DISCOVERY II

Tenth floor is the topmost floor of the building. That's where the meeting will be held according to Ivan.

"Where will I stay? Don't tell me I'd have to go with you in the meeting room?" she was looking around to find a place she could sit.

"Come with me to the meeting room first. I'll introduce you to my friend. The meeting isn't starting yet so it's fine." Ivan held her hand and guide her to the meeting room. When they entered the room, all pairs of eyes were looking at them. Kaye looked around and smiled at them awkwardly until she saw a familiar face.

"Holy crap!" she muttered under her breath. Ivan looked at her startled hearing her curse.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked her worried of what made her curse. Kaye was silent for a moment before whispering to him.

"I just remembered something. Sorry. Where is your friend? Get him quickly so I can leave. The people here are staring at me weirdly." she told him in a low voice.

"Alex come here." Ivan called out someone from the room. The guy sitting on the first seat from the far end of the table stood up. He was handsome as well with that boyish vibe in him, unlike Ivan who appeared stoic and expressionless, this other guy was full of life.

"I'm here. Is there something I can help you with?" he appeared beside Ivan, but he was looking directly at her.

"This is Kaye." Ivan introduced her to the guy named Alex. "Alexander is my friend so it's better if you guys would get along."

"Nice to meet you." Alexander was all smile as he reached her hands for a shake.

"Nice to meet you, too." she responded to him. However, Kaye's mind was wandering somewhere. 'That woman might be here. What should I do?' she was so focus on her thought she didn't know what they were talking about.

"Got it. I'll be right back." Alexander patted Kaye's shoulder bringing her back to reality. "Let's go."

"Huh?" she was looking at him with confused eyes, then she moved her eyes to Ivan.

Alexander laughed at her behavior. "I know you wouldn't want to leave him, but the meeting will start soon. I'll send you to his office." he urged her to go with him which Kaye also followed giving Ivan one last look.

"Why can't Ivan send me himself?" she asked him with annoyance apparent in her voice.

"Ivan is important in the meeting so he needed to be there, whereas I, don't really matter." he answered, walking ahead of her with his hands on his pocket.

"Alexander, how long have you known him?" she asked just to find something they can talk while walking to wherever Ivan's office is.

"Just call me Alex. With regards to Ivan, I've known him a long time ago. How about you? I can see your closeness." he returned the question back to her.

Kaye walked behind him silently but Ivan didn't urge her to answer the question. It took a while before she answered him. "I've known him for few months. Did he smile a lot when he could still see the world?" Kaye asked trying to know what kind of person Ivan was before meeting her.

"You mean Ivan? I don't know. In my entire life with him, I haven't seen him smile. You know, he was called Mr. Pokerface in our school before." Alex willingly shared his experience with Ivan. "His parents told me before that he was lively and full of life as a child but something happened when he was on vacation with his Auntie. That's Ivan's story to tell. You could ask him. I'm pretty sure he would tell you." 'Because he likes you.' Alex wanted to add it but he didn't want to die in Ivan's hands.

"I'm glad he's got a friend like you." Kaye gave Alex a smile as they stopped in front of a room. 'This must be Ivan'a office.'

"He's indeed lucky." Alex said before opening the room for her. "I'll ask someone to send you food while waiting. If you want to sleep, there is an adjacent room that you can use." Alex was showing her around the room before taking something off from the table.

"Thank you. I hope the meeting won't take long." she said it more to herself than to anyone but Alex still heard her.

"I'm pretty sure Ivan would finish it as soon as possible." Alex said which made her frowned her brows.

"Why would Ivan have to decided when to finish it?" she asked Alex who was now scratching his face with an awkward smile, making him more suspicious.

"It's because Ivan will be doing the presentation today. And you know why it would take long." Alex made an excuse which sounds reasonable.

Kaye thought it made sense. Ivan being blind would take time with a presentation but knowing it would be him, Kaye didn't mind waiting. "I wish him success. I'll behave here. Don't worry about me. You can go back to the meeting."

"Alright. I'll send someone to bring you the snacks. Bye." Alex left the room hurriedly as if staying there would put him more in trouble. Well, it would, specially if he continued to slip more information about his friend. He will surely be in trouble.

Kaye put her paper bag on the couch and walked around the room. She looked at the displayed photos of Ivan when he was younger. There was a photo of him holding a black cat, probably taken when he was nine or ten years old.

As Kaye continued to look at the photos, her brows were drawn together. There were two photos of Ivan holding a cat, one was when he was putting something on it's mouth and the other picture was when he raised the cat up high.

The younger version of Ivan looked familiar to her.