| Fan Fiction |
by DTLCT
“Hello?” He said into the phone passively.
“Where are you now?” A girl’s questioning tone rang into his ear. “I came by your apartment but bumped into Tim and Kevin. They said you left an hour ago. They thought you were meeting me somewhere. Is there something you didn’t tell me about last night?”
Ray hops back onto the railing before answering. “Uh…”
Ray sees a girl in white walking towards him at that time. He smiles and waves at her, gesturing for her to come closer. She smiles back and joins him next to the railing. She isn’t afraid that her white jeans will get dirty or the wind blowing dust onto her white coat, but just sits comfortably on it. She remains silent for him to continue his phone conversation.
“Jess, I’ll be back in half an hour or so. I’m meeting someone at Yin Yang right now. Remember that phone conversation I had with that person last night when I was talking to you guys?”
“Yea,” Jessica said.
“Anyway, I’ll fill you in on the details later.”
“All right. I guess I still have time to go to the grocery store with Charmaine and Mandy.”
“Go ahead. If I’m back early, I’ll wait for you.”
“Okay.”
“Bye.” He hangs up before Jessica could inquire any further. Then he turns to the girl next to him. “So…long time no see, huh?”
She pulls a strand of hair out of her face before speaking. “Yea. Six months already.”
“How are you doing?”
She shrugs her shoulders. “Not sure. Enough to get by, I guess.”
“Oh come on. You’re a doctor and you still use the words ‘enough to get by’?”
She laughs. “What are my supposed to say? I’m filthily rich right now and could buy the whole world off with my fortune?”
“Not to that extreme, but at least don’t use those words.” Ray shivers after saying that – not from the cold, but from the disgust he feels inside.
She looks over to him. “You’re troubled. What can I do for you this time?”
Ray looks over at her and smiles. “You know me too well.”
“Why would you call me out in the first place?”
Ray nods. “True. Our relationship is too much like running a business than friendship, huh?”
She uses her hands to support her weight before letting go of her feet from the rail below, swinging them back and forth. It seems like she’s reconsidering things before answering. “I guess things haven’t changed much between us.”
“Isn’t that good, though?”
She leans back a bit before answering. “I guess so.” She straightens up again with her feet back on the rail below. “So, what can I do for you this time? You only have about half an hour before you have to get back or Jess’ll be suspicious. Like thinking you’re having an affair with someone.”
Ray lets out a chuckle. “No wonder we’re best friends. I love your sense of humor. It reminds me of me.”
She gives him a sharp look. “I’m not as conceited as you.”
“Is that a compliment or mockery?”
She still maintains her sharp look. “What do you think?”
Ray stares back at the girl with a firm look. They break their eye contact by bursting into laughter.
“Okay,” She said, finally stopping her laughter. “Come on. Be serious now. We’re short on time here.”
“All right,” Ray said. “I won’t joke anymore. At least not until next time.” After those few words, Ray pulls out a manila envelope hidden inside his coat. He hands it to her before speaking up again. “Look him up for me. Something fishy is going on and I can’t put my finger on it. It has been six months now and it’s driving me crazy.”
She opens the envelope and takes out its contents. “You mean the ‘Potential Detective’ in our old days couldn’t figure it out?”
“No. I thought I could do it on my own, but he’s too good. Maybe he’s a cop himself. I’m not sure. I tried to test him last night. Finally got a lead. Or my instinct tells me I’m on the right track. I rattled him a bit. But I think it’s better if you continue with this from afar. He’s too careful around me. I think the others might know. I hope not though.”
She studies the picture from the pile of papers on her lap. “He’s kind of cute.”
Ray turns to look at her. “Missy, we’re here to help me figure out his real identity.” He pauses for emphasis. “Not find you a husband.”
She shrugs her shoulders, smiling. “You never know.”
“Whatever, girl.”
“Whatever is for girls to say.”
“You sound like my sister.”
She takes her attention away from the paper she’s reading and looks over to Ray. “By the way, how’s Mandy?”
“She’s fine. We’re fine.”
“Have you told your mom yet?”
“No.”
“Ray!”
“You’re creeping me out…sounding more and more like Mandy.”
“Maybe we’re girls and we have the same girl instincts.”
Ray shrugs his shoulders. “I wouldn’t know that, but I’ll just have to take your words for it.”
“I guess so.” She seems to have finished analyzing the material she was given. She straightens it out and puts it back into the manila envelope before jumping off the railing.
Ray jumps off also, walking side-by-side with her. He pulls his coat sleeves tighter around his neck. “So…where are you heading now?”
“Back to the hospital. Where else? I’ll eat with the 15 minutes I have left when I’m there.”
Ray looks at his watch. “Sorry.”
She smiles. “No problem. I’ll be off for a month for Christmas, so I can make up for it.”
“They let you off for a month? I should have become a doctor.”
She laughs. “No. It was because I volunteered to go abroad for that training program six months back. I managed to score the highest among the group, so they’re granting a long break for my hard work.”
“With that long break, you might as well forget what you learned from that program already.”
“Do I look like I would forget that easily?”
Ray nods. “True.”
They’re finally at the parking lot area.
“Anyway, call me if you find out anything,” Ray said.
“All right,” She said. “See you.”
Ray watches her turn left and making her way to her car. He hesitates before opening his mouth. “Hey!”
She stops in her tracks and turns to face Ray again.
“Thanks, Yoyo!”
Yoyo smiles and waves at him. “Anytime!”
Ray waves back at her with his right hand while his left hand is still in his coat pocket. He smiles at her one last time before she turns to continue on her way. He watches her until she reaches her car before he turns straight ahead to look for his car, which is parked several rows down from the sidewalk.
© Tuesday, February 19th, 2008
Re-posted: Wednesday, October 14th, 2009