Chapter 28.2: Bidding farewell was never easy

She stopped at a table in the middle of the hall not too far away from the sound system which was at the back of the hall this time close to the main door.

"Here, take your seat and just say what you want from the menu. They will serve you." Ivy pointed at the waiters and waitresses. Laura and Belinda weren't convinced at first till they saw the sumptuous luxurious selection of food they could order and began to place them one by one to the waiter nearby. Ivy was grateful for Jason's generous gesture of paying a free ten seater table just for them as part of the charity event on fund raising. 

"Try not to order too much at your end… They won't be able to finish everything." Ivy whispered to Sandra and she nodded as she relayed the message to Andrew. This time Lance was seated on her left on a round table and he couldn't help but to keep staring and admiring her beauty.

"Don't you want to check the menu?" Ivy asked awkwardly at Lance.

"No, it's fine. You're dazzling tonight, Ivy." He praised as Ivy nodded and smiled.

"Thank you… Now, excuse me a little." Ivy said as she left the table feeling uncomfortable and headed to the sound system area. This time it wasnt backstage but it was behind the hall to the right of the main door. She also noticed the hotel provided them with an assistant which she was grateful of.

Andrew and Sandra knew about her side jobs but Lance finds it strange for her to be meddling with the sound system. He didn't dare to ask Sandra for fear Laura and Belinda would get upset. All he could do was watch Ivy from afar at work and admire her secretly. Laura and Belinda were too busy with their gossip after ordering that they didn't notice Ivy had left the table.

Ivy texted Sandra after she had ensured things were in order with her assistant. "Hey, sorry duty calls. Enjoy the food when it arrives." Ivy sent the message and moments later Sandra replied.

"Yes, I know… Can't wait for them to leave for the day already. I can't wait to check the suite out!" Ivy smiled at Sandra's reply.

"Be patient… The event is about to start. I bet they will find it weird." Ivy replied as she anxiously waited for a reply. 

"Oh, don't bother… They are about to leave the hall saying they were going outside to take pictures. I bet those were just excuses" Ivy looked over at their table and pondered for awhile before she smiled.

"At least you have some alone time with Andrew for awhile…" She teased in reply and couldn't help but to laugh just when Jason walked over to check on her.

"What's so funny?" He asked as she giggled. 

"I guess the three of them must have figured I am a cheapskate this time…" Ivy laughed.

"Oh, yes I saw them leaving for outside a while ago… Anyway, there are quite a lot of performances tonight, you might need to stay here for the next hour… Just for the last performance… You don't have to stay here. You can head back to the table and enjoy the night with them, alright?" He explained while looking at the agenda Ivy was holding. She nodded and with her assurance, he returned to the stage and started the event.

Ivy took note of the few performances in line which showed the performance title and the performer's name. She couldn't help but to notice Jason's name at the bottom of the list as she got ready to assist with the sound system while her assistant was in charge of lighting. She wondered whose song was he singing tonight as the title was not the song they performed together previously.

As work distracted her, she spent all her concentration on coordinating with the sound system that she had forgotten all about her friends. At the sight of the last performance on her list, she was reminded that her duty was done and she could return to her friends.

Only then, did she remember to check her phone to read texts from Sandra and Andrew updating her that Lance, Belinda and Laura were back and had finished up their orders and they had to order more. 

A part of her was glad that happened as Jason once again appeared in front of her to find her smiling to herself. He wanted to ensure she was paying attention to his performance, and he wanted to bring her forward to the front stage where he could see her well.

"Ms. Ophal, have you forgotten where you should be?" Jason questioned her sternly in an animated angry voice as she giggled more. 

He held her hand and led her to the front instead. Midway, he parted ways with her and headed on stage with a guitar he picked up from the side of the stage which left Ivy anticipating for a great performance She didn't make it back to the table where her friends were but instead, stood nearby the front of the stage as she watched Jason serenading the crowd.

She once again kept herself wondering whose song it was he was singing. The melody itself was gentle and calming for an acoustic song but the lyrics were speaking to her as though resonating with her hidden feelings for him.

""I could thank

The gentle breeze which blew the dark clouds over. 

The rain it brought, 

Brought me to you.

If this is destiny, 

I wished it would be everlasting. 

May the rain wash away all of your darkest days. 

May your days always be filled with happiness. 

I'm sorry, it seems easy to say. 

But I couldn't bring myself to.

I am afraid, 

Afraid it would break the beautiful bond we had. 

Could you please don't let go?" 

"An apology? Why?" She squinted her eyes questioning him from afar as he dawned himself into the slow but cool three four tempo on the guitar building towards the chorus. 

The song slowly built softly when it hit the chorus as he held her gaze. 

"Your beauty had always held me, 

Your genuine self was enough to brighten the darkness days,

You're much stronger than you think you are, 

All I hope for you is to stay bubbly."

A smile grew wide on her face as she couldn't help but to blush at the lyrics. He continued on into the bridge of the song where he surprised everyone and went into a short rap. 

"If life ever gets tired, take a stop to remember, 

Remember that someone has their mind on you, 

Always and forever..."

She tried to shrug away being captivated at the end of his song and shyly headed back to the table where her friends were waiting for her. However, on the way, she was interrupted a few times by a few male attendees trying to make a conversation with her to build their network or to offer her a job. 

The short trip to the table seem a far fetch. Jason noticed a few of the hiring agents whom he recognised striking conversation with Ivy. He couldn't explain the reason why he began to feel a little jealous but instead of saving her, he himself was also approached by a few clients who were interested for him to partake in their upcoming event.

By the time he could catch his breath, he noticed the entire table where her friends were was empty. He texted Ivy to check on all of them but waiting for her to reply had gotten him so anxious worrying one of the hiring agents might have caught on to her or they had all gone their separate ways that he decided to leave the ballroom and call it a night as he bid his farewell to the organisers.

By the time Ivy reached the table, the trio were already prepared to bid her goodbye. Before she could grab a bite, another hiring agent came wanting to offer her a job as she politely accepted his name card and placed them in the stack of name cards she had on her hand. She quickly signaled Andrew and Sandra to quickly leave the hall. She scurried off the hall with the help from both of them as they headed straight to the lift.

"You sure are famous Ivy! Everyone wants to hire you!" Andrew teased. 

"Oh, tell me about it! That was not my intention…" She said as she pretended to wipe away the invisible sweat on her forehead.

"How was dinner with them? Sorry I had no time to accompany any of you at all…" Ivy apologised as she watched Sandra roll her eyes.

"They acted like they were so ungrateful but in actual fact they enjoyed every single bit of the food since it was all free." Sandra complained as Ivy stood closer to her to console her. 

"Don't get too agitated. Come, take a look at the suite instead!" Ivy said just in time when the lift stopped at their floor and twirled into the suite room.

"How could a charity event sponsor such a nice room? Isn't it too much?" Andrew questions Ivy as they explore around.

"It's by their sponsor. In an event, there are many parties involved and their sponsors can help to chip in their own choices of support…" Ivy said knowing it from her recent experiences attending business discussions with Jason and his clients. As she stood by one of the window panels enjoying the sight of the city nightlights, she couldn't help but to let out a huge yawn.

Sandra was yawning as well which made her eager to know which room they would settle in. Ivy noticed Sandra kept looking at both rooms from the reflection on the window.

"The both of you can share a room if you want?" Ivy was initially teasing them but thought it wasn't a bad idea for the both of them to decide if they wanted to escalate things or not.

"Not a bad idea. I could sleep on the floor with an additional mattress and you take the bed.." Andrew said, pointing to Sandra as he went to check the smaller room and left the master room to Jason and Ivy. 

Ivy breathed in relief at Andrew's decision. "At least he knows his way…" Ivy thought while catching him smirking at Ivy from his room sliding door. He winked at Ivy trying to tease her when Sandra entered the room.

"Don't think too much… At most he sleeps outside on the couch…" Ivy said, understanding he was teasing her about Jason while glaring at Andrew who was leaning on the wooden sliding door of his room.

"Why are you explaining?" Andrew raised an eyebrow acting confused as Ivy threw a pillow at him. 

Andrew ended up wailing while closing the sliding door as Sandra was pulling his ear to teach him a lesson from teasing Ivy. Not long after Ivy was left to herself enjoying the sight outside the window again, the lift rang and a furious Jason stepped in.

Ivy turned around and furrowed her forehead looking at his expression.

"What's wrong?" She walked over as he caught his breath.

"Where is your phone? Why didn't you tell me you left?" Jason asked angrily as Ivy quickly looked for her phone and noticed it was on silent mode.

"Sorry, I forgot it was on silent mode. What's the matter?" She asked while looking at her phone and checked on the messages.

"Old habits die hard, don't it? Can't you just look at the person you talk to? Do you know how rude it is?" He scolded as Ivy felt something wasn't right with Jason.

"I'm sorry… Why are you so angry? Is it Nancy?" She asked as she wanted to hold on to his arm but he shook her away before he could touch him.

"Ivy, could you have some sense of responsibility to at least tell me where you are or at least have the courtesy. Don't forget I am the host." Jason scolded again not just out of worry but also out of jealousy which agitated Ivy this time at his unreasonableness.

"I don't know what's wrong with you for getting so angry. I have already apologised and told you the reason. I do not want to repeat myself again. If you want to continue and get angry go ahead… I don't care anymore…" Ivy fumed as she walked towards the lift and pressed the button.

"Leave…Leave all you want!" Jason scolded watching her standing at an opened lift. 

Before she entered the lift, she fought herself from saying what she wanted but the anger in her was so outrageous that she couldn't keep her mouth shut.

"No wonder Nancy left you. You were the unreasonable one!" Ivy hissed as she entered the lift and headed to the ground floor. 

Jason winced at her words as he watched the lift door closed, reminiscing the day he caught Nancy cheating on him and she said the same words to him about him being unreasonable for not being able to accept that she has moved on with someone else.