| Fan Fiction |
by SilverDragon
“Can I have a medium sized blueberry sundae, a strawberry ice-cream single cone and an iced coffee, thanks?” asked a rather large lady with two kids pulling on her arms trying to gain her attention.
Aaron smiled up at the lady as he typed the order into the cash register. “So that’s one medium blueberry sundae, one strawberry single cone and one iced coffee? That all comes to NT$420, ma’am.”
The woman scolded one of her children as she reached into her handbag for her wallet and handed over the cash. Aaron took the money and then handed over a small metal stand with the number 42 on it. “Please take this and take a seat, ma’am. Your order will be taken over to your table soon.” The woman took the sign as she nodded and took her noisy children over to sit at a table by the window. Aaron then set about getting the order ready.
“Boy, those kids sure are noisy,” complained A Chord as he sidled over to Aaron’s side. “I’ll never get used to that noise.”
Aaron let out a small laugh. “You’ve been working here longer than I have, A Chord. You should be used to it by now.”
“Perhaps, but not everyone is as easy-going as you are, Aaron. And besides,” he said with a small smile as he turned to peer at a table in a secluded corner. “You’re the only one with a frequent customer. And what a babe she is, too.”
Aaron followed his gaze to where a small woman sat, gazing out the window of the ice-cream parlour with a distant look on her face. Her long, brown dyed hair was tied up in a ponytail at the top of her head, her face heavily caked with makeup. She was dressed rather skimpily, a white tight-fitting strapless top and short shorts, the straps of her white heels criss-crossing half-way up to her knees. She wore little jewellery, only a pair of large silver hoop earrings and a plain silver bangle on her right arm.
A Chord began poking Aaron in the arm. “Do you think you could introduce us later?”
Aaron turned to give A Chord a nudge in the ribs. “That’s my Jie you’re talking about. Show some respect.”
“I know! I know!” laughed A Chord as he held his hands up. “No one is allowed to touch your precious Jie!”
Aaron lifted his arm as if to throw the ice-cream scoop at A Chord’s head. A Chord raised his arms in defence as he laughed out loud before running off to serve the new customer waiting at the counter. Shaking his head with a smile, Aaron returned to finishing off the order as he glanced over to his sister, Rainie. He let out a sigh as he saw her sad face. Since their parents’ divorce she had never been the same, always keeping to herself and staying out late, which eventually led to her taking up a job as a hostess at a bar. Even her appearance had undergone a drastic change and Aaron often wondered why their mother never said anything to her, for Rainie lived with their mother whilst Aaron lived with their father. However, their father wasn’t so happy over the matter and he never relinquished the chance to criticise his daughter, often resulting in a nasty argument.
The order was done and Aaron picked up the tray, walking out from behind the counter to carry it all the way over to the customer’s table, the children now somewhat settled in their seats. As he turned to walk back towards the counter, he glanced once more over at Rainie and decided to make his way over to her. He could tell something was troubling her once again.
“Hey, Jie. What’s up?” asked Aaron casually as he took the seat opposite.
Rainie turned to face her younger brother, a faint smile on her lips. “Nothing much… just wanted to come see my little brother.”
Aaron eyed his sister suspiciously. “Right…” he said, not believing her.
The smile on Rainie’s lips widened slightly. “Nothing escapes your notice, I see.” She turned away, looking back out the window with a tired look. “Mother’s in debt again.”
“Again?” exclaimed Aaron as he rolled his eyes, leaning back in his chair. “How many times is she going to do this? Doesn’t she know by now that no matter how much you gamble, it’s never going to pay out? And she’s only got us to rely on when she’s in trouble after Dad severed all ties with her. Geez…”
The pair sat in silence for a while, Aaron fuming slightly in his seat as Rainie continued to stare out the window forlornly. Rainie soon broke the silence. “Apparently, the owner of the casino is also the owner of the bar I work at,” she said quietly.
Aaron gazed at his sister, a puzzled expression on his face. “What’s that got to do with Mum’s debt?”
“I don’t know…” Rainie then turned to look down into her lap, staring at her hands. “I’ve never seen him before but I’ve heard rumours. They say he’s a powerful man, a womaniser. Maybe if I can speak with him-”
“No!” shouted Aaron as he slammed his fist on the table. “There is no way I will let my Jie trade herself with some despicable man just to clear Mum’s debt. No matter how much it is, I’m sure that we’ll be able to pay it off eventually.”
Rainie gave a twisted smile as she looked up at her brother. “Do you even know how much it is this time, Aaron? NT$700,000. There’s no way we’d be able to pay that off in the space of two months. No way at all…”
Aaron stared back at his sister in disbelief. “NT$700,000? How could she…? And in two months? That loan shark is just what he is: a shark.”
Silence once again ensued between the two before Aaron finally stood up. “Don’t do anything rash, Jie. I’ll figure out a way to find the money.” He then walked off, his brow creased in thought as he tried to come up with a way out of this new predicament. Rainie watched her brother, regretting that she had come to relieve her stress on him. He was still young, only in his sophomore year of university yet he worked every spare moment of his time just so he could help her in their mission to alleviate their mother’s constantly occurring debts. Rainie let out a tired sigh as she turned away. She wasn’t going to let her brother do all the work.
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Danson continued to stare at his laptop screen as he absently fed the cockatoo that was sitting on his desk. The cockatoo constantly hopped around as it tried to follow Danson’s hand which drifted around, never feeding the bird in the same spot. Getting frustrated, the bird suddenly let out a loud squawk, startling Danson as it fluttered to land on his laptop.
“Jerry! What are you doing? Get off! Get off!” Danson picked up the bird, placing him back in his original spot. “Now you stay put unless you want to return to your cage.”
Jerry cocked his head to one side, eyeing Danson for a few seconds before he turned away in boredom. Danson shook his head with a smile before returning to his laptop. He had taken the bird into his care after the original owner had passed away. Thinking of Xuan, the smile on his face slowly disappeared as he remembered the day he saw her die…
Danson shook his head, snapping himself away from that train of thought. Going down that direction would only open old wounds, wounds that had taken a long time to heal. He sighed, minimising all the windows on his screen before clicking on a link which opened a new window. Selina’s picture stared back at him, her profile written beside and below it.
Name: Selina Ren
Date of Birth: 31 October 1983
Nationality: American/Taiwanese
Occupation: Secretary to Chen Yi Xia, chairman of Chen Corporations
Her profile then continued on to detail her education, family background and regular activities. There was nothing out of the ordinary in the profile, yet Danson couldn’t shake the feeling that there was. He clicked the close button and then moved his mouse to hover over the link to another profile: Xuan’s. He stared at the link for some time, pondering whether he should click on it. As he was about to, a knock suddenly sounded at the door to his study.
“Come in,” said Danson as he proceeded to call up all the other windows that were minimised. Data and photos related to the ‘Dawn’ case were now displayed on his screen.
Show and the twins entered, Hebe following in behind them with a tray of afternoon snacks. Danson peered over at the tray with a small frown. “Be sure to keep those brownies and chips away from Jerry. Those things don’t sit well with a bird’s stomach.”
Matt smiled as he picked up a piece, gobbling it down eagerly. “Don’t be such a worry wort, Danson Ge. You treat that bird too well in my opinion.”
As if Jerry understood what Matt had said, he flew over to him where he began swooping at his face. “Idiot! Idiot!” he cried as his wings flapped wildly.
“Argh! Get it off me, Ge!” shouted Matt as he raised his arms to defend himself from Jerry’s attacks.
Danson smiled before he stood, remembering his first meeting with Jerry. “Jerry, come here,” he commanded, holding his arm out. The bird responded and came to land on his arm.
“Jeez, Ge! Why do you keep such a beast? It’s never taken kindly to anyone but you!” complained Matt as he glared at the bird.
Danson smiled sadly as he turned around to the bird cage behind him, placing Jerry onto his perch.
“Well, maybe if you hadn’t said anything, Jerry might not have attacked you,” suggested Show as he tried to hold back his laughter. “Mike, Hebe and I didn’t say a word and we seem to be safe.”
“But you have to agree that the thing attacks everyone but Ge, right?” snapped Matt back.
They all fell silent and turned to look at Danson, who was busying himself with filling Jerry’s plate with bird seed. He felt their stares on his back and let out a sigh as he turned around to look at them. “You guys know already that Jerry can’t help it. He doesn’t trust humans that easily after all the abuse he went through from his first owner. I was just lucky as I had someone help me…” His voice trailed off and they all knew why.
Hebe was the first to break the uncomfortable silence. “Anyway; this isn’t why we decided to barge in on you, Brother.” She then turned to look at Show, indicating that he should continue.
Show smiled shyly before turning to look at Danson. “Er, yeah… The twins and I finally have a break from our studies and Mike here just won a trip to Heavenly Hot Springs Resort in Beitou. We thought we’d invite you along to relax seeing as Hebe told us you’ve been stressing over your latest case so much.”
Danson peered at his friends, thinking it over. “It would be nice to go with you guys but you never know when the killer will strike once more.” He took his seat up behind his desk, turning back to his laptop. “I think I’ll stay here.”
Hebe frowned, making her way over to Danson’s desk and shutting the screen of his laptop. “I’m worried for you, Brother. You’ve been locking yourself up in this room whenever you get home for the past month. I want you to take a break for once and forget about this case just for a couple of days. Go with them, alright, Brother?”
She peered into his eyes, pleading with him silently. Danson stared back, finally conceding. “Alright,” he said with a sigh. “I’ll go. If it’ll make you feel better then I’ll go.”
Hebe smiled brightly as she stood up straight, clapping her hands together. “Great! Then you can go pack your bags this instant. We’ll be leaving in half an hour.” She walked around the desk and proceeded to pull Danson out of his seat.
Danson stared back at her stunned. “Now?” he asked, confused.
The twins stood up and came to push their friend out of the room. “That’s right, Ge! We hired a van to drive there with and we’re all ready to leave now. So let’s get going!”
Hebe released Danson, smiling as she watched the twins drag him away. Show stood up, walking over to stand by her side. “You’re… coming too, right Hebe?” he asked with a shy smile.
She turned to look at Show, rolling her eyes. “Of course I’m going, Show. I wouldn’t miss this trip with you guys for the world! It’ll be the first time in nearly five years since we all went anywhere together.” She smiled at him brightly before stepping out the room and Show watched her leave, his heart swelling slightly with happiness.
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A/N:
Wah~ I'm finally back from my little trip to the countryside. Did you miss me? LOL, just kidding. Anyway, I updated today and it looks like Danson is going on a trip to the same place as Selina. What will happened there?
Two new characters as well in this chapter: Aaron and Rainie. I'll clear up one point here about the pair; even though they're brother and sister, they have different surnames. Basically, Rainie uses her mother's surname whereas Aarron uses his father's.
Next Chapter: Ten years and two months ago, when everything was still a little peaceful...
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27th December 2007
3:25PM GMT+09:00
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