Chapter 8.2: The discovery of your identity

"Erm… Yes and no." Ivy replied skeptically as she finally knew the real motive of his visit was. He raised a questioning eyebrow.

"If you're worried about your wage, just don't. We can pay you an intern's salary." Jason explained which led Ivy's thoughts wandered back to her internship opportunities worries. She decided not to give an answer first at least till her results for her recent exams were out.

"Let me think about it…" She smiled as he nodded to acknowledge her answer.

"Woodwork? Would it be alright for me to take a look?" Jason asked cheerfully, trying to break the awkwardness.

Jason noticed the aging marks of the house she stayed in and finally understood the bad financial situation she was in. He was more determined to help her out.

"Oh, sure… Come let's go behind…" Ivy skipped all the way to the back of the side house while he trailed behind smiling at his first time seeing a carefree Ivy.

"Andrew!" Ivy called out. "Andrew?" Ivy looked around but couldn't find Andrew outside.

"I guess he went into the house to rest with Sandra. Come here." Ivy continued scrubbing the rough edge of the wood.

"What are you building?" Jason asked as he moved closer to her wood work.

She took her draft of drawings and showed him.

"Wow! I'm impressed! That's huge though. What are you storing in it?" Jason asked, admiring her enthusiasm.

"My collection of compact discs. Wanna head in or stay here? I guess those two are a little shy." Ivy said while scrubbing the last bit of rough edges.

"Hmmm... What if I help out that boy a little? He is almost done you see." Jason said as he examined Andrew's work.

"Suit yourself. Careful though not to injure yourself or destroy his stuff." Ivy gave a friendly reminder before plugging her ear piece on one side of her ear while she continued to listen to her curated songs playlist.

"No worries, just scrubbing off rough edges. Simple stuff." Jason said while he took the sandpaper to scrub.

Meanwhile in the house, Andrew was taking a break with a can of soft drink while Sandra was spying on Ivy and Jason from the closed transparent kitchen door.

"What's so interesting?" Andrew asked as he peeked through the view. "Oh wow! Who is he? He's so nice to help me." Andrew exclaimed at the view they both saw.

"Isn't he the emcee at our induction night event and he was the one who came with the Dean to see her that day. They sure are close." Sandra said while wondering if she should head out.

"Maybe her boyfriend?" Andrew joked.

"Not that I am aware of though." Sandra rolled her eyes as they both continued spying eagerly.

Jason remembered about the purpose of his visit and thought he should let Ivy choose where to dine this time.

"So, where's dinner later?" Jason asked nonchalantly while scrubbing the wood.

"What? Liner?" Ivy couldn't hear him well as the volume of her ear piece was too loud.

"Dinner!" Jason yelled and accidentally got a splinter into his finger. "Ouch!" He yelled.

Ivy instantly knew it was a splinter as she quickly unplugged her ear piece and ran to look at his wounds.

"Is it deep?!" She saw his fingers were fine. He directed her finger to touch his splinter which was a fine looking piece of wood stick inside his index finger skin.

"Oh, wait a minute!" She went to grab some tissue from the other table near the kitchen window and a pair of tweezers from a first aid box as she returned to Jason who was in pain. She tried to coax the splinter out gently.

"Ouch, ouch! Don't press too deep as the splinter is poking inside." Jason said.

"Alright, alright stay still. I'm pulling it out. You're lucky it's a long one but it's deep." She said as she tried pinching it out to make it longer for her to use the tweezers to pull out the splinter.

After a few attempts of navigation, she finally pulled it out while Jason squirmed in pain each time she pushed it out.

"There, done. Go wash your hand there by the sink. There is antiseptic cream in the first aid box. Help yourself while I head in and ask if those two wanna join us for dinner." Ivy instructed as she went inside while he went to wash his finger.

While washing his wound, Jason began to believe his first impression of Ivy. He knew the girl was a hidden gem who has lots of potential but was waiting to be given the right opportunities. She had proven herself for being a quick learner and was a very independent individual.

"Hey you two!" Ivy greeted both of them who were watching television in the living room.

"Wanna grab dinner with me and my guest?" She asked as she stood behind Sandra at the sofa.

"Who is he?" Andrew asked and before she could answer, Sandra decided to leave.

"Nay, my mum cooked dinner. Besides, my woodwork is completed. I need someone to carry it down to my house." Sandra said as she shifted on the sofa to face her.

"Alright, I will help you!" Ivy agreed to Sandra while she tried to persuade Andrew to join dinner instead.

"Come Andrew join us. Come." Ivy was pulling his shirt.

"Who is he?" Andrew pestered. "A friend." Ivy replied primly as she smiled sweetly.

"Boyfriend you mean?" Andrew teased.

"Yes, a male friend. So are you coming for dinner with us or not?" Ivy swiftly dodged his tease.

"Nay next time. It's a bit late to tell my mum I'm skipping dinner too. My woodwork isn't done either." Andrew said while pulling a sad face.

"You could leave it here if you want and come back to complete it later in the week?" Ivy offered.

"Alright! Then we shall pack and get home first." Andrew hopped off the sofa as Ivy went to check on Jason.

"Are you alright?" Ivy asked, appearing from the kitchen window while Jason was applying the antiseptic cream. "Yes… Just a little cut… No worries." Jason reassured her.

"Alright… They are packing and I will send this woodwork home with Sandra first. We will head out for dinner after that?" Ivy informed as she carried Sandra's completed woodwork with her which was at the side table close to the kitchen's window.

"I will drive them home instead with you?" Jason offered.

"Ah, it's fine! They stay a stone throw from here. I will be away for a while only. Meanwhile, help yourself just like at home. I live alone. See ya!" Ivy said as she walked off to the front of the house where Andrew and Sandra were waiting for her.

Jason smiled to himself and was surprised to finally learn she lived alone. He went inside the house and helped himself to a can of soft drink in the kitchen while waiting for her to return. There were various pictures of herself with her grandma hanging along the alleyway from the kitchen to the living room from when she was a baby to toddler and in high school but one of the pictures caught his eyes.

A picture of her and her parents under an aurora lighted sky.

He instantly recognised the picture which was identical as the one his potential investor showed him recently via email. He slowly digested the entire circumstances. His potential investor was looking for his long lost daughter and the major shareholder of his company. If Ivy had the same picture as his potential investor, it only meant the girl whom his potential investor was looking for was Ivy.

He quickly snapped a photo of the picture with his mobile. While waiting for Ivy to return, he couldn't help but to think of plans to get Ivy on board as his intern to help escalate his potential investor's decision but he warned himself to spend some time getting to know her first. He had too many questions of the drastic depth of differences between the truth he knew and Ivy's dire circumstances in life. Only time will tell as he laid out his plans in mind.