| Fan Fiction |
by W99
Acting on pure instinct, Calvin rolled over with one arm stretched out, blindly reaching for the source of the noise. Only to yelped as he felt nothingness, than an abrupt pain at the back of his head as he fell to the floor with a loud thump, amidst a confusing tangle of blankets and pillows.
Groaning, he sat up gingerly and stretched up for the phone that was still ringing shrilly on his bedside table. A quick glance at the screen told him it was Tony. Another look confirmed that he had only been asleep for about half an hour.
Cursing under his breath, he flipped it opened and growled into the receiver, “This had better be something life-threateningly important.”
“I have no time to explain!” Tony’s excited chatter burst through. “Meet me at the office. NOW.”
“What the hell ---“ he was rudely cut off by the ‘click’ of a disconnected phone.
Muttering and swearing, he forced himself on to his feet and into the shower, pulling a simple back tee and a pair of jeans from the closet while on his way.
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One perfectly manicured finger tapped impatiently against the marble countertop. A heartfelt sigh ensured, followed by the restless sound of an armchair squeaking.
“Selina...”
“What?” she continued with her finger-tapping.
“Would you quit making that noise? It’s getting on my nerves,” Jon told her.
Jonathan, more commonly known as Jon to the people around him, was her personal assistant, and one of her very best friends. He had been with her since the start of SHE, and she had never once had the need to complain about his services.
He was funny, sarcastic, generous to a fault, and one of the few people whom she felt she could truly let down her defences in front of. He was in short, like the brother she never had.
She smiled sheepishly and nodded. After a few seconds of strained silence, she looked up with an apologetic look. “I can’t seem to stop...” Rapid tapping followed her declaration.
Jon’s face was a mask of exasperated amusement. “What are you so nervous about?”
“I don’t know. I just am…” she shrugged daintily, staring off into space. She suddenly swerved back to face the guy sitting beside her, “They really didn’t tell you who it would be?”
“For the millionth and one time, no. They said it was a surprise. But it’s definitely going to be someone from H.I.M,” Jon began fiddling with the pen he always kept in his left breast pocket.
Selina pulled a face at him, and he rolled his eyes back at her.
She had been delighted when the company had informed her she was to star in her own movie. Ella and Hebe had both had the honour and pleasure of being protagonists in their very own series, and now it was finally her turn.
She had been thrilled, exhilarated, nervous. A project of her very own at last. And to think that the script was written especially for her, the female lead drawn up with she herself, Selina Ren, in mind. It was enough to send excited shivers running down her spine at the mere thought.
The only thing that put a damper on her extremely good mood was that the male lead had yet to be confirmed. There had been a few names thrown around. Mike He for one, Ethan Ruan for another. But nothing solid had really materialized.
Well, that was about to change, Selina straightened in her chair. She was about to meet her co-star in less than ten minutes. But couldn’t they at least tell her beforehand who it would be, she thought irritably, instead of all this mysterious hanky-panky?
Just then, a brief knock sounded at the door. The both of them immediately got to their feet.
The door opened to admit Tony, Fahrenheit’s manager. Realization dawned upon Selina. If Tony was there, it could only mean one thing. Her male lead was Jiro Wang.
She rolled her eyes with a tiny sigh. Trust H.I.M to play along with the rumours circulating around the web. She had read everything with her very own eyes. Many of their fans had expressed interest in seeing both her and Jiro going out with each other. It was just another one of those silly little things that always seemed to follow both SHE and Fahrenheit around. Their fans loved to mix and match them all up together. It was adorable, but really quite improbable.
She knew well enough from experience that all the gossips would die down in due time, but she had never expected their company to follow up on this outrageous gossip and cast them both in the same movie! She could just imagine the media buzz right now. They were going to be the next Chun and Ella, she thought dryly.
She fixed a bright smile on her face, preparing to greet Jiro with a cheery wave. Only the person that walked in behind Tony wasn’t the person she was thinking about.
“Calvin?” she asked, a questioning stare on her face.
Calvin looked equally startled to see her. But he quickly masked his surprise and extended one hand forward politely. “Hi, it’s been quite awhile.”
“Yes it has.” Selina automatically put her hand in his. She was confused. Calvin Chen?
Tony and Jon exchanged basic pleasantries before settling down. Calvin and Selina followed suit, subtly glancing at each other across the table.
“Now I’m sure you both may been wondering what this is all about. Although I think Selina would roughly be able to guess the point of this meeting?” Jon asked with a sideway smile.
“You knew who it would be all along?” she turned on him.
He flashed her a guilty look. “Actually, yes.”
“You told me you didn’t know who it was going to be!” her eyes flashed in annoyance.
“Oopsies?” Jon grinned charmingly at her. When that didn’t work, he dropped the innocence façade. “Oh come on, the company wanted to surprise you. They told me to keep it a secret.”
“Excuse me, but what actually is going on here?” Calvin inquired, a look of utter puzzlement on his face.
Tony quickly filled him in on the details. Selina watched in detached fascination as Calvin’s expression slowly turned from one of bewilderment to downright shock.
“A movie?” he repeated dumbly after Tony had wrapped up his explanation. Selina could understand his bafflement. She felt the exact same way herself. She had never expected her co-star to be Calvin, of all people.
True, Fahrenheit and SHE shared an uncommonly close bond. It was rare to see two groups so friendly with each other, but H.I.M had been quick to jump in on the bandwagon when they saw what an uproar Chun and Ella were making together.
Following behind Hana Kimi rousing success, H.I.M had proceeded to pile both Fahrenheit and SHE with so many collaborations both groups seemed to have merged together to form one. It was a brilliant tactical move on the company’s part, and succeeded in pushing the seven of them into new, unparalleled heights of stardom.
But all this did not prepare Selina for the sight that was laid out before her. Calvin was going to be the male lead. It was so wholly unexpected she didn’t know how to react.
It wasn’t like she disliked him or anything. Nothing of the sort at all. He seemed a pretty nice guy. It was just that, she didn’t really know him. Shocking yes, but true.
Although Fahrenheit and SHE had worked together numerous times, she had never really come into very close contact with this particular member of Fahrenheit. They greeted each other when they crossed path, occasionally chatted politely about trivial matters like the weather and their album sales, but their exchanges were limited to just about that. They had never gone beyond basic, common bantering. So it was odd that H.I.M had thought to pair the both of them up together.
“Earth to Selina.” Jon’s voice jolted her back to reality.
“Yes?”
“I said we’re scheduling a meeting with the director and script writers tomorrow so we can go over the script together.” Jon repeated.
“Oh yes, that’s fine.” She nodded. She turned back to Calvin. “That means you’ve accepted the part?”
“I’d be an idiot not to. I couldn’t possibly pass up this chance to work with the great Selina Ren,” Calvin said, a hint of good-natured teasing stealing its way into his tone.
She shot him a vaguely scolding look. “Is that sarcasm I detect in your voice?” she joked shamelessly back.
“Oh no ma’am.” His trademark, sunny smile flashed into view. His face suddenly turned serious. “It really is a very good opportunity for me. I hope I won’t be too much of a bother or burden to you all.”
“Don’t be silly. You’re a decent actor.” Selina shook her head.
Calvin’s expression showed his doubts, but he didn’t argue with her further.
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Hello hello. Yes, my first chapter up.
Comments would be very much appreciated. =)
-W99