Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever

It had been half an hour since Ivy had arrived at Joshua's office. They were sitting face to face while he was speaking on the phone. Although he was not speaking softly, Ivy did not try to hear what he was talking about. She respected privacy. She did not like eavesdropping.

After two more minutes of talking on the phone, Joshua diverted his attention towards Ivy.

"So, Ivy. Do you want something before we start?" Joshua was concerned. He wanted to make sure she was comfortable.

Ivy nodded a no and gave him a smile. Her docile attitude came in as a shock to him. What he did not know was, that it was all a pretense. She needed his help, so she was tolerating him. Otherwise she wouldn't give a damn about him.

"Okay. Then, tell me everything."

Before Ivy could give a reply, she was interrupted. "By everything, I mean from the start till the end. I don't want you to miss any details."

"Why do I feel that you are trying to swindle me?"

"No way. Even if I want to, I won't deceive you. My future children are at stake."

Ivy grinned hearing his words. She remembered the threat she had given him.

"Okay. As you already know three years back, my Dad was following a case related to organ trafficking." Ivy started. The next hour, she spent revealing to Joshua all the details she knew about the case. She also handed him all her findings and told him her assumptions.

Joshua listened to her intently and was surprised by how much information she could retrieve, although all of it had been locked away three years ago.

After listening to her complete story, he thought for a while. It had everything related to the case. However, there was nothing that Joshua found useful. He already knew everything Ivy had told him. She did know the information he was looking for. And he could not ask her directly too as he himself did not know what it was.

"So, that's it. I know only so much." Ivy said, as she looked at the folder in her hands.

"Hmm. You are saying that you met one of your Dad's colleague's daughter and she knows about this matter."

"Yes. I met her recently. She claims that she witnessed her father's death. Also, she told me that she saw some masked men forcibly take away my Dad with them."

"What?" Joshua was shocked. This was not good. Nobody was supposed to know about it. The masked men were none other than Noah's men. They had actually come in time to save Oliver, otherwise, he would have met the same fate as his colleague.

"So, may I meet this woman? What's her name?"

"Valarie. Valarie Evans."

"Yes. Valarie Evans. May I meet her? Maybe she might help me in my progress." In actual he wanted to know how much she knew about the matter. He had to make sure that she knew nothing about Noah's involvement.

"I'll talk to her about it and I'll let you know."

The room became silent the next moment. Each of them was involved in their own thoughts.

After a while, Ivy took the initiative to break the silence. "So, Mr Martin. What do you think?"

"I'll have to go through all of this again. I'll inform you if I find anything new."

"Please do. That would be quite helpful. Thank you in advance."

"Since I am helping you, how are you going to return my kindness?" Joshua smirked. Gone was all his seriousness. He was now the same playful man who could infuriate any person.

Ivy snorted. "Thank you." She said. However, she knew that was not enough for him.

"Just a small thank you is not enough."

"Then, what do you want?"

"You could buy me a cup of coffee. That would do for now." He winked, while Ivy rolled her eyes.

"Sure. Where shall we go?"

"There's a Coffee House in front of the building. We could go there."

"Okay."

After ten minutes, Joshua and Ivy were sitting in the Coffee House sipping their coffee.

"So, Ivy. Tell me more about yourself."

"Why do you want to know? It's not like we are on a date."

"Oh come on. Treat it as a date for now." Joshua raised his hands.

Ivy remained silent.

"Can't you just play along for once?"

"Okay fine." She gave in. She still needed his help. So, she thought of putting up with him.

"What do you want to know?"

"Anything."

"I am Ivy. I am a journalist. I work for News4U."

"Tell me something personal." Joshua interrupted her again.

Ivy raised her eyebrows. What was he getting at?

"What?"

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"If I say no, do you want to take a chance?"

Joshua chocked on his coffee. This girl was quite bold. He had to give her that. It was always him who flirted, not the other way round.

Ivy sniggered.

It took him some time to calm down. "From your words, shall I assume that you do not have a boyfriend?"

Ivy shrugged her shoulders.

"Interesting. Do you have someone you like?"

"Why do I feel you like me, Mr. Martin?"

"No sweetheart. I don't like you." Joshua said. "Not yet."

"What?"

"Nothing. So answer my question? Do you have someone you like?"

"Linda."

"Linda?" He was stunned. Ivy was into girls. It was unexpected. He had thought of taking his chance with her, if possible. However, right that was not possible. Oh crap.

"Linda. What is she doing here?" Ivy said, making him confused.

"Who's Linda?"

"Mr. Martin, I have to go. I'll give you a call."

Ivy got up and walked to the table where Linda was sitting. She was accompanying a man and she looked a lot better than before.

As soon as Linda saw Ivy, she got up and ran away along with the man. Ivy chased after them. Before she could get a hold on them, they had hailed a cab and had escaped.

Joshua saw everything that had happened. It looked like Linda had cheated on Ivy and had hooked up with a man. Ivy had caught them red-handed. That was she had run away.

He followed Ivy. "Was it Linda?"

"Yes."

"I am sorry."

"Why?"

"You had to see her cheating on you."

"What?" Ivy looked at him like he had grown three heads.

"She was your lover right?"

"Look Mr. Martin, I don't have time to entertain you. I need to go after her."

"I'll come with you."

"What?'

"I said, I'll come with you." By then, the two of them had reached her motorbike.

"I don't have time for this. Take this." Ivy threw him a helmet.

"We could take my car?"

"No time for that. Hop on." Ivy had already started the engine.

"May I trust you?"

"No. Hold on tight, Mr. Martin. You are in for a ride." Ivy said as she buzzed across the streets.