holds a significant percentage under my custody. By now, she should be in college and I have not tried to search for her despite…” Peter paused briefly recalling the news he saw on the passing of his mother in law.
“The only way for our merger to happen is to find her again but I am not sure if my daughter still stays in the same place as her grandmother passed away recently. I am not sure of their welfare and…” Peter paused as he felt overwhelmed at the thought of not being able to meet his daughter over the years or pay his respect to his mother in law.
“Peter… I could help to search for her if you would like. Just let me know the details of her last known information and I will see what I could work out. I will give my best to reunite the both of you not just for the sack of our business dealings but to at least give you closure. After all, she is still your daughter.” Jason gave his assurance with full confidence as he knew who he meant. Peter nodded with a sad smile. All that Peter had mentioned was accurate as Jason was more convinced the daughter he was looking for is Ivy.
Ivy had to rush to shift her books and notes into the room when it suddenly poured heavily outside. She practically threw all her books to the room as she tried saving her brunch. While entering the room, she tripped over her books while was very close to hitting her tea off the table.
Her phone rang that instant and it was Auntie Soh. She quickly picked up the call.
“Hello, Auntie Soh!”
“Ivy! Where are you? Are you alright? How come you’re home? I was dropping by to check on you earlier and pass you some fruits.” A worried Auntie Soh was nagging over the other line while she caught her breath.
“Yes, I am. Oh, I needed to help a lecturer with some work. So, I am out on a field trip and will be back tomorrow.” She answered randomly while still trying to catch her breath.
“What’s going on? Are you alright? You sounded like you’re in a hurry.” Auntie Soh asked, feeling suspicious.
“I’m fine. Well, I needed to rush to do some errands and I am in a hurry. I will see you tomorrow alright!” She said trying to hang up as she picked up her wet recycled paper notes she scribbled on and threw them into the bin.
“I see. I see. Wait! Andrew said that both of you have a debate competition coming up?” Auntie Soh asked as Ivy reminded herself to prepare her notes for it later.
“Yes, Auntie. It’s next week and I am almost prepared for it.” Ivy said while picking up some notes on the ground.
“Good! I am sure both of you would win. You’re always so good at debates, you should be a lawyer.” Auntie Soh teased as she laughed while Ivy stayed silent on the line lamenting on herself who was still indecisive about her future. She went on to pick up more notes and put them on the table.
As though knowing it was a topic Ivy was avoiding, Auntie Soh decided to end the call. “Alright, take care and I will see you tomorrow, Ivy. Bye!”
“Bye!” She said as she quickly hung up while picking up more notes as there were papers everywhere but her phone vibrated moments later as though knowing her first call had ended.
“Hello Ivy!” Sandra chirped.
“Somebody seems happy? What's up?” Ivy asked.
“Nothing… Just to call to check on you. What’s up with you?” Sandra asked. Before Ivy could reply, Sandra interrupted.
“Hold on, I will conference Andrew in the call.” Ivy wanted to hesitate for a moment as she was about to prepare her debate notes and had limited time before she had to get ready for work in the evening but it was too late.
“Hello! Hello!” Andrew greeted them over the phone.
“Hello numb head!” Ivy greeted as she laughed.
“You’re the numb head! Where have you been? How could you dose off last night in the middle of discussion?” Andrew scolded as Ivy recalled the wine must have add on more drowsiness.
“We called your house phone and no one was picking up! Now we need to call your cell and you know how high the bill would be?” Andrew scolded which then made Ivy understand the reason Auntie Soh called earlier. They must have mentioned about unable to reach her to Auntie Soh.
“I’m sorry! Well, I have errands to do.” Ivy said. “Alright so what’s the question you all need to ask?” Ivy asked as she quickly changed the topic.
“Can we get you on your house phone or come by your house?” Andrew asked.
“I can’t.” Ivy got annoyed as she put them on loudspeakers. “What do you mean you can’t?” Andrew pestered.
“Where are you Ivy?” Sandra asked. “I’m not home. I’m in Landsfield. So yeah.”
“What?!” Both Sandra and Andrew said in unison.
“Anyway, I didn’t bring any books except my accounts. It was rather a rushed trip. Am sorry guys. But I can still help if you tell me the roots and cause of the questions.” Ivy offered.
“Is it the one the dean asked you to work with that speaker or something like that?” Andrew clarified. “Hmm.. Yes, that one.” Ivy replied randomly not wanting to explain much in detailed.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“This will get the bill so high. I would rather not. Don’t forget about the debate notes. I’m sure you can come up with something awesome. It’s a definite win for us. When are you back in town?” Andrew asked.
“Tomorrow. Late afternoon, I guess.” Ivy replied as she flipped through her accounts reference book and got bored of it.
“Alright, enjoy Landsfield and we will call you tomorrow.” Sandra said.
“Bye!” Ivy said as they all ended the call. She thought about her debate notes and decided to list down the pros on her note book to prepare herself for it.
She plugged in her earpieces as she brainstormed her ideas while finishing up her brunch.
“Pros of technology: Closing point: It’s humans who build technology and create it while evolving its development. It’s also humans who destroy this luxury and misuse it for themselves due to their own greed.
- Make life easier holistically
- one hit search on information and data- research made easier and save time- more efficient
- entertainment- social media, games and movies
(Cons: Unhealthy lifestyle- stuck to technology such as social media and games 24 hours) – there are technology where we can exercise using games with friends and family.
- latest news -paperless newspaper- Save the environment from pollution by using less paper and reduce forestry
(use own judgement to determine what’s real or fake)
- Keep in touch and stronghold connections with friends and family- calling them without being charged by using internet
- Assist the higher authority with their crime cases
Points to fight back on cons:
1. Cases with famous artists’ nude pictures published to the public, destroy reputation, no privacy
- That’s where higher authority uses technology to trace the hackers and stalkers’ location and IP address to charge them for defamation
- Secure with strong passwords and be vigilant in guarding important accesses to own personal information
2. Plagiarism and piracy
- Because of demands from the society, everyone needs to play a part to stop the demand and support original.”
As she compiled her thoughts, she was stuck and couldn’t think of new ideas. She stopped writing her notes and finished her crime novel instead. She didn’t realise time passed real fast that it was already three in the afternoon when the sun started to shine dimly at the balcony causing a blinding reflection attracting her attention.
She went near the sliding door as she unplugged her earpieces and heard loud banging from downstairs on a board as though someone was playing basketball. She screened through the ground and saw a court with three boys playing basketball among themselves. She thought it would be nice if the boys would let her join them.
She took the room card and put on her slippers as she decided to play bare footed. When she arrived at the court, the boys had just finished scoring a three pointer. She clapped as the ball went in and caught it.
“Mind another company here to join you all?” She asked as she bounced the ball and passed to the shooter earlier. The three of them nodded.
“Sure. You would be the attacker on the left then with Ryu. I’m Jin and this is Ray.” Jin pointed to the blue shirt guy as Ryu and Ray was the one in black as Ivy nodded. She noticed they were all very tall and wondered if they were in the national team.
“I’m Ivy. Alright let’s start!” She said as she went into position when the game started.
Jason went on in discussion of their merger plans with Peter just to prepare for the future. By the time they wrapped up their discussion it was nearly four.
“I’m having a small birthday party for my son tonight in this hotel. If you have time, do drop by at ballroom four.” Peter offered as Jason heard the details were similar to his job for emcee tonight.
“Is your son’s name Ray?” Jason clarified. “How did you know? Do you know my son?” Peter asked as Jason shook his head and smiled.
“What a coincidence, I am the emcee for your son’s party tonight.” Jason chuckled.
“I didn’t know you were also providing your services for the hotel. Your business must be really big.” Peter complimented. Jason nodded. “It’s actually a part time hobby to grow my network. My business is growing too hence, the reason I needed an investor or perhaps a merger.”
Peter patted his shoulder as they stood to leave the restaurant. “Time will tell… Time will tell…” Jason smiled at Peter’s comfort. “See you tonight, Peter. I have to go for a short meeting with another client.” Peter waved in respond to Jason as he walked to watch the boys playing at the court with a girl. He was reminded of his daughter who could be as old as her as he walked away wondering of the possibility of meeting his daughter again someday.
Jason decided to return to the room to check on Ivy first before his second client arrive. As he entered the dark room, he wondered where Ivy was. He inserted his room card and was surprised at the mess in the room when it lighted up. There were recycled papers everywhere on the ground while some were in the dustbin and a half eaten mac and cheese which hardened was at the edge of the tea table.
Thousands of thoughts flew through his head. Was she abducted? Was she injured? Did she run away? He went to look at the papers lying on the ground. It was the recycled papers and her notes were all over the table. He could hear the loud banging on a board from downstairs outside the balcony as he picked up the notes.
“Ivy?” He called out being half furious at the mess and worried about her safety.
He saw her debate notes and screen through them as he thought to himself, she was thinking too hard again. He called out again but one answered. He then went to check at the balcony and heard her voice from afar. He then saw her familiar figure at the basketball court with three boys.
“She must be so bored, isn't she?” He thought to himself as he watched her scoring a three pointer.
He thought about the job tonight could be risky if she recognised Peter or Peter recognised her but she would be stationed at the backstage and perhaps he could sneak her in and make her stay there till the event ended and sneak her away again. As he watched her scoring one last goal, his second client texted him of his arrival as he decided he should go down to get her to clean up if he wanted to sneak her to the backstage earlier while he pass his second client the signed contract.
Ivy enjoyed the game a lot and she was proud she still played well after a long time she stopped playing when high school ended. She sat on the ground watching the ball bounce off the court which was picked up by someone else.
“Good game Ivy!” Jin cheered which distracted her from seeing who it was who picked up their ball.
“Thanks for the game guys!” She cheered.
“Were you in a school team?” Ryu asked while standing in front of her as she nodded. The boys didn’t notice Jason was standing at the end of the court and was the one who picked up their ball.
“Not bad, Ryu is trying out for nationals next year. Hope to see you more in the girls team as well?” Ray complimented.
“Thanks. But I am already in college and I don’t intend to join them.” Ivy said as she grabbed Ryu’s hand to stand up.
Jason bounced the ball back at them. “Thank you!” Jin called out as Jason walked over to them.
“Ivy, time to get going.” Jason said as he approached them.
“Oh, what time is it?” Ivy finally realised it was Jason who picked up the ball earlier as she asked the boys.
“Nearly five.” Ryu said.
“Oh, dear! Alright, I guess that’s it for today. Thanks for the game.” Ivy said as she ran towards Jason.
“Bye Ivy!” The boys said in unison as they went on playing casually when she waved at them.
“I’m sorry! I forgot the time!” Ivy apologised as she rushed to get back to the room and prepared.
“Hurry up, I will need to brief you on your work.” Jason nagged as he enjoyed watching her tripping a few times while rushing to shower.
When Ivy stepped out from shower in her white dress, Jason was wondering if she was wearing that casual dress as formal attire. “Are you wearing that tonight?” Jason asked abruptly.
“Yes…” Ivy said. “How is that a formal attire?” He complained.
“Someone told me to pack my bags but never told me the dress code. This is the best I could put on from what I brought.” Ivy retaliated as she lamented on the fact that she had lack of formal wears in her wardrobe.
“Fine, fine. You’re lucky you’re working backstage and you need to stay there the whole night. I will bring you for dinner first.” He said as he grabbed his coat but recalled the wound on her palm as he turned around and took her right arm to take a look.
“Did you change this?” He asked as Ivy shook her head. He looked agitated a little as he went to the first aid box and helped her change her bandage. He was glad it was drying up as he wrapped another plaster over it after putting antiseptic cream.
“Can we skip that?” Ivy asked. “Why? You might injure them again while working.” He insisted. “It’s not comfortable and it’s really painful to take them off.” Ivy grimaced. He thought about it and nodded in agreement as he kept the first aid box away.
“Try to keep it dry and don’t injure it again. Be careful.” He said before heading out of the room.
“Thank you.” She said while watching him wear his coat. It wasn’t her first time seeing him in his coat but it stunned her a little looking at his charming self as she quickly shrugged her stunned self from admiring more of his charms.
She noticed she was falling far behind from his pace as she quickly caught up with him.
He showed her the sound system backstage and taught her how to control them as she would be in charge of them from then on while they both munched on their sandwiches. It was an added value service which Jason decided to not outsource to the hotel. That way he would be able to save on 20% of what’s paid to him for the event. Besides, he was paying Ivy for her services on his part time hobbies inclusive in her internship payroll.
Since it was her first time on the job, she was accompanied by one of the hotel’s employees to guide her and it would be the last time Jason would hire their services. As he went on stage to start the birthday party, he realised the birthday boy was one of them who was playing basketball with Ivy in the afternoon. He noticed the other two boys in the crowd standing next to Peter. He was trying to make sense of the circumstances and concluded that the three of them could be Peter’s sons which made them Ivy’s step-brothers.
His guesses were right when Peter introduced them to him later in the night as he began to question his act of hiding the truth from both Ivy and Peter but he knew he had to get Ivy to trust him more before he let her know about her identity. That way things would work out easier for both himself and Peter during the merger.
The event ended slightly earlier than the expected time as the boys and their friends were enjoying themselves on the dance floor which need not have anymore emcees speeches. He decided to bring Ivy back to their room so that she could rest as he was reminded of her sleep disorders.
He stepped in to see her dosing off on the table. “Ivy…” He gently called out as he tapped on her shoulders and she was awake instantly.
“I’m sorry! Is there anything you need?” Ivy stood abruptly knowing she must have dosed off.
“No… Let’s go. The event ended.” He said as she followed him out of the backstage in a dark ballroom where everyone was dancing. She noticed Ray and Jin from basketball earlier as she asked Jason about them when they were outside of the ballroom.
“Whose party is this?” She asked. “One of the boys you played basketball with. His birthday party.” He explained as they walked past Ryu who was returning to the ballroom from the washroom.
“Hey, Ivy!” Ryu greeted as she turned around to find Ryu waving at her. “Hey, Ryu!” She skipped over to greet him. “Is this your birthday party?” She asked excitedly.
“Oh, no. It’s Ray’s. You wanna join us? Although it actually ended and everyone is just dancing on the dance floor…” Ryu explained and noticed Jason who was the emcee at the event.
Ivy was shy about dancing and never liked it. “I’m sorry I will pass as I have an early flight to catch tomorrow. Help me to wish him a happy birthday, please?” Ivy said.
“Sure! Hey, tell you what, let's exchange numbers. I could invite you to basketball whenever you’re free?” Ryu said.
Jason was watching from a distance, half worried that Peter would appear anytime soon but was also impatient as he noticed Ryu was exchanging numbers with her. He wondered if he should stop them but decided against it in case he triggered them to be suspicious. After all, it was her step-brother.
“Thanks for the gesture! However, I am not too sure when I will be in Landsfield again to play…” Ivy lamented. “Oh, aren’t you here for leisure?” Ryu casually asked while saving her contact. “No, I was actually at work at the backstage. Well, it’s a part time job anyway.” Ivy smiled. “I see… Where do you live?” Ryu asked. “Manes.” Ivy replied primly.
“Ah, that’s where the national team is. I will keep that in mind. If I am ever in Manes or if you’re in town, let’s catch up on a match?” Ryu suggested as Ivy nodded with a smile.
They parted ways as Ivy skipped back to Jason who was squinting his eyes at her trying to tease her. “Was he hitting on you?” Jason teased while they walked to the lift.
Ivy suddenly realised the gesture of exchanging numbers was also an act of exactly what Jason just teased as she blushed but again she thought Ryu wasn’t his type as she gave a sad frown.
“What? He isn’t your type?” Jason went on teasing while noticing the changes on her facial expression.
Ivy gasped dramatically in the lift to play along with him. “Jason, you know what? You could make lots of money from mind reading!” She laughed hysterically as she skipped out of the lift when it opened to the floor they were living in, leaving Jason amused at her act while watching her continue to skip back to their room. He thought about asking her of her nightmares issues but he knew she was in a good mood and decided for it to be another day.