Chapter 2.2: The day I met you

"You made it! Unfortunately, they have arranged for your seat to be on their table." Sandra squirmed excitedly at first but the excitement became a monotonous voice when she explained the last sentence. Ivy pulled both of them further away from the other three to distract their attention when she noticed Andrew was still snarling at them.

"Yes, I did…It's alright. Busy?" Ivy said as Andrew and Sandra nodded in unison, turning their attention away from the other three. The lighting in the room became brighter as the emcee went up on stage and it was the cue for the event to start.

Ivy was in disbelief when she noticed the guy earlier was on the stage.

"That ten pound twig. Indeed he was an employee after all. Bloody..." Ivy halted half way of her curse as she realised she unexpectedly cursed out loud enough for those around her to hear while everyone was staring at her for an explanation.

"Hmm… Sorry, nothing important to bother with..." Ivy said while blinking a couple of times, trying to brush off their curiosity as Belinda, Laura and Lance ignored her after a while . However, Andrew and Sandra knew Ivy was hiding something.

"Ivy… Come on… Spill the bean. What happened?" Andrew whispered as Sandra walked closer to her left side to hear her explanations.

When Ivy was done explaining, Andrew chuckled followed by Sandra giggling; knowing her, Ivy would pick fights with people for justice whenever and wherever. There wasn't a doubt they both knew Ivy would someday turn out to be a lawyer among them.

"Ivy, let it go. The night is young and it's for us to de-stress. Stop meddling in justice just for today." Sandra comforted her.

"But both of you are so busy… I am not in the mood to bother with them three tonight." Ivy whined.

"Awww… poor girl. Get some rest by all means, we need to do our duty now.. Call you later tonight if you're not asleep." Andrew whispered as he walked off. "I practically couldn't sleep anyway…" Ivy said in her mind.

"Oh yes, go home first. Do not wait for us. We will be late, the lecturers will arrange transport for us. We'll call you later if it's not too late." Sandra hurriedly whispered and hugged Ivy before running off for duties. Ivy pouted to tease her as she sighed when Sandra wasn't looking anymore.

"Welcome folks, to tonight's 67th induction welcome party for the new students of Mane's college." Jason announced followed by a resounding applause from the crowd.

"I'm Jason, your emcee for today. Without further ado, let's invite the college's dean, Madam Sialan for a welcoming speech."

Everyone applauded again as the dean went up on stage with her speech.

Ivy decided to take a look at the spread of sumptuous food on the buffet table. She was eager to have some desserts but couldn't resist to have a small bowl of mac and cheese first which was her only favorite western carbohydrate dish.

At the right side of the stage, Jason was standing aside, observing Ivy while speeches were presented. "Indeed she is a student." Jason thought to himself as he chuckled in his mind, the plans to get back on her.

His part time job as an invited speaker or emcee for events in the hotel had always been ongoing ever since he started his consultancy business seven years ago. He was also in the midst of talking with the college's dean to collaborate on giving a career talk to the students which has been smooth sailing and considering he was an invited emcee for the induction party tonight, it was a plus point.

Ivy walked off to grab a drink and stood by a well known English lecturer, Mr. Bolapa whom she had attended his lecture once last week.

"The chocolate tarts are marvelous, Mr. Bolapa." Ivy praised knowing that he arranged for the choices of food to be served in every college event. He may teach English but he also had an exquisite taste for food according to their seniors and in college news spreads fast like fire. So, it was a well known fact to all.

"Should try the muffins. Sumptuous." He added and they exchanged a brief smile.

"Boring isn't it?" Ivy asked, trying to create more conversations.

"It's ending sooner than you know. Enjoy the night, Ivy." Taken by surprise at how he knew her name had given him the chance to slip away. Ivy cursed in her mind at the stupidity of having a name tag printed and attached to the door gift like high school students again as she rolled her eyes.

Mr. Bolapa was always known as a snobbish lecturer among the students but Ivy did not bother about status. Ivy chose to treat everyone both teachers and students back in high school as though they were her casual friends but to some, they dislike her for it because it meant she had no respect for anyone of their status. She would still respect them especially during classes where their official duties were carried out but she thought when times of events, they should at least give some leeway even in college.

However, he was one of them who didn't. It was unacceptable to him and knew his ways to avoid her casual talks as he walked off to mingle with other lecturers.

Ivy went on to enjoy the muffins as suggested but the music got louder for guests to start the buffet dinner. She disliked the ambience with loud music as it was very distressing and she didn't feel like having anything else except desserts. She took a plate of tarts and muffin as she quickly strolled to the side balcony to avoid the crowd while enjoying the view.

The wind was blowing gently which was soothing her mood as she noticed some lightning. She recalled the last time she felt this rejuvenated. With nine subjects and extra curricular in college, sometimes she wished her grandma was still around or at least her parents were around for her to vent her frustration or seek comfort from like when she was a little girl.

Jason saw her by the balcony and instantly recognised her. He came closer with the intention to pick a fight.

"Looks like someone has found ballroom three?" He said as Ivy turned around in surprise to find the emcee, her nemesis in front of her.

"Someone's after all an employee here. That still makes you rude." Ivy retorted as she took her last bite of the muffin left on her plate.

"I may be working now but am definitely not an employee of this hotel." He folded his arms and leaned towards the balcony with a sinister smile as the lightning continued to flash from afar making her squinted for a while.

"Working in this hotel makes you an employee. Attending this event makes you a guest." As though knowing her weak points of being unable to resist a debate, he successfully pressed on her to retaliate fiercely.

"Well, working for this event makes me a guest speaker for your college. Technically, I am also an employee of your college. Not the hotel." He further explained as he smirked.

"Regardless. You are working and you are obliged to be nice to your guests. But you weren't. And, the college should screen through its employees to avoid such insolent employees like you." Ivy instantly lost her appetite and left the plate of crumbs and tarts by the serving table nearby.

"Don't judge a book by it's cover. Haven't you heard, young lady?" He was trailing Ivy close by.

"Jason was it?" He nodded at her question.

"As an adult, allowing the younger ones to emulate your good deeds is a blessing. To emulate your bad deeds is notorious. Watch out. Plenty of young ones here." Ivy said as she smirked, walking off and leaving him satisfied with the fight he picked.

As the night continued on with the agenda of the ceremony, Ivy had no choice but to mingle with Belinda, Laura and Lance. Eventually, she was too tired of posing for Belinda and Laura's bad group photo taking skills which only emphasised on themselves. She was also tired of entertaining Lance who seemed to always have a hidden agenda trying to get closer to her. With a girl's sixth sense, Ivy knew Lance was not serious with Laura but still liked the attention she gave him compared to herself who has no interest at all with him or them.

Ivy had always been the obnoxious one among Andrew and Sandra but the mysterious one among them three. Witty, talkative yet edgy whenever Ivy was approached depending on the situation and person or simply just her mood. This was only made known to Andrew and Sandra. When it came to study, because Ivy always wanted to involve Andrew and Sandra whom the other three discriminated against, they preferred studying on their own eventually.

Ivy took one last glance around the ballroom in search of Andrew and Sandra who were as busy as bees at their duties to even notice her who had decided to leave the event earlier. Aunty Soh had let her drive her grandma's vintage car ever since she graduated high school. Ivy loved the car very much although it did not look appealing to youngsters but it has a terrific engine. Grandma had taken great care of this vintage which was initially grandpa's and now hers. She always felt so proud taking the little vintage around town for a drive.