| Fan Fiction |
by Chandra
After the performance for the children at the Orphanage, Rain had wanted to thank Raymond. She had come to his office to show him her appreciation and to surprise him. It was ironic how he even shocked her before she did him. Seeing another girl around her age left his office, Rain strolled toward door. She had almost knocked on it when she heard her name in a conversation. It seemed as if another person was also in the office with Raymond.
“Are you in love with Rain Li, or are you just pitying her?” The voice belonged to a man, Rain had never heard of. Though his words were cruel and harsh, the tone carried a feeling of sympathy. Rain didn’t know whether she was offended or curious by the sentence.
The sound of the clock ticked as each seconds passed by, yet Raymond never seemed to respond to another man.
Finally, he said, “I don’t know, father… I thought I feel sorry for her at first, but soon, I think I….”
Rain was motionless, she couldn’t breathe, and her hands covered her mouth. What was going on? So he pitied her all this time?
“Raymond, don’t get your emotions in the way.” Raymond’s father cut in. He sounded apologetic and miserable. His voice broke as he continued. “I know you must have hated me for being a bastard, for taking her away from her mother, for trying to kill her father, and then abandoning her in the Orphan House, but I had no choice.”
Raymond looked out of the window at the falling darkness; his hands fell stiffly on the leather chair. He saw the sadness and guilt in his father’s eyes, and he knew that his father, too, had regretted and suffered for years already.
“I don’t hate you, dad. I just hope that she won’t hate us if she found out that her parents still exist.”
Raymond was scared that Rain would do something terrible if she had found out what his dad had done to her parents. He would be glad when today was over, because he would explain everything to her, and hoped Rain would understand and forgive him.
Suddenly, he heard the sobbing noise outside his office. Raymond felt the panic rush through him as he immediately opened the door, and there her face was wet with tears. He was about to call her name, but she swiftly ran past him toward the hallway. Without another look at his father, Raymond chased after Rain. He hoped Rain had not heard the chat between him and his father.
__
August 1987
Ruby tried to make sense of her feelings. She was coming out of something, shock, sadness, numbness… All the mixed emotions circling themselves around her when she had found out that Rick had lost her baby. She should have not trusted him in the first place. She should have not handed the baby to him and asked him to take care of Rain temporarily while she was having a wedding with Alec. Now, everything was too late because she had already married to Alec for two months already.
Her mind was beginning to work again. A little while ago there had been no room for any emotions except sorrow, sadness, and remorse. Passion and thoughts of passion had simply not been possible as Ruby filled her thoughts. Alec seemed to understand the reasons she had withdrawn from him. But at the same time, he would have been hurt by it. He would have been wounded by her exclusion from his life.
Alec, the man who was patient, gentle, and caring, promised to love her no matter what. He had loved her unconditionally from the first moment he laid his eyes on her. The man had never harmed her although he knew she had not accepted him as her husband. He even opened his arms and held her when she was in depression. At nights, when she couldn’t sleep, Alec had soothed her with solace, her tears became dried and till she fell asleep.
Yet depression still dismantled her, as a child’s castle of blocks was knocked over by a careless foot. The bitter regret of that still lingered. She would never forget the betrayal, Rick had promised to help her hide the baby from her parents until she was married, and yet he had done the opposite. But Ruby had learned both to forgive and to understand it. There was nothing Ruby could do about it except surrender her harsh fate.
Ruby felt Alec almost before she heard him. His hand was on her shoulder. He stood there in the room, and the sadness in his eyes had suddenly melted her heart away. Alec looked tired, his face drained, his brow furrowed with worry as he stared down at her. Ruby felt guilt bubble up inside her, as the awareness dawned upon her. She should accept Alec, times had gone by. Ruby had to accept her destiny and be with the man who had done everything to make her life better. Now, Alec had given her a new life, and she had slowly fallen to love him.
___
Bosco turned back to the vast room. Tavia had chased after Ron, and Bosco knew he was jealous, yet he had more important thing to take care of. As he entered the room, the darkness enveloped him. It was quiet now, at the end of the day, but the light from the window flickered and flared, fingering the surrounding gloom. He stood in silence, was also stunned to find another man’s presence.
Without any formal greeting, the man barked at Bosco. “Why do you want to be in charge of my wife’s medical examination?”
Like the sun rising in the east, a look of incredulity climbed Bosco Wong’s face. It reached his eyes, opening them wide. Then, once again, he laughed bitterly. But this time it was a different laugh, a laugh so different a new word was needed to describe. It was full of shock, horror, and dark madness. It was shot through with ridicule and malice. And it stopped as abruptly as it started.
Bosco had expected that Alec Su won’t suspect any of his pretenses. But the man was clever, sharp enough to realize that Bosco had a motive in helping to recover his wife’s disease. Well, if the old man knew, there was no need for this vindictive façade.
“Do you know how long I have waited for this?” It was a rhetorical question, as Bosco let out a devilish smirk.
The man was silent, his face was an outline of shame and guilt. The fury soon evaporated, as Alec Su, waited and listened to Bosco’s retort.
“I bet you must be surprised to see me all these years.” “I’m back, Alec Su, and I will do whatever it takes to hurt the peoples around you, especially your sick wife and your daughter.”
“But Ruby and Tavia are innocent; you have to deal it with me, not them.” There was raw pain and anguish etching on the man’s face, and Bosco enjoyed the sight even more.
“What about my parents? What did they do to you? You killed them, and covered the incident up, as if nothing had happened… What’s more, your friend, Gilbert did you a favor to adopt me."
He spoke slowly, deliberately. The pain and the anger in his voice were palpable. Spite and hostility seemed to be fostering him for years. “Alec Su, no one will stop me.”
___
Bosco laughed wickedly, the notes blissful and tainted, slipping into her brain to twine unexpectedly around her heart. Tavia sucked in her breath, her eyes widening with shock, with realization. A part of her had never known the real him. She had awakened expectantly, eager to get away from the sound of his voice, longing to deny that this was the Bosco Wong she had once loved, trusted, and known.
Tavia had stood there in the room, and yet Bosco had never recognized her attendance. He was so hooked into the conversation with her father, he didn’t even acknowledge her footsteps.
Now the shock was beginning to filter through… disruption, lie, killing, and the failure of a deceptive love. Tavia felt a numbness creeping over her. This was how she felt. Dejected. Cheated. Used. She couldn’t move. All Tavia could do was stand there.
She stood for a long moment in silence with a terrible unfamiliar burning behind her eyes. It took her a few moments to realize the sensation was tears. Tavia wanted to weep, but what was the purpose of it? She had learned that tears brought the echo of ugly, demonic laughter, and she had taught herself not to cry ever again.
___
Ron Ng rushed out of the hospital and into the night, dragging great gulps of air into his lungs. Ron suddenly laughed with bitterness. The sound flowing down the street like a loud noise. He had a reflection. He knew what he looked like. He also recognized that to Tavia, he was nothing, but a friend, a leftover when Bosco was not there with her. He was just a replacement, Bosco’s shadow.
An image of Tavia kissing another man tormented him, and when Tavia had run after him, Ron knew he couldn’t face her. It was a shame that he had to witness their intimacy. A humiliation he had to swallow and the truth he had to accept that Tavia chose Bosco over him.
The agony began to drain out of him. Ron inhaled deeply, thankful to be alone. He had been driven thoughtlessly on the street. Hours ago, Ron recalled that he left the hospital and afterward, he went straight to the bar. To drown his sorrow and heartbreak, Ron didn’t know how much he drank, but somehow, the bartenders at the bars had thrown him out of the club. They had explained that he was drunk and had been drinking too much.
And as Ron swerved his vehicle left and right on the road, a movement down the street caught his eyes and he swung his gaze in that direction. A fragile girl seemed to have fallen onto the ground. A group of men surrounded her, like bees encircling its honey. A sudden contemplation came to him as Ron stopped the car on the side. He approached the men and hollered out the ‘cops’ names. As soon as the police names were called, the perverts immediately scattered about and ran away from the dark alley and disappeared into the dark night.
__
Rain steeled herself and opened her eyes. Darkness filled the room, but as she stared into it, there was the tiniest band of light around the edges of the drapes. Dread crept into the back of her throat. She had to get up. She had to get away from this deadly unfamiliar place. She wanted to call out, as she had so many such bitter dawns. She wanted to stand up and run down the hallway but soon felt herself weak and exhausted. The strength in her was lost. Rain fought both impulses.
Out of the shadows, he sauntered drunkenly toward her. Rain made a sound of horror, wrenched her body away from his. Ron saw her eyes, the confusion and terror in their depths.
“Get away from me,” she begged, backing away. Fearing him. She had no idea who he was but she acknowledged his about to be action.
“Tavia!” The alcoholic taste of his mouth on hers stopped her from screaming and crying for help. She struggled under his solid body, yet it was useless. He kept calling the name ‘Tavia’ and Rain felt the tears roll down her cheeks as she helplessly fought her way out of his grasp.
___
Ruby felt tears burning in her eyes, clogging her throat. Her hands clenched into two tight fists. There, her best friend whom she had wanted to forgive, but she couldn’t. She can only blame him. Rick had witnessed her and Jimmy’s bittersweet reunion, and now what will he try to do next. Would he do the same thing like he did twenty years ago?
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Chandra
07/19/07