Meanwhile Aria called Ivy. She was packing her bags to return home.
"Hey Aria. Wassup?" Ivy picked up the phone.
Aria could hear cars honking and other noises in the background. "Were you riding your bike?"
"Yes. I am going to meet Daniel."
"Okay. My flight is at 1.30 pm. Could you pick me up at the airport at 11 or so?"
"Sure Ari. Why are you being formal? I am your sister."
"Sure you are. How can I forget that I have the most irritating, idiotic, weird.."
"Aria West."
"Yet cute, hot and stunning sister."
"That's better."
"Okay idiot. Bye."
"Aria.," Ivy shouted on the phone, however, the call had already been disconnected.
"Come back home, I'll take of you." She seethed.
She then continued to ride her bike.
Thirty minutes later,
Ivy and Daniel were sitting in his office, having a glaring competition. Nobody was ready to back down, nobody was willing to move their eyes away from each other. They were having a silent competition. The door to his office was pushed open and Rachel entered without making a noise. She saw the two people having the silent confrontation, although to the onlookers it looked like they were gazing at each other romantically.
"Hey." Rachel said a little frustrated. She did not expect to see such a scenario as soon as she entered.
Her voice was enough for Daniel to break the war, he averted his gaze from Ivy at once.
"Yes, I won." Ivy fist thumped in the air.
"Rachel." Daniel g_r_o_a_n_e_d.
"What?" She shrugged.
"You made me lose." Daniel cried.
"Yeah loser." Ivy teased, sticking out her tongue. "Thank you very much Miss. You made me win, although I would have won the game sooner or later."
"I was just an innocent bystander." Rachel said, her voice showing traces of anger. She then turned to Ivy.
"You are welcome."
Ivy could make out the obvious relationship between Daniel and Rachel from her voice, she was clearly jealous. Before the situation could escalate to something bad, she introduced herself.
"Hey, I am Ivy. Ivy West. I am a childhood friend of Daniel."
"Hey. I am Rachel Carter." Rachel said. She was a little relieved on hearing that the woman was a childhood friend, but she still had her doubts. She knew Daniel was trustworthy, it was Ivy she was a little suspicious of. What if she had ulterior motives and had taken a liking towards Daniel?
"I think I know you," Ivy said taking a good look at her.
"Yes, you an architect right. I have read about you a lot." Ivy said fangirling over her immediately.
"Ivy give her a break. Rachel come in."
"So, Ivy what can I do for you?" Daniel said, while Rachel glared at Ivy. She saw the glare and realized that there was a misunderstanding, Rachel had misunderstood her.
"Before that, may I ask you a question?" Ivy looked at Daniel and Rachel.
"Sure."
"Is she your girlfriend?" She was direct. Rachel squirmed in her seat, she was a little scared of Ivy. She was not sure if Ivy was also in love with Daniel.
"Yes," Daniel answered and held Rachel's hand. She gave him a meek smile.
"Wow. Congratulations. You were quite lucky this time."
Now it was Daniel's turn to glare at her. Ivy ignored him.
"You know what Miss Carter, I was a little worried for him. The girls he had dated previously were all crap. I was worried that he would never find a good girl. Now I am happy, he couldn't have found anyone better."
Rachel looked at Ivy, trying to see if she was lying. When she saw the innocence and honesty in her eyes, Rachel's suspicions reduced. She relaxed a bit.
"That is true. I couldn't have found anyone better." Daniel kissed Rachel's hand.
"Wow, wow. Love birds. Don't be all lovey-dovey in front of single people. I don't want to eat dog food."
Daniel rolled his eyes, while Rachel chuckled. She couldn't deny that she was liking Ivy a little.
"Anyway, why didn't you say anything about her?"
"I wanted to tell Aria first."
"Who is Aria?" Rachel turned to look at him.
"Aria West, she is also a childhood friend of mine and Ivy's twin sister."
"Is she a doctor?" Rachel asked. 'Is the woman they were talking about, the same one who her brother had taken a liking to?"
"Yes, do you know her?" Daniel was a little surprised and so was Ivy.
"Yes. She was my brother's doctor."
"Oh. Okay."
Ivy looked at them speak was very happy. She was grinning from ear to ear.
"Why are you smiling?" Daniel raised his eyebrows looking at her smile.
"You both look so good together. I am so happy for you, however, I cannot say the same to Miss Carter."
"What do you mean?" Daniel huffed.
"Clearly, look at you and look at her." There was an obvious difference in her tone when she compared both of them.
"You are an ordinary man, but she a goddess. There is nothing great about you. Look at her, she is just wow."
"If you have come here to talk crap, get out of here."
"Okay, okay. I'll put this conversation on hold for now. So, these are the doc_u_ments I wanted to give you."
Ivy handed him all the doc_u_ments.
"Ivy, are you sure you want to talk about this here? You know you can talk in private." Daniel suggested. He knew this was a serious matter and Ivy was only trying to be humble so as to not make it difficult for Rachel.
"Yeah, I can leave if you want." Rachel stood up. She realized that it was something confidential.
"That's not necessary Miss Carter. You are his girlfriend, so I trust you. Maybe you could help me too and I can find my father as fast as possible."
Ivy's words were enough for Rachel to clear all the negative thoughts she had about her.
"Your father?"
"Yes. Ivy and Aria's father, Oliver West, went missing three years back. Since then we are looking for him."
"You are Oliver's daughter?"
Rachel's sudden outburst surprised both Ivy and Daniel.
"Do you know my father?"
"I have heard about him." Rachel composed herself immediately when she realized what she had done.
Ivy nodded. It was not unusual that many people knew her father, he was quite famous.
"So, what have you found out?" Daniel came back to the topic.
The next half an hour was spent in Ivy telling them about her findings and her thoughts. While Daniel listened to her attentively, Rachel was lost. She knew who Oliver was and where he was right now. And Aria being his daughter would only complicate the relationship between her and Noah.
She could only sigh as she was also helpless just like Joshua. It was her brother who called the shots and since he had not yet come clean in front of Aria, she could only remain silent and pray that everything would be alright.
Things were definitely going to be ugly in the future.