Chapter 14.2: They feel like home

Jason decided to return to the room to check on Ivy first before his second client arrive. As he entered the dark room, he wondered where Ivy was. He inserted his room card and was surprised at the mess in the room when it lighted up. There were recycled papers everywhere on the ground while some were in the dustbin and a half eaten mac and cheese which hardened was at the edge of the tea table.

Thousands of thoughts flew through his head. Was she abducted? Was she injured? Did she run away? He went to look at the papers lying on the ground. It was the recycled papers and her notes were all over the table. He could hear the loud banging on a board from downstairs outside the balcony as he picked up the notes.

"Ivy?" He called out being half furious at the mess and worried about her safety.

He saw her debate notes and screen through them as he thought to himself, she was thinking too hard again. He called out again but one answered. He then went to check at the balcony and heard her voice from afar. He then saw her familiar figure at the basketball court with three boys.

"She must be so bored, isn't she?" He thought to himself as he watched her scoring a three pointer.

He thought about the job tonight could be risky if she recognised Peter or Peter recognised her but she would be stationed at the backstage and perhaps he could sneak her in and make her stay there till the event ended and sneak her away again. As he watched her scoring one last goal, his second client texted him of his arrival as he decided he should go down to get her to clean up if he wanted to sneak her to the backstage earlier while he pass his second client the signed contract.

Ivy enjoyed the game a lot and she was proud she still played well after a long time she stopped playing when high school ended. She sat on the ground watching the ball bounce off the court which was picked up by someone else.

"Good game Ivy!" Jin cheered which distracted her from seeing who it was who picked up their ball.

"Thanks for the game guys!" She cheered.

"Were you in a school team?" Ryu asked while standing in front of her as she nodded. The boys didn't notice Jason was standing at the end of the court and was the one who picked up their ball.

"Not bad, Ryu is trying out for nationals next year. Hope to see you more in the girls team as well?" Ray complimented.

"Thanks. But I am already in college and I don't intend to join them." Ivy said as she grabbed Ryu's hand to stand up.

Jason bounced the ball back at them. "Thank you!" Jin called out as Jason walked over to them.

"Ivy, time to get going." Jason said as he approached them.

"Oh, what time is it?" Ivy finally realised it was Jason who picked up the ball earlier as she asked the boys.

"Nearly five." Ryu said.

"Oh, dear! Alright, I guess that's it for today. Thanks for the game." Ivy said as she ran towards Jason.

"Bye Ivy!" The boys said in unison as they went on playing casually when she waved at them.

"I'm sorry! I forgot the time!" Ivy apologised as she rushed to get back to the room and prepared.

"Hurry up, I will need to brief you on your work." Jason nagged as he enjoyed watching her tripping a few times while rushing to shower.

When Ivy stepped out from shower in her white dress, Jason was wondering if she was wearing that casual dress as formal attire. "Are you wearing that tonight?" Jason asked abruptly.

"Yes…" Ivy said. "How is that a formal attire?" He complained.

"Someone told me to pack my bags but never told me the dress code. This is the best I could put on from what I brought." Ivy retaliated as she lamented on the fact that she had lack of formal wears in her wardrobe.

"Fine, fine. You're lucky you're working backstage and you need to stay there the whole night. I will bring you for dinner first." He said as he grabbed his coat but recalled the wound on her palm as he turned around and took her right arm to take a look.

"Did you change this?" He asked as Ivy shook her head. He looked agitated a little as he went to the first aid box and helped her change her bandage. He was glad it was drying up as he wrapped another plaster over it after putting antiseptic cream.

"Can we skip that?" Ivy asked. "Why? You might injure them again while working." He insisted. "It's not comfortable and it's really painful to take them off." Ivy grimaced. He thought about it and nodded in agreement as he kept the first aid box away.

"Try to keep it dry and don't injure it again. Be careful." He said before heading out of the room.

"Thank you." She said while watching him wear his coat. It wasn't her first time seeing him in his coat but it stunned her a little looking at his charming self as she quickly shrugged her stunned self from admiring more of his charms. She noticed she was falling far behind from his pace as she quickly caught up with him.

He showed her the sound system backstage and taught her how to control them as she would be in charge of them from then on while they both munched on their sandwiches. It was an added value service which Jason decided to not outsource to the hotel. That way he would be able to save on 20% of what's paid to him for the event. Besides, he was paying Ivy for her services on his part time hobbies inclusive in her internship payroll.

Since it was her first time on the job, she was accompanied by one of the hotel's employees to guide her and it would be the last time Jason would hire their services. As he went on stage to start the birthday party, he realised the birthday boy was one of them who was playing basketball with Ivy in the afternoon. He noticed the other two boys in the crowd standing next to Peter. He was trying to make sense of the circumstances and concluded that the three of them could be Peter's sons which made them Ivy's step-brothers.

His guesses were right when Peter introduced them to him later in the night as he began to question his act of hiding the truth from both Ivy and Peter but he knew he had to get Ivy to trust him more before he let her know about her identity. That way things would work out easier for both himself and Peter during the merger.

The event ended slightly earlier than the expected time as the boys and their friends were enjoying themselves on the dance floor which need not have anymore emcees speeches. He decided to bring Ivy back to their room so that she could rest as he was reminded of her sleep disorders.

He stepped in to see her dosing off on the table. "Ivy…" He gently called out as he tapped on her shoulders and she was awake instantly.

"I'm sorry! Is there anything you need?" Ivy stood abruptly knowing she must have dosed off.

"No… Let's go. The event ended." He said as she followed him out of the backstage in a dark ballroom where everyone was dancing. She noticed Ray and Jin from basketball earlier as she asked Jason about them when they were outside of the ballroom.

"Whose party is this?" She asked. "One of the boys you played basketball with. His birthday party." He explained as they walked past Ryu who was returning to the ballroom from the washroom.

"Hey, Ivy!" Ryu greeted as she turned around to find Ryu waving at her. "Hey, Ryu!" She skipped over to greet him. "Is this your birthday party?" She asked excitedly.

"Oh, no. It's Ray's. You wanna join us? Although it actually ended and everyone is just dancing on the dance floor…" Ryu explained and noticed Jason who was the emcee at the event.

Ivy was shy about dancing and never liked it. "I'm sorry I will pass as I have an early flight to catch tomorrow. Help me to wish him a happy birthday, please?" Ivy said.

"Sure! Hey, tell you what, let's exchange numbers. I could invite you to basketball whenever you're free?" Ryu said.

Jason was watching from a distance, half worried that Peter would appear anytime soon but was also impatient as he noticed Ryu was exchanging numbers with her. He wondered if he should stop them but decided against it in case he triggered them to be suspicious. After all, it was her step-brother.

"Thanks for the gesture! However, I am not too sure when I will be in Landsfield again to play…" Ivy lamented. "Oh, aren't you here for leisure?" Ryu casually asked while saving her contact. "No, I was actually at work at the backstage. Well, it's a part time job anyway." Ivy smiled. "I see… Where do you live?" Ryu asked. "Manes." Ivy replied primly.

"Ah, that's where the national team is. I will keep that in mind. If I am ever in Manes or if you're in town, let's catch up on a match?" Ryu suggested as Ivy nodded with a smile.

They parted ways as Ivy skipped back to Jason who was squinting his eyes at her trying to tease her. "Was he hitting on you?" Jason teased while they walked to the lift.

Ivy suddenly realised the gesture of exchanging numbers was also an act of exactly what Jason just teased as she blushed but again she thought Ryu wasn't his type as she gave a sad frown.

"What? He isn't your type?" Jason went on teasing while noticing the changes on her facial expression.

Ivy gasped dramatically in the lift to play along with him. "Jason, you know what? You could make lots of money from mind reading!" She laughed hysterically as she skipped out of the lift when it opened to the floor they were living in, leaving Jason amused at her act while watching her continue to skip back to their room. He thought about asking her of her nightmares issues but he knew she was in a good mood and decided for it to be another day.