| Fan Fiction |
by DTLCT
“New plans, guys,” Ray announced.
“What?” Wallace asked.
“While Kevin’s over there with Gallen, I’m going to give you guys a quick chart.”
“What is it?”
“Don’t give me that look. I’m getting to the point. Remember that Ekin?”
“It’s hard to forget.”
“Okay, it’s after holidays now. We have to move it and…”
“We still have New Year though.”
Ray glares at him before turning to the others again. “The point is, let’s get going again. No time better than New Year to give him a little visit, right?”
“Hold it. I thought we’re still waiting for information from Jacky.”
“New tactic. Why should we stalk him when we can advance forward and talk directly to him? After all, he should be kissing up to us so that Kevin would forgive him, right? That way, we can get closer to him and extract information while we can still wait for Jacky’s information at the same time. And didn’t you say Jacky’s up to his heads about dramas these days? Can’t wait forever, right?”
“Ge, what if Ekin finds out what we’re up to and…” Mandy began.
“Don’t make it obvious.”
“I think we should worry more about Kevin finding out than Ekin,” Wallace said. “After all, he sees us every day.”
Ray snaps his hand. “Got it all covered. No need to worry.”
Wallace raises an eyebrow.
“Do you have to under-estimate me so much?”
“It would help if you increase your pace a bit. I have to head out.”
“With Cyndi?”
“It doesn’t matter who. Just have to go.”
“Okay, Mr. Impatient.” He turns to the girls. “Just study the new charts and we’ll update each other tomorrow.”
Charmaine and Mandy don’t want to argue with him so they look at the chart. It is actually a revision of the last one. Wallace sees that the girls look so serious and focused that he couldn’t help but look also. As he sees his schedule, he snaps his head up to face Ray again.
“Why do I have to be the one tagging Ekin?” Wallace asked.
“You’re the cleverest among us,” Ray said. “Although Gallen’s a better candidate for this job. But Gallen’ll probably be busy so he can’t help.”
“Thanks for the compliment but no thanks. You’re the cleverest one since you managed to put us on the hard spot.”
“Hey, if you want the easy job, how about keeping Kevin out of our hair while we sneak around? Besides, you’re the only one who could get close to Ekin without him getting suspicious. Remember to call Wilson up and trade notes with him before you do anything though.”
“Wilson?”
“We all know who Wilson is, right? And he used Leung as the last name.”
“How come he didn’t tell me that and you know?”
“Remember when Ekin came that day to see Auntie Yeung? Yea.”
“Okay then.”
“Kevin’s coming in,” Mandy whispered to them. She puts on her usual cheerful smile and walks towards him. “Hey, want to go check out this new place with me?”
“Too cheerful,” Ray muttered under his breath.
Wallace hears him anyway. “Like she’s a natural liar like you.”
Ray turns to Wallace. “Hey! Want to fight? I’ll take you outside!”
“What are you guys doing?” Kevin asked. “It’s barely past 9 and you guys are starting a fight already?”
“They’re just…” Mandy began.
“Sis, whose side are you taking?” Ray asked.
“Mine.” She turns to Kevin and tugs on his arm to leave them all.
Kevin gives the others a quick shrug before allowing himself to be dragged out by Mandy.
“How come I don’t have anything?” Charmaine asked.
The others turn back to her. They could see that she’s studying her schedule again since Kevin is out of sight already.
“You’re the non-believer and I wouldn’t want to force you into doing anything you don’t believe in,” Ray explained, smiling. “Sorry, Miss Sheh.”
“It’s not that I don’t believe. It’s just that…”
“You weren’t there when Kevin had no grounds to stand on and had to accept his aunt’s help. But like I said, forget it. To each his own. Or her own.” He pauses briefly. “Anyway, I’m heading out too to meet with Jess.”
Charmaine directs her eyes towards Wallace as Ray walks out. “I guess he’s mad at me, huh?”
“He’s not mad at you,” Wallace said. “He just has this strong injustice for what happened to Kevin.”
Charmaine nods.
He smiles. “All right, I’m going to go too. Look on the bright side, you have plenty of time to prepare for your next battle at work, right?”
“Mandy told you?”
Wallace shakes his head. “Alice.” He gives her another smile before turning to leave her place also.
As she watches the last person leaves her apartment, Charmaine suddenly regrets her words uttered out these past weeks regarding Ekin. She knows Ray for a while now and should know that he would never joke about something so serious. But then she couldn’t help wondering if it is all a misunderstanding and what Ekin said might be true after all. She decides to not let it get to her since like Wallace said, she still has to prepare for the next battle at work after the results come out. She makes sure to lock the door before making her way back into her room to prepare her plans. She could present it to Mandy later when Mandy comes back.
*****
“I can’t believe you kids would do that,” Jan’s mom said.
Kenneth, Ricky, and Jan are lined up in front of the kitchen counter and have been listening to her lecture for the past 15 minutes.
“Well, whose idea was it?”
It is this moment that they dare to raise their head up and exchange glances all around among themselves.
“You think I’m not bright enough to figure it out?”
Kenneth finally steps forward and clears his throat. “Aunt Laura…”
“You’re the most mature. I would’ve expected more of you.”
“I’m sorry. Jan was just worried that you…”
“That I can’t take it?”
“Mom…” Jan called out.
“Even if I didn’t catch it this time, when your father comes home, he will find out.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You think I can’t take the blow? Yes, I was shocked when I know that you’ve been injured after your last case. But you were given a second chance. I think we should all thank Heaven for giving you that chance. I’ve been to various places with your father. I know. You kids are probably surprised that I could be this calm right now.” She pauses briefly. “Let me ask you, is panicking or reacting strongly over this situation going to help it at all?”
They all shake their head in response to her question.
“That’s right.” She turns to Jan. “Did you think that I didn’t realize the medicines were missing the past days? Or your behaviors? I wanted to observe you to see what else you’re going to do. I didn’t realize you could do something like tricking me into going to Huxley’s house. Yes, I wanted to visit them during the holidays too. But it doesn’t mean I don’t know you kids are doing it on purpose. Since when did you want to help Huxley?” She sighs out. “I didn’t expose you three because I wanted us to have a peaceful Christmas dinner together the other day. I was waiting for you to speak up first. But you’ve been dragging it. I know you’re never going to tell me so I have to confront you today.”
“Mom, please don’t blame them,” Jan said. “It was my fault. I didn’t want to make you worry, so I…”
Ricky steps up at that time. “Auntie, it was my fault. I shouldn’t up come up with such bizarre ideas.”
“Mom, don’t tell their parents about it. They’ve been taking care of me these past days and…”
“Calm down,” Jan’s mother reassured them all. “I’m not punishing anyone. I just want you kids to know that you shouldn’t try to hide things from me. Is that clear?”
The three nod in unison like last time.
*****
Wallace snaps his phone shut and looks around the area before unlocking his car. He had just finished his conversation with Wilson Leung. Now, it is his chance to make his move – finally.
He lets out a brief sigh before pulling the door handle. Here we go, he thought. He has no choice but to re-visit ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ once more. Going to his mansion would be too risky. After all, Ekin’s not going to take ‘was just passing by and found your house’ for an answer. As he’s walking casually through one of the aisles in the front, he could feel Cyndi tugging on his arm. He turns around to see her smiling at him. He returns the smile before speaking up.
“What happened?” He asked.
“You look like you’re hiding something from me,” She said.
Wallace eyes her suspiciously before responding. “Are you hiring some kind of P.I. to keep me in line?”
Cyndi hits him lightly on the arm.
“Now we’re getting violent?”
“Come on. Stop directing the subject away from yourself.”
Wallace smiles. “Busted, I guess. I was going to tell you before we go in anyway.”
Cyndi keeps quiet so he could continue.
“We’re helping Kevin with this one thing but we’re not supposed to let him know about it. I’ll tell you more later. Just play along.”
“Is Kevin going to get mad like Ray if he finds out?”
“I’ll take the chance.”
Before she could say anything else, Wallace takes a hold of her left hand and makes his way down the aisle, increasing his pace more and more.
“Mr. Cheng!” Wallace called out.
Cyndi observes in silence as Wallace makes his way to the guy in dark blue suit. He had let go of her hand already. However, she knows that she should stick close to him.
“Are you free?” Wallace asked.
“You look familiar, but I can’t recall seeing you…” Ekin said.
Wallace cuts him off. “Wallace Huo.” He extends his hand out to Ekin. “Wilson sent me.”
Ekin shakes Wallace’s hand but still seems to be in doubt.
“Wilson Leung. You talked to him regarding your brother and Wilson had to go take care of some problems. He sent me in his place to help you instead. If you don’t remember, I was there the day you were chased out by Ray.”
Although he has to say a lot but he said it so fast and clear that it was hard for Ekin to interrupt. When he’s finally done, Ekin finally has the realization look on his face.
“You’re Kevin’s friend also?” Ekin asked.
Wallace nods.
Ekin looks at his watch real quick. “Can you wait here? I need to go to my office and get some papers. I’ll come right out.”
Wallace nods again. He waits for Ekin to disappear into his office before turning to Cyndi. “He’s in for good this time.”
“What are you talking about?” Cyndi asked, confused.
Wallace smiles. “You’ll see.”
When Ekin comes out – with a folder in hand – he gestures for them to follow him. They make their way out of the shop again.
“You drove here?” Ekin asked.
Wallace rolls his eyes behind Ekin’s back, wondering if this guy has any ideas. “Yea.”
“Then follow me back to my house.”
Wallace nods.
About 20 minutes later, they are settled in Ekin’s rec room – that’s overlooking the beach – with a cup of tea in front of them.
“So…what can I do for you today?” Ekin asked casually.
“You sound so formal I thought I’m on some kind of business mission,” Wallace joked.
Ekin smiles. “You sound formal earlier about the whole ‘Wilson sent me’ talk.”
“Fair enough.” He clears his throat quickly. “Care to elaborate a bit more or do you have any plans of how to get back on Kevin’s good side? As far as I’m concerned, buying him off with some house deed isn’t going to do the trick.”
“How did you know?” Ekin asked, shocked.
“Sorry, Auntie showed us since she told us after you’ve came. She hasn’t told Kevin about the deeds yet. She’d been busy with some of the holiday buzz these past days.”
“Oh. I…”
“Are you serious about the patching things up with Kevin?”
“Of course I am. It’s just that I’m not sure he will believe me. You already seen last time what happened. And I know he has the right to be mad at me for leaving without any explanations. But I just thought I would catch up with that guy in time, but…”
Wallace nods. “Don’t have to elaborate. I just want to know if it’s worth all our efforts. We’ll try to get to Ray first.”
“I don’t know how to thank you and Wilson.”
“Don’t mention it. Maybe we’re just a bunch of nosy people.” He gets up at that time. “We better get going now.”
“Uh…”
“I know you probably don’t believe we’re capable or if why we’re even helping you but take it as what it is.”
“It’s not that…”
“The results will prove for itself.” Wallace tugs on Cyndi’s arm to go at that time.
“I…”
Wallace continues to make his way to the door. After they’re outside again, Wallace lets out a secretive smile. “Got him big time.”
“What are you up to?” Cyndi asked.
“We are going to continue with our date and I’ll tell you what’s up. Fair?”
Cyndi doesn’t say anymore but follows him to his car that is parked in the driveway behind Ekin’s car.
*****
Jan excuses herself and gets up from the chair that she had been sitting in the past hour and heads for her room. She makes it to her room safely before feeling a stab of pain shooting up her head again. She’s glad that she has a second set of medications in her room as not to bother anyone. Her family knows now, except for her father. But he will know soon when he gets home, which should be in two more months. Still, she doesn’t want to trouble them every time she feels pain shooting up her body. She needs to take control of it better. As she downs two pills, she hops into bed again and lays in it, waiting for the pain to sub-side like many times before.
About ten minutes later, she sits up straight again, reaching for her cell phone. After making absolute sure that the pain had died down for good, she dials slowly yet accurately, enjoying every moment of it. She waits for the music from the other side to come on, reassuring her that she has reached the right number.
“Hello?” A familiar voice said.
She almost forgets to respond upon hearing his voice. It has only been several days yet she misses him already. “It’s Jan.”
“I know.”
She smiles although he couldn’t see her.
“Don’t tell me you just stopped to give me a smile. I can’t see you.”
She gasps. How did he know? She regains herself real quick. “Very funny. I called to tell you something.”
“Is it urgent?”
His voice still sounds casual but she knows that something’s going on. Was it because of bits and pieces of the icebergs she fed him those days when he was here that caused him to react in such a way? If yes, then she’d finally reached her goal. But why does it hurt so much upon hearing his passive tone?
“Mei Lai, you still there?”
Droplets of tears make its way down her cheek as she could hear the sincerity in his voice. He hasn’t called her by that in a long time now. It’s actually only six months or so. But it seems so long ago. She covers the phone and does a quick sniff before trying to pull herself together again. She called to clarify some details with him, not to dwell on the past. “Sorry, I was gathering my thoughts.”
“What’s wrong? You sound different from before. Are you crying?”
“Uh…I’m going through a cold right now.”
“No wonder.”
“Ge, hurry up!” A girl’s voice yelled out from his side. “You’re the one telling me to move in. Why are you slacking off while I carry all these heavy stuffs around?”
“Maggie’s there?” Jan asked.
“Yea, she’s moving in with me…finally,” Jacky said. “We’ve been clearing the house up these past days and finally managed to haul all her stuffs back.”
“Should I call back later?”
“Why do you sound so hesitant? Not like you at all.”
“Just don’t want Maggie to yell at you, that’s all.”
“She dares?”
“Still…”
“Come on. Get it out already. You make it sound like you’re delaying some bad news or something.”
“Not exactly bad news but more like an explanation and an apology.”
“Apology? For what?”
“Remember that story Ricky told you about my parents’ and…”
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anymore.”
“No. That’s not what I mean. Ricky actually decided to get creative around Christmas. We found out a bit late so we didn’t have time to get it straightened out. So that’s why I’m calling now.”
“Oh? What happened?”
“That was not what happened. My parents are still happily married. There are no Chan tragic stories in our generation.” She could hear Jacky’s light chuckle.
“Sorry! I didn’t mean to laugh.”
“I was getting to that part. Mandy’s mother and my mom are twins. That’s the truth. But they’re not Chans.”
“What?!”
“Don’t believe me?”
“It wasn’t in the files. I meant about name change or anything.”
“That’s because the paperwork in Hong Kong listed Aunt Lily as Lily Chan, not Lily Lau.”
“Okay, now I’m confused.”
“The year my parents got married, Aunt Lily wanted to go to Hong Kong to look for a job. Because Dad wanted to help her so he contacted one of his friends and asked him to help her. And Dad just wanted to be safe so he introduced her as his sister. Only our families know of this and continued to keep it that way. We lost contact with her awhile later. You know what happened.”
“Wow.”
“Yes. So I wanted to call you to get the facts straight before Ricky feed you anymore information.”
“The thing I don’t get is why he would pull such a joke when it’s so serious. I mean come on now…your parents are still married and…”
“It was more convincing since Dad wasn’t around and…Ricky is Ricky after all. Don’t blame him. He probably didn’t think it as serious since he knew it wasn’t true anyway.”
“Where was Dad then?”
“He has been away for almost a year now. In fact, it’ll be one year in two months. He’ll be back by that time. He’s doing some work at various parts of the world.”
“Okay.”
“Anyway, just want to tell you that. I’ll let you go since you still have to move.”
“It’s all right. And your cold is sure unpredictable. I mean you sound fine at first – although a bit inaudible, then it progressed a bit more making your voice a bit hoarse. And now it’s back to normal.”
Jan lets out a nervous laugh. “How would I know?”
“Okay, catch you later then.”
“All right. Take care.”
“Yea.”
“And say hi to Maggie for me.”
“Will do."
*****
Jacky snaps his phone shut, still pondering about matters. He doubts that she’s really sick but couldn’t find an appropriate explanation as to why she’s lying to him.
“Ge!” Maggie called out to him.
Jacky turns his attention back on his sister to see her frowning at him. “All right, let’s go.” He reaches out his hands to shove her towards the moving van parked in front.
“Was that Jan jie?”
“Yea. She said hi.”
“And you said you guys aren’t…”
“She was just asking how things are on your side.”
“Oh? See? She’s concerned for me. That shows that…”
“I thought we’re moving. Now it’s your turn to be nosy?
“All right. I was just curious.”
Although he stresses the importance of their current task with his sister, but his mind is only half on it as they’re making more trips back and forth between his apartment and the truck. Should he confront her? He has to before he goes crazy. They’re friends after all. How can she not tell him if something’s really wrong? Unless…no way! In this day and age? He knows that he needs to call her tonight after he finishes with helping Maggie settling in. He has to.
© Friday, March 20th, 2009
Re-posted: Saturday, October 17th, 2009