Chapter 27.3: Just a broken trust

Ivy felt so disappointed at Jason as she misunderstood his actions earlier. She could accept being accused by Ann and she suspected Ann would have a good reason in doing so but she felt strange when Jason doubted her. 

As she drove away from the office building, she kept strong all the way not to burst into tears only to find herself arriving in front of his house. She couldn't resist dropping in and taking a look at Lucky. She sprawled down on the floor in front of the sliding door after she let herself in. The heavy downpour came outside while she hugged Lucky as she sobbed in the dark living hall.

Lucky whined, trying to comfort her but to no avail. Eventually, Ivy fell asleep hugging onto Lucky.

"Mummy!!!" Ivy called out as she saw the familiar lady's face from afar in her dream. The lady had an identical nose as herself, she noticed while she called out to her again.

"Mummy! Is that you?" The lady's eyes were beginning to squint as though trying to pierce Ivy with her glares. Ivy trembled at the sight of it as she walked backwards a few steps before the lady caught up with her.

Before Ivy knew it, in the speed of light, she was pushed off from where she stood as the lady let out a shrilling laughter. This time Ivy took a good look at the lady she called out to was smirking at her before letting out the chilling laugh. Her subconscious knew she was back to the dream where she fell off the building looking at a lady she called to as mother but was doing the contrary of what a mother does. Her heart ached even more, longing for a warm embrace as she watched the lady's face growing further and further.

"Mummy!" She wailed awake which frightened Lucky who stood leaving Ivy continued crying in the dark realising she was at Jason's house as reality of events hit her. She could hear the rain was getting heavier outside as she let out all of her disappointments and fears while Lucky whined by her side. In the moment of agony, the loneliness she felt long ago slowly came back to haunt her as she longed for her grandma's embrace.

When Jason left the office, Nancy was worried about Ivy who had misunderstood the entire situation. She decided to drop by Jason's house briefly before she headed home. Jason wondered if Ivy was at his house as Marcel reached his front gate. He lifted his pounding head to see Ivy's car parked in front of him.

A part of him was relieved as his headache subsided a little. "You may leave for the day, Marcel…" He said as he hastily alighted the car and headed into a dark living hall.

He could tell from the silhouette in front of him, Ivy was lying on the ground. He panicked a little as he went to check on her only to find her asleep.

He wanted to carry her up to her room but he heard running footsteps outside and soon a shadow appeared by the sliding door. He knew Nancy was worried about Ivy too as he carried her into his arms and cuddled her instead. She stirred awake looking eye to eye with Jason. She sniffed a little as she pushed him away only to be caught back into his arms. She remembered she woke up crying from her dream a while ago. She thought to herself she must have fallen asleep again as she sobbed in his arms feeling the warm embrace she had longed for. He gently patted her as Nancy watched them under her umbrella and pitied Ivy.

Lucky whined a little as he worriedly paced around Ivy's head while Jason patted Lucky to sit by his side. "Were you dreaming again? It must be terrifying, isn't it?" Jason whispered softly as she held onto the collar of his shirt.

"It's alright… I am here… Lucky's here too…" He cuddled her more and continued patting on her shoulders. While she sobbed, her conscience told her she had business matters she should handle as she tried to control her feelings to calm herself down. Jason noticed she seemed to be more calm as he quickly took the chance to explain things to her.

"Lucky… See, Ivy is so upset today because she was wrongly accused by her colleague in the office today…" Jason explained to Lucky who was sitting in front of him who tilted his head a little as Ivy kept herself quiet while she sniffed listening to him talking to Lucky.

Jason continued when he noticed Ivy was paying attention. "Ivy didn't wait till the end of my clarification and left. She missed watching how the culprit was caught…" Jason said while patting Lucky's head.

"You did?!" Ivy sat up on his lap asking him as it took him by surprise looking close at her face in front of him. Ivy jerked away a little, noticing they were close enough for their lips to touch. He quickly pulled her back remembering Nancy was outside. 

"She is outside…" He whispered while moving his eyes towards the sliding door direction.

Ivy automatically wanted to look outside the sliding door but he turned her head around to face him. 

"Yes… You missed the show… How long have you been crying? Have you eaten?" She shook her head as her eyes welled with tears again. He wiped them away.

"It's alright. Don't cry. I'm sorry." He hugged her while she sat on his lap and sobbed a little, remembering Ann's accusation. 

"Let's head for tea?" He suggested because he couldn't stand anymore if their faces were ever close again and tea usually gives a calming effect. She nodded while trying to recover from her overwhelming emotions. 

He carried her and walked with her arms hooked around his neck, up the stairs to the balcony before putting her down. 

"Sit… I will come back with tea…" He said before patting her head as she cuddled with Lucky.

Ivy sighed in relief knowing at least Jason knew the truth but she couldn't help but wonder what was going on with Ann. The thought of Ann made her eyes welled up again as it hurt her to be accused by someone she trusted so much.

"One pomegranate tea coming right up!" Jason noticed Ivy was busy wiping away her tears when he returned with their tea that he tried to act funny to lighten the mood.

She couldn't help but to giggle at his cute actions trying to imitate a waiter serving her as she took the cup of tea from him. As she took a sip, she thought she should clarify with him about her actions earlier.

"You know, it was you whom I was upset about at first. I thought you really didn't believe me but I…" She stopped to look at his reaction as she was a little embarrassed for misunderstanding him earlier. He stood listening to her and decided to sit by her side as he sighed.

He turned her to face him, longing to explain his actions but instead he stared at her. He couldn't help but to notice her puffy eyes and naive look that made him realise it might not be easy to explain after all.

"I understand why you did that, as my superior… You had to and you did the right thing." Ivy explained while cupping her fingers locked with each other while looking away thinking of ways to explain herself to him.

"Then why did you make them these puffy?" He asked as he touched her left eye side while pushing a few loose strands of hair to the back of her ears as she looked at him.

Her eyes couldn't help but to be stung by the welling tears as she blinked them back. She looked away again as she closed her eyes. "Friendship..." 

It struck him to realise what it meant. Ivy has very few genuine friends including himself and he knew she must have treated Ann as one.

"I..." Her voice broke unexpectedly as she sighed and forced herself to continue to explain. 

"Didn't expect her to do that... She was one of those genuine friends and I understand she had her predicaments for what she had done and blamed me but I guess..." She took a deep breath and let it go with a pout.

He sat closer to her.

"Sometimes, it's the desperate measures at work. It's not her will to create such reactions at that moment but it was her worries and fears. She had a child with heart problems and an exorbitant operation cost to cover... I could understand her desperate actions but I wished she had come to speak to me or perhaps even shared with you before taking such extreme measures…" Jason explained as he pulled her in for a hug. 

"Did you keep her around in the end since she had admitted and given you her reason?" Ivy asked hopefully as he shook his head. He watched Ivy become disappointed.

"Why?" She mumbled. 

"There are operating procedures Ivy… It wouldn't be fair to other employees. Besides, I didn't report her or make her pay the company. She should count her blessings too that she was asked to hand in her resignation…" Jason explained as he looked at the rain. 

Ivy pondered on his actions and thought it was reasonable as she nodded in agreement. Although she was satisfied with her termination, she pouted thinking about losing a friend and colleague. Jason noticed the sudden change in her face reaction as he patted her shoulder to console her.

"Perhaps she would some day come to realise what you both had..." Jason said, reminded of her being affected by their friendship as she nodded and kept blinking her tears away.

Ivy looked down at her feet as she repetitively flicked two fingernails together. Despite being able to begin to accept the fact and keep her mind at ease but her actions spoke otherwise.

Jason held her hand fearing that she might injure herself. 

"Take it easy, Ivy... In the society out there, it's worse. There is plenty of corruption and many people either suffer and die or live on and turn for the better or crave for more. It's a cruel world out there and we can't take things for sure every time. It's not any of our faults for such events to happen."

Ivy watched him eye to eye as she realised it was a learning curve she climbed. She nodded, giving a sad smile.

"I know. I understand where you're coming from and your point. I'm fine. I will be. I just need some time to absorb and get over it myself." She sighed, looking out at the sight of the rain.

"We have an important client coming up. You should come with me." Jason said to distract her attention and diverted to work. 

"Alright I will, with pleasure." She smiled.

"In fact I was thinking if you wanna take over Ann's job since you have been watching and helping her all along. I will hire soon as I know you would get busy with finals and move on with another faculty eventually. But for now, work with me on some client meetings to train you other than some bookkeeping?" Jason suggested as he unexpectedly watched her mouth pout again.

She was pouting at the thought of leaving him to further her studies in another town since she was determined she wanted to pursue business administration faculty ever since she started her internship. "You still cannot decide on which faculty yet?" Jason asked wondering if it was her worry this time. 

"Still thinking… Still thinking…" She mumbled as she looked away from him trying to lie her way out. Jason lightly tapped her nose knowing she must have had a decision in mind. 

"So, will you agree to my arrangements?" He asked again as she smiled and nodded; reminding herself to appreciate every single moment with him.

"Alright, so you wanna stay here? There's a lot of work to be done. Oh yes, are you having exams soon?" Jason asked while being reminded of her upcoming exam as she nodded.

"Next two weeks…" She said in a very muffled voice as her nose became more blocked. He noticed the change in her voice. 

"Alright, then you should focus on studies after this week. Quickly recover and stop crying. Your flu is not getting well." He tickled her nose as she smacked his hand away playfully.

"I won't be around next week as I have a business trip to another town. I will be flying off on Sunday after this Saturday's emcee's job. Don't forget to extend invites to your friends already. While I am away, Marcel will be in charge of the office and please come over to keep Lucky accompanied so that I won't have to send him to my mother's place…" Jason begged as she chuckled.

"How did you know Andrew and Sandra agreed?" She asked, surprised as he winked. 

"I can read your mind…Call me Fortune Teller Jason from now on…" He teased as she laughed out loud. 

"Alright, I will tell my other friends now…" She said while leaving a text to Belinda. 

Considering it was her last semester in foundation course, she was reminded that her classes have been reduced and extra circular has been stopped to allow students to spend more time preparing for their finals. However, Ivy lamented at the thought of spending more time on her internship. She wondered if it was a good or bad thing.

"You're not afraid of what I will do to your house while you're away?" Ivy teased, noticing he was staring out at the rain deep in his thought battling out to convince himself to call off the meeting next week. He thought a little at her tease before he gave her a very honest answer.

"I know you well enough to trust you that way." He winked as he jumped off the chair and walked away before sticking his tongue out at her.

"Oh really?" Ivy teased back as she laughed following him down the stairs with Lucky.

A part of her was glad that she managed to gain clarity from the situation although she may be still a little upset with Ann but it made her ponder on her friendship with Belinda, Laura and Lance. Deep in her, she knew she should have cut off friendships with them which was obvious but instead, the friend she didn't expect to lose has just disappeared without a trace from her life. 

It made her appreciate people around her more than ever as she reminded herself that time was short and she had more goodbyes after this she had to be prepared for.