Fan Fiction |
by Rain
Tuesday, 11 June 2002
“You must’ve offended the police force quite a lot in your past life,” Alec joked seeing Michelle relieved after their questioning.
They were all back at Michelle’s place. Kenneth was trying to fix the door lock that had been spoilt.
“Are you okay Mich?” Raymond asked concerned. Michelle nodded.
“Niki, what did you tell your officer?” Michelle asked.
“Nothing… Of course I denied everything…” Niki said.
“Yeah, that’s good…” Michelle said quietly.
“Where could Louis be?” Tavia asked munching on a chip.
“I guess that would remain a mystery until he’s back to enlighten us…” Kenneth said logically.
“Yeah, it’s not like he talked much or told us anything besides his name,” Alec chipped in.
“It’s a good thing too he didn’t reveal anything because you could be more natural when you were questioned…” Raymond thought aloud after a while.
“Done!” Kenneth announced shutting the door and was about to experiment his repair work when a hand pushed the door ajar from outside. Kenneth pulled the door open to see Jessica with her usual medical case.
“Hi!” Jessica smiled broadly at everyone. “I’m here again to treat Louis.”
She saw everyone was being unusually quiet. “Anything wrong with him?”
Michelle stood up and invited Jessica to sit. “Jess, he’s gone…”
“Gone?!” Jessica shouted and stood up rushing to Niki’s room. “Why didn’t you call me when his condition worsen?! How could he die like that?! I was sure he was already in the recovering stage…”
“He’s… not here…” Jessica stared dumbly at the empty bed. “You’ve even buried him?! Why didn’t you tell me? He might still have one last breath!”
“No, no, Jess you misunderstood Michelle. She meant Louis had disappeared when we came back during lunch time to check on him yesterday…” Niki explained.
“Oh…” Jessica said faintly, as Michelle led her towards the sofa.
“Jess? Are you okay?” Raymond asked seeing Jessica quite badly affected by Louis’ disappearance news. “Did he mention anything significant to you? I guess you are the one who have had most contact with him…”
“No…” Jessica said faintly.
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Jessica pushed her door open. She threw her keys on the little coffee table and then flung herself on the sofa, closing her eyes for a quiet moment.
What’s wrong with me…? It’s not like I felt very comfortable giving illegal medical treatment to a mysterious man.
She straightened herself up and went for a cold shower.
Admit it Jessica… You find him attractive… You’re disappointed that he’s gone… a little voice teased from within.
No… That can’t be true… I can’t be having feelings with a man I hardly know! She refused to believe the voice, but the tanned handsome face began flooding her mind proving her as wrong as can be.
After her quick shower, she called Michelle, her new made but nevertheless good friend. Jessica didn’t have many good friends around but she had felt a strong bond with Michelle after meeting her for the first time. They got along surprisingly well and had become cherished friends since.
Michelle appreciated Jessica’s efforts to save a man she hardly know, breaching a good few ethics in her medicine field along the way while Jessica saluted Michelle for having such a humane heart instead of being the rightful lawyer the local papers that feature her everyday claim.
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“Hey there…” Jessica greeted Michelle who already had an ocean blue cocktail before her.
“What’s up?” Michelle replied with a smile. Jessica put her handbag aside and seated herself next to Michelle. She ordered plain beer for herself.
“Something bothering you?” Michelle guessed reading her friend’s bothered expression.
“Mich, do you… have you ever find yourself falling for a stranger…?” Jessica began.
Michelle looked at Jessica and understood what she meant immediately.
“Louis is an interesting man…” Michelle commented.
“I’ve never been so captivated by a man before. If you can believe this, this is the first time ever I’ve realized my feelings for a man…” Jessica added, sipping the bitter beer.
“I can see that,” Michelle replied seeing Jessica’s usual trouble free face a total opposite now.
“I do not deny my previous boyfriends, but they had initiated the relationship and I was the passive one…”
“I wouldn’t be surprise if you’ve had a horde of men in your past,” Michelle joked, laughing.
“I mean, you’re a beauty and you’re a doctor. Men will be attracted to you even if you just swept by them,” she added.
“Ha, ha! Nice joke. I’ve had a few ex-boyfriends but none of them last because I couldn’t find my feelings for them,” Jessica confessed.
“Hey, it can’t be all about me. What about you? I bet you’ve had an even more interesting past with your model look and all that newspapers’ daily featuring. I’ve even seen you in the magazine featuring you as one of the top 10 most desired woman in Hong Kong!” Jessica teased her in return.
“Me…?” Michelle gulped down her cold drink.
Her mind whirled back in time back to the first day when she first met Daniel. Then it fast forwarded to Wallace. And it forwarded more with mere emptiness filling till now. She looked at Jessica who was still waiting for her answer.
“Well, I… I don’t have a horde but I did have two persons in my past…” she began.
----------------------------------------------*Flashback*----------------------------------------------
“Good morning Michelle,” one of the panels greeted her.
“Good morning everyone…” Michelle replied bowing to the panels before taking her seat at the piano.
“This is a piece I’ve composed based on my personal inspiration. It is written with moderato tempo and is of the sentimental theme,” Michelle introduced her piece. “I present you a Michelle Yip Suen composed piece entitled Winter Rainbow.”
The panel of judges nodded impressively as she was among the few who had composed their own presentation piece. Michelle positioned her fingers and perfected her posture before shutting her eyes and playing the beautifully arranged piece to enthrall the judges thoroughly. One of them even clapped while shaking his head in disbelief that this delicate girl had finally succeeded in showing them what music defined.
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“How’s it?” Daniel asked as Michelle reappeared from the audition room.
Michelle flung herself at Daniel, who then swung her around madly.
“I’ve did it, Dan! I think I have anyway… they looked very satisfied…” Michelle said.
“Of course, with such a superb muse,” Daniel pointed to himself. “… it’s hard to not do well!”
Michelle gave him a playful peck on the cheek. “Let’s go celebrate!”
With Michelle’s hand in his, Daniel led them to a fancy restaurant he had booked beforehand without Michelle’s knowledge. Michelle couldn’t stop smiling that night.
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It was just a day after Daniel’s memorial burial when the letter arrived at her letter box. Michelle did not bother to rip it open but Vicki did.
“Mich, you can’t let go of such a golden chance!” Vicki exclaimed upon reading Michelle’s success in securing a place as well as a full scholarship in Juliard, the best reputation international music college across the globe.
Michelle stared blankly at Vicki. “I… I can’t go…”
“I know what you’re thinking, but Daniel would have wanted you to go! He even put in so much effort in inspiring you to go for that audition… All those crystals… your best piece ever composed… You can’t let go of music. It is a sin to all the musicians of the world,” Vicki cried anxiously.
“I can’t! Winter Rainbow… That’s the song I’ve composed of us! It won the scholarship for me, it won Juliard for me, but what’s the point when it is now nothing more than a few blank notes! It will no longer sing as it did again in that audition room. It will only echo hideously in emptiness…” Michelle said, breaking into tears at last.
Vicki rushed to hug her. “It’s okay Mich… I didn’t mean to upset you… I understand. But what will you do now? I know that you’ve been planning for Juliard since the first day I met you!”
“I… I will be a lawyer, and solve Dan’s case, if it’s the last thing I do!” Michelle vowed.
------------------------------------------*End of Flashback*------------------------------------------
Jessica looked in awe at the girl before her. Never could she imagine she had had such a past.
“Are you okay? Sorry I brought up such a past…” Jessica said guiltily.
“It’s okay, I’ve gotten past it,” Michelle smiled reassuringly.
“Yeah, that’s right! Otherwise you would not have fallen for the second man in your life…” Jessica looked at Michelle.
Michelle smiled bitterly but she felt good telling Jessica her past and she wanted to. It was like meeting a second Vicki in her life. She began filling in Jessica with her encounter with Wallace and the motive behind his approach.
“But…? Do you still love him?” Jessica asked.
Michelle dared her eyes to meet hers. Hers were shining in tears. Jessica immediately offered her a tissue and a hug.
“Jess…” Michelle called in a soft whisper.
“Hmmm…?”
“Jess!” Michelle cried, breaking apart from their embrace, pointing to a far corner behind Jessica where a familiar brown and lean figure sat very comfortably among a group of hooligans, smoking and drinking away. Several girls flirt shamelessly with their overly exposed body rubbing suggestively all over the men’s body.
Jessica could not believe the guy that she had tried so hard to save was actually drowning himself with harmful loads of smoking and drinking. She stormed over with Michelle tailing behind.
“Je… Jessica?” Louis stammered upon seeing her angry face. His heart raced at the sight of her. He had missed her after he left but he hadn’t found the chance to call her.
“Wow, this is one hot chick!” one of the men stood up and touched Jessica’s chin.
“Phewit, the one behind her is not bad too!” another jeered tauntingly.
“Hey, I recognize her! She’s that big shot lawyer! My, my… She’s much prettier than the photos…” he said again.
“Stop it bastards… they are my friends…” Louis barked at his mocking friends.
“You greedy bastard. Trying to eat two at once huh?” his friends replied. “Remember us when you’ve had too much… We will always welcome these beauty queens…” The whole bunch of them laughed maniacally, while the girls by them glared hatefully at both Jessica and Michelle.
Louis stood up. “Jess, Mich… let’s go out…”
Jessica’s slap was too fast for him. She turned her heels feeling rage and heat overwhelming her as tears of frustration threatened to spill. Michelle gave Louis a baffled look and then hurried after her.
“..to talk...” Louis rubbed his cheek that still stung from her hit. He was disappointed that Jessica did not give him a chance to sort things out.
What can you sort out huh, tough guy? You’re as good as a rascal, and now you want to chase after the elegant phoenix?! Forget it… Louis scolded himself and went back to the smoking nest of prostitutes.
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END of Chapter