Fan Fiction |
by distant origin
“But we’ve got the night off!” Vanness said, noticing the same thing.
“Nope,” Jerry said, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. “You’ve got the night off. I have a meeting to attend.”
“What meeting? Why aren’t we included?” Ken asked, joining his friends.
“I’ll bet it’s a hot date,” Vanness said.
“It’s not,” Jerry told him, rolling his eyes. “I wish it were, but it’s just a meeting with the producers and other presentors for the TNMA*.” (*TNMA – Taiwan National Movie Awards (this event if fictitious, used only for this story, or I dunno, is there really an event like this?), it’s supposedly their local version of the Oscars)
“Oh right,” Vic said, remembering. “Why aren’t we included in that?”
“Nominees aren’t included,” Ken told him.
“I’m not a nominee,” Vic said, and then frowned. “How come I don’t get to present?”
“But you’re invited, right?” Vanness asked him.
“Yeah, I got the invitation last week,” he replied. “And I read at the programme about yours and Ken’s nomination and Jerry’s being a presentor. Why am I just a guest?”
“Don’t worry,” Ken said. “You’ll probably be sitting with us, so the camera can still take a shot of you when our names are called.”
Vic gave him a suffering look and was about to snap back but Jerry spoke up.
“Well, I’d love to stay and argue, but I’m already late,” he said, starting to walk away.
“Wait,” Vanness called. “So you’re not going to the club with us tonight?”
Jerry shook his head. “Probably not. Have fun,” he said, and went out the door of the studio where they just had their photo shoot.
“Oh we will!” Ken called after him. “More so without you!” he teased.
Jerry rolled his eyes but continued walking away. Sometimes his friends could be so silly. They just didn’t understand how important his career was to him. He didn’t really mind as long as they let him do what he wanted, which, at that time, was attend a meeting with his co-presentors at the National Movie Awards.
NOT wait impatiently for them, as he ended up doing half an hour later, upon arriving at the concert hall where the meeting was supposed to be. He looked around. There were a lot of people there, some he recognized as co-presentors, some producers. But no meeting seemed to be taking place. Everyone seemed preoccupied with their own business.
He turned to one of the men passing by. “Excuse me, isn’t this where the TNMA meeting’s supposed to be?”
The guy nodded. “Please wait there,” he said, pointing to the seats in front of the stage.
“Wait for what?” he asked, irritably. He’d already been waiting for a half hour after all and nothing’s changed since he arrived.
“The meeting won’t start unless all the presentors are here,” the guy told him. “And Ms. Chang isn’t here yet.”
“What makes HER so special?” Jerry asked.
The guy looked at him as if he grew a third eye. “Everything?!” he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He rolled his eyes and walked away, leaving Jerry with a puzzled look on his face.
What was that about? he thought. And who the hell is Ms. Chang? he sighed and sat on one of the chairs in front of the stage where the other presentors were, suddenly feeling bad that he didn’t take the F3 up on their offer to go clubbing that night. He folded his arms and sighed again, though it was more of a yawn as he leaned back on the comfortable chair. He closed his eyes.
****
“Mr. Yan? Mr. Yan?” a voice said and Jerry quickly opened his eyes.
“I’m up, I’m up,” he said, blinking his eyes to adjust to the light. He sat up on the chair and looked around. “Where’s everyone? Has the meeting started?”
“Actually sir,” the guy, who Jerry was presumed was the janitor because of his uniform, started. “the meeting’s been over for an hour. Everyone’s left.”
“What?!” Jerry asked, surprised. “Why didn’t anybody wake me up?”
“Ms. Chang said not to,” he told him. “She said that if you were really interested, then you wouldn’t have fallen asleep in the first place.”
“What?!” Jerry repeated, this time in an angry tone. “So I came here for nothing?” he said. He quickly got his cellphone from his pocket and dialed his manager, Dave Sy’s number. “I demand to know what happened at the TNMA meeting,” he said, as soon as Dave picked up.
“What? You mean you didn’t go?” Dave asked. There was a hint of anger in his voice. “I told you to go.”
“I DID go! I’m still here even, but everyone left without telling me anything!” Jerry said, frowning. He couldn’t believe it. Was he getting scolded by his manager? He stood up and started pacing around. The janitor had already gone.
“How could that happen?”
“Well, I got here and since I was too early, I fell asleep. And when the meeting started, some Ms. Chang told everyone not to wake me up and so I missed the whole thing,” he explained.
“Are you saying this is Ms. Chang’s fault?” Dave asked.
“Yes!”
Dave sighed, obviously disappointed. “Honestly Jerry, when are you going to start taking responsibility for your actions?”
“What the—?” Was he his Dad or something? Jerry fumed, furrowing his eyebrows. He couldn’t believe his own manager wasn’t taking his side.
Dave rolled his eyes. “No matter. I’ll just set up a meeting for you and Ms. Chang so she can brief you on what happened at the meeting.”
“Wait a minute,” Jerry asked. “Why can’t you tell me?”
“Because the meeting was for producers and presentors. And I’m sure the producers are all busy. Besides, she’s your co-presentor and I’m friends with her manager. She’s easier to contact,” he explained.
“What if I don’t want to talk to her?” he said stubbornly.
“Then good luck in adlibbing your whole speech on Friday,” Dave said and hung up.
Jerry groaned as he put his cellphone back in his pocket. “Great,” he muttered as he headed out the hall.