Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever

Now that Aria was fine and ready to be discharged, Ivy could meet the President without any worries. Joshua pulled her with him towards his car and took her home so that she could get refreshed. Though Ivy was not that interested in meeting the President, she could not evade him either as she had already promised him to be present at the Princep House. Reluctantly, she got ready for the meeting and left with Joshua who had taken in charge of being with her the entire time, in case she were to meet with troubles.

The entire time, Ivy could not help but grumble in dismay on being forced to do something she was not interested in. It was not that she did not like the President or that she was unwilling to meet him. The actual fact was that she liked to do things behind the scenes without anybody knowing about it rather than in front of everyone. Her path gave her more freedom and less speculating eyes. She was answerable to no one but herself.

"Do I really have to go? Can't I skip it?" Ivy asked for the hundredth time since they started their journey towards the Princep House.

"No Ivy. You can't. You are to go meet the President and give him some face. The old man remembered you and called you. Then, that means you have high respect in his heart. Don't make him lose the respect he has for you."

"What if I tell him I am sick?" Ivy suggested after a long time of thinking. "Then, I can evade this meet right?"

"Ivy," Joshua gave her one look of warning and Ivy stopped talking completely. Joshua was right. It would not be wise to provoke the President when he clearly requested for a meet himself. So, she gave up trying to escape from the situation.

The couple reached the Princep House in no time. Although Joshua wanted to stay in the car and wait for her, Ivy insisted on him accompanying her and the man eventually surrendered when she gave him a cute puppy face. How could he say no to her when she looked this adorable?

The guards had already been informed about the guest. So, they did not stop the duo except for the time they had to go through checking. The assistant had got to know about their arrival and he was waiting for them at the entrance. "Thank you, Miss West for coming here at such a short notice." The man gave a nod and observed Joshua for a second when Ivy interrupted him.

"He is with me."

"Oh okay." He averted his gaze away from the man who seemed to be too familiar but he could not tell where he had seen him. "If you will follow me. The president is waiting for you." The man gestured and started to lead the couple towards the small conference which was closer to the entrance door.

Ivy could not help but wonder her eyes around the Princep House even though she had been here before. It still amazed her looking at the beautiful architecture. But the man beside her seemed to be unfazed by it. He followed the assistant with an expressionless face.

The three people reached the conference hall and the assistant knocked at the door before he opened it. "Sir, Miss West is here." He stated before he allowed the couple to step inside.

Luis Truman was reading a file when Ivy and Joshua went to meet him. He gestured for them to sit down while he continued to read the document. "Please take your seats. I'll be done in a few seconds."

Ivy and Joshua did as they were told and took their seats while they waited for the president silently. It did not take long for Luis to finish his reading. When he was done, dropped the file on the table and took a good look at the girl who had caught his respect the first time he had met her.

"Thank you very much for coming here on such short notice, Miss West. And I apologize for calling you in a hurry. Ah, that reminds me. How is your sister?"

"She is doing well, Sir," Ivy replied with a smile and the man nodded.

"Great. Was she attending the event where the poison was released?" The man enquired trying to start the conversation before he came to the actual point, the reason for them to meet today.

"No, Sir. My sister is a doctor and she came in contact with a victim who had inhaled the poison."

"Oh. That explains it. By the way, who is this gentleman?" Luis pointed at Joshua who sitting silently, observing the old man.

"He is my fiancee, Sir. I was a little hesitant to meet you alone. So, I brought him here." Ivy answered honestly, without hiding anything from the President. She did not care that her words might offend the most powerful man in the country.

Her reply not only astonished Luis, even Joshua was taken aback. He was gladly surprised at the word she had used to introduce him. She had called him her fiancee rather than her boyfriend, which made him closer to her. Her reply made him happy for some unknown reasons and his lips quirked up in joy.

"I understand. But why do I find the young man here familiar? Have we met before?" He queried while he racked his brain trying to connect the dots.

"Sir, he is Joshua Martin. Maybe the name might strike a chord now." Ivy prompted and then the man remembered. 

"Yes, now I got it. One of the successful entrepreneurs in our country. I am slightly surprised to meet you here, Mr. Martin. But I am happy to have done so, finally. Thank you for coming here." Luis Truman had heard about the young man and his achievements and why wouldn't he when Joshua's family were one of the oldest and powerful families in the country. Together with the Carters, they dominated the country's economy and business.

"Hello and thank you for inviting us here, Sir," Joshua replied curtly not wanting to prolong the unwanted talk. He wanted to get away with this meet so that he could take his girlfriend home. She was visibly getting uncomfortable.

Luis too did not prolong the reason and came to the point directly. "You must be wondering why I have called you here, Miss West." Ivy nodded and waited for him to continue. "As you already know about the unfortunate incident that took place in the city yesterday."

"Yes Sir. What about it?"

"Do you have any idea why anybody would have tried to do something this heinous?"

Luis's question made Ivy's eyes to go wide. It was highly unexpected and she wondered why the man was even asking her when she was a no expert when it came to matters like these. 

Seeing her speechless expression, Luis could guess what was going on in her mind and he tried to clear the confusion. "It is not that I am short of experts and elites. They are trying to find the source of the poison. But I still want to know if anybody else has other theories. Sometimes, somebody highly unexpected could come up with the most apt theory which might actually turn out to be true."

Joshua scoffed in his mind when he heard Luis's words. They sounded quite ridiculous to him. 'You have called my darling girl here because you cannot find the answers you are looking for. Admit it Mr. President?' He thought inwardly. 'As expected, my girl is the smartest and the best.' Joshua's gaze darkened when he saw Ivy's cute face. If only they were at home, he thought.

"Sir, I am honored that you thought about me. But why me?" She asked, still unable to comprehend what was happening to her.

"Because Miss West, I remember our last press meet. You had come up with certain conclusions and in the end, they turned out to be true. So, I was wondering if you could do the same this time and help us. You saved us from a great deal of trouble when you correctly pointed out about the possible attack from the north-east."

"Sir, that was just a lucky guess. I never expected it to be the truth. But this time, I don't have substantial proofs to come up with assumptions. So, I cannot be of much help for now." Her response was like a knife being plunged deep into Luis's hopes. 

"So, you have no idea what might be the scenario this time?" Luis tried once again.

"No Sir. I am sorry."

"Oh. That's okay. I was just testing my luck. You know how it is when you are in a position where you are answerable to everyone. Desperate needs call for desperate measures." Luis said. Although he was sad, he was not angry. It was true that they had nothing with them to come up with conclusions. So, he did not blame Ivy. "By the way, why didn't you attend the press meet yesterday?"

His question quirked up Joshua's ear. Until now, he had not given much thought to what they were talking about. But right now, the old man was clearly crossing lines. Why was he this curious to find out why Ivy was absent from the meet? It was not like she was obligated to attend all the press conferences that take place in the Princep House.

Luis noticed Joshua's weird gaze and he realized his mistake. The words sounded wrong even to him. So, it was no wonder that the girl's fiancee found them to be odd. "I am sorry. I think my words came out wrong. I was just asking casually. There is no hidden meaning behind it. It's just that Miss West is one of the best journalists I have ever met."

His answer was not satisfactory enough for Joshua. He still stared at the old man in suspicion. However, Ivy did not take it heart and gave him her reply. "I have resigned from my previous agency."