372 Christmas Eve - Part 3 - Ivy and Bridgette 1

David smoked a cigar while watching Ivy pace back and forth outside a small gift boutique. She would approach the store with an intention to buy, but only soon to retreat out of hesitation.

Outside, the evening twilight settled sooner to infiltrate into the night. It was officially Christmas Eve. A wonderful time to spend with family and friends, to share warm drinks and warm laughter. Above all, it is a night to dwell on the wealth of loving bonds, which makes life pleasing every day of the year.

When Ivy received an invitation to attend Bridgette's Christmas Eve party at her place, she agreed to it so casually, only to suffer right now.

David also received an extended invitation since he's spending Christmas Eve alone by himself, which brings both to their current state of despair.

Standing outside under the cold weather, Ivy stood disconcerted, considering whether to get a Christmas present for Bridgette or not. She wanted to get something but got discouraged from their recent affair. Because Ivy's enduring confession got rejected, she feared if her gift would constitute unnecessary misunderstandings.

Ivy never knew when it started, but it slowly did when she discovered the love for her best friend. Since then, Ivy had been using her Christmas presents as a form of expression to send gifts tinged with her secret love concealed underneath the loyalty of friendship.

Quite a time has passed for David to get annoyed slowly by Ivy's idling.

"How long are you going to take?" he inquired out of exhaustion.

Ivy stops to look at the time in dread, only to get more agitated.

"Wait- should I also get something for your friend?" David proposed.

"Why? You guys aren't that close!" Ivy groaned to return to panicking.

Annoyed, David stayed out of getting on her nerves. Instead, he urged Ivy to hurry up as they are losing time.

Ivy agreed momentarily but soon gravitated to repeat the routine. David finished his cigar to light a new one. His state of annoyance has now turned to a complete disregard for his friend. Right when Ivy was about to walk past him in contemplation, David made a snarky remark without delay.

"You know- it's not like you still have a chance with her, so why do you bother yourself with this?"

"Why don't you just let it go?"

Ivy's whole body froze from David's bold comment. She paused her pacing abruptly.

David knew that he made a mistake by crossing the line, but from the level of frustration he's enduring, the truth naturally came out to the light.

Ivy remained like a statue. Even the people brushing past didn't seem to disturb her, but David's eyes that spoke of her secret. Except for Parker, Bethany or David had no idea about Ivy's secret crush on her best friend, Bridgette.

David blew the smoke into the cold air, dropping the unfinished cigar on the ground to step on it before he spoke,

"You really think that Parker can keep the secret from us?"

"Wha- What do you mean?" Ivy muttered, feigning nonchalance.

"I mean, we know how you- felt- about your friend, Bridgette!" David revealed.

He avoided playing around and tried his best to speak out the truth since it is not healthy to maintain secrets within a team.

Ever since Bethany and David learned about Ivy's secret, David swore to discuss it with her when the time comes. Right now was the said time, and David knew he couldn't keep hiding the fact that he knew about Ivy secretly.

As he stood dumbfounded, he did not expect that his bare truth would trigger Ivy's frozen figure as it moved to overtake him in a flash.

David grew nervous.

"I- In my defense, it was- Bethany who found it first!" David admitted by lifting his hands in the air to surrender.

Ivy's dark face shifted from the earnest reply.

"Bethany? How? When?" Ivy stormed.

David continued to keep his hands in the air as he spoke.

"O- On- your- birth- birthday- when you left- s- she followed you guys to ask for a favor- but ended up overhearing your conversation-"

David's honest confession seems to pacify Ivy's rage. Her stares no longer pierced, but she still confronted him closely.

David carried on with his disclosure.

"She- She told me the next day, and later we questioned Parker about it-"

Ivy's gaze deepened, refusing to cast away even for a moment, which frightened David.

"Pa- Parker couldn't help but confirm to shut Bethany, so- so-"

"So- he told us about how you've loved Bridgette for a long time. He also requested us to forget about it, but- we- we couldn't just ignore-"

David yielded to Ivy's cold investigation, vomiting all his awareness on this matter.

Ivy remained numb from learning all this. Part of her wished not to believe, but at the same time, David is not obliged to lie unnecessarily.

She finally gave him his personal space to let him breathe.

Both of them stood there on the sidewalk for quite some time with whole new mixed emotions flowing within. Their enduring presence soon received a few suspecting looks from the resident store employees, considering that they were at each other's throat a few moments ago. Along with some cold stares from passing by strangers for blocking the space, David could no longer withstand. He urged Ivy about the passing time.

"I- I think- it's best if we leave!" he suggested.

Ivy, too, began to feel uneasy. Although it wasn't cause of these stranger's changing perceptions, she can't think straight anymore. The fight to buy gifts for Bridgette or not interested her no more. She felt stupid, loitering in a confused state. Unable to hold on to this uncomfortable tension, Ivy makes a haste decision lastly by choosing not to get any presents. She preferred to make a firm decision after facing the situation directly. In case if Bridgette asks for it, then she can quickly find a decent gift. If not, then it is in manners to understand that it takes time for both before returning to exchanging holiday presents like casual friends. Nevertheless, Ivy chose to retire finally.

"Forget it! Let's leave!" she announced to take off immediately, leaving behind David in the crowd.

David caught up to her soon to point out his guilt in ruining the moment. He apologized for having crossed the line. It didn't seem to bother Ivy as David expected, but seeing her not angry, made him sigh in relief.

The two decided to walk to the nearest subway to catch a ride.

As they kept walking together in awkward silence, David spots a random flower shop. He looks at Ivy's serious face, full of worries troubling within. He caught her by hand to signal at the shop.

"I know that I killed your intentions- but-"

Ivy looked in the direction he points out to see a small flower shop.

"We should get some flowers as a gift rather than going empty-handed to a Christmas Eve party!" he suggested.