Ever since Jason found out about Ivy’s identity which he was trying to find confirmation of, he has been finding ways to pester her to accept his internship offer with Marcel. Marcel is aware of the urgency of circumstances. For the past six years he had been working side by side with Jason, it was his first time watching Jason being all over the place as this time it involved his long term plans to finally be able to expand his business.
For the time being, it had been a secret between them both. Marcel, in Jason's mind, is a very capable assistant in logistics and investigations since he was trained in the police force previously but due to injury, Marcel had to retire from the force. Hence, Jason wasn't worried when he allowed Marcel to act in extreme ways in order to get Ivy to start her internship. Besides, Marcel has grown to become his most trusted allied.
Ivy could finally find some time to fulfill the monthly hours of curriculum as she decided to join some college mates from basketball club in the court. Most students, even Andrew and Sandra were also busy trying to hit as much of their monthly quota of six hours of curriculum before the recent exams commenced which would take up most of their time to study. As for Andrew and Sandra, there weren’t the athletic types like Ivy. Hence, they both preferred to join the psychology club whereby there were lots of intriguing discussions which coincide with their choice of psychology faculty after finishing their foundation courses.
Ivy was quite upset with herself as she failed to qualify joining the psychology club. The fact that every participant had to score and maintain distinction at least for science every month was a tough task for her who struggled with the subject. Nonetheless, she was still grateful for her two best buddies who would share with her their topic of discussion as they knew she loved psychology too. Ivy had long forgo the idea of pursuing psychology as a tertiary qualification although she had a deep interest on the area. She knew after this year, she won’t get to mingle with Andrew and Sandra much despite whichever course she decide on as they both would be flooded with a lot of assignments and so would she but of different topics.
At first Ivy was rather keen with Jason’s offer. She took the opportunity whenever she was resting from studying for exams to plan her daily schedules till after the exam to accommodate the part time internship. She thought about the payment she would get which certainly was more than enough to cover her additional expenses for Lance and Belinda's upcoming birthday parties after Laura’s and became more determined to take up the offer.
However, Jason’s constant act of persistence has been getting on her nerves which made her second guess herself. Marcel had been tailgating Ivy for a few days to learn her whereabouts and familiarise himself with her schedules which mostly involved herself being around college. After a challenging basketball match one late morning, while Ivy was resting, Marcel approached her to let her know that Jason wanted to meet up as Jason had an urgent task on hand for her.
"Ms. Sutol, I am Marcel. Mr. Rahi sent me to tell you he would like to have a word with you in his office." Marcel greeted.
Ivy recalled he was the same person who failed to tailgate her on the way to the town club house before this. She knew Jason was eager to have an answer from her as she had stalled him for too long. However, her thoughts wandered to her accounts revision after her curriculum which was more worrying. It would be her first time sitting for the exam as an extra subject whereby she self studied with the materials she bought from the college’s bookstore. Hence, she used it as an excuse to escape wasting time to meet him.
"Sorry but I am too busy today. Next time then." Ivy quickly packed her bags wanting to leave but playing tough and sneaky this time was a huge mistake. After the previous time being fooled and his recent days of observations, Marcel could easily predict her next course of actions.
He noticed everyone was busy watching the basketball match at the court and that no one would notice them if he quickly slipped her away. He had no choice but to carry her sweaty self onto his shoulder all the way into his car.
"No! Marcel, put me down!" Ivy was screaming along the way to the car as Marcel quickly muffled her mouth by facing her closer to his back.
"Marcel! Stop!!!" Ivy screamed as loud as she could only to be muffled and stuffed into his car. Marcel had to put the car on child lock to avoid Ivy from jumping off as a precaution.
Ivy was extremely taken by surprise and annoyed as she fidgeted and lost her temper in the car. She combed her haywire hair and removed a strain from her lips which got caught when she was screaming earlier while Marcel drove in silence. She was testing her limits as she stomped her feet and grunted a few times only for Marcel to speed up the car even more which frightened her a little. She had no choice but to obediently sit in the car till they reached their destination.
When they arrived at the car park of the office block, Marcel thought he would need to carry her to meet Jason but instead she got down the car willingly with her bag and stormed directly into Jason’s office on the second floor by stairs. The entire floor of employees were stunned by the scene Ivy caused as they threw a questioning look at Marcel who caught up from behind. Some questioned Marcel on Ivy’s identity and her purpose of visit as her foul behavior didn't fit as a client. Marcel could only pull a straight face and walk straight to Jason’s office.
Jason, who had just finished a phone call with his client, was also caught by surprise to see her furious sweaty self standing in front of his office. Fortunately, he managed to keep his poise as he stood to walk over towards her who was standing by the couch. He caught a glimpse of frustrated Marcel who was about to enter his office and knew the employees must have bothered him about Ivy’s sudden dramatic entrance.
"Welcome Ms. Sutol! I have been waiting for your arrival. Shall we start with our trial internship this afternoon?" Jason greeted as he signaled Marcel to leave. Jason purposely spoke loudly so that the other employees could hear him to aid in easing their curiosity.
Ivy was in a very foul mood and the moment Marcel shut the door behind them, she threw her bags down the ground and walked forward to Jason. "Which part of I will consider it that you're not understanding? Have you lost your sense of language? Are you that busy or do you have too much money and nowhere to spend it?" Ivy was venting at him as she gritted her teeth several times.
Instead of retaliating, Jason knew from past experiences to get down to business with her before anything else. He took the file of receipts on his table and put them in front of her to instruct her to prepare some payment vouchers. A cheque was set by the side as she peeped to look at the generous amount of a hundred dollars. She squinted at Jason who was crossing his arms.
"You just need to fill in the payment vouchers for each receipt. If you're unsure of anything, you may just ask me. There is a sample to follow… As for the cheque, it is for you. I hope you can finish them today." Jason explained and sat back in front of his computer without waiting for a response.
Ivy calmed down a little as she knew better not to reject money especially when the task was simple. She sat and opened up the file filled with claim forms as she obediently wasted an entire afternoon helping him out only to reach home in the evening and caught a cold for not bathing after exercising.
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The next day, despite being slightly unwell and wasting too much time earning more money, she had to endure a birthday party she had paid for but was caught in between peer pressure. Although she was attending Laura’s birthday party, it felt as though Laura, Lance and Belinda were celebrating by themselves while Ivy, Sandra and Andrew were the restaurant's guests enjoying the food and talking among themselves. Ivy suspected due to the presence of Andrew and Sandra, the three of them were ignoring her.
“How much did you actually pay for this Ivy?” Andrew asked while munching on macaroons.
“Stop asking, Andrew. It will only distort your blossoming blissful psychological state of mind and paint it red. Just let me handle this my way while you both enjoy it.” Ivy tried to escape his question as she attempted to change the topic and wiped her runny nose with a tissue.
“Right, it will only agitate the state of mind even more. That’s how psychology works. Recently we actually discussed how every action will result in a reaction and these actions are what influences the nature of the reactions.” Sandra explained as she sipped on her tea.
“Hence, there are always ways to sell ice to Iceland. It's the choices of words and presentation which influences people’s perception and impression to approach the matter.” Andrew continued as he enjoyed other desserts from the tray.
“That’s deep and intriguing…” Ivy pondered on ways of applying the theories Andrew and Sandra mentioned to her situation with Jason.
“Something's bothering you?” Sandra asked, watching Ivy ponder in silence for a long moment as Ivy contemplated whether to tell them but decided not to just yet.
"Yes, you don't seem very well either…" Andrew added on noticing Ivy had been sniffing from her blocked nose as he sipped his cup of tea.
“Nothing. Just wondering what reaction those three would have if we step home now.” Ivy said after thinking long of an excuse to cover her problems with Jason and decided to head home to catch up on studies instead.
“They won’t even notice. I’m done and I have had enough. No more next time, Ivy.” Sandra warned Ivy who nodded playfully as they finished up their tea and walked off from the table.
Sure enough, the other three of them were oblivious about them leaving. Ivy turned back and caught a glimpse of their happy self taking group pictures. She lighted a small hope for them three to remain as happy as they are now and forever even if she wouldn’t be there to see it for herself.
Ivy knew their friendship still mattered to her although she was upset at them taking advantage of her all these years but she was glad she had successfully left happy memories to remind them of her. When Ivy reached home to catch up with studies, she kept checking her phone for any text messages from Laura or Belinda and Lance but nothing came from them at all. The wait made her ponder about the meaning of their friendship as she laid her head down on her notes on her study table to rest from too much reading. She assured herself even if their friendship was meaningless to them all these years, she had no regrets at least even if she had to bid farewell to it soon.
As Ivy drifted into sleep, she found herself in a bright white hallway. "Grandma, I'm sorry for the chaos!" Ivy heard an echo as she walked ahead of her in an all white environment. There was a soft gentle haunting melody serenading in the background. It was a soothing tone to her tired mind.
"Don't be silly… you're also my grandchild. These are the adults’ fault. Never yours. Stop blaming yourself." Ivy could hear voices and recognised it was her grandma's voice but no matter how far she walked the white halls, she found herself stuck in a loop.
"Grandma?" Ivy called out but no replies as she walked the hallway again but kept coming back in a loop.
"Grandma, the shield won't last long. By then, the princess will be awake and we must keep her safe… even from the truth…" A voice echoed again. This time Ivy knew it must be Phoenix. It was her first time not finding herself in the plains of irises. She began to panic as she had been running in the hallway in a loop many times.
"Help! Phoenix! Grandma! Let me out!" She screamed as she banged on the walls of the hallway but only the haunting calming tune was there to reply to her.
She could hear her grandma coughing badly while Phoenix seemed to be leading her grandma to a chair as she heard the screech of the chair against the ground.
"Grandma are you alright?" Phoenix echoed and Ivy could hear him pouring a glass of liquid.
"Here, drink this grandma. This iris portion will keep your qi energy replenished. The spell is subsiding…" Phoenix echoed worriedly.
"No, my dear child. Grandma is fine. The iris portion is running low. We must keep them for emergency. I must endure this for the princess's safety. Your father must not find her!" She coughed even more as she raised her voice on the last line.
Ivy was confused at their conversation. None of them made any sense as she banged even more on the walls of the hallway and saw a crack was appearing. She continued to put more force banging on the crack as her thoughts finally registered when her grandma mentioned Phoenix was also her grandchild. She wondered if that meant Phoenix was related to her but how.
The more she banged on the cracked wall which was giving way, the more her grandma coughed as her grandma’s qi energy was depleting. She had kept Ivy safe in her protective shield using her qi energy and away from the guards sent from Phoenix's kingdom. The guards were still waiting outside in the plains for Ivy to appear but both Phoenix and her grandma knew they were here to take Phoenix and Ivy back to their kingdom which she forbids as it would only end in tragedy.
"Grandma! Take it easy. I will manage the guard. Please rest now." Phoenix pleaded as she took one last look at Phoenix before she fainted. The moment she fainted, Ivy cracked the wall and broke through as bright pink hues of lights pierced through the opening of the wall.
She recognised the hues as the ones she had seen with her parents when she was young under the aurora lighted skies. As Ivy frantically called out for her grandma, the blinding bright lights were too eye soaring for her to endure that Ivy awoke from her dream. She was calling out to her grandma while gripping hard onto her bracelet as she found herself lying on top of her books at her study table. She noticed her bracelet was glittering with pink hues and wondered how she missed this sight previously from all her dreams. Moments later while she enjoyed the pretty sight, the hues began to fade away. She knew her bracelet would shimmer in pink hues occasionally but she never knew anything that would trigger it other than the time when she stood under the aurora sky with her parents. Even back then, her parents were surprised by the incident. She finally understood she must have taken too long struggling to recover from her sleep paralysis each time that she never really noticed these shimmering pink hues. It was a discovery which delighted and comforted her at the same time.
As she walked into the kitchen to fetch a glass of water while recalling her last trip with her parents back then, she stopped in front of the picture of her parents and her under the aurora sky. She began to miss her father who was the only reliable biological guardian she had. She wondered if he was successful at his ventures which made him left home and her mother back then. She also wondered what if her mother returned to her one day, would she be willing to accept her after all that she had done.
She lamented on the fact that all she could do was ponder on the uncertainty and wishful thinking which are unlikely to even come true. As she twirled her bracelet which no longer shimmered while finishing her glass of water and staring at the picture, she took refuge easing into the still of the night.