Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever

Ivy arrived at the location Valerie had sent her. Since she had not ridden her motorbike as Max was getting discharged, she had to hail a cab. She looked at the building in front of her. It was an apartment, Spring Renaissance. It was one of the best apartments for upper-middle-class people.

'Why has she called me here?' She wondered. She looked at the address again, to check if she was at the correct place. After checking it, she placed a call to Valarie.

"Hello, Miss Evans. I am outside the apartment building."

"Ah, yes Miss West. Come to the flat number 7B on the 7th floor."

"Okay."

Ivy rang the bell to the flat number which Valarie had told her. A tall, slim woman opened the door. She was dressed professionally as though she had returned from work just then.

"Ivy West?" She asked to receive a nod from the other woman.

"Come in. I am Valarie Evans." She opened the door wide for Ivy to enter.

Ivy entered the flat and took a lot at it. It was quite calm with the blue walls on either side with a white wall in between. The first thing that came into her mind was the ocean. There was only a U-shaped sofa with ivory-colored cushions and a table in the middle in the hall. She could see the replica of some famous paintings like Van Gogh's Starry Night, Claude Monet's Impression, Sunrise, The Hay Wain by John Constable hung on the wall; the room looked lovely with all the paintings. She couldn't look beyond the hall as it was blocked by cream-colored curtains. All in all, it was a beautiful place.

"Please take your seat," Valarie said.

Ivy sat and looked around her. She saw something jutting from Valarie's pant pockets as she sat in front of her. It looked like a police badge.

"Do you want some coffee or tea?" Valarie asked, breaking Ivy's thoughts

"No. Thank you."

"Okay. You must be wondering why I asked to meet you."

Ivy nodded.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about something important." Valarie paused.

"Yes. I am listening." Ivy said in all seriousness.

"It is about Oliver West."

"Do you know my Dad?"

"Not personally. But, my Dad knew him. They were colleagues. They worked on the project together three years back."

Ivy's jaw dropped in shock. She had been searching for her Dad's colleagues in order to know more about her Dad. But like her Dad, they too had disappeared from the surface of the earth.

"Oh." She looked at Valarie not knowing what to say.

"Our fathers have worked together for years. My Dad always talked about him." Valarie said with a smile.

"Where is your Dad? May I meet him?" Ivy asked with a lot of hope.

"Unfortunately, you cannot meet him. He died three years back."

"I am sorry." Ivy sympathized with her. However, Valarie did not hear her.

"He was murdered." She revealed, her voice laced with grief.

"What?" Ivy's sympathy turned into shock.

"Yes. I saw him being murdered with my own eyes. This happened the same day your father disappeared."

Shock was an understatement of what Ivy was feeling at that moment. She had thought that only her father had gone through this dreadful incident; but there was somebody else who had gone through worse. At least she was hopeful that her father was alive somewhere while the woman in front of her couldn't even have that hope.

"How?" Ivy asked with great difficulty. She still couldn't think properly. So many people's lives had become miserable due to that incident.

"Apparently, our fathers had conducted a sting operation in one of the hospitals and the authorities had found out about it. They immediately sent people behind the two. My Dad and Mr West couldn't escape those bastards, though they tried for long. They followed the two for a while and then they shot my father. It was a one-shot kill."

"What about my father?" Ivy fidgeted in her seat. She was nervous and sweaty. She was clutching her palms tightly anticipating the next words. According to what Daniel had said, her Dad was still alive.

Valarie paused. She stared into space for a while before she continued. "Before those men could shoot your Dad, some masked men killed those people and took away your father."

Ivy heard her and took a sigh of relief. But she was still worried. She did not know if her father was safe and sound. She did not know what kind of men were holding him captive.

"How do you know all of these?"

"As I said, I saw everything." Valarie glanced at Ivy's confused face and sighed.

"I had installed a chip in my father's watch. I had told him to activate it whenever he was in danger. On activation, I'll get a message on my phone along with their location. He must have done so when he was being followed. I immediately tracked him and went to the location. By the time I reached, the men were already dead. However, my Dad was still breathing. He told me about your Dad's kidnap and asked me to find him before he died in my arms."

Valarie took a long breath thinking about the horrible day. She could till visualize her father's blood all over her hands. Till today, she got nightmares of that day.

Ivy was blank. It was a lot of information for her to take.

"I have been searching for your Dad since that day. I had also looked for his family. But I couldn't find you guys at your old address."

"Yes, we moved out," Ivy replied. She then recalled something Valarie had said.

"You said you had installed a chip in your Dad's watch."

Valarie nodded.

"Could you tell me where you work?" Ivy realized that the woman's background was not as simple as it looked.

"I am sorry. I can't say it. It's a little confidential you see. However, my work is definitely legal and if it makes you any better, let's just say I work for the government."

"If my assumptions are right, you are a secret agent."

"Something like that."

Ivy understood her words. 'She must be working for a government agency like the Intelligence or the FBI. So, she doesn't want to disclose it.' She thought. Her suspicions regarding the badge she had seen earlier was true.

'Getting Valarie's help will be valuable to me.' She weighed the pros and the cons.

After thinking for a while, Ivy replied, "How did you find me now? You said you couldn't find me before."

Valarie did not know whether to tell her the truth or lie to her. She did not know anything about Ivy other than the fact that she was a journalist. So, she chose the option of lying.

"I saw the President's press meet and your name was flashing over it. Your surname felt familiar to me. So, I thought maybe you were related to Oliver West." Valarie knew that she had taken a serious risk by lying. But she had no choice. She could not say who she was and how she got Ivy's details. She was hoping for Ivy to believe her and to her relief, Ivy did believe her.

Ivy knew her name had been flashing on the news channel since she had made an appearance with Max. So, many people would have noticed her and her name.

"So, have you got any leads on your Dad?" Valarie asked after she saw Ivy accepting her lie.

"No. I just know that he is alive. Other than that, I don't know what to do."

Valarie thought about too. She too was clueless.

"Did your father tell you where he did his last sting operation before dying?"

"Yes, yes. I remember him telling me the name of a hospital. It was something like Royal Health Hospital or something like that."

"Is it The Royal Health Care Hospital?"

"Yes. That is it. Royal Health Care Hospital."

Ivy smiled. 'As expected, everything leads to one hospital, the Royal Health Care Hospital. It all started in that hospital.'

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