“Zack, where are you?” Her voice was met with silence. “He really left me all alone.” She then facepalmed herself. “Yeah, I’m the one who actually pressured him to leave, and I’m complaining…”
She collapsed on the bed and shut her eyes to get to sleep, she knew he would return soon.
A day later, Ivy was ready to be discharged from the hospital. There were no complications as it was a mild dosage. But before she left, she paid Edmond a visit. The room was dimly lit with soft beeping sounds from the machine used to monitor his vital signs. Her eyes were drawn to his pale face, his features relaxed in a coma-induced slumber as her heart ached with concern and empathy. “I hope you won’t fire him when he wakes up.” Ivy glanced at Zack, who was sitting beside her before returning her gaze to Edmond.
“Anything you want, wifey…” Zack responded leisurely, leaning on the corner of the room, his eyes pinned on her as she stood beside Edmond’s bed. He then glanced at his wristwatch. “It’s time to go…”
“Just a few more minutes, okay…” She retorted, shooting him a disapproving look, her eyes narrowing in displeasure. Before Zack had agreed to let her visit Edmond, they had a small debate in which she had to enumerate why it was necessary to pay him a visit. “Look at him, Zack, he is in a coma because he was my protector…”
“Excuse me, then who am I?” Zack snapped, deep lines etched on his forehead as he crossed his arms, obviously displeased.
This made Ivy chuckle, she shook her head and also crossed her arms, with a scowl mimicking the expression on his face. “Hubby, are you jealous? Because I can smell jealousy…”
Zack turned his face away, trying to cover the expression already visible on his face. “I walked in the cold to find you, I panicked…”
A wide smile curved up Ivy’s cheek as she listened, she had to admit it warmed her heart to hear him say that. “I know, hubby…” She looked down at the tiled floor, trying to hide her red cheeks. She was truly touched by Zack’s protective instincts and affection. She loved to feel the same emotions she felt that day he came just in time to rescue her. “I really don’t know how to thank you enough for saving me over and over again. I think it’s become one-sided. When do I get to do something for you…” She lifted her face to look at him, it was laced with sincerity flickering from her steady gaze.
Zack, upon seeing her flushed cheek, walked closer to her, a small smirk playing on his lips as he lifted his finger and pinched her cheek. “I know women blush, but I didn’t expect you to be one of them.”
Ivy bit her lips and slapped his fingers away. “I… I’m… not blushing.” She said and quickly turned to the side to avoid his piercing gaze.
“Do you want me to perhaps show you to the mirror…” Zack placed his hands on her shoulder and turned her around to face him, the smirk still visible on his face. “It’s as red as a tomato.”
A hint of embarrassment washed over her as she covered her cheeks with her palm. “What do you gain by teasing me?”
She shrugged his hands off her, her eyes narrowing but avoiding eye contact with him. “And by the way, I didn’t blush…”
“So you want me to prove that you really did blush.” He raised his eyebrow, and Ivy could only let out a sigh out of frustration. Not expecting to go through with what he said, she didn’t know he was darn serious about proving it to her.
Before she knew it, he was inches from her face. “Z… a… ck…” She stammered, stepping backwards trying to get away from whatever he was up to, but he wasn’t backing down. “W… what are you doing? We are at the hospital…”
“It’s very well obvious…” He replied casually, still coming closer. He then dipped his hand into his pocket, brought out his phone, and placed the screen to her face. “Can you see your red cheeks now?”
*****
Ivy bit her lips, blankly staring at the screen, unable to respond. She let out a sigh in frustration. “I’ve had enough teasing for one day, let’s just go home,” she said and made her way to the door.
“I thought you said you wanted a few more minutes…” He chuckled and followed her out of the room. They both arrived outside; Bryan was already waiting for them at the parking deck beside the car. He opened the door to the back seat for both of them and hopped into the front seat.
“Here is your phone, ma’am,” Bryan passed Ivy her phone.
Ivy collected it, not really expecting to see her old phone again. “I thought I’d lost this, thank you.”
“The detective found it in your manager’s car,” Bryan informed her and started the car.
Ivy unlocked her phone, the first pop-up on the screen was tons of notifications and missed calls from one particular contact.
‘ANNA’
She then remembered they had exchanged phone numbers after shooting their last scene before her abduction. She dialed her number.
“Finally, you saw my missed calls. I was worried about you,” Anna’s voice echoed from the phone loudspeaker, so she turned it off since Anna’s voice was already loud. “Sorry, I only saw the missed calls now.”
“How have you been? Are you okay now?” Anna said, worry evident in her voice, which made Ivy frown. ‘Did she know about my abduction?’ While her thoughts raced, Anna continued speaking.
“How is your health?”
Now Ivy realized the reason behind the concerned tone of her voice. “Oh, I’m still recovering. I’ll be back in good shape soon.”
“I’m glad to know. Have you seen the news? Your name is plastered on it. They refused to take it off the main headlines on the celebrity news.”
Ivy chuckled; her name was like a magnet and a good source of gossip in the entertainment industry, so the info wasn’t something new.
“It seems someone is fueling the gossip online,” Anna continued. “Yesterday, your fan base was a total conflict zone; your fans were relentlessly badmouthing you. Their harsh words and criticisms sting like bullets. I don’t know what I might do if I was in your shoes.”
“Wait, how would you know… are you a…”
“Yes, I’m a fan,” Anna cut her off, understanding Ivy was surprised by how she knew. “I joined your fan base recently with an anonymous account.”
Ivy certainly didn’t expect Anna to do something like that. She smiled, shaking her head.
“Hey Ivy, how did you offend a fan named Miss KK? She started the gossip, then the others kicked off from where she stopped. She’s a total witch, and her profile picture suggests she’s an egghead,” she paused, allowing Ivy to burst into a fit of laughter. “I gotta go; Director Tim is on my neck. I’ll call you back later. There’s still more info I got for ya. Bye-bye.”
Ivy couldn’t stop laughing, especially at how Anna addressed Kate as ‘egghead.’
“Bryan, reschedule the conference next week,” Zack finally spoke after being silent for what felt like forever, scrolling through his phone.
Ivy glanced at him before looking out the car window. She knew the pile of work waiting for him at his office. He had stayed beside her for the past few days, neglecting his work. The workload might have gone from manageable to overwhelming. While her gaze was steady looking through the car window as Bryan drove, her eyes caught a glimpse of a figure whom she thought looked familiar. She squinted, trying to make out who the particular individual was, in the driver’s seat of a Bugatti a few distances from their car.
It seemed the particular individual noticed she was trying to get a full view of his face, so he rolled up the car window, and the glass was tinted. Ivy averted her eyes away from the moving car; her heart skipped a beat as her vision blurred for a split second.
“Are you okay?” Zack held her shoulders as he observed the way she was clutching onto her face. “Are you feeling dizzy?”
She didn’t respond; her heart began racing as her mind drifted to a past memory. “This… same… feeling,” she muttered under her breath as she gently gripped her chest.
“Ivy… Ivy!” Zack called her, almost yelling. “What is wrong? Tell me.” Zack was becoming worried by her silence and the way she was acting. Something seemed off with her.
She took a deep breath before replying. “I really don’t know, but I felt a bit fuzzy. Anyways, I’m fine.” She heaved a heavy sigh before looking at Zack, reassuring him and herself. “I’m fine.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Zack asked, not really buying her answer. She obviously didn’t look fine, especially the way her eyes were darting back and forth as if she was in deep thought.
“I have… this… feeling,” she hesitated. “Never mind,” she shrugged Zack’s hands off her shoulders. “Don’t mind me; this isn’t the first time this happened. It’s nothing serious.” She smiled softly, relaxing in the leather seat.
‘This is the same way I felt when father died. That man, why does he seem familiar?’
What she told Zack wasn’t a lie, though she understood what happened to her a little bit.
She still couldn’t shake that awful feeling off; she glanced in the same direction she last saw the Bugatti, but it was out of sight.
‘Who was he? And why did that memory appear again? Why do I feel this way after nine years ago? I thought I had moved on from that terrible incident, but I guess I haven’t…’
“I know you’re hiding something; care to tell me?” Zack’s voice jolted her from her stream of thoughts.
“I… I’m not hiding anything. What would I be hiding anyway?” The expression on her face was in contrast to her conviction.
Zack sensed she had something bothering her, which was actually the first time he had seen her in this state. “Tell me.”
Ivy sighed; she had been sighing regularly for the past few minutes. “Well, um…” She was still hesitant on disclosing it to him. Zack had somehow inquired about her past; he had always wondered why the two sisters were fighting and why Irene hates her to such an extent. But there was one thing he was certain of; they both had history.
“If you don’t feel like telling me now, it’s okay. When you’re ready…” He had a smile on his face as he patted her back.
Ivy was taken aback by that rare smile he had on his face. He usually smirked, but that soft and gentle smile made her surprised. She instantly brushed off those lingering thoughts away and returned the smile.
“…” She was about to say something before their wonderful moment was disrupted.
“OH MY GOD!” A loud shriek of terror sounded followed by a squeal caused by the abrupt stop on the brake.