IVAN ON A TRIP I

The next day, Kaye woke up early to do her morning routine. She had contacted her secretary already to clear her schedule before 1:00 in the afternoon.

"Good morning, young miss." greeted the guard who was having his morning coffee.

"Morning chief." Kaye responded while stretching.

After doing some morning exercise, she took a rest and ate her breakfast. She was on her way upstairs to take a shower when she met her mother.

"You're early today." Maggie stated when she met her daughter on the stairs.

"Ivan's going on a trip. I'd like to send him off." Kaye said with a faint smile tugging on her lips.

"Oh. Be careful then." Maggie gave her a pat on her shoulder. Kaye walked past her towards her room. Maggie smiled while shaking her head in bewilderment. "My baby has grown." she commented as she got down to the first floor.

Kaye took a warm shower as quickly as she could but still she spent almost half an hour in the shower.

She dried her hair with just her bathrobe on. After drying her hair she opened her closet to look for clothes she could wear.

She picked up a dress with long sleeves, black top and white skirt with a floral pattern on it. It's best to cover her scars. She chose a black ankle boots to pair with it. She chose a white hand bag to place her personal things.

She didn't need to put on make up since she has beautiful skin so she didn't take so much time.

Kaye arrived before 7:00 in the morning to pick up Ivan. "Good morning, uncle Chad." Kaye greeted Chadwick when she alighted the car.

"Hi Kaye. Come inside. Ivan just finished his breakfast." Chadwick responded who was busy tinkering the car. He and Yvonne had to go to work as well.

"Thanks uncle." Kaye walked towards the house with happy vibe.

"Morning auntie Yve." Kaye greeted Yvonne who was changing her indoor slippers into a shoes for work.

"Morning sweetie." Yvonne greeted her back with a kiss on her cheeks. "Ivan's getting his things down. We'll be leaving first." Yvonne turned around and walked towards the garage where Chadwick was preparing the car.

Kaye waved her hand at them before getting inside the house. Even before Ivan came back, she was given her own set of keys already to the house. They treated her like a child of their own when Ivan wasn't around since Chadwick couldn't give her a child of their own.

"I'm really troubling you." Ivan spoke when he saw Kaye sitting on the couch at the living room.

"Not at all." Kaye smiled genuinely. "It's really different now that you're back. There were times that I would be alone here before."

"I didn't really expect that you would be in touch with my mom all these years." Ivan responded as be placed the suitcase on the ground.

"When I was brought back to the Jimenez, I was not very accepting of the new people around me. I ran away from home multiple times and would stay with auntie Yve." Kaye told him as they walked outside the house. She locked the door before following Ivan to her car.

"I'm glad that she took care of you when I wasn't around." Ivan held her right hand with his left before he continued to walk towards the car.

Kaye turned on the car with the remote and Ivan opened the trunk so he could place his suitcase.

"Give me your car key." Ivan reached out his hand to get the key.

"Shouldn't I be driving?" Kaye raised her brow but she still gave her the key.

"I'll drive the car going there. You drive on the way back." Ivan responded while opening the car door of the passenger's seat.

He jogged his way towards the driver's seat of the car.

"Why is your flight so early?" Kaye asked when Ivan had taken his seat in front of the steering wheel.

"It's not early. Honestly, my flight will be 11:00 o'clock this morning, but I want to spend more time with you before leaving." Ivan admitted with a guilty looking face.

Kaye couldn't help but laugh at his restlessness. "I don't mind. Let's go."

Ivan turned on the engine and drove off the car out. Kaye closed the gate with the remote key.

"You aren't jealous of me, are you?" Kaye asked after putting the remote key inside her bag.

"Jealous of you? That you get to spend so much time with my parents?" Ivan threw a question back at her with a raised brow.

"Yeah. I mean, I'm not really blood related to them but I grew up with them. You on the other hand, you were separated from your mom. You're not angry at me for that, right?"

"I'm angry." Ivan responded before turning to face with her with expressionless face.

"I'm sorry." Kaye looked down on her linked hands. She played with her fingers, tears were threatening to fall from her eyes. Her vision were getting blurry while she tried calming herself.

Ivan drove using his left hand before he linked his right hand with her left. "I'm not jealous of you. I'm not angry at you. I'm angry at myself because I wasn't able to protect you when you needed me the most. I'm sorry."

Ivan's voice reflected the pain and anger he felt. Suddenly, teardrops fell on his hand that was intertwined with Kaye's.

Kaye couldn't help it. She was so scared that he was really mad at her. Her tears kept falling uncontrollably.

Ivan stopped the car on the roadside before pulling her into an embrace. Kaye sobbed in his arms with so much pain.

"I really...thought...you're angry... at me." Kaye stated between hiccups.

Ivan rubbed her back to comfort her. "Why are you such a crybaby? You were so stubborn when you were young." Ivan joked at her before giving her a face tissue.

"It's your fault." Kaye punched his chest softly which made Ivan chuckle instead.