Chapter 19.3: Tangled with your past

"Thank you." She held up her tea to him as she smiled watching his confused reaction.

Jason, being doubtful whether she had agreed, unwrapped the packed sandwich and gave it to her.

"In return, please ensure to maintain my high distinction grades for accounts. I have tonnes of questions I need to ask you later tonight..." She said as she took the sandwich from him and munched a few bites while they took a seat at the bench next to each other.

He smiled and sighed in relief as he nodded in agreement when he finally understood she had agreed to his request of being his fake girlfriend.

"Congrats!" He wished as he acknowledged her exam results announcement. "Thank you! All thanks to you for your effort and opportunity! Next meal, my treat!" Ivy offered as he nodded.

His thoughts went back to Nancy. He noticed she seemed unsettled and frustrated. He wondered if her depression was worsening. He noted in his mind he must check with Nick later.

"What are you going to do with her?" She asked, noticing the change in his facial expression.

"Nothing." He understood she was asking about Nancy and lied as he shrugged.

"What happened anyway?" She asked while taking a large bite into the sandwich.

"Nancy is an orphan. She was taken care of by her grandmother from a young age due to abusive parents." Jason thought long enough and knew he had to share the history with Ivy since she was getting involved.

"Her grandmother died of old age and I was there, still naively loving Nancy and made a promise to her dying grandmother that I would make her my responsibility from then on. But who knew Nancy cheated and blamed it on her mood swings which now is diagnosed as depression. She was on medication but according to Nick, it seems lately she has stopped." Jason sighed.

She felt guilty as she had always wanted to satisfy her curiosity but instead it boomerang and hurt her as she sympathises with Nancy's situation. She thought about her situation being the same as hers except she was abandoned by her parents and no one claimed their rights at the deathbed of her grandmother. She envied Nancy a little.

"The song was about her?" Ivy finally had the guts to ask as Jason nodded.

"'I'm sorry… I shouldn't have provoked her like that…" Ivy apologised as Jason patted her messy hair. "It wasn't your fault… You didn't know… I didn't expect her to react like that either…" Jason sighed.

"It's not your fault either… None of it was. Everything happens for a reason." Ivy tried comforting him who was looking up at the blue sky, relieved that she finally knew the mystery she was dying to know.

"Thank you." She smiled. "For what?" He asked, looking at her.

"For killing the curiosity in this cat and for lunch." She winked as she giggled.

He could not help but to chuckle at her sense of humour especially in tense situations. "I haven't scolded you enough earlier… How could you pull such a sense of humour in tense situations?" Jason smacked her lightly.

"Oh, you heard? How long were you there?" Ivy asked.

"Long enough to hear nearly everything!" Jason scolded jokingly.

"Oh, can't blame me… It's in the genes!" Ivy laughed as Jason chuckled and was glad to see Ivy in a better mood compared to her gloomy self before this. Thinking about Nancy's depression issues made him remember Ivy's sleep disorders.

"Ivy, have your sleep disorders subsided lately?" He asked as she smiled and nodded.

"Thank you for Lucky and you…" She watched him smile brightly in response as he looked hesitant to pester further on the matter.

"Alright, got you smiling. Job done here, time to help your accountant before she too goes berserk!" Ivy stood and skipped away as she didn't want to continue that topic. In mind, at times she was still contemplating his medical help offer.

"I promise I will sort out your accounting problems after work." Jason skipped along to catch up.

"Cool!" Ivy replied.

"Have fun with Ann! Don't leave till I leave as Nancy could be stalking and it's dangerous... At least for today." He warned as he entered the lift while she looked him in the eyes knowing he was talking about serious business and nodded.

She parted ways when they came out from the lift, directing herself to Ann, the company's accountant who always needed some hand to do filings.

"Hello! Am here! What can I do today?" Ivy greeted Ann as her face brightened at the sight of Ivy.

"Hey little intern! Come here.. Here's a stack of today's payments so please prepare the vouchers. Then, here are the invoices to file them in sequence. Then, you're free to help our boss thereafter." Ivy nodded cheerfully at Ann's instructions.

After an hour, Jason was waiting for Ivy to assign her some business proposal drafting but she seemed to be caught up too long by the jobs from Ann. He decided to put them aside first while he accidentally caught sight of her father's investing plans file. He kicked himself in mind that he had to stall his plan at least till Nancy's situation recovered a little. That made Ivy his gem whom he cannot afford to mess around with as the stakes are high.

Ivy was enjoying her accounting tasks because while she filed the documents, she was also reading the journals and payment vouchers entries which helped with her accounting concepts. At the last voucher, she decided to check if Jason needed any help in his office but noticed he had gone off for a meeting.

Time was drowning away so fast that when Jason came back to the office, it was already dinner time. The sight of Ivy falling asleep on the couch in his office while studying made him wonder if she was really sleeping well at night or was she lying about her sleep disorders.

He approached to check on her but she stirred and woke up. "Hey… You're back… Sorry, I dose off…" Ivy said groggily as she sat up. Jason patted her messy hair. "It's alright. Everyone has left. Let's pack and have some dinner?" Jason offered as she nodded.

Instead of dining out, they decided to pack dinner and eat during their tutor session. On the way home to Jason's place, Andrew called Ivy for her history notes. Ivy was a little disoriented while driving as she noticed something strange at a corner of a straight road when Jason's car drove by. She quickly ended the call by promising to share with him her mind map notes later.

Jason, who drove in front of her, panicked when he noticed Ivy made a dangerous swerve to avoid knocking somebody who jumped out of nowhere from a corner of the road. Just as Jason expected, Nancy did an ambush. She received a phone call instantly from Jason as she put him on loudspeaker while driving into the car park in his condominium block.

"You're alright?" Jason checked with a stern but concerned voice.

"How long did you know?" Ivy asked as he watched Jason impatiently wait for her to park.

"The same moment you swerved ever so dangerously just to avoid her." He said as he hastily opened her car door when she unlocked them to help her retrieve her bags and files while she pressed the hang up button on her phone.

She smiled knowing it was the beginning of being a villain.

He tutored her on her accounts for the remainder of the evening while munching on dinner which she treated him. When Ivy had finished her clarifying her questions, she was practicing on some exercises leaving Jason to head for a quick shower.

When he came back downstairs, he found her dosed off again on the couch with Lucky and her notes must have fall off to the floor. He wanted to chase her to bed but thought after catching her dose off twice, he knew she must be very exhausted and decided not to wake her. Instead, he went to take a blanket to cover her but heard a loud crackling noise of branches from outside.

He knew someone was outside and it could be Nancy. He called the guards from his phone and could see the shadow was getting close to the visibility of his locked sliding door as he quickly went nearer to Ivy who was still asleep. Lucky was already in front of the sliding door barking at the shadow. He cursed himself for staying on a ground floor unit.

"Hello, this is your neighborhood guardhouse. How can we help?" The guard greeted him from the other line on the phone.

"Hello, there is a robber lurking in the neighborhood. Can you please come now?!" He whispered as he eyed the shadow not realising Ivy was awake from Lucky's bark.

"Yes sir! Coming right up!" Jason hung up upon hearing the confirmation. He knew the shadow was Nancy as he could recognise her tall lean figure crouching near the rails, ready to appear in the visibility anytime. He could feel Ivy's heartbeat beating faster as he eyed downwards on her without realising he was hovering over her on the couch and she was awake.

"It's her isn't it?" She whispered as she saw his tensed eyes affirming them while busy keeping a lookout at the shadow.

Ivy swallowed hard thinking what she could do. She could sense Jason was getting more tense as they both wished the guards would appear faster. Without thinking further, her quick witted self pulled Jason down to her side as the shadow moved to view the living room.

Nancy was furious at the view of both of them cuddling on the sofa as though they were making out. Jason was caught off guard while Ivy kept giggling. He could see the shadow was watching them as he wrapped Ivy into a tighter hug.

"I'm sorry Ivy… Bear with me." Jason whispered as he smiled.

"What did you think I wanted to do? Take advantage and kiss you?" She giggled as he tickled her resulting in her screaming in glee.

Nancy heard the police patrol siren outside the gates of his condominium units before they came after her. She was throwing a fit at the guards who were trying to keep her under control and getting hold of Jason. Lucky was continuously barking at Nancy and the guards at the backyard.

"You're putting on a great show. But we need to handle the culprit." He said with a serious tone as he pushed himself away from the couch.

"Should I mess my hair up and look as though we made out?" She asked while sitting up on the couch. He nodded and burst out in laughter watching her messing her hair before getting the door to attend to the guards.

The guards reported to Jason on the situation with Nancy at his backyard as Jason informed them to wait for Nick who stayed nearby to come over. He quickly contacted Nick to inform on the urgency. While waiting, he left the guards to manage Nancy who was still throwing a fit and went back into the house to check on Ivy who was looking out from the sliding door worriedly with Lucky.

"Hey, you know where your room is. So get there and rest. I have to settle with them first." Jason said as Ivy nodded.

"Try to come home early and rest too." He made an alright sign with his finger as he went out to update Nick who just arrived.

"Nick, what's up man? She seemed fine all along and had been taking her medication obediently. What happened?" Jason questioned Nick who was still catching his breath.

"I seriously have no idea. It was all fine till after I returned from the hospital… I have no idea what happened in between. Could it be because of the trauma she felt when I was hospitalised?" Nick suggested while panting.

"Stay here first… she's behind with the guards." Jason said softly and peeped at the corner in case Nancy was lurking while Nick continued to catch his breath.

"I don't think it was trauma. How would you explain her refusing medication all of the sudden?" Jason pointed out.

"Dude, I really need your help to get her on her medications again else it's tough to …" Nick sighed. "I know… I get it." Jason patted his shoulder.

"Who's that lass you're dating?" Nick finally asked.

"How did you know?" Jason asked surprised.

"Nancy had been going on and on about it. Do you think that has something to do with… her stopping the medications?" Nick pointed out.

Jason finally understood. It was perhaps Nancy had misunderstood his entire situation and now surfaced as real to her because he played along. "Dude, it's all an act for now just to ward her off and make her stay away from your replacement in the band competition." Jason explained.

"Oh, Ivy! An act?" Nick raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Nancy mistakenly thought I was dating Ivy which in fact we weren't but because Ivy dangerously provoked Nancy earlier today so I had no choice but to put it all into an act… So yes, I am dating Ivy but it's fake. Let's keep this between us for now." Jason whispered softly.

"You know in the long term, this wouldn't work out. If Nancy finds out, I have no idea what could be worse…." Nick suggested.

"I know. For now, we have no choice but to get her to take her medication by coaxing her like we did before…" Jason suggested as he recalled when her grandma first passed away, she refused her medication too and both guys had to take turns to persuade her to take her medication.

"Dude, you sure you can pull it? Especially when she knows you're dating… well although it's fake but it's real to her." Nick sighed.

"Dude, I'm counting on you this time…. I'm sorry… I know she is my responsibility but… " Jason sighed.

"No, I owe you this. I made the mistake but yet you looked past it. I should share your responsibility too… In fact, I got a nurse from the mental health institute to give her the medication via injection. I guess we need to admit her in for the time being..." Nick patted Jason's shoulder as both guys lamented their fate.

"Let me know if you need anything…" Jason offered as Nick nodded while both of them walked over to the backyard watching the nurse struggling to give Nancy her medication via injection.

Ivy went on to shower after locking the doors and drew the curtains. As she lay in bed, somehow, she was more worried about Jason solving the mess she created with Nancy than her peer pressures. She slowly drifted to sleep giggling over the incident earlier.

After the entire chaos, with Nancy pleading desperately not to be admitted to the institute and staying over at Nick's place after obediently taking her medication, Jason finally had the chance to check on Ivy. Ivy had been fidgeting in sleep as he covered her with the blanket she kicked down the bed while Lucky loyally slept by her side. He held her hand for a moment as she stirred less when he brightened the dim table lamp lights a little. He wondered what her predicaments were to reach this state of sleep disorder. He wondered if it was really loneliness. If so, perhaps he should hasten his decision to reveal her identity to her father but a part of him was selfish and wanted to keep her by his side for now to help him resolve Nancy's situation.

"Am back. Everything's fine. Sleep well." He whispered gently as he tidied some loose hair away from her face. She eventually settled in as though she heard him before he left the room to rest after a long tiring night.