Fan Fiction |
by Hibiscus
“Joe, the Men’s is on the other side of the corridor.” Ariel teased.
“I was looking for you.” Joe looked troubled.
“Is everything okay?” Ariel asked, concerned.
“Yeah, I know this is not really the right time but I just wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Oh, sure.” Ariel gestured to an alcove and they went there, the curtains giving them privacy.
“It’s about Mike…” Joe began and Ariel stiffened. Joe, noticing her response, held up his hand and said, “Hear me out, k?”
Ariel nodded.
“I know you guys have a bad history,” Joe grimaced at the understatement. “And I know you don’t think much of Mike.”
Ariel said nothing and looked away.
“All I wanted to say is… he is fragile too, Ariel. He has had a very difficult three years since you last worked with him. I didn’t say anything about him because it was obvious you didn’t welcome any news about him but his mom passed away.”
“What?” Ariel looked up, startled.
“Yeah. We managed to keep it out of the news because Mrs. He was an extremely private person and she would have hated to be news for the public even after her death. And since Mike’s dad passed away when he was really young, all he has left in his family is his frail, old grandmother.”
Ariel felt a tinge of compassion almost unwillingly.
“He has become a sadder person than he used to be and while he has grown a thick shell around him, it’s a shaky defense.”
“What’s your point, Joe?” Ariel said shortly.
“I just want you to be careful with him. Don’t hurt him.”
“What the hell? ME hurt HIM? Haven’t you gotten your facts fumbled, Zheng Yuan Chang. HE hurt ME. How could I hurt him? I don’t have that power.” She stood up angrily and walked away.
Ariel couldn’t believe that Joe would actually warn her about hurting Mike. How could he do that? Knowing everything that had happened between them, how he could think that she- ah, she was so mad.
Ariel slipped out of the ballroom and took one of the pathways down to the center of the garden. It was a starry night so even though there was no presence of the moon, the stars still lit up the sky. The garden seemed quite deserted as everyone else was inside enjoying the party as she could hear from the sounds wafting through the open windows.
Ariel breathed deeply of the crisp night air. Suddenly she heard someone whispering quietly from the other side of the hydrangea bushes. Her first instinct was to flee but curiosity got the better of her and she leaned forward to hear what the person was saying.
“Ma, are you there among the stars? Which one are you? The brightest one, of course. Everyone keeps telling me that this hurt I have, that I keep inside of me, this hurt that pinches my heart every time I think of you, will fade away. That you will become a memory, Ma. But I don’t want you to become a memory because memories fade. And it’s okay if it hurts when I think of you because at least then I know that you are still alive inside of me.”
Ariel felt tears prickle her eyes at the softly spoken words. She leaned forward some more and stepped on a stone which made her lose her balance and she fell into the bushes with a loud “oomph!”
A strong pair of hands pulled her out of the bush and she found herself very close to the person she had been shamelessly eavesdropping on.
“Mike!” She gasped, squirming out of his embrace.
He let her go reluctantly. “Haven’t you heard that it’s not polite to eavesdrop on other people’s conversations, Ariel?”
Ariel looked at him, her heart softening towards him in a rare moment of compassion. “I’m sorry about your mom, I didn’t know.”
“I don’t need your consolation.” Mike snapped and walked off to sit on a bench.
Ariel frowned. She did not need nor appreciate his attitude. “Listen, Jun Xiang, I am not giving you my consolation. I would feel bad for any person who lost their parent. You are not special.”
She frowned and sat down on the same bench, placing herself as far as she could from him without falling off. Ariel knew that the prudent thing to do would be to walk away, to leave but for some reason she couldn’t.
“We are going to be spending a lot of time together in the next couple of months-” She began.
“Oh yes, I’m sorry you’ll have to go through that torturous ordeal.” Mike cut her off.
Ariel, already angry after Joe’s comments, got madder. She got up and stalked over to his side of the bench.
“You stinking little BOY!” She said and then she kicked him. Then she went still realizing what she had done.
Suddenly she noticed that Mike’s shoulders were shaking.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, did I hurt you?” Ariel said anxiously. Then she realized he was laughing. Laughing! That made her angrier.
“Yes, it will be a torturous ordeal for me, Mike. Yes. Because I can’t stand you. I can’t stand talking to you, looking at you and even being in the same space as you.”
Ariel knew that she was speaking out of turn, saying things in the heat of the moment that she would regret it later on when she had had time to cool down but it seemed that she couldn’t stop the words from pouring through her mouth. All the anger and hurt that she had stored inside of her spilled out.
“You like talking about me, don’t you, Mike? Is that why you talked shit about me to all the reporters? How you could never be with someone like me? Why, Mike? It wasn’t like you were new to the business that you didn’t know how to behave or give interviews? Why did you deliberately set out to hurt me?”
Mike hunched in on himself.
Ariel thought he wouldn’t answer but she just had to know. So she waited, letting the silence envelope them.
Finally, Mike spoke up.
“Everyone has their firsts, Ariel,” Mike said. “You were mine.”
Ariel turned toward him, her eyes widening.
“Yeah, I don’t expect you to reciprocate anymore. I’m hardly as naïve as that. All I ever wanted, still want in fact, was for you to stop denying that you felt something for me.”
Ariel said nothing. She didn’t know what to say.
“I know you hate me. I handled things badly, I admit that freely. And I am not proud of my behavior. But you know what; you didn’t even give me a chance. Not to explain, not to salvage our friendship, nothing. You walked away, as though I meant nothing to you, as if I never had. Not even as a friend. You completely froze me out.”
“You know what? I think I lashed out publicly just so I could see some sort of reaction from you. Break that Ice Queen façade you so effectively hide behind. Ariel Lin, untouched by emotion and love. I wonder that you can do the roles you do because I don’t see your heart. I don’t know that you have one.”
Ariel felt her eyes grow heavy with tears. But she was determined not to cry in front of him.
Mike walked to the edge of the garden and turned back.
“I mean, I could have understood it if you didn’t feel for me, didn’t want to be with me. I probably got carried away by my character – all I wanted was some kind of reciprocal, even if it was rejection. You walked away from me after I confessed to you and then it was as though I no longer existed. What was my crime? That I liked you? That I told you I liked you?” He paused, breathing deeply. “The point is Ariel; you are not the only victim here. You weren’t the only one hurt. All your friends have been telling me to walk carefully, watch my step, and I think I’ll tell YOU something too. If you wanna keep your distance, keep it by all means. I’m here to do a job, no, it’s more than a job to me, I’m here to bring Daniel to life and to Daniel, Tuesday IS life and what I can promise is that while we are acting, I will never think about you as more than the character, no, you won’t be able to say that Jun Xiang doesn’t learn from his mistakes. I did try to call you before – hah,” He grinned self-deprecatingly; “I filched your number from Joe’s phone so I could call you and tell you about the drama. And I did call you, mustering up my nerve but I guess you were busy and I couldn’t bring myself to call you again.”
“Mike, I-“Ariel began.
“No, let me finish, please. If I don’t say it all now, I probably never will and it will fester inside of me. I hurt you, I know, by my words, by my actions and perhaps,” he smiled bitterly, “by my entire existence and I will never forgive myself for that. I’m sorry. Accept my apology if you can. But you know what Ariel?” He turned towards her and looked at her, pausing. “You hurt me too.“
He walked away and Ariel sank to the ground overwhelmed.
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Author's Note: Phew!! *wipes sweat* That was a lot of hard work right there, people. =P But, Joe's cool eh? But this was one intense chapter. I'm sorry it's so long but Mike apparently had a lot to say. =P
This should tide you over for a week or so, yes?