Chapter Nine

They rode in silence to the airport and Ivy was happy she had time to gather her thoughts. Richard also had his head buried in files; Ivy could see him from the corner of her eyes. She had wanted to sit in front with the driver but he had insisted on her riding with him in the back

"So you listen to Reggae. Who would have thought" Richard's voice broke her out of her thoughts

"Hmm. Yeah" Ivy said as she threw him a questioning look wondering how he knew that information about her

"You were humming along to the music," Richard said in his defence

"Oh" She hadn't realized that she was humming along "sorry for disturbing you" she added quickly

"I never said you were" he replied to her with a chuckle "You look like you would enjoy pop music more" he added like an afterthought

"I'm glad I proved you wrong," she said, not knowing what else to say

"Hmmm" he murmured absentmindedly

Ivy looked long and hard at Richard as he worked with his full attention beside her- though barely visible, she could see his stubble; he probably had not shaved that morning, he had the tip of his pen between his lips with his brows furrowed; he looked boyish and innocent that she wondered why any were rumours that he was cold to women

"Why do people say you are cold to women" She blurted out before she could stop herself. The fully air-conditioned car suddenly felt too hot for her. She could feel beads of sweat forming on her forehead and she wondered what ill luck she was suffering from that just made her say things without thinking them through. Now she didn't know how to get herself out of this hole she had dug for herself "N-never mind. The question wasn't for you" she quickly added

"Well, I don't see any other person here besides both of us," Richard said

They were separated from the driver by a glass partition, so it was just them

"Oh" She murmured unintelligibly focusing on playing with her fingers as if she had just discovered something new in them

"Some people say that I am a beast, some say I am a woman beater, some say I just hate women for no reason," he said as a dark look crossed his face "you would think there are no women in my family" he added with a distant look still on his face

As if he had been waiting for the question, he went on to say "what do you think?" Finally turning his gaze to face her

"Ermmm....it doesn't matter. I don't have an opinion" Ivy said

"It matters to me. I asked you"

"I think they are all wrong about you and that you're an amazing person"

"You don't even believe what you say. Your face says it all, plus that sounded like an automated response" Richard said, a wounded look in his eyes

Right from a young age, he was always very anxious around women, and so many people thought it was a kind of resentment he had towards the gender where in reality he was just never able to form coherent sentences amongst women; sometimes, he attributed this to the fact that he grew up as an only child for a while until his sister was born; he had wanted and in fact, prayed for a sister and when he finally had a sister, he thought she was weird because she cried a lot....his little thinking then made him think all girls were weird, so he never spoke to them in school. Then as an adult, there was the case of Madam Rose-

"We are here sir" It was the driver's voice that brought him out of his thoughts. He had rolled down the glass

partition

"Oh! Okay. Confirm that Shawn is in place" Ivy would later learn that Shawn was their pilot

"We're flying a private jet?" Ivy said, her mouth agape in awe

"What did you expect" he mumbled

As they made their way toward the jet, Ivy was even more grateful that she changed out of her previous outfit, though she wished she wore converse shoes instead of the flip-flops she had on. She could hear the air hostesses whispering amongst themselves and she wondered why they had more than one air hostess since it was just both of them flying

"Is that the Richard Stone"

"He is so handsome"

"I would do him"

"I wish I had my phone with me"

"Is that his girlfriend"

"She isn't pretty enough to keep him"

The air hostesses whispered in hushed tones. She could hear them clearly and was certain Richard could too.....she wondered what he would do to them but looked up to find his face bereft of any emotion at all- nothing to indicate that he heard their whispers

As they settled down in their seats, Shawn came to introduce himself to them as their pilot and asked them to fasten their belts

Ivy held her breath as the plane took off. She always had a phobia of flying and regardless of how many times she had travelled by air, she still panicked like it was her first time. Since she lost her grandmother in a plane crash, she had always been weary of being on a plane; she would never travel by air if it were possible for her.

"Are you alright?" Richard asked her intruding on her thoughts

"Yes yes, I am" she replied with a forced smile on her face "why wouldn't I be she added in a rush

"You are white from gripping the seat so right," Richard said, concern etched on his face. He went ahead to add "plus you look like you're going to puke"

"Great! Just great" Ivy thought. She had not realized that her fears were on full display for everyone to see

"I have a phobia for flying" She finally managed to say

"I think all you need is a glass of champagne and rest," Richard said to her as his placed his hand on hers