Chapter 31: Meeting the President

Ivy, Sasha and Cedric followed the guard hesitantly.

"Why would the President want to meet us?" Sasha asked, walking right beside Ivy.

"I don't know, Sasha. I am wondering the same." Ivy replied. It was true, she herself did not know why the President had asked her to meet him.

"Is it because of the questions you asked him during the press meet?" Cedric said, making Ivy and Sasha stop in their feet.

"What questions?" Sasha raised her eyebrows confused.

"I don't think that's the reason," Ivy said, although she was unsure herself.

"Oh my God. Oh my God. The President is angry. Your questions made him angry." Cedric said hyperventilating.

"Relax. It's going to be alright." Ivy said again. But this time she was sacred too. What if Cedric's words were true? What if she had really angered the President?"

"Can anybody tell me what are you talking about?" Sasha said annoyed.

Again her question was unanswered. The guard who was leading them walked back when he realized that they were not following him.

"Any problem?" He asked looking at all three of them.

"No," Cedric replied at once. "We were just wondering what we being called for."

"Sir, There is nothing to worry about. The President just wants to meet you. Nothing serious."

Listening to the guard's words, all the three of them breathed a sigh of relief.

"This way please." The started to walk again and this time the trio followed him calmly. They arrived at a door and waited for a few minutes while the guard went inside. After a few seconds, the guard returned and held the door wide open.

"You may go in."

"All three of us?" Sasha asked skeptically.

"Yes Madam. All three of you."

The group of three stepped inside the room with muddled thoughts. They stared at the man sitting on the couch in the center. There were two guards behind him. There was a desk at the far end of the room with two computers and a printer. The desk had three telephones and a pen stand. The room was well furnished and looked like a private meeting room.

"Please do take your seats." Luis welcomed them with a warm smile.

Ivy took a seat on the couch towards his right, while Cedric and Sasha sat on the left.

"Would you like some coffee?" Luis asked lifting the kettle.

"No Mr President. We are fine. Thank You." Ivy replied courteously.

"Don't be formal. Have some coffee."

"Umm. Okay Mr President. Let me help." This time Ivy gave in.

"No no. You are my guests. Let me do it." The president poured the coffee into a cup and stared at Ivy.

"How do you like your coffee?"

"One spoon of sugar please."

Luis added a spoonful of sugar and handed Ivy her cup along with a spoon. He then poured another cup and then turned to Cedric.

"How do you like your coffee, young man?"

"One spoon sugar, Sir."

Luis handed Cedric his cup after adding the sugar. Before he could pour the third cup, Sasha stopped him.

"I don't drink coffee Mr. President."

"Do you want anything else? Tell me. I'll tell my assistant to get it for you."

"No Mr President. I am fine." Sasha was too scared to even talk, let alone to ask him get her something else instead of coffee. She was fidgeting in her seat uncomfortably; sitting in front of the President himself was making her nervous.

Ivy finished her cup in a go and burnt her tongue in the process. She then waited for Luis to talk.

"You must be wondering why I called you here." Luis started.

All three of them turned to look at him. He took a sip from his cup and lifted his head to meet three pairs of curious eyes.

"May I know which news agency you are from?"

"We work for News4U," Cedric answered his question.

"Ain't it the same news channel that telecasted Mr. Peters video first."

Ivy nodded a yes while Sasha and Cedric remained silent.

"Interesting. As I had expected."

"What?" Ivy asked him on hearing him mumble.

"May I know your name, young lady?" Luis stared right into Ivy's eyes.

"My name is Ivy West."

"Hmm. During the press meet, you asked me a question if anybody else from the government had joined hands with David Peters. Why did you feel that way?" He observed her waiting for her to answer him.

Ivy's eyes broadened in surprise. As Cedric had predicted, they had been summoned due to the questions she had asked. Ivy answered his question, regardless of the situation.

"Mr. President, I know Mr. Peters has money and all the power to get a virus developed from another country. But I don't think he is powerful enough to sneak in the virus to our country without being noticed. I believe there is somebody else helping him behind the scenes and he may or may not be a government official. It is just my assumption and to be honest, I feel there are a lot more people involved with him. This case is not as simple as it looks to be."

Luis smiled listening to the analysis given by the woman in front. She was very intelligent, he had to accept that.

"Moving on to the second question you had asked. You think that the terrorists have some objective in attacking our people. What else can it be other than to kill our people?"

This time Ivy had to think for a while before giving him an answer.

"Mr. President, as you have said earlier in the press meet that none of our soldiers have been seriously injured. It means that our enemies are on a losing end, yet they are still fighting our men. It only means one thing They are trying to garner all our attention on them while they are secretly planning an attack somewhere else. Don't you think so? I wouldn't be surprised if our country is being attacked from a different direction in the upcoming few days."

This time Cedric and Sasha too stared at her in shock along with Luis. His casual comment had made Luis think about its possibility. The reporter in front of him had given him the solution to his problems unknowingly.

"Thank you very much, Miss West." Luis stood up. He now had important matters to handle.

"No No, Mr President. We are honored. If there is nothing else, we will take your leave." Ivy gestured Cedric and Sasha to follow her.

All the three of them walked towards their car silently.

"What the hell was that?" Sasha was the first one to break the silence.

"I don't know." Ivy shrugged unlocking the company van.

"What do you mean you don't know? Do you even know what you did in there?" Cedric questioned with enthusiasm. Ivy folded her hands waiting for him to continue.

"You were clearly analyzing and giving him advises to his problems." Cedric dropped his bag in the van

"It seriously looked so cool that for a moment I wondered if I was sitting in a secret meeting room, like the Intelligence or the FBI or something," Sasha said. She looked like a die-hard fan who was meeting her idol for the first time.

Ivy gave Sasha a look like she was crazy and threw the van keys to Cedric. She then coolly got inside the van.

'Hmm the idea of being in the Intelligence is not bad." She thought.