After an eventful weekend, Ivy had a bittersweet week ahead of her. Lucky had been a frequent visitor to her house lately and she didn’t mind taking care of him who had kept her accompanied most of the time.
Her exam results had improved tremendously and she was so excited that her first ever attempt on accounts papers was a high distinction. She reminded herself to treat Jason when she heads down for her internship later.
“Ivy… What are you daydreaming about again?” Andrew nudged her as they stood by the stairs in front of Sandra’s house holding out to Lucky’s leash as Sandra fed Lucky treats.
“Ah.. nothing… What were you both saying?” Ivy knocked some senses into her as she shook her thoughts away.
“Since when is your boss’s dog also your responsibility? Are you his maid now?” Andrew teased as Sandra giggled. “Oh…” Ivy couldn’t find a good excuse in time to hide the truth as she smiled and squatted to pat Lucky who was enjoying his treats.
“Oh, Sandra, the package arrived. You can leave mine in my house. Will check them when I’m free.” Ivy informed Sandra about the arrival of their online shopping they made lately with Ivy’s formal wear and Sandra’s gift. Sandra nodded before she pouted and forced herself to explain the news Andrew and her had been trying to tell Sandra.
“We both are taking an additional four papers this semester onwards and ditching Science…” Sandra explained abruptly while watching Ivy’s face tensed up.
“Oh, is it for the psychology faculty entrance requirement?” Ivy asked while she got up from her squat, burrowing her forehead. She could feel a little disappointment kicked in as she forced herself to suppress and hide it.
“Yep… and classes start today...” Andrew nodded as he felt guilty knowing Sandra and him won't be spending much time with Ivy like before.
“That’s great news! Congratulations! Which meant you both would be taking on tough papers… I mean it’s Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Algebra and I don’t have to…” Ivy cheered with her hands up in the air trying to hide her disappointment to not make them feel any guiltier while Lucky barked once as though he knew it was a celebration. Andrew patted him briefly.
“But Ivy…” Sandra lamented as she held on to Ivy. “It’s alright… we all know this was meant to happen in college. But at least we still meet for other classes. Just that I won’t be seeing both of you all that much. Besides, if I have issues with Science, you both would be the expert to solve for me…” Ivy comforted them as they gave her a sad smile.
Ivy looked at her phone’s time and alerted them. “Oh no, let’s go! It’s getting late for your new classes. Come, I will drop you both off college on the way to work.” They all got into her car and let Lucky sit in front next to her while she drove.
"You’re sending him home?” Sandra asked while Andrew gave Lucky a head rub which Lucky enjoyed a lot.
“Yes, before heading for work…” Ivy said as she nodded. “Was it really necessary to have a part time job especially when your grandma left you a fortune?" Andrew mumbled while staring at Ivy who was driving. Ivy realised Andrew’s question meant they wanted to spend more time together like they did before but it seemed everyone has their own hectic schedules to move on with.
“Well, at first I asked the same question. Then, this semester’s result had proven it was a right decision. I am so happy with my high distinction. I got to thank my boss later…” Ivy smiled thinking to herself was it a lie or was it really the truth. She knew it wasn't the answer Andrew was expecting but she didn't want to make them feel any guiltier.
"If you miss her, you know when to call and when to bug her." Sandra teased Andrew but he didn’t reply as he was zoning out at the thought of could it possibly be due to the expensive parties Belinda requested for Ivy to pay which she did not want to ask Mrs. Soh for extra. Sandra nudged Andrew who was staring without blinking at Ivy who was getting uncomfortable about it.
"What? No, I just thought… Never mind. I hope I'm wrong, else we will be guilty… but don’t tire yourself alright?" Andrew waved a finger at Ivy as they stopped at the bus stop outside of college.
"You're worried she works for money to pay for the parties isn't it Andrew? I think you are Ivy but considering your results are improving, I guess I believe you now… But seriously, we should minimise mingling with that group. That way it makes it less guilty for Andrew and myself." Sandra said as Andrew sighed.
“Alright, I promise we will minimise interaction and expensive parties. There is only one last one for Belinda. It wouldn't be fair…” Ivy halted from continuing the topic as they both gave her death stares which were really eerie. “Alright, fine fine! Leave for your classes now… I gotta get myself to work! Leave… go go!” Ivy tickled both of them to leave as they giggled and alighted while waving goodbye to Ivy and Lucky, who was excitedly wiggling his tail.
On the way to Jason’s house, Ivy let her held back disappointment earlier to drown her for a moment as her mind drifted to the limited time she has left with Andrew and Sandra unless she chose to pursue business faculty, then she would have more time to spend with them in Landsfield as the university there provides the best psychology and business courses.
Her mind was arguing with her about pursuing her law career dream which meant she would be apart from Sandra and Andrew by staying behind in town but could take care of Mrs. Soh and tend to grandma’s businesses. She was also hoping she could fulfill one last birthday party for Belinda to mark the end of their friendship quietly. It was the least she could do for old time sake. She wiped away a tear which slipped off the side of her eyes. She missed the good old times with her friends but she knew everyone was working towards a brighter future and it’s part of growing up.
She sighed in frustration while Lucky whined as though knowing Ivy was unhappy. “It’s alright buddy… Sit… We’re almost home…” She comforted as Lucky sat but stood back up the moment she reached the front gate of the condominium block.
After sending Lucky home and ensuring he was comfortable, she drove to Jason’s office and pondered on the journey of her internship. With the current circumstances, she was half certain that she could end up attending business administration instead. She had a fortune left behind from her grandma and she had been learning the necessary experiences and skills to run a business which includes accounts. Pursuing law would just make all these a waste to be too specialised. She sighed at the thought of letting justice die down in her dreams for now as she couldn’t afford it.
On the way to the thirtieth floor, she was stopped by a familiar figure in the lobby but she could not recall her name.
"You. I need to talk to you." The tall lean lady ordered Ivy in a grouchy voice before dragging her out of the building to a corner.
Ivy was trying hard to recall her name although she remembered her as the lead singer whom she fell in love with her nostalgic voice and is the drummer's girlfriend.
When she let go of Ivy, Ivy quickly thought of things to say to break the awkward situation. "The drummer's girlfriend! Hey! What's your name again?"
"Nancy..." She snarled at her with her arms crossed.
"Nancy! That's right! What's up?" Ivy asked coolly, trying desperately to break the cold situation.
"What's up? You tell me what's up with you and Jason." Nancy was furious as she pointed at Ivy’s chest which pushed Ivy slowly towards a pillar.
Ivy blinked in confusion as she furrowed her brows trying to figure out the source of Nancy’s anger. She had a feeling she was getting into trouble as she recalled Nancy was also Jason’s ex girlfriend who could have misunderstood their situation but Ivy couldn’t find a reasonable explanation for Nancy’s current drastic actions if Nick was her boyfriend. Ivy decided to play dumb first while finding ways to get herself out of the mess and the reason behind Nancy’s actions.
"I was... I… wait, why does it bother you? I thought you were with the drummer, erm what's his name?” Ivy pondered for a few seconds and snapped her fingers. “Nick!" Ivy knew she needed to count her blessings as Nancy was giving her death glares.
Jason knew Ivy would usually turn up around two right after his lunch. He purposely waited with her favourite fruit tea packed with a sandwich to thank her for her great help over the weekend. While he strolled a little to the building entrance, he caught the sight of Nancy approaching Ivy by the far end hidden pillar. He had a feeling Nancy was up to no good as he hastily walked closer to the pillar's direction where they were at.
On the way there, he texted Nick to inform him of the situation and managed to get an instant reply from Nick that he was looking for her as well and would arrive as quickly as he could. Nick also updated on Nancy’s refusal on her medication lately which worried Jason even more about Ivy's safety.
"I'm giving you a warning here. I reckon you, stay away from my boyfriend from now onwards. Quit your job. Get a life." Nancy hissed while pointing at Ivy’s chest direction.
Ivy raised her eyebrow, acted as though she had fallen into further confusion but in mind she was certain that Nancy had misunderstood her relationship with Jason but couldn’t understand the reason for her being feisty about it.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute… What does my part time job have to do with you or Nick for that matter?" Ivy tried to pry further and make more room as she stepped forward which triggered Nancy to move backwards a little but she snapped instantly hearing Ivy’s question.
"Whoever told you Nick is my boyfriend is a fool! My boyfriend has never changed since Jason!" Nancy retaliated as she stepped forward again and pushed Ivy back to the pillar; wasting all of Ivy’s earlier effort to escape.
Ivy was frustrated at the confusing situation as she tried to figure out who was the liar but knew she had to continue to play along with her confusion pretense as Nancy was getting out of hand. "Oh seriously! Then, Jason is the fool!" Ivy said as she tried to push her way out from being trapped by Nancy in a small area.
Jason was quietly creeping up on them till he was close enough to overhear their conversation. He could not help but to roll his eyes at Ivy's comments which were pulling her into deeper danger. He knew if he did not act fast, Nancy who was fuming and had no depression medication under control could do anything to harm Ivy. He sighed at the sight of Nancy’s old self whenever she refused medication.
When Ivy noticed the awkward silence from Nancy, she knew it was the best chance to escape. "Nancy… know what… I have never heard Jason mention anything about your relationships. How peculiar? But again my job has no affairs with your personal issues. It's just business. So, please mind your own business." Ivy nonchalantly said before she hurried towards the main entrance but was caught by Nancy on her left shoulder as she spun Ivy around.
"Do you think I have not known anything? How could a college student like you sleep with someone else's boyfriend? You're such a slut!" Nancy went berserk as she lifted her arm close to slapping Ivy but Ivy managed to hold on to Nancy’s arm. Ivy could feel the force was intense and knew she had crossed the line in provoking Nancy.
Jason could feel butterflies in his stomach just by watching Nancy nearly assault Ivy but Ivy’s laughter in such a tense situation halted him from revealing himself.
"Now that's the joke of the day! Regardless of who your boyfriend is, I hope they put up with your childishness well. You're worse than the professional childish teenagers in high school for goodness sake."
Ivy turned around wanting to quickly dash for the main entrance where there were guards but she stopped when she heard Nancy calling out to Jason. Jason appeared out of nowhere blocking Nancy from moving further which startled her.
"Jason! Aww honey! How did you know I was here?" Nancy exclaimed as she cuddled into his arms making Jason uncomfortable. Ivy, feeling guilty than ever, turned around and saw Nancy in his arms while Jason was giving her the signals to leave but she didn’t want to, knowing that he would get into trouble for the mess she caused. Instead, she walked closer to them which got into Jason’s nerves as he gritted his teeth in frustration.
"Is this for me?" Nancy asked while noticing the tea Jason was holding on to.
Jason quickly moved away from Nancy’s embrace and walked towards Ivy who looked as though she was walking into a war-zone to save him. Jason knew he had no choice but to use Ivy as a scapegoat at that point of time.
"Hey..." His stern look instantly changed into gentle and loving gazes as he softly called out to Ivy. Ivy blinked and halted midair in surprise at the sight of his sudden change in actions. She had been caught in such situations lately too often for her liking as she sometimes couldn’t tell if it was a pretense or was it real.
"Where do you think you're going?" He asked softly but loud enough for Nancy to hear as he hugged her by her shoulders, turning himself around to face Nancy with Ivy.
"This was for you. Your favorite, fruit tea and sandwich." Ivy was staring and blinking at him for an explanation as he was acting as though they were a couple. He pushed the tea and paper bag to her empty hand with his delicate gaze he held on to Ivy which drove Nancy even more berserk.
Jason could sense Nancy was at the top of her temper and as he continued to stall enough time for Nick to arrive. "And for you…” Jason said towards Nancy’s direction.
“This is my girlfriend." Jason’s last line caught both ladies off guard.
"Our relationship ended ages ago, Nancy. So please, stop bothering us. You should just get a life!" Jason said before drawing Ivy closer to him while Ivy fidgeted to loosen his arms but to no avail as Jason's will to keep her safe was stronger that she remained held tight in his arms.
"You better watch out if I catch you harassing my life again!" Jason warned as Nancy threw a fit watching Jason lead a very confused Ivy away.
Stolen story; please report.
On the way to the office building’s roof-top garden, Jason noticed Nick’s car arrived just in time, easing his mind of Nancy’s safety. Ivy on the other hand, was still trying to digest the whole event during the walk to the lift.
"Girlfriend? I thought he said they were over. It cannot be Nancy being delusional, is she? She did look problematic and haggard. Perhaps drowned by depression? No, no, no… What had Nick been doing? Something doesn't quite match. Either one of them was lying." She thought to herself in the lift ride and didn’t notice Jason was fuming with anger at her for putting herself in unnecessary danger.
When she entered the doorway to the rooftop with a gentle breeze greeting them, only then did she realised Jason had made her a scapegoat.
She turned around and put down her cup of tea and paper bag on the brick wall. "Are you out of your mind? Girlfriend? That was your ex out there!"
"Still my ex." Jason answered nonchalantly as he leaned on to the railings looking out to the skylines while Ivy snapped at him.
"Then you got back with her and then you dumped her again! What games are you both playing? Nevermind, I don't care what games it was but I don't want to be a part of this!" Ivy hissed while folding her arms.
"Listen, Ivy, it's not that simple. I never got back with her. She was with Nick. I had no idea what happened..." He was interrupted by a furious Ivy midway.
"Who gave you the consent to make me your girlfriend?!” Ivy yelled as he left his left arm hanging mid air for a moment.
“You're making your own decisions for yourself and your company, who cares but not for another insignificant person! I am not even connected to you in any ways other than being your student and part time intern! No girlfriend business!" Ivy was literally screaming at him at this point.
Jason knew he cannot speak to her nicely if he wanted her to understand the complicated situation.
"So you want to bring this up, don’t you? How many times have you spoken to others without looking at the person? The first time I ever saw you, you did that... Landsfield you did the same… So should I say you deserve the treatment I gave you all along?" He was forced to tease her to provoke more anger in order to make her realise how dangerous the situation earlier was.
“What does that have to do with this situation?” Ivy yelled and kicked at the pillar next to her as Jason felt satisfied at letting her taste her own medicine for making him that furious too.
“You're not insignificant, Ivy... You're great in fact. Happy now that you know how furious I was with you provoking Nancy?” Jason added on in the midst of his anger, fuming further as she got even more pissed off.
"Do you know how dangerous it was for you to pull that stunt just now?! You were nearly assaulted by her! She has depression and the only reason she is like that was because she had stopped her medication again! You should have acted like you didn't know her! Run off into the office! Or even contact me! She could kill anyone without medication, Ivy!" Jason yelled back at her as he stepped forward at each sentence pushing her vulnerable self backwards one step at a time to avoid him.
The whole situation finally made sense as they ran through Ivy's mind and she realised the level of danger and its consequences if Jason didn’t appear on time. She was shocked to learn about Nancy’s depression and wondered what had triggered it. She couldn’t help but to wonder if Nancy suffers the same as her while she sympathised with Nancy's situation.
"He's right. But that doesn’t mean he can do whatever he wants…" She thought. Jason knew she was getting more tense again from the change in her facial expression.
"Will it be nicer to watch me being harassed by my pathetic psycho ex and waste all your precious study and work time than being my fake girlfriend?" He asked before she could retaliate. He walked towards her, sending her walking further backwards before pinning her to the wall while gripping to her right hand as he faced her closely. He knew she was waiting for an apology from him as she fought to loosen her wrist from his grip in anger.
"Look, I'm sorry I caught you off guard earlier." He said gently, finally loosening his grip as she stopped fidgeting at the sound of his long awaited apology.
"I'm sorry I shot a desperate move. I had never reconciled with her ever since a few years ago when we broke up... Ever since, she was cheating on me with Nick. I heard what she said. It's just her not on her medication but I am not sure what’s going on... I have yet to speak with Nick properly on this… She might have misunderstood us from last weekend perhaps. Hence, I just played along to her misunderstanding." Ivy calmed down from his explanation.
However, she couldn't help but wonder if the song was written for Nancy while he was trying to forget her. As for Nancy, Ivy could feel something was amiss.
"I'm asking you now, would you please bear with me through this phase to ward her away from my life. Just till she subside her stalking games and continue her medications, would you please be the girlfriend till then?" He asked gently, seeing she had no replies. At the sound of his plea, she couldn’t help but to smile which ended up bursting out in laughter. It felt surreal for her as though he was asking for real.
He was a little confused at her laughter. "Was it so hard to say please and ask for consent?" She asked sarcastically while pretending to be upset and walked away to fetch her tea and sandwich.
"I'm sorry. The situation was tense. I had to use all my ways to ensure she doesn't harm you." He explained further as he trailed behind her, trying to convince her further while he watched her enjoy her favourite tea.
"Yes." She said abruptly as she agreed to his request but he did not understand.
"Thank you." She held up her tea to him as she smiled watching his confused reaction.
Jason, being doubtful whether she had agreed, unwrapped the packed sandwich and gave it to her.
"In return, please ensure to maintain my high distinction grades for accounts. I have tonnes of questions I need to ask you later tonight..." She said as she took the sandwich from him and munched a few bites while they took a seat at the bench next to each other.
He smiled and sighed in relief as he nodded in agreement when he finally understood she had agreed to his request of being his fake girlfriend.
”Congrats!” He wished as he acknowledged her exam results announcement. “Thank you! All thanks to you for your effort and opportunity! Next meal, my treat!” Ivy offered as he nodded.
His thoughts went back to Nancy. He noticed she seemed unsettled and frustrated. He wondered if her depression was worsening. He noted in his mind he must check with Nick later.
"What are you going to do with her?" She asked, noticing the change in his facial expression.
"Nothing." He understood she was asking about Nancy and lied as he shrugged.
"What happened anyway?" She asked while taking a large bite into the sandwich.
"Nancy is an orphan. She was taken care of by her grandmother from a young age due to abusive parents." Jason thought long enough and knew he had to share the history with Ivy since she was getting involved.
"Her grandmother died of old age and I was there, still naively loving Nancy and made a promise to her dying grandmother that I would make her my responsibility from then on. But who knew Nancy cheated and blamed it on her mood swings which now is diagnosed as depression. She was on medication but according to Nick, it seems lately she has stopped." Jason sighed.
She felt guilty as she had always wanted to satisfy her curiosity but instead it boomerang and hurt her as she sympathises with Nancy’s situation. She thought about her situation being the same as hers except she was abandoned by her parents and no one claimed their rights at the deathbed of her grandmother. She envied Nancy a little.
"The song was about her?” Ivy finally had the guts to ask as Jason nodded.
“‘I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have provoked her like that…” Ivy apologised as Jason patted her messy hair. “It wasn't your fault… You didn’t know… I didn’t expect her to react like that either…” Jason sighed.
“It’s not your fault either… None of it was. Everything happens for a reason." Ivy tried comforting him who was looking up at the blue sky, relieved that she finally knew the mystery she was dying to know.
"Thank you." She smiled. "For what?" He asked, looking at her.
"For killing the curiosity in this cat and for lunch." She winked as she giggled.
He could not help but to chuckle at her sense of humour especially in tense situations. “I haven’t scolded you enough earlier… How could you pull such a sense of humour in tense situations?” Jason smacked her lightly.
“Oh, you heard? How long were you there?” Ivy asked.
“Long enough to hear nearly everything!” Jason scolded jokingly.
“Oh, can’t blame me… It’s in the genes!” Ivy laughed as Jason chuckled and was glad to see Ivy in a better mood compared to her gloomy self before this. Thinking about Nancy’s depression issues made him remember Ivy's sleep disorders.
"Ivy, have your sleep disorders subsided lately?” He asked as she smiled and nodded.
“Thank you for Lucky and you…” She watched him smile brightly in response as he looked hesitant to pester further on the matter.
“Alright, got you smiling. Job done here, time to help your accountant before she too goes berserk!" Ivy stood and skipped away as she didn’t want to continue that topic. In mind, at times she was still contemplating his medical help offer.
"I promise I will sort out your accounting problems after work." Jason skipped along to catch up.
"Cool!" Ivy replied.
"Have fun with Ann! Don't leave till I leave as Nancy could be stalking and it's dangerous... At least for today." He warned as he entered the lift while she looked him in the eyes knowing he was talking about serious business and nodded.
She parted ways when they came out from the lift, directing herself to Ann, the company's accountant who always needed some hand to do filings.
"Hello! Am here! What can I do today?" Ivy greeted Ann as her face brightened at the sight of Ivy.
"Hey little intern! Come here.. Here's a stack of today's payments so please prepare the vouchers. Then, here are the invoices to file them in sequence. Then, you're free to help our boss thereafter." Ivy nodded cheerfully at Ann’s instructions.
After an hour, Jason was waiting for Ivy to assign her some business proposal drafting but she seemed to be caught up too long by the jobs from Ann. He decided to put them aside first while he accidentally caught sight of her father’s investing plans file. He kicked himself in mind that he had to stall his plan at least till Nancy’s situation recovered a little. That made Ivy his gem whom he cannot afford to mess around with as the stakes are high.
Ivy was enjoying her accounting tasks because while she filed the documents, she was also reading the journals and payment vouchers entries which helped with her accounting concepts. At the last voucher, she decided to check if Jason needed any help in his office but noticed he had gone off for a meeting.
Time was drowning away so fast that when Jason came back to the office, it was already dinner time. The sight of Ivy falling asleep on the couch in his office while studying made him wonder if she was really sleeping well at night or was she lying about her sleep disorders.
He approached to check on her but she stirred and woke up. “Hey… You’re back… Sorry, I dose off…” Ivy said groggily as she sat up. Jason patted her messy hair. “It’s alright. Everyone has left. Let’s pack and have some dinner?” Jason offered as she nodded.
Instead of dining out, they decided to pack dinner and eat during their tutor session. On the way home to Jason’s place, Andrew called Ivy for her history notes. Ivy was a little disoriented while driving as she noticed something strange at a corner of a straight road when Jason’s car drove by. She quickly ended the call by promising to share with him her mind map notes later.
Jason, who drove in front of her, panicked when he noticed Ivy made a dangerous swerve to avoid knocking somebody who jumped out of nowhere from a corner of the road. Just as Jason expected, Nancy did an ambush. She received a phone call instantly from Jason as she put him on loudspeaker while driving into the car park in his condominium block.
"You’re alright?" Jason checked with a stern but concerned voice.
"How long did you know?" Ivy asked as he watched Jason impatiently wait for her to park.
"The same moment you swerved ever so dangerously just to avoid her." He said as he hastily opened her car door when she unlocked them to help her retrieve her bags and files while she pressed the hang up button on her phone.
She smiled knowing it was the beginning of being a villain.
He tutored her on her accounts for the remainder of the evening while munching on dinner which she treated him. When Ivy had finished her clarifying her questions, she was practicing on some exercises leaving Jason to head for a quick shower.
When he came back downstairs, he found her dosed off again on the couch with Lucky and her notes must have fall off to the floor. He wanted to chase her to bed but thought after catching her dose off twice, he knew she must be very exhausted and decided not to wake her. Instead, he went to take a blanket to cover her but heard a loud crackling noise of branches from outside.
He knew someone was outside and it could be Nancy. He called the guards from his phone and could see the shadow was getting close to the visibility of his locked sliding door as he quickly went nearer to Ivy who was still asleep. Lucky was already in front of the sliding door barking at the shadow. He cursed himself for staying on a ground floor unit.
"Hello, this is your neighborhood guardhouse. How can we help?" The guard greeted him from the other line on the phone.
"Hello, there is a robber lurking in the neighborhood. Can you please come now?!" He whispered as he eyed the shadow not realising Ivy was awake from Lucky’s bark.
"Yes sir! Coming right up!" Jason hung up upon hearing the confirmation. He knew the shadow was Nancy as he could recognise her tall lean figure crouching near the rails, ready to appear in the visibility anytime. He could feel Ivy's heartbeat beating faster as he eyed downwards on her without realising he was hovering over her on the couch and she was awake.
"It's her isn't it?" She whispered as she saw his tensed eyes affirming them while busy keeping a lookout at the shadow.
Ivy swallowed hard thinking what she could do. She could sense Jason was getting more tense as they both wished the guards would appear faster. Without thinking further, her quick witted self pulled Jason down to her side as the shadow moved to view the living room.
Nancy was furious at the view of both of them cuddling on the sofa as though they were making out. Jason was caught off guard while Ivy kept giggling. He could see the shadow was watching them as he wrapped Ivy into a tighter hug.
"I’m sorry Ivy… Bear with me." Jason whispered as he smiled.
"What did you think I wanted to do? Take advantage and kiss you?" She giggled as he tickled her resulting in her screaming in glee.
Nancy heard the police patrol siren outside the gates of his condominium units before they came after her. She was throwing a fit at the guards who were trying to keep her under control and getting hold of Jason. Lucky was continuously barking at Nancy and the guards at the backyard.
"You're putting on a great show. But we need to handle the culprit." He said with a serious tone as he pushed himself away from the couch.
"Should I mess my hair up and look as though we made out?" She asked while sitting up on the couch. He nodded and burst out in laughter watching her messing her hair before getting the door to attend to the guards.
The guards reported to Jason on the situation with Nancy at his backyard as Jason informed them to wait for Nick who stayed nearby to come over. He quickly contacted Nick to inform on the urgency. While waiting, he left the guards to manage Nancy who was still throwing a fit and went back into the house to check on Ivy who was looking out from the sliding door worriedly with Lucky.
"Hey, you know where your room is. So get there and rest. I have to settle with them first." Jason said as Ivy nodded.
"Try to come home early and rest too." He made an alright sign with his finger as he went out to update Nick who just arrived.
“Nick, what’s up man? She seemed fine all along and had been taking her medication obediently. What happened?” Jason questioned Nick who was still catching his breath.
“I seriously have no idea. It was all fine till after I returned from the hospital… I have no idea what happened in between. Could it be because of the trauma she felt when I was hospitalised?” Nick suggested while panting.
“Stay here first… she’s behind with the guards.” Jason said softly and peeped at the corner in case Nancy was lurking while Nick continued to catch his breath.
“I don’t think it was trauma. How would you explain her refusing medication all of the sudden?” Jason pointed out.
“Dude, I really need your help to get her on her medications again else it’s tough to …” Nick sighed. “I know… I get it.” Jason patted his shoulder.
“Who’s that lass you’re dating?” Nick finally asked.
“How did you know?” Jason asked surprised.
“Nancy had been going on and on about it. Do you think that has something to do with… her stopping the medications?” Nick pointed out.
Jason finally understood. It was perhaps Nancy had misunderstood his entire situation and now surfaced as real to her because he played along. “Dude, it’s all an act for now just to ward her off and make her stay away from your replacement in the band competition.” Jason explained.
“Oh, Ivy! An act?” Nick raised an eyebrow suspiciously.
“Nancy mistakenly thought I was dating Ivy which in fact we weren't but because Ivy dangerously provoked Nancy earlier today so I had no choice but to put it all into an act… So yes, I am dating Ivy but it’s fake. Let’s keep this between us for now.” Jason whispered softly.
“You know in the long term, this wouldn't work out. If Nancy finds out, I have no idea what could be worse….” Nick suggested.
“I know. For now, we have no choice but to get her to take her medication by coaxing her like we did before…” Jason suggested as he recalled when her grandma first passed away, she refused her medication too and both guys had to take turns to persuade her to take her medication.
“Dude, you sure you can pull it? Especially when she knows you’re dating… well although it’s fake but it’s real to her.” Nick sighed.
“Dude, I’m counting on you this time…. I’m sorry… I know she is my responsibility but… “ Jason sighed.
“No, I owe you this. I made the mistake but yet you looked past it. I should share your responsibility too… In fact, I got a nurse from the mental health institute to give her the medication via injection. I guess we need to admit her in for the time being...” Nick patted Jason’s shoulder as both guys lamented their fate.
“Let me know if you need anything…” Jason offered as Nick nodded while both of them walked over to the backyard watching the nurse struggling to give Nancy her medication via injection.
Ivy went on to shower after locking the doors and drew the curtains. As she lay in bed, somehow, she was more worried about Jason solving the mess she created with Nancy than her peer pressures. She slowly drifted to sleep giggling over the incident earlier.
After the entire chaos, with Nancy pleading desperately not to be admitted to the institute and staying over at Nick’s place after obediently taking her medication, Jason finally had the chance to check on Ivy. Ivy had been fidgeting in sleep as he covered her with the blanket she kicked down the bed while Lucky loyally slept by her side. He held her hand for a moment as she stirred less when he brightened the dim table lamp lights a little. He wondered what her predicaments were to reach this state of sleep disorder. He wondered if it was really loneliness. If so, perhaps he should hasten his decision to reveal her identity to her father but a part of him was selfish and wanted to keep her by his side for now to help him resolve Nancy's situation.
"Am back. Everything's fine. Sleep well." He whispered gently as he tidied some loose hair away from her face. She eventually settled in as though she heard him before he left the room to rest after a long tiring night.