Novels2Search

Chapter 27: Just a broken trust

“Yo sicky Ivy! You’re finally home!” Andrew greeted as Ivy opened the glass house at her grandma's house. She was sniffing a little as she blew her nose while Andrew and Sandra walked into the glass house. Sandra upon noticing Ivy was still sick, quickly wrapped a blanket around her.

“Why are you out here?” You should drink something warm and stay warm…” Sandra nagged as Ivy sniffed. “Hmmm… I am fine… I just needed some fresh air…” Ivy said as she sat by the table.

“Where are my notes?” Ivy asked with a raspy voice. Andrew quickly took out his notes and passed them to her. “Thanks buddy… I will try to copy them all today and return to you tomorrow in class….” Ivy said before taking more tissues to wipe her nose.

“You’re staying here tonight?” Sandra asked as Ivy nodded. “Where’s Lucky?” Sandra looked around for him. “He is at Jason’s place…” Ivy said while flipping over Andrew’s notes.

Sandra raised an eyebrow while looking at Andrew feeling strange. “You should rest more since you’re still unwell…” Andrew said as Ivy looked at both of them while smirking, trying to change the topic.

“Come… spill the beans… I haven't got the chance to hear from you both about how you both started this whole dating story…” Ivy wriggled her eyebrow teasing both of them.

“You’re still unwell… We shall save this for another day! Byeeee!” Andrew quickly exited the glass house as Ivy chased him. “Run all you want! I am going to knock it out of you today!” Ivy said while they all chuckled. “Are you sure you’re still sick Ivy?” Sandra called out from behind them before they all settled down by the stairs looking out to the pretty view from the roof top unit with Andrew being caught by Ivy of no escape.

“Didn’t I tell you not to confess that day?” Ivy nagged Andrew as she twisted his ears. “Ouchhh!! Listen, I can explain!” Andrew wailed as Sandra covered his mouth. Being seated between both girls, he couldn’t help but to feel like he was being bullied. “Help! I am bullied! Anybody out there?! Help!” Andrew pretended to wail for help softly as Sandra chuckled while Ivy smacked him.

“Are you telling me or not?” Ivy pestered. “Alright…. Alright…” Andrew said in all seriousness as he looked at Sandra who nodded with a smile.

“There was a little misunderstanding…” Andrew said while putting out the action on his right hand. “What misunderstanding?” Ivy asked as she sniffed her stuffy runny nose.

“She thought I wasn’t interested in her…” Andrew pouted as he blushed and buried his face onto his palm and pretended to sulk.

“What?” Ivy asked while giving a very surprised face. “And was that why you dated someone else?” Ivy asked while looking at Sandra who also blushed and nodded.

Ivy made sense of the entire misunderstanding and stood cheering. “Yessssss!!! You’re both finally….” Before she could finish cheering, both Andrew and Sandra stood to cover her mouth and stop her from cheering any further. “Stop!” They both yelled.

“Nobody knows about us except you!” Sandra said in a lower voice. “Oh! Oh! Alright… sorry sorry!” Ivy calmed down and apologised in a lower voice as well. “Let’s get into the house then!” She urged as the three hurriedly scurried into the house via the side door.

Ivy couldn’t stop herself from being excited for them both as she jumped around the house. “Ivy, are you sure you are sick? You don’t act like one at all… Are you faking sick to get your boyfriend’s attention?” Andrew teased as Ivy sat on the couch with them.

“Hey, fake boyfriend! And no, I was really sick while helping him while he was drunk at an event…” Ivy explained as she shook her legs.

“Drunk?” Sandra clarified in surprise. “Did he do anything to you? Did you both…” Sandra’s imagination had gone wild as Ivy fanned her with her hands.

“Stop thinking nonsense. Nothing happened. I just sat by his side and took care of him till he was sober…” Ivy explained.

“That better be the case… Then, how did you get yourself sick like this?” Sandra asked as Ivy rolled her eyes.

“Got caught in the rain while helping him to get some necessities to stay sober… Don’t worry, nothing happened…”Ivy attempted to assure both of them as Andrew smirked at her while Sandra snarled at her.

“Don’t ever let him touch you especially when it’s all fake…” Sandra warned as Ivy stared at her sudden seriousness.

“Yes, madam!” Ivy saluted her as they all laughed.

The thought of last weekend ran through Ivy’s mind as she couldn’t help but to smile even more at her first ball dance. If only she hadn't been so sick and slept so much the last two days, she would have caught up with Andrew and Sandra even earlier. She was then reminded of Jason’s offer over the weekend for Belinda’s birthday as she told the both of them.

“Hmmm… About Belinda’s birthday party over the weekend… There’s something a little different than usual about it…” Ivy said as she gave an innocent smile while the other two raised a questioning eyebrow at her.

“Hmm… It would be at the downtown hotel… I got work to do at night with Jason…” The moment she started to explain, both Andrew and Ivy couldn’t help but to ambush her with questions.

“You’re not coming?” Andrew asked shockingly and before Ivy could answer, Sandra asked her question.

“Why did you spend so much? Do you know downtown hotels are always so expensive!” Sandra scolded.

“Yet you’re not coming! What a waste!” Andrew scolded her too this time as she kept quiet.

“Ivy, we told you to ditch them long ago… Why didn’t you listen?” Sandra whined as Ivy waited patiently for both of them to finish venting their anger. After a moment of silence, she decided to continue and explain.

“I haven’t finished explaining…” Ivy said as they both turned at her and bombarded her with more venting.

“You don’t have to explain. Just cancel the party… I will come with you to request for the refund…” Andrew said.

“But…It’s free…“Ivy said but her voice was drowned by Sandra’s loud scolding. “Cut ties with the trio… they are not worth it too!”

Ivy sighed. “I said it’s free…”

Andrew and Sandra widened their eyes. “What do you mean it’s free?” Andrew asked.

“Listen before you babble away… Jason offered me to utilise his resources. This weekend’s event actually prepared us a free suite so the both of you could stay with us in the suite. The usual allocated budget for a room will be used to… well, he said book a room for the trio but I will let you both decide… As for the party, we are entitled to a free table. I will put the trio there and hopefully the both of you could keep them accompanied while I work backstage.” Ivy smiled with puppy eyes at the both of them.

Andrew gave it a thought and felt it wasn’t a bad idea but was against booking a room for the trio.

“Hmmm… I disagree with using his money to book a room for the trio. In fact, who cares and that would mean the entire party is free anyway.” Sandra spoke Andrew’s mind as he looked at her eye to eye and she knew it was the same thing he thought about. They both couldn’t help but smile.

“Alright then… I will let Jason know. Yay! We are going to have a great weekend!” Ivy cheered as she hugged both of them.

She reminded herself to text Jason later in the evening only to forget all about it even when he called. Jason had been busy trying to finish up his proposals and meetings for the week while pushing some of the meetings for next week to this week as he was making time to Landsfield to discuss with Ivy’s father in detail on their merger plans.

He already had a confirmation email from Mr. Ophal earlier on Monday. Although his plans had made him tempted to call it off a few times but he drowned himself with work to distract himself. When night fell, he couldn’t help but to find himself missing Ivy. The last two nights he had watched over her recuperating but when she told him she will stay at her grandma’s place tonight, he couldn’t help but to worry as Lucky wasn’t with her. He saw it was past midnight and wondered if she had slept before calling her.

Ivy was still copying notes from Andrew’s books as she answered his call and put him on loudspeaker without noticing it was a video call.

“Yes, boss?” She said while writing her notes.

“It’s so dim… Are you asleep?” He asked as Ivy suddenly noticed it was a video call and ran over to her bed as she put down her pencil. Jason smirked knowing she was still studying the moment he heard the pencil touch the table.

Ivy pretended to mess her hair and looked sleepy as she showed herself on the video. “Yes… What is it you want?” She asked while yawning as Jason laughed.

“Stop the act… I heard the pencil…” He said as she couldn’t help but to laugh in the middle of her second yawn.

“Feeling better?” He asked as she nodded and smiled.

“Why did you leave him here?” He asked, showing Lucky who was by his side. “I’m busy trying to finish up my notes. I need to return the books to Andrew tomorrow… I will be fine. Don’t worry, I have my night light.” She said assuring Jason who nodded.

“I will see you tomorrow? I need to rush a bit more…” Ivy said as she walked back to her study table.

“Alright, don’t stay too late. Stay warm. You sounded like your nose is still very congested.” Jason nagged.

“Yes, it is. Don’t worry. I have a sweater on…See you!” She said as she pressed the hang up button and continued on with her notes while Jason sat in bed hugging Lucky and thought about her and his plans. He sighed as he let his mind battle with his heart trying to make him call off the meeting next week with her father while he drifted to sleep.

“Jason, I don’t think this has anything to do with Ivy or Nancy…” Marcel said as he put down a blue file in front of Jason who was furrowing his eyebrow in confusion the next day in office.

Jason read the bank statement in front of him and was shocked to find a large withdrawal of seven hundred thousand which he couldn’t relate what expenses it was for.

“Seven hundred thousand dollars? Was this for the roadshow?” Jason questioned as he flipped over to find no supporting documents.

Marcel shook his head. “All of the roadshow expenses had supporting documents. Only this particular transaction does not have any supporting documents to it…” Jason squinted his eyes looking outside of the office thinking of what were the possibilities as he thought of the only person other than Marcel who could withdraw from the company’s account was Ann, their accountant and Ivy but Ivy only could deposit cheque and not issue any payments.

“What do you think we should do about this?” Jason asked Marcel as he thought hard for a plan.

“I have checked with the bank and all withdrawals have been made by Ann… They have never seen Ivy before this.” Marcel lowered his invoice as Jason was thinking of ways to handle Ann and Ivy.

“But we don’t have enough proof…” Jason said as he rubbed his chin.

“Yes about that…I have checked the CCTV and it was proven that Ivy left first before Ann on the day of withdrawal…” Marcel half mumbled knowing it would involve Ivy while Jason interrupted him.

“Do you want to take a bet?” Jason asked Marcel as he raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t understand… What’s the plan?” Marcel said as he held two arms out to hold the table and support himself while he bent down a little facing Jason.

“Just tell them both they are under investigation and they can only handle the accounts once we are done with the investigation. I am sure the real culprit will show themselves…” Although Jason said it nonchalantly, his eyes were trembling thinking about facing Ivy.

A part of him knew it wasn’t her but he knew he had to treat work professionally. Marcel stood straight and touched his chin pondering.

“Go ahead and tell them…” Jason urged Marcel to proceed as mentioned as he walked towards their place to tell them of their suspension.

Ivy was surprised at first but felt something wasn’t right as Ann kept looking guilty and kept quiet all the way. Instead of questioning her, she knew better to abide by the management decisions. “Alright. I will take a break from work while the investigation is ongoing…” Ivy agreed immediately while Ann looked at her in a state of shock as she didn’t expect Ivy to agree without a fight.

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Ivy didn’t show a sign of rebellion or being upset as she packed her bags while Ann came up with an idea. “I know who it was…” Ann announced out of the blue that even Jason paid close attention. All eyes were on Ann as she stepped closer to Ivy who was looking at her for an answer.

“It’s her…” Ann pointed at Ivy’s direction as Ivy raised an eyebrow and squinted.

“During the roadshow, there was only the both of us in the office and I told her to pass some files to Mr. Rahi and also make withdrawal for the usage of the roadshow. She wanted to bank some cheque so I handed her the company bank card… So it was her who took the money…” Ann pointed back at Ivy again as Ivy watched Ann making her into a scapegoat.

Ivy looked across the office towards Jason who looked very upset. She couldn’t tell if he believed Ann but all she knew was she was innocent. Ivy contemplated on saying her thoughts as she took a step forward towards Ann and decided to stand up for herself.

“What she said was half truth. I only send the files to Mr. Rahi’s house for urgent signature. I never went to the bank with the bank card nor did I make any withdrawals or deposited any cheque that day. I will fully cooperate with the investigation… I have nothing to hide.” Ivy spoke with confidence that Nancy looked across at Jason who didn’t flinch at all.

Nancy knew Jason already had an idea who he was dealing with as she stood by the corner not worrying about Ivy anymore. Jason recalled that day Ann mentioned and instantly remembered it was the day they fought over her getting injured due to Nancy.

Jason was waiting for Ann to give herself away as he patiently watched all her false charges thrown at Ivy. A part of him felt as though he was ripped apart for watching Ivy being made the scapegoat but he knew it was the only way. Ivy knew in circumstances like this she had to fend for herself although she was innocent no one would believe it if she kept quiet all the way although she hoped Marcel and Jason didn’t doubt her.

Marcel stepped in between both ladies. “There is no proof to what both of you have just said… We request for both of you to leave the premises till investigation is completed…”

“No need… You want proof? Here they are…” Ann threw out the withdrawal notes on the table and cheque deposits note.

Jason’s lips curved up into a smile as Ivy raised an eyebrow at Ann. A part of her had already known Ann had given herself away. Marcel was trying to contain himself from smiling while taking a look at the withdrawals receipts and confirmed the dates to be correct.

However, Ivy couldn’t help but to be upset at Ann’s treatment towards her. Ivy had always thought Ann was a great colleague and friend. While she helped Ann out, she learned a lot from her. Unfortunately, as Ivy swallow her saliva trying not to be overwhelmed by her emotions at the familiar feeling of denial and disappointment state of mind she experienced every time she felt she was taken advantage of, she knew at this point no matter how she fight to defend herself, the person trying to scheme her way out would still try to find ways to hide the truth.

“Don’t you think you’re giving yourself away too much?” Jason knew it was at Ivy’s breaking point as he asked from a far as he walked over to the crowd. He wasn’t specifically looking at Ann but more towards Ivy to study her emotions but instead she was concealing them well. She was raising an eyebrow questioning him in confusion. Ivy’s messed up mind made her decide to give up defending herself anymore and leave instead.

“I shall be obliged with the management decision to leave till your investigation is completed…” Ivy said before walking off to the main door leaving everyone in a surprise. It took Jason by surprise that she was very professional and instead of helping her out, he seemed to have created a misunderstanding with Ivy. He told himself to handle matters on hand first as he turned his head towards Ann.

“I was talking to you earlier…” Jason said sternly as most of the staff in the crowd gasped.

“We already have evidence of you leaving the office last on that day and the bank has confirmed that the only person who does withdrawals is you Ann and not Ivy on that day… What else do you have to say for yourself?” Jason was raising his voice which frightened Ann a little.

“I’m sorry Mr. Rahi! Please forgive me…” Ann finally admitted to it as she knelt before him.

“You’re dismissed with immediate effect… Call the police Marcel!” Jason announced as Ann held on to his hand and begged him.

“Please don’t report me… Please don’t fire me Mr. Rahi! I needed money to pay for my child’s hospital bill for an operation on his heart… Please Mr. Rahi…” Ann begged as Jason signaled Marcel to handle her.

Marcel tried to help Ann up but Ann crawled to Jason and begged him instead. “I cannot trust your work any longer Ann. This is about being integrity and trustworthy. I can don’t report you but it would be best for you to hand in your resignation…” Jason said as he stormed back into his office.

Marcel and some security guards helped to clear away Ann’s things into a box and helped her up to walk her out of the office.

Marcel went into Jason’s office to find him holding on to his pounding head facing the window.

“Jason… Ann has left. About the money…” Marcel said before Jason interrupted him.

“I will reimburse the company. Take it as a compassionate payment to Ann… After all, she, had her predicaments. If only she came to me to speak about it before doing such stuff…” Jason said while wincing.

“Do you need some medication?” Marcel asked, noticing Jason must have a migraine. Jason shook his head.

“I will arrange to find a replacement for Ann…” Marcel added as Jason shook his head again.

“You don’t have to for the time being… I will assign Ivy to the task. I will get home to speak with her for now…” Jason said as he stood to leave while Marcel nodded and followed him to drive him home.

Ivy felt so disappointed at Jason as she misunderstood his actions earlier. She could accept being accused by Ann and she suspected Ann would have a good reason in doing so but she felt strange when Jason doubted her.

As she drove away from the office building, she kept strong all the way not to burst into tears only to find herself arriving in front of his house. She couldn’t resist dropping in and taking a look at Lucky. She sprawled down on the floor in front of the sliding door after she let herself in. The heavy downpour came outside while she hugged Lucky as she sobbed in the dark living hall.

Lucky whined, trying to comfort her but to no avail. Eventually, Ivy fell asleep hugging onto Lucky.

“Mummy!!!” Ivy called out as she saw the familiar lady’s face from afar in her dream. The lady had an identical nose as herself, she noticed while she called out to her again.

“Mummy! Is that you?” The lady’s eyes were beginning to squint as though trying to pierce Ivy with her glares. Ivy trembled at the sight of it as she walked backwards a few steps before the lady caught up with her.

Before Ivy knew it, in the speed of light, she was pushed off from where she stood as the lady let out a shrilling laughter. This time Ivy took a good look at the lady she called out to was smirking at her before letting out the chilling laugh. Her subconscious knew she was back to the dream where she fell off the building looking at a lady she called to as mother but was doing the contrary of what a mother does. Her heart ached even more, longing for a warm embrace as she watched the lady’s face growing further and further.

“Mummy!” She wailed awake which frightened Lucky who stood leaving Ivy continued crying in the dark realising she was at Jason’s house as reality of events hit her. She could hear the rain was getting heavier outside as she let out all of her disappointments and fears while Lucky whined by her side. In the moment of agony, the loneliness she felt long ago slowly came back to haunt her as she longed for her grandma’s embrace.

When Jason left the office, Nancy was worried about Ivy who had misunderstood the entire situation. She decided to drop by Jason’s house briefly before she headed home. Jason wondered if Ivy was at his house as Marcel reached his front gate. He lifted his pounding head to see Ivy’s car parked in front of him.

A part of him was relieved as his headache subsided a little. “You may leave for the day, Marcel…” He said as he hastily alighted the car and headed into a dark living hall.

He could tell from the silhouette in front of him, Ivy was lying on the ground. He panicked a little as he went to check on her only to find her asleep.

He wanted to carry her up to her room but he heard running footsteps outside and soon a shadow appeared by the sliding door. He knew Nancy was worried about Ivy too as he carried her into his arms and cuddled her instead. She stirred awake looking eye to eye with Jason. She sniffed a little as she pushed him away only to be caught back into his arms. She remembered she woke up crying from her dream a while ago. She thought to herself she must have fallen asleep again as she sobbed in his arms feeling the warm embrace she had longed for. He gently patted her as Nancy watched them under her umbrella and pitied Ivy.

Lucky whined a little as he worriedly paced around Ivy’s head while Jason patted Lucky to sit by his side. “Were you dreaming again? It must be terrifying, isn't it?” Jason whispered softly as she held onto the collar of his shirt.

“It’s alright… I am here… Lucky’s here too…” He cuddled her more and continued patting on her shoulders. While she sobbed, her conscience told her she had business matters she should handle as she tried to control her feelings to calm herself down. Jason noticed she seemed to be more calm as he quickly took the chance to explain things to her.

“Lucky… See, Ivy is so upset today because she was wrongly accused by her colleague in the office today…” Jason explained to Lucky who was sitting in front of him who tilted his head a little as Ivy kept herself quiet while she sniffed listening to him talking to Lucky.

Jason continued when he noticed Ivy was paying attention. “Ivy didn’t wait till the end of my clarification and left. She missed watching how the culprit was caught…” Jason said while patting Lucky’s head.

“You did?!” Ivy sat up on his lap asking him as it took him by surprise looking close at her face in front of him. Ivy jerked away a little, noticing they were close enough for their lips to touch. He quickly pulled her back remembering Nancy was outside.

“She is outside…” He whispered while moving his eyes towards the sliding door direction.

Ivy automatically wanted to look outside the sliding door but he turned her head around to face him.

“Yes… You missed the show… How long have you been crying? Have you eaten?" She shook her head as her eyes welled with tears again. He wiped them away.

"It's alright. Don’t cry. I’m sorry." He hugged her while she sat on his lap and sobbed a little, remembering Ann’s accusation.

"Let's head for tea?" He suggested because he couldn’t stand anymore if their faces were ever close again and tea usually gives a calming effect. She nodded while trying to recover from her overwhelming emotions.

He carried her and walked with her arms hooked around his neck, up the stairs to the balcony before putting her down.

“Sit… I will come back with tea…” He said before patting her head as she cuddled with Lucky.

Ivy sighed in relief knowing at least Jason knew the truth but she couldn’t help but wonder what was going on with Ann. The thought of Ann made her eyes welled up again as it hurt her to be accused by someone she trusted so much.

"One pomegranate tea coming right up!" Jason noticed Ivy was busy wiping away her tears when he returned with their tea that he tried to act funny to lighten the mood.

She couldn’t help but to giggle at his cute actions trying to imitate a waiter serving her as she took the cup of tea from him. As she took a sip, she thought she should clarify with him about her actions earlier.

"You know, it was you whom I was upset about at first. I thought you really didn’t believe me but I…" She stopped to look at his reaction as she was a little embarrassed for misunderstanding him earlier. He stood listening to her and decided to sit by her side as he sighed.

He turned her to face him, longing to explain his actions but instead he stared at her. He couldn't help but to notice her puffy eyes and naive look that made him realise it might not be easy to explain after all.

"I understand why you did that, as my superior… You had to and you did the right thing." Ivy explained while cupping her fingers locked with each other while looking away thinking of ways to explain herself to him.

"Then why did you make them these puffy?" He asked as he touched her left eye side while pushing a few loose strands of hair to the back of her ears as she looked at him.

Her eyes couldn't help but to be stung by the welling tears as she blinked them back. She looked away again as she closed her eyes. "Friendship..."

It struck him to realise what it meant. Ivy has very few genuine friends including himself and he knew she must have treated Ann as one.

"I..." Her voice broke unexpectedly as she sighed and forced herself to continue to explain.

"Didn't expect her to do that... She was one of those genuine friends and I understand she had her predicaments for what she had done and blamed me but I guess..." She took a deep breath and let it go with a pout.

He sat closer to her.

"Sometimes, it's the desperate measures at work. It's not her will to create such reactions at that moment but it was her worries and fears. She had a child with heart problems and an exorbitant operation cost to cover... I could understand her desperate actions but I wished she had come to speak to me or perhaps even shared with you before taking such extreme measures…” Jason explained as he pulled her in for a hug.

“Did you keep her around in the end since she had admitted and given you her reason?” Ivy asked hopefully as he shook his head. He watched Ivy become disappointed.

“Why?” She mumbled.

“There are operating procedures Ivy… It wouldn’t be fair to other employees. Besides, I didn’t report her or make her pay the company. She should count her blessings too that she was asked to hand in her resignation…” Jason explained as he looked at the rain.

Ivy pondered on his actions and thought it was reasonable as she nodded in agreement. Although she was satisfied with her termination, she pouted thinking about losing a friend and colleague. Jason noticed the sudden change in her face reaction as he patted her shoulder to console her.

“Perhaps she would some day come to realise what you both had..." Jason said, reminded of her being affected by their friendship as she nodded and kept blinking her tears away.

Ivy looked down at her feet as she repetitively flicked two fingernails together. Despite being able to begin to accept the fact and keep her mind at ease but her actions spoke otherwise.

Jason held her hand fearing that she might injure herself.

"Take it easy, Ivy... In the society out there, it's worse. There is plenty of corruption and many people either suffer and die or live on and turn for the better or crave for more. It's a cruel world out there and we can't take things for sure every time. It’s not any of our faults for such events to happen."

Ivy watched him eye to eye as she realised it was a learning curve she climbed. She nodded, giving a sad smile.

"I know. I understand where you're coming from and your point. I'm fine. I will be. I just need some time to absorb and get over it myself." She sighed, looking out at the sight of the rain.

"We have an important client coming up. You should come with me." Jason said to distract her attention and diverted to work.

"Alright I will, with pleasure." She smiled.

"In fact I was thinking if you wanna take over Ann's job since you have been watching and helping her all along. I will hire soon as I know you would get busy with finals and move on with another faculty eventually. But for now, work with me on some client meetings to train you other than some bookkeeping?" Jason suggested as he unexpectedly watched her mouth pout again.

She was pouting at the thought of leaving him to further her studies in another town since she was determined she wanted to pursue business administration faculty ever since she started her internship. “You still cannot decide on which faculty yet?” Jason asked wondering if it was her worry this time.

“Still thinking… Still thinking…” She mumbled as she looked away from him trying to lie her way out. Jason lightly tapped her nose knowing she must have had a decision in mind.

“So, will you agree to my arrangements?” He asked again as she smiled and nodded; reminding herself to appreciate every single moment with him.

"Alright, so you wanna stay here? There's a lot of work to be done. Oh yes, are you having exams soon?" Jason asked while being reminded of her upcoming exam as she nodded.

“Next two weeks…” She said in a very muffled voice as her nose became more blocked. He noticed the change in her voice.

“Alright, then you should focus on studies after this week. Quickly recover and stop crying. Your flu is not getting well.” He tickled her nose as she smacked his hand away playfully.

“I won’t be around next week as I have a business trip to another town. I will be flying off on Sunday after this Saturday’s emcee’s job. Don’t forget to extend invites to your friends already. While I am away, Marcel will be in charge of the office and please come over to keep Lucky accompanied so that I won’t have to send him to my mother’s place…” Jason begged as she chuckled.

“How did you know Andrew and Sandra agreed?” She asked, surprised as he winked.

“I can read your mind…Call me Fortune Teller Jason from now on…” He teased as she laughed out loud.

“Alright, I will tell my other friends now…” She said while leaving a text to Belinda.

Considering it was her last semester in foundation course, she was reminded that her classes have been reduced and extra circular has been stopped to allow students to spend more time preparing for their finals. However, Ivy lamented at the thought of spending more time on her internship. She wondered if it was a good or bad thing.

"You're not afraid of what I will do to your house while you’re away?" Ivy teased, noticing he was staring out at the rain deep in his thought battling out to convince himself to call off the meeting next week. He thought a little at her tease before he gave her a very honest answer.

"I know you well enough to trust you that way." He winked as he jumped off the chair and walked away before sticking his tongue out at her.

"Oh really?" Ivy teased back as she laughed following him down the stairs with Lucky.

A part of her was glad that she managed to gain clarity from the situation although she may be still a little upset with Ann but it made her ponder on her friendship with Belinda, Laura and Lance. Deep in her, she knew she should have cut off friendships with them which was obvious but instead, the friend she didn’t expect to lose has just disappeared without a trace from her life.

It made her appreciate people around her more than ever as she reminded herself that time was short and she had more goodbyes after this she had to be prepared for.