Ivy chuckled and said, "Although I've been so unlucky with men, I'm killing it in my career path. You know me."
Emma giggled when Ivy winked at her, and then something else occurred to her. "Wait, don't tell me you own this luxurious restaurant. Owning a restaurant has always been your dream," Emma said, her eyes still observing the place.
Ivy gave a happy nod. "What do you expect when I have no man to distract me?" she said, and Emma laughed happily.
"Wow! This is so nice, Ivy; congratulations, girl; this place is so beautiful," Emma said, genuinely happy.
"Thank you so much, Em. It turns out some efforts pay off, and I'm seeing the results," Ivy said, and Emma nodded in agreement.
"Speaking of which, please, Em, if you know anyone who claims to be a good chef, let the person know we are hiring. I'm in serious need of a chef," Ivy admitted, a thin smile on her face.
"Oh, I don't know anyone except Alex's chef. But not to worry, I'll ask Alex and see if he happens to know anyone," Emma said and frowned when Ivy just kept looking at her with raised brows.
"What?" Emma asked, and Ivy shrugged.
"Alex, huh? Are you two…."
"No, no, and no. There's nothing between us. He's just helping me," Emma cut in, even as her cheeks burned a crimson pink.
Ivy looked at her, and even though she wanted to argue and tell her she was blushing, she let it go, deciding to wait until Emma could no longer deny it.
"If you say so," she said, and Emma nodded.
"Yeah. I say so."
"Okay, so what's up with you, Em? What are you doing now?" Ivy asked her gaze on Emma.
Emma smiled and shrugged. "Well, with Alex's help, I'm trying to start designing again. You know I had to stop because he asked me to. Thank God Alex is helping me get my courage back," Emma said, and Ivy cleared her throat dramatically.
"What?" Emma asked, and Ivy shook her head dramatically, causing them both to laugh.
"Honestly, Ve, there's nothing there. He's just helping me," Emma said, and Ivy nodded.
"I've heard," Ivy said, and a comfortable silence settled between them.
Emma got her phone and decided to check the time. It was past 4:00 p.m. already, and she needed to get home.
"Now that we are friends again, I hope I get to see you more often and hear from you," Ivy said, and Emma smiled.
"Of course, I really did miss having you in my life," Emma admitted, her eyes on Ivy.
"Same here; let me not keep you here for too long. Maybe next time when I'm not going somewhere, we could have a sleepover like we used to," Ivy said, and Emma raised a brow.
"I thought you said you didn't have a man. So, where are you going?" Emma asked, and Ivy raised a brow.
"Is going to see a man the only place I can go?" she asked dryly, and Emma winked.
"My secretary is celebrating her birthday today, so she invited me. Honestly, I wouldn't want to go, but I need to go out and let men see me, you know?" Emma shook her head in amusement.
"Just go have fun and forget about a man. A good one will come when it's time," Emma said, and Ivy nodded.
"You're right. Alright then. Let's meet some other time. Maybe I can come visit you," Ivy said with a smile, and Emma nodded.
"Sure. I'll get going now. I enjoyed every bit of your company today," Emma said as she stood up, and Ivy did the same.
They hugged, and Ivy walked Emma to where the driver had parked the car. Emma got into the car, and as the car reversed, Ivy waved Emma goodbye.
Emma was so happy the whole drive home. She had finally reconnected with Ivy and now had a friend, which was something to be excited about.
Away from there, Alex, who was busy working after Emma left, glanced at his phone when it started ringing.
His brows shot up, and a wave of anxiety passed through him when he checked the caller ID to see that it was Emma's shadow bodyguard.
Why was he calling? Was Emma fine? He mused as he answered the call.
"What's up?" Alex asked as soon as the call connected.
"Emma ran into Jake today, sir," The guard said, and Alex sighed, realizing he hadn't told Emma about Jake working at the headquarters yet.
How had she taken the encounter? He hoped she wasn't broken once again. He mused, deciding to ask the guard just that.
"How was she? Was she crying after the encounter? What happened? Was there any form of argument between them?" Alex asked, his worry evident in his tone.
The guard, unable to answer all of those questions at once, went on to tell Alex all that had happened, and when he was done, Alex sighed.
"How was Emma's countenance when she left the company?" Alex questioned, not sure how she must be feeling now.
"Unbothered, sir," The guard said, waiting to hear the next question.
"Unbothered? She wasn't crying or angry?" He asked, just to be sure.
"Yes, sir. She didn't look angry or sad. It was as though she didn't care," he said, and Alex nodded.
"That's fine, Thank you," Alex said before ending the call.
He needed to hear from Emma and discern from her tone if she was okay after running into Jake like that.
Before he could dial her line, another call came to his phone. Although he had wanted to busy the call and hear from Emma first, when he saw it was Mark this time, he took the call without a second thought.
"Hey Mark, what's up?" Alex asked with a curious frown.
"Good afternoon boss, I called to tell you that Jake called not quite long and said he doesn't want me to keep an eye on you anymore...." Mark said, but before he could talk further, Alex interrupted.
"What? Why?" He asked, surprised.
"Well, he wants me to keep an eye on Emma now," Mark concluded and Alex's frown deepened.
"Why her?" He asked aloud.
"From what he said, she came to the company, so he wants me to find out where she lives and why she came to the company," Mark said and waited for Alex's next instruction.
When he didn't say anything, Mark cleared his throat. "What do I do, boss?"
"I will talk to you about this later, please. Thank you, Mark," he said before ending the call.
As soon as the call with Mark ended, Alex stood up from his chair and started pacing around his office. He was trying to search his mind for the next thing to do, but ideas were not coming in; his mind was blank.
"What do I do? How do I handle this? Jake has diverted his attention from me, and now his focus is on Emma," Alex thought to himself. He was starting to feel very stressed and confused.
The last thing he wanted was for any harm to come to Emma after what Jake had put her through.
He paused and glanced at his phone when it rang again. Who the hell were these people calling him?
He scowled as he approached the table where he had left his phone to check who the caller was.