| Fan Fiction |
by SilverDragon
Ella fidgeted uncomfortably in the black dress she was forced to wear, pulling her black gauze shawl around her tightly to cover her bare shoulders. If it wasn’t because both Danson and the superintendent had begged her to come in a dress, she wouldn’t be wearing the cursed thing. She scratched at her shoulder, the fabric making her itch.
“Where’d Danson go?” she muttered to herself as she looked left and right for any sign of her partner. “He said he was going to stay by my side. I am so going to give him the beating of a lifetime at our next match!”
“Who are you going to give the beating of a lifetime to, Miss?” said a voice to her left.
Her eyes grew wide in shock as Ella spun on the spot to see the smiling eyes of Chun. ‘What is he doing here?’ She turned away immediately and began walking away, pulling her shawl up to cover her face. “Please don’t let him remember me…. Please don’t let him remember me…” she whispered to herself.
“You don’t have to cover your face, Miss. I happen to have quite a good memory,” said Chun, still standing in the same spot.
Ella stopped walking away, readjusting her shawl so that it sat properly over her shoulders. She spun around, a haughty look on her face. “And so it seems,” she replied feebly.
Chun let out a small laugh as he walked closer to Ella. “But I have to admit; I almost didn’t recognise you. I mean, you look… different.”
Ella wondered whether he was trying to complement her or not. “And you are here because…?”
“I think you already know who I am. Is it unusual for Wu Lang’s son to be present at a welcome party for the son of Taipei’s most influential business man?” He smiled even more as he took another step closer to Ella. “No… the one who should be asking why the other is here is me.”
Ella began to grow flustered at how close Chun was standing. She took a small fumbling step backwards. “That’s… that’s none of your business. I am here because of work.”
Chun raised an eyebrow in amusement. “You are here working?”
“Yes,” nodded Ella. Bah, what was she saying? She was only here at Calvin Chen’s party because her superintendent had threatened to suspend her without pay if she didn’t.
“Care to tell me what kind of work?” he continued to ask, enjoying how unnerved he was making her.
Ella finally pulled herself together. She stood up straighter as she stared defiantly up at Chun. “I do not have to answer that. If you would excuse me, I have to go and find my partner.”
Partner? Chun stared back at her in mild shock, feeling a faint sense of disappointment. As he watched her walk away, it took him a couple of seconds to snap out of his daze. “What is your name?” he shouted after her.
Ella paused on the spot, turning her head slightly to say over her shoulder, “Detective Ella Chen Jia Hua.” She continued to walk off, disappearing into the crowd.
A small smile played across his lips as he felt strangely relieved. “A detective, huh? Very interesting indeed...”
-
Danson stepped out of the ballroom, casually making his way down the hallway to his left as he glanced at the large oil paintings that adorned the walls. Every now and then he would sneak glances around him in an effort to find a certain face, which he had not been able to find within the ballroom itself. He knew that she would be here, for he had spent the last few days staring at her profile in the police database, finding out that she was Yi Xia’s closest secretary. For some reason, he could not get his mind off her, feeling as if he recognised her but from what he had read their paths would never have crossed before.
As he rounded the corner to his right, he entered a small lobby area, the white curtains drawn shut along the windows, obscuring the view of the city behind. Three black leather sofas were positioned around a small oval glass coffee table, their seats facing a large grand piano situated on a slightly raised platform. Danson walked over to the sofas, falling into the seat with a small sigh. ‘Perhaps she isn’t here tonight,’ he thought. ‘It could be that she’s taking a night off or something.’ He closed his eyes, rubbing his face with his hands as he took in a large breath. What was he thinking? Why was his mind so consumed by that one woman? He hadn’t felt this way about someone in a very long time…
“Detective Yu Zhe?” asked a female voice suddenly, startling him from his musings.
Danson removed his hands from his face to reveal Selina standing nearby, peering at him with a mild look of curiosity. He suddenly leapt to his feet as he smiled at Selina, adjusting the white suit he was wearing.
“Miss Ren! I… didn’t expect to see you here,” he lied as he quickly tried to calm his rapidly pounding heart. Seeing her tonight, he couldn’t help but be amazed. She was stunningly beautiful in a sophisticated manner, different from the wreck he had seen the other night in the hospital.
A small amused smile touched Selina’s lips. “Nor did I.”
In fact, Selina had been wondering whether she should have approached Danson after entering the room looking for a quiet place to relax. It took her several minutes to recognise him, but once she had she could not resist the urge to at least say something to him. She felt that she owed him that much at least.
Selina went over to the sofa opposite Danson and they both sat at the same time. Adjusting her dress so that it spread out properly around her, Selina felt him study her, just like he had on their first meeting all those years ago. She wondered whether he recognised her as that same little girl but it seemed that he didn’t. After all, who would believe that someone could return from the dead after all these years?
Danson was the first to speak when Selina looked up. “You never told me that you were Yi Xia’s secretary.”
“I see you’ve been reading my profile,” smiled Selina. Danson’s cheeks tinged slightly red in embarrassment as he averted his gaze.
“I didn’t mean to intrude on your privacy,” he apologised.
“You have every right to. After all, you are a police officer, Detective Yu Zhe.”
There it was again. She had called him by his Chinese name on purpose, just like… her.
“Why do you address me by my Chinese name, Miss Ren?” he asked, peering at her suspiciously.
Selina smiled again in that aloof manner of hers. “Because that was the only name I saw on your ID the other night.”
“Oh.” Danson felt somewhat disappointed at her reply but then he realised how foolish he was being. He suddenly let out a small laugh. “Then you can call me Danson; that’s what everyone calls me, Miss Ren.”
Selina bowed her head slightly in acknowledgement. “Then call me Selina, Detective Yu Zhe,” she replied with a small mischievous smile.
“You still called me by my Chinese name,” pointed out Danson as his mouth curved in a small smile.
“That is because I think it sounds better.”
= Flashback =
“Why do you always call me by my Chinese name, Xuan?” asked Danson as he glanced at Xuan from his spot next to her on the porch of an abandoned hut.
Xuan stared off into the distance before she replied silently, “Because I think it sounds better.”
= End Flashback =
Danson continued to stare at Selina, his face blank. He then turned away, bringing himself out from his daze. It must be a coincidence, that both Selina and Xuan had said the same thing to him. The thought that they could be the same person entered his mind but he immediately dismissed the foolish idea. Xuan was dead. The Selina who sat before him was alive, had grown up in America only to arrive in Taipei seven years ago into Yi Xia’s custody after her parents died in a car accident.
“You must be a highly regarded detective if you were invited to Master Calvin’s party, Detective Yu Zhe,” said Selina suddenly, cutting across Danson’s thoughts.
He peered up at Selina, trying to register what she had just said. “Oh… I wouldn’t say I was exactly invited but rather… um… dragged along by my superior, Superintendent Li Lang. He wants me and my partner to become more acquainted with upper class society. That reminds me…” Danson hung his head, rubbing the back of his neck with a small guilty smile. “I left her hanging all alone in there after promising that I would stay by her side. She definitely won’t forgive me for that.”
Selina glanced down at the ground, smiling softly in amusement. “Then you’d better go find her.”
Danson looked up at her and their eyes connected before they both let out a soft laugh. “I guess I should.” He stood up, Selina following suit. “It has been nice talking with you, Selina.”
“And you, Detective Yu Zhe,” replied Selina with a slight bow of her head. Danson nodded with a smile and walked off, feeling her gaze on his back all the while.
Selina watched him until he disappeared from sight before walking over to the windows, drawing back the curtain. She stared out at the view in front her before switching her focus to the reflections in the glass.
“Must you eavesdrop on all my conversations, Zhi Ping?” said Selina as she calmly closed the curtain before turning around.
Zhi Ping let out a little chuckle. “Actually, this time it truly was an accident. Yi Xia is looking for you.”
“Oh.” Selina strolled past Zhi Ping, only to come to a halt as he grabbed her arm.
“Jia Xuan is dead. Make sure it stays that way.” He squeezed her arm firmly before releasing her.
Selina stared back up at Zhi Ping, her eyes hard. “No one can return from the dead.”
___________________________________________________________
A/N:
Keke, Danson and Selina met again. So now you may kind of know why she didn't tell him her Chinese name before and why Danson doesn't recognise her, even though she continues to tease him by reminding him of Xuan, perhaps a little sadistically. And you'll also know why I said Zhi Ping likes to pop out of nowhere in my last footnote :D I had originally intended for their first meeting to be at this ball but you readers kept asking when they'd meet so I pushed it up to chapter 7. I also toyed with the idea of making Danson run into a couple kissing when he was wandering through the hallway, but the chance never arrived. Just trying to insert a bit of humour into this tense story, but I think the CE run-in did that ^^
Okay, Next Chapter: The final part of this night. How will it end?
Once again, I'd like to thank all those who comment. Your comments make me think about the story more and help me to develop this complex plot. Thanks guys!
-
13th December 2007
1:19PM GMT+09:00
-