Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever

Ivy thoroughly admired her room. It was bigger than her entire apartment she was currently living in. It was painted in cream color giving it a very cozy and homely feeling. There was a king-sized bed at the center with a lampstand on either side. The wardrobe covered the entire wall on the left and there was a door on the right. She did not have to guess what it was. It must be the bathroom.

Though she wanted to take a look at the bathroom, she knew Joshua was waiting for her downstairs and it would not seem good if she made him wait. So, she arranged her clothes in the huge wardrobe. With the meager number of clothes hanging in the wardrobe, she felt a little weird. Since she would be staying there only for a while, she did not give it much thought.

She then placed the boxes she had brought with her at the bottom row and the laptops on the table in the right corner beside the bathroom door. Checking once more if she had arranged her things correctly, she then went in search of Joshua. On the way, she did not forget to wander her eyes at the magnificent house. It was truly a modern palace.

Joshua was waiting for her in the living room as he casually texted on his phone. Kaito was nowhere to be seen. Hearing the footsteps, Joshua lifted his head and saw Ivy coming towards and he immediately remembered her face when he had ripped her shirt. Her sexy and alluring body came to his mind, but this time she was wearing the black transparent gown with the silk lingerie beneath. He must say that she looked damn hot. He gulped just seeing her this way in her imagination. Joshua was sure that if he ever saw her in real just like how she was in his imagination, he would never allow her to leave his bed.

His perverted thoughts were interrupted when Ivy called out to him. She had long forgotten what had transpired between them back in her home and even if she remembered, she would never show it on her face. It was highly embarrassing and was something she would want to forget.

Joshua cleared his thoughts and desires and stood up seeing her approach. "Let's go have lunch. The maid has already prepared the food for today."

"Okay." Ivy followed him to the dining hall and it was as beautiful as she had expected. The food was already on the table. Joshua and Ivy took their seats.

"Help yourself. Don't feel shy. From now on, you can think this to be your house." Joshua tried to ease her nerves. He knew she was still uncomfortable staying with him and this was something they had to get adjusted to gradually. But he had not realized that one day his statement would definitely become. His house would become hers and even he would become hers in the future.

They ate their food silently, occasionally taking glances at each other. This was extremely awkward for them. Seeing the weird atmosphere, Joshua was the first one to speak. "Are you busy today?"

"Ah, yes. I was supposed to meet my friends today. Since you came without informing me, I postponed my plan. I'll be going after having lunch."

"Okay. I'll give you a tour of the house later when you come back."

"Sure. Thank you for everything."

"Not a problem. Please feel free to ask me if you need anything."

Ivy smiled at him, touched by his words and gestures. Though he was a flirt, he had a great heart. He was definitely not how she had expected him to be on their first meet. She had assumed him to be a flirt, a selfish man who only thought about him and him alone. Now she realized how wrong she was. He was anything but selfish. Nobody would offer a helping hand when the person was in danger. If they did, then the person in danger must be close to the person offering the help. Or the person must be too good to be helping someone he was not even well acquainted with. Since Joshua and Ivy were not that close, the man must belong to the second category.

"What are you thinking?" Joshua interrupted her thoughts.

"Nothing. I am done with my lunch." Ivy stood up and picked up her jacket she had placed on the chair beside her. "I'll see you later."

"Take care."

Again Ivy was touched by his caring nature. "Thanks."

Joshua watched Ivy leave the house and he closed his eyes wondering how things would go on from now. Ivy staying with him would only complicate things with the way he was having the desire to take her to his bed. He opened his eyes and from the corner, he saw Kaito slipping out. This man was truly a ninja. Joshua did even know when he had heard their talk nor had he heard him leave. If he had not opened his eyes, he would not have even sensed him.

Finishing his lunch, he dropped their plates in the dishwasher. He then went downstairs where he had an entire floor of computers and other devices. He had work to do. What if he could not go to the office for work? He could as well work from home.

After forty minutes, Ivy reached Max's apartment. The entire time while she was riding her bike, she did notice the nimble man following her on a bike of his own. He made sure to hide himself as he kept his eyes on the lady in the front. His Boss had told him she was going to be his sister-in-law. He had immediately deduced her to be Aria's sister as Aria was the one his Boss had his eyes on.

He followed her closely to a new neighborhood that did not belong to her. Seeing her park her bike, he too stopped at a distance not noticeable to her and parked his bike. He wondered why was she here and who was the person she was going to meet. 'What if it was her boyfriend? Would it be alright to follow her?'

Nevertheless, he continued following her. He did not take the lift like her. Instead, he took the stairs taking a look at each floor if it was her destination. Finally, the lift stopped on the fifth floor and Ivy got off. Kaito was already waiting for her at the stairway to see if this was the floor she had intended to get off and much to his relief she did just that. Not that he minded climbing a few more floors.

He then saw her ring the bell to one of the apartments on the floor only to be opened by a woman. The woman smiled at her and Ivy went inside and the door closed. He did not know if he was supposed to keep an eye on her even here. So, he waited outside not wanting to trespass somebody else's property. He would have to ask about it clearly with Joshua.

Ivy went inside Max's house and noticed that all her friends were already present and they were busy coming up with plans for their agency. Seeing her come in along with Sasha, they smiled and welcomed her warmly. It had been some days since they had last seen her.

"Hey, Ivy. Glad that you are here." Cedric rushed to her and hugged her tightly making it difficult to breathe. If Joshua was here, he would have punched the guy who dared to do so in his face.

"Ced, I am not able to breathe. You are squeezing me too tight." Ivy squeaked out the words with great difficulty. Truly his hug was very tight, yet comforting.

"Oops. Sorry Ivy." Cedric released her and gave her a cheeky grin. "How are you?"

"I am good. How are you guys?"

"We are good too. Come, sit." Max patted the space beside him and went back to work.

"Finally that bastard of a Tim stopped following us." Kira sighed, her eyes glimmering in relief.

"Yeah. We can live freely now. I wonder why he was keeping an eye on us." Sasha added though she knew the answer to it.

"To see what we were upto after leaving News4U," Ivy answered instantly and everybody turned to her. "Don't look at me like that. I know you feel the same way too. Ah, yes. Before I forget, let me inform you guys. I have moved in with a friend temporarily. I'll be staying with him for a while." Ivy did not take Joshua's name and said that she would be staying with a friend as she did not want to face more questions from them on learning the truth.

"Why?" Max asked raising an eyebrow, his hands still holding a bundle of papers.

"Since Aria is not here with me, I thought it would be safe if I stayed with someone."

"That's good. We never know what Tim has in his mind. It is best to take precautions. But, why did you move in with a man? You could have stayed with Sasha or me." Kira queried, her eyes dancing with amusement. "Don't tell me." Kira gasped loudly making everyone stare at her. "Is that man your boyfriend?"

Now everybody's eyes were on Ivy waiting for her answer.

"Ivy, do you have a boyfriend?" Sasha squealed loudly and Cedric scowled hearing her high pitched voice. "Can't you tone down your volume a little. Do you want to make us deaf?"

"Why should I reduce my volume? If you find my voice annoying, you close your ears. I never asked you to listen to me. Anyway," Sasha's gaze returned to Ivy. So, she did not see the adoration in Cedric's eyes. But the other three did not miss it. "Answer us. Who is he?"

"He is just a friend guys, not more. I'll definitely tell you if I get a boyfriend. Now, shall we get back to work? We have a lot to do."

They started working immediately and the matter about Ivy staying with a guy was all forgotten much to her relief.