CHAPTER 2 - IVY

“Okay, whatever you tell me won’t go past these four walls. Now, what’s this big secret? As Alice spoke, Ivy handed her the framed picture of Geoffrey from her desk.

“Oh, he’s…” Ivy, plucked the framed portrait and sadly hid it in the bottom drawer of a filing cabinet. “You got it. I’m screwed and don’t know what to do.”

“He’s Geoff’s father, and I guess since you’re hiding the photo. Mr. Allan doesn’t know Geoff exists.”

 “It’s a long story, and I won’t bore you with the details. Just don’t say anything until I work out what I’m doing.” Ivy couldn’t believe how calm and mature she appeared. She wasn’t calm or mature inside. Her mind hadn’t caught up, and when it hit, she was sure it’d be at the worst moment. Hopefully, she’d be alone and not embarrass herself.

“Of course, I have your back. But doesn’t he deserve to know?”

“He married the perfect woman a few months after graduation. As far as I know, it’s a perfect marriage and I’m not about to interrupt it with this. It’s actually more complicated, but I don’t want to talk about it.” Ivy hated this.

She wouldn’t go around telling everyone Geoff was his father and Ivy wouldn’t give Heath the chance to repeat the story about her cheating on him. He had photographs of her with a stranger. She didn’t know the place or the person in the pictures. Ivy feared Heath would claim Geoff belonged to that fantasy lover.

Maybe someone else created the photos. Several other people could have, and then gave Heath the photos with the story she cheated on him. Heath believed a lot of lies. The woman he married, Monica, was a real tool. If Ivy said anything about Monica not wanting her around or hating her, it would upset Heath. He wanted them to be friends.

Monica did everything she could to make Ivy’s life difficult. She wanted Ivy gone from Heath’s life. Monica could have done this easily. She’d been the one to force Ivy to lose a job. That way, she couldn’t pay for her education. Ivy knew this for a fact. Monica bragged about it the last time; they’d seen each other. Ivy wanted to avoid Heath and Monica. But Ivy must appear at the meet and greet, but she wouldn’t enjoy it. Once Ivy greeted him, she’d leave. She knew the department budget would hinge on her being polite; but manners didn’t say she must be nice.

“I don’t envy you.” Alice looked out the window of Ivy’s office onto the workshop floor. “There’s Dr. Paton. I’ll go intercept him, and I’ll give him a heads up to expect there to be a little more history in this place than expected.”

“Yeah, thanks. Don’t say anything about Geoff. He can’t connect the two. You know how he loves a traditional family.” Ivy hated to hide things, she always had. Right now, it was for Geoff’s stable home. She didn’t want him pulled between his parents or questioning his identity.

“Don’t take long. We have things to do and a staff meeting about the upcoming projects.”

“Right, let me get settled and grounded a bit.”

Alice left Ivy’s office. The pain medication hadn’t worked again. She resisted taking more medication, but Ivy still needed to get her head in the game.

How did she do that when the walls were closing in and she wanted to run? Ivy wanted to start over, away from Heath and this mess.

“I need coffee. Coffee fixes everything.” Ivy hated the thought of going to the main entrance for a coffee. It’s a long walk. Instead, she opened the door and called out. “Alice, are you available to grab some coffee for the meeting? My treat.”

“I don’t need to. It arrived before you did. I ordered it for the meeting. I’ll grab you one right now.”

“When did we start that? It’s not in the budget.”

Alice shrugged. “I thought with everything that was going on, the staff would appreciate having something while we conduct the meeting.”

“Morning Dr. Paton. What brings you here?”

Dr. Paton was their direct boss, and he answered to the board of directors, including the CFO.

“I came to tell you the new CFO wants to see the department’s budget by the end of the week. Also, I wanted to remind you of the meet and greet this evening. Do I need to worry about any drama?”

“I’ll rarely come into contact with him. So, where I’m concerned, everything is water under the bridge.”

“Alright, I will let you handle that as adults. I hope this won’t affect your work or his.”

“It won’t, Sir.”

           Before the meeting, Ivy broke down and took something for her pain. She hated doing that. She felt like she’d caved and let the pain win. It made her feel like she was less than she’d been.

           The day ended, and the dread of the meet and greet loomed heavily. It turned out, of course, to be the number one topic on everyone’s lips. Ivy wanted it over, along with the impending doom.

           When they reached the event, Alice wasn’t surprised when Ivy stopped in the corridor.

“We’ll go in, get it done, and get out. Dr. Paton knows not to draw things out, and he’ll be nice about it. I’m sure he’ll allow you to step out gracefully after you greet him.”

           “Alice, the last time he saw me, I was yelling from a balcony, that when he returned, I wouldn’t be there.”

           “Well, it was true. You weren’t. He can’t call you a liar.”

           “No, Alice, he did that before he left.”

           Alice rolled her eyes as if this didn’t surprise her. “Well, don’t mention it. Pretend you don’t remember him.”

           “What if he calls me out?”

           “Pretend you didn’t hear him. If he pressures, you to respond. Tell him to drop it.”

           “Right, maybe he won’t care. I work here. It’s not like we’ll see each other often.”

           “That’s it. Come on. It’ll only feel more insurmountable the longer you avoid it.”

           Ivy nodded her agreement, and Alice followed her into the event. The room was full. Clearly, many were curious about Heath. This didn’t help her confidence. If they liked him so much, she’d look like a home wrecker. No matter how much she liked or loved him in that past or present, it was over between them the day he chose to believe Monica.

           Dr. Paton and others congregated around Heath, and it took a while for Ivy to be noticed. When they finally noticed her, Heath looked to see who was next.

The look of surprise on his face when he recognized her.

It had Ivy almost turning tail and running, as quickly as her blasted leg would allow.

           Ivy struggled to look at him, while he stood stalk still and stared at her as if he saw a ghost.

           “Dr. Smythe, there you are, finally. This is our final department head. Our own Dr. Smythe, Head of Artifact Restoration and Verification.” Dr. Paton said proudly for all to hear. Ivy wanted to leave in embarrassment right after he said that. Her heart pounded fearfully in her chest. She feared he’d yell at her about some old slight.

           “Ivy.” Heath appeared to have difficulty speaking. “Where have you been?”

           “Hello Heath. Oh, living my life, but that’s not important. I just came to welcome you to your new job and be on my way.” Ivy turned away from him. Then Heath noticed the cane.

           “Ivy wait.” He looked from her cane to her face. “What happened? When?”

           “Don’t worry about it. You had nothing to do with it. Have a good evening and best of luck with your new position.” Many of her coworkers politely stepped out of her way. Ivy really tried to leave with as much dignity as she could. If she looked at him, she’d cry. Her emotions caught her off guard. They were so strong.

           Alice could get halfway to where Heath stood before Ivy made her getaway.

           Heath made to follow her, but his phone ringing saved Ivy from a longer confrontation with him.

“Ivy, would you wait? Damn it.” Distracted by the ringing, Heath pulled his phone from his pocket. He sneered at the display and quietly groaned. “I’m sorry, I have to take this.”

           He answered the phone as he stepped into a small room behind him. The staff used it for storage and last-minute preparations for meetings. Heath wasn’t happy with what he heard. “What do you want Monica?”

Ivy thought he kept that tone of voice for only her. Well, she wouldn’t think of it. What happened in his marriage was none of her business.

           “Ivy, hold up a sec. I almost forgot to give these to you. As promised and paid for, these are the latest promo shots of the upcoming exhibit. I hope he likes it.” Edward Polanski announced as he chased after her. He was proud of his work, and Ivy had to admit he had a flare for spinning a media campaign.

“If it’s Roman, he loves it. Thank you, Ed.” Ivy smiled. She found him a good person to work with, but it wouldn’t go farther. She didn’t have the luxury of a relationship. Ivy didn’t want to put Geoff through a breakup. He wouldn’t understand it. “Well, we single parents have to stick together.” That didn’t mean he agreed with her. He’d make comments about single parenting, as if he believed they’d been meant for each other. At least, he hadn’t pressed his interest any further.

           “We do what we can for our kids. Speaking of which, I must leave. I’ll miss dinner with my son, and owe him a third bedtime story. See you tomorrow.”

           “Yeah, sure… tomorrow.” He gave a disappointed wave. “Hey, uh, what was that?” He used his thumb to point at the event still going on behind them.

           “Oh, nothing. We went to school together. Bye.” Ivy didn’t want to get into it with anyone.

           “Oh, uh, yeah. Bye.” Ed didn’t sound convinced.

She didn’t owe anyone any explanations. It was her life and her past. Ivy didn’t want or need to revisit her past.

           Ed returned to the gathering, unconvinced. He bumped into Alice as she left.

Once Alice had answered Ed’s questions, Ivy was long gone.

Ivy only stopped to tuck the photos into her briefcase, before she left.