It starts here

It starts here
In the next few minutes, which passed swiftly, Ivy drove to the location that Ares had reserved for them. 
Like every other expensive restaurant in the city, this was prettier and enhanced. 
She knew for sure that Ares had gone out of his way to make their first date magical. 
Ivy could not believe that he had set up the meeting in under an hour to please her. 

As soon as his eyes darted to Ivy, he instantly rose to his feet with a wide grin etched on his lips. 
Ivy smiled back, her expression was a mix of apology, that is, for taking too long to arrive, and also a mix of appreciation. 
  “You didn't have to,” she let out as they shared a brief hug. Ares pulled out a chair for her as she sat before he sat back down. 
  “Anything for you, Ivy. Thank you for honoring my invitation…” he stated.  
   “Look at you?! I would show up either way. I apologize for taking too long by the way.” she said as the waiter approached their table with a friendly smile. 
  “What would you like to eat?” he asked Ivy. 
  “Well,  anything you are going for tonight?” she teased but that was her option. Ares laughed it off and proceeded to place his orders.

Some time later, they were already enjoying the sumptuous meal. 
  “This place is amazing, the meal is heaven on earth. Suddenly, this place feels like a new place… thank you so much Ares,” she sweetly said as he smiled, somewhat shy that her praises were engulfing her and there was her smile… making his breath hitch from time to time. 
  “Come on, Ivy, do I deserve all this praise? But I'm glad that you're enjoying every bit. It means so much to me…” said Ares as he took her hand in his. 
Her phone started to buzz making the moment chaotic between them.
Ivy instantly off her hand to answer to answer her phone. Although Ares was disappointed, he pretended that it was okay for her to answer her phone. 
Peeking at her screen, she saw that it was Raul’s number. Meanwhile, Ivy had noticed Ares’s disappointed demeanor. 

She silenced her phone and turned to Ares. “Hey, I'm Ivy Hart! You are?”
Ares chuckled, “What are you doing?” he asked. 
  “Reintroducing myself. I don't let anything interrupt this moment,” she snapped. 
  “Okay, that's sweet.  If you must leave then you should. I bet it could be an emergency,” he said. 
  “No, no, no, it's not an emergency. It's Nate’s friend. We got into an argument earlier but… We’ll come around,” she explained as Ares gave a smile.  
  “Great! Introduce yourself again, I want to hear all about you tonight…”  she demanded politely as the waiter cleared the table leaving behind the experience wine.
  “I might bore you,” he said as she shook her head. 
  “No, Ares, I love boring stuff. Normal is actually boring, do you agree?” she teased as she gracefully sipped from her drink. 
  “Definitely!” he snapped. He rubbed his palms swiftly. “So, I’m Ares Winston. I’m a journalist, a practicing lawyer, and an entrepreneur but I prefer to be called a journalist…” he said. 
Ivy’s brows crept to the ceiling with a stunned grin on her lips. 
  “A journalist and lawyer, huh? Isn't that amazing?! You're a mix-breed of justice. I love that. For how long have you been… dealing with having to scout information about people?” she asked. 
  “Fifteen years now! I own a media house—Apex Media House, some kilometers away from here. But I prefer to run around, do interviews, do coverages and the like,” he paused, letting Ivy sink in the information that seemed thrilling to her. 
  “So, you own it? That's incredible! Really. Nate and I are big fans of the morning show, we tune in at every given opportunity that we get,” she truthfully said as he smiled. 
  “I'm glad. Thanks!” he added as they continued staring at each other for a moment before Ivy braced up to break the awkwardness. 
  “Ever been married?” 
One thing Ivy understood at that moment was that Ares wasn't keen on discussing his personal life, especially about the woman who had existed for a short time in his life. 
  “I shouldn't have asked,” she let out when his face dropped. 
  “Or maybe it was good that you asked…” he sighed and gulped the contents of his glass before continuing. “Her name is Dora, she was going to be my wife's fiancée until she was murdered the night before our wedding,” he paused as his jaw tightened while Ivy tried to digest the sad news. 
  “The night before your wedding?” she repeated in shock. 
  “Yeah. I was going to see her face one last time before the wedding day… You know stuff that couples do. The thrill and excitement cooped in one basket, the feeling was bliss. I thought I would see Dora, but I saw Dora’s corpse in a pool of her blood. That moment left an imprint on me…” he sighed, fighting the urge to think about it. “Well, it's been three years now…” he said. 
  “Oh no, Ares, this is too much…”  Ivy let out apologetically. 
  “It is. I deserve a happy ending, don't I?! Dora was my world… she filled it with light. Everyone I knew loved her and so who would have wanted her dead?” he asked, but of course, Ivy had no answers to that. 
  “The moment I saw you at the cemetery, I swore that it would be the last time I would visit because I wanted closure and couldn't move on. Seeing you pass through a new feat gave me hope to keep fighting until I've found the one responsible for Dora’s death. Dora didn't deserve to die,” he said as he rubbed his temples. 
  “Ares, no one gets over the death of someone dear to them. People only try to heal from it and place new priorities over them,” Ivy said. It was the simplest thing that she could give that Nate wasn't innocent. 
  “Nate, did he deserve to die?” Ares's question struck a nerve that she wished he hadn't asked. 
 “No!” she simply said and forced a smile. 

The truth was in her eyes but her words contradicted what she had spilled. 

The rest of the evening was delightful, at least they got to talk about their new goals, something that didn't have to involve mourning the dead. 

When Ivy reached home, she met Alvin. Standing on the porch like a bodyguard. 
Ivy rolled her eyes as she instantly stepped out of the car. 
  “Hey Vin,”
  “Where have you been?” he asked her, his tone was authoritative and direct.  
  “Don't you dare use that damned tone on me, Alvin. We talked about this, didn't we?” she said.  
  “It's past midnight, someone has got to act like an adult here,” he snapped as Ivy scoffed. 
  “Now you feel like an adult who must take responsibility? I'm not a child, Alvin, I have children and so don't treat me like a teenage daughter,” she warned. “I've had a long day, don't add to it…” she said and walked past him. 

Ivy made her way to the kitchen to prepare some tea before she could retire to bed. 
Meanwhile, Alvin thought about what she had said and thought about apologizing. 
While she was seated by the counter, replying to Ares's text, he wanted to know if she got home safely. 
  “Can I sit?” Alvin swiftly interrupted as she scoffed lightly. 
  “If you're going to act like my father then I would rather you leave the house…” she pointed out. 
  “I'm sorry for what I said. I was just worried about you and got carried away,” he confessed. 
  “That's not an excuse, Vin. You do that all the time and it's maddening,” she added. 
  “I'm deeply sorry, Ivy. I was just… jealous. Never mind, it won't happen again…” he vowed just like every other time. He sat next to her and placed a file on the clean counter. 
  “Look at this,” he said as she put down her cup and grabbed the file. 
  “I’ve found the addresses of each of the girls you asked for. You can start digging much later,” he said as she nodded and scanned through the papers. 

The papers contained Nitro Groups’ financial report for the year-end. It was no secret that the company was going under, it was in shambles, in debt, and heavy bankruptcy. She flung the papers angrily, groaning as Alvin tried to calm her down.
  “This is all that he could leave us with, bad debts and bankruptcy?” she cried out, her throat turned sore. 
Again, the situation weighed heavily on her. It was another reason for her to hate Nate at that moment. 
  “There is no time for regrets, Ivy. It's time to act before the police sit on the case with Nate. The company needs saving and there is one person who knows the backbone of the company—someone who can pull it out of this... disaster,” he said, sharply staring at Ivy. 
Her eyes filled with curiosity, she asked; “Who is capable of saving the company?”