| Fan Fiction |
by DTLCT
“Qiao, if you want to say something, say it,” Chen Yi said, somewhat annoyed with her constant yawns.
Qiao Qiao turns to look at Chen Yi. “What?”
“You’re driving us crazy with all of those yawns.”
“I’m just bored.”
“You don’t have to yawn so much though. Or are you nervous about the interview? When is it anyway?”
Qiao Qiao: Around lunchtime. And I’m not nervous. Bianca and I practiced about tons of times already.
Wallace comes back from the break room as Qiao Qiao begins to tap her pen on her desk. At the same time, Cyndi walks out of Orchids’ room. Wallace sees a blue folder in Cyndi’s hand as she sits down at her desk again, sighing out heavily.
Chen Yi turns to Cyndi. “She’s yawning and you’re sighing. Great. We should change our place to…”
“It’s not that,” Cyndi said. “It seems like all our clients are getting quite picky lately. And they say they don’t have time to date, but they have time to give us a hard time.”
“You don’t know what ‘hard’ is yet if you haven’t met someone,” Simon jumped in.
They all turn to Simon.
Cyndi puts the blue folder down. “What happened? Who?”
“That Sun Xie Zhi.”
Wallace sits down. “What about him?”
“I’ve never seen a guy so picky in my life. If we match up someone with the personality he prefers, he say she’s not pretty enough. If we let him choose her physical appearance and then set them up, he say she’s…” He gestures his hand. “…vain. And then…”
“He’s a successful tycoon after all,” Cyndi pointed out. “Gotta be picky.”
Simon wrinkles his face. “He’s driving me crazy.”
“Can’t you match the personality he wants with the look he prefers? I mean we got tons of profiles.”
“I think that’s not the point. He’s just trying to make trouble no matter what.”
“If he doesn’t want to look for someone, he doesn’t have to. Why would he pull such a scheme to waste both his and our times?”
“I think I know why. Well, sort of guessed.”
“Why?!” The others asked at the same time. They lean in closer to Simon’s desk, waiting for him to answer. Qiao Qiao has stopped her tapping routine after Simon mentioned about his problem with Tony.
“His mother wants him to find someone, not him. So he’s just obeying her and come here to get our help. But we’re just a shield for him to avoid his mother from introducing him to some other girls.”
Qiao Qiao hits her hand on her desk and stands up abruptly. “That’s outrageous!”
Cyndi glances at Qiao Qiao briefly before turning back to Simon. “How did you come to that conclusion?”
“I was at his mansion once and his mother was questioning me about it,” Simon elaborated. “I told her we’re trying our best to find his match.”
“That’s even more despicable,” Qiao Qiao said. “Using us as shields like that.”
Wallace holds up a red folder in his hand. “You want to swap with me then?”
“Red looks serious, like a warning sign,” Qiao Qiao commented.
Wallace stands up. “On the contrary.”
Qiao Qiao wrinkles her face. “Huh?”
“It’s minimal work. Just more in the persuasion department.”
“Sounds easy for you.”
Wallace puts on his usual charming smile. “It’s life. Give or take.” He turns to Simon again. “Or you rather take a yellow folder?”
“Stop being mean,” Cyndi scolded.
“I’m not. I’m just saying the truth.”
“I’ll trade someone for a green folder then,” Simon said.
Chen Yi gives Simon a challenging look. “Are you pushing Sun Xie Zhi towards me?”
“Fine,” Wallace interfered, not wanting to lose his opportunity. “I’ll swap you a green folder.”He puts the red folder down, searching through the folder stack on his desk for a green one. He finally looks up with a satisfied smile, handing the green folder to Simon seconds later. “Only one left.”
“Thank you,” Simon said with much relief, handing over the blue folder.
“I’ll have him crying for help by the time I’m done,” Wallace declared, flashing on his scheming expression.
“What are you up to now?” Cyndi asked.
Wallace sits down again. “You’ll see.”
“Don’t tell me you’re going to find the opposite of what he wants,” Qiao Qiao said.
Wallace points at Qiao Qiao with the folder in his hand. “That’s just part one. Part two will be…”
Before Wallace could finish, he sees someone at the door. The others turn around to look also. They half expected it was Tony since Wallace had stopped in mid-sentence. But the person at the door is actually a girl in a cotton white shirt and blue jeans skirt. She looks somewhat unsure or scared as she steps in through the door. They all stand up at the same time and walk towards her – stopping about a foot in front of her.
Cyndi smiles. “Hi, can we help you?”
“Uh….” The girl hesitated. “I’m looking for Melody.”
“Melody?” Chen Yi asked, wrinkling his face. “Sounds familiar.” He turns towards the others.”
“Yea,” Qiao Qiao agreed, tapping her chin. “Like…”
As the others are pondering about the name, Wallace steps forward from the group. “Melody Chen, right?”
The girl nods. “Yes.”
Wallace smiles, gesturing towards the left wall. “Next door.”
“Oh!” The girl blurted out, embarrassed. “I’m sorry. I must not look more carefully when I opened the door.”
“No problem, Wallace reassured her, opening the front door. “In fact, I’ll walk you over there and introduce you to those people so you can get a better feeling of this area. It gets quite confusing around here, you know. Considering we’re so close together and all.”
The girl gives him an appreciative smile. “Thanks.”
Wallace didn’t even turn back to them even once as he’s walking away with the girl.
“What was that?” Chen Yi asked as the door slam in their face.
“That was one of our employees crossing the line,” Qiao Qiao commented.
They walk back to their seats, still pondering about Wallace’s actions.
Qiao Qiao taps her pen on her desk again. “That was a relief though. If she’s one of our clients, imagine her…”
“Another Sun Xie Zhi, right?” Simon jumped in.
Qiao Qiao nods. “Definitely. Look at how attractive she looks. She’s beautiful. I mean….beyond words.”
Simon nods also. “And I wonder who could meet up to her standard.”
“Who else but our charming prince?” Cyndi teased.
She said the last part a bit too loud so they turn around to see Wallace coming back.
Chen Yi stands up again. “So…what is her name? Number? Address? And all those?”
Wallace sits down at his desk before speaking up. “What in the world are you talking about? Why are you all staring at me?”
“We’re waiting for your answers, Prince Charming,” Chen Yi demanded.
Wallace laughs at Cyndi’s “nickname” for him.
“Come on,” Qiao Qiao urged. “Tell us.”
Wallace clears his throat. “You guys are so nosy.”
“It’s our job,” The others harmonized.
“All right. Her name is Penny. She just moved back into town and is looking for a job right now. She’s going for an interview next door, so we might be neighbors.”
“Everyone’s moving back here,” Qiao Qiao noted. “Old story. What’s with that? How come I never know her?”
“You’re from out of town too, you know? Before you moved in with Orchids.”
“Do you two…” Chen Yi began, looking at Wallace and Cyndi. “…happen to know her too? Or anyone from our group? Like how it was with Angela and…”
Wallace shakes his head. “She looks oddly familiar, but I don’t remember her. Probably just some random person around town.”
“Hmm…” Qiao Qiao muttered.
“So…interested?” Cyndi asked.
“Wipe that smile off your face,” Wallace warned.
“Come on. I just want to know if I can step out of my role now. Or should I say… are my free of being your shield now?”
The others stare at Wallace closely – even Simon.
“What?” Wallace said. “None of your business.”
“It is my since it involves me after all, you know,” Cyndi reminded him.
Wallace turns back to her. “All right. You don’t have to be my shield anymore.”
Cyndi smiles. “Thanks.”
“And you just confessed to us, Prince Charming,” Qiao Qiao mocked, putting major emphasis on the last two words.
Wallace goes back to work after that, ignoring them. Girls and their sarcasm, he thought.
The others smile at each other. It’s like they’re sharing a secret. And the sad thing about it is Wallace’s out this time, not Simon. In fact, Wallace’s out of it big time.
*****
To their disappointment, both Qiao Qiao and Penny didn’t get the job at both their interview that day. However, they weren’t at lost since Penny come to visit them the next two days for unknown reasons. Wallace becomes his active self again as he studies Tony’s case and focuses his 99% effort into it – aside from the 1% left over on his other cases.
On Wednesday, as Penny arrives around lunchtime, they see Melody Chen with her and somehow could guess the reason of her visits since the first day they met her.
Wallace is the first to get up from his seat and approach the girls. “How can we help you both?”
“It seems our little gathering for lunch is out the window,” Cyndi mumbled.
“I guess I’ll just leave first then,” Simon said.
“Have fun. Don’t wait for us. Since Prince Charming is practicing his lines right now.”
Wallace ignores Cyndi’s words and continues to address the two girls instead.
Chen Yi looks over to Qiao Qiao to see her putting stuffs hastily into her handbag. “Qiao, what’s your hurry?”
Qiao Qiao doesn’t stop her packing. “I want to get out of here, of course. What else?”
“Like the shops would close if you wait another 15 minutes. And it’s not exactly lunchtime yet, you know.”
“Doesn’t matter.” She checks her handbag one last time. “All right. Got everything. See you all later.”
“Hey!” Chen Yi called out.
Qiao Qiao turns back halfway to the door. “What?” She checks her watch quickly. “I’m in a hurry.”
“What about our meeting with Yan?”
“It’s today?” Qiao Qiao asked in alarm, looking around in panic. “Right now?”
“No, this afternoon.”
Qiao Qiao sighs out. “Oh! Geez whiz! And I thought it’s now. We’ll talk about it when I get back. No, wait. Didn’t we reschedule it until Friday? ‘Cause Yan has to go out of town later today and can’t make it back in time.”
“Really? How come she didn’t tell me?”
“Call her up then.” She looks at her watch again. “Really have to go.” She rushes out the door before Chen Yi could say anything else.
Chen Yi turns to Cyndi. Even Cyndi has a clueless expression on her face. Simon has left already, so they could not ask him either. Only Simon was here early enough this morning to remember if Qiao Qiao received a call from someone or not. Too late. They’ll just have to wait.
“What’s with her lately?” Chen Yi pondered aloud.
“Hmm…” Cyndi said, tapping her pen on her desk. “Maybe, she… Oh!”
“What?”
“Maybe she knows where Jacky is and is meeting up with him and not letting us know?”
“We promised no more secrets, remember?”
“If it’s Jacky’s wish, she could abide to it.”
“Far-fetch. We haven’t heard anything from him for days now. It’s impossible he might come back without anyone seeing him. It’s a small town after all.”
Cyndi curls her hair with her pen absent-mindedly as she’s thinking. “Maybe he disguised himself?”
“Must he go through such extremes?”
“Want to go check it out then?”
“Follow Qiao? That’s bizarre!”
“Either that or be at lost.”
“She’ll get mad.”
While they’ve been diagnosing Qiao Qiao’s behavior, Wallace has been chatting away diligently with Penny and Melody that he hasn’t even take a minute to include them.
Cyndi looks at her watch. “Let’s go order something and bring it back. Or do you want to meet up with Achel or someone for lunch?”
“Uh…” Chen Yi managed, still trying to think up of a reason to reject her offer.
Cyndi smiles. “Don’t tell me you’re going to take my advice and tail Qiao.”
“What are you two up to now?” Wallace asked.
They didn’t realize that Wallace has finally walked back to them – along with Penny and Melody.
“Guess what?” He asked, still smiling.
“You found a treasure map?” Cyndi guessed.
Wallace wrinkles his face. “What?!”
Cyndi flashes on her innocent smile. “Nothing.”
“Okay,” Wallace said, gesturing towards Penny and Melody. “Did you know that they’re friends since college? It’s strange we never know this stuff before.”
“Like we spend half of the day stalking the neighbors or something.” Cyndi makes sure to give Penny and Melody a friendly smile so they would know she’s actually teasing Wallace and not meaning to offend the girls. She gestures for Penny and Melody to sit down in the empty seats left behind by her co-workers.
“Actually, we want to invite you all to lunch,” Penny said.
“Reason?” Chen Yi asked, turning to the girls as well.
“Must there be a reason?” Melody asked back. “We’re neighbors after all.”
Chen Yi looks at his watch. “I love to join everyone, but I have to go somewhere in a bit.”
Wallace turns to Cyndi. “Miss Wang?”
Cyndi stands up. “I’ll go get Orchids.”
“Do you have to ask your boss’ permission to go to lunch with us?” Penny asked in alarm.
Cyndi smiles. “No. Just checking to see if she wants to join us.”
“Oh.”
“I’ll be back.”
Wallace gives both girls a bright smile after Cyndi disappears into Orchids’ office.
“Don’t worry. Orchids’ a really cool boss. She won’t bite us if she’s coming along.”
Cyndi comes back out at that time.
Wallace turns to her. “So?” He glances briefly at Orchids’ closed office door. “What’s the final answer?”
“A lunch date with her prince charming,” Cyndi replied with a smile.
“Oh.” He turns to Penny. “I guess it’s the four of us then.”
“Where’s Chen Yi?” Cyndi asked, looking around.
“He left after you went into the office,” Melody said.
“Oh.”
“What’s he doing anyway?” Wallace asked. “I never knew he had a lunch date of some sort.”
“You’ll never know. He’s trying to protect his precious treasure right now.”
“What?”
Cyndi grabs her handbag. “Nothing. Let’s go.”
“All right then.” He turns towards Penny and Melody. “Ladies.” He gestures for them to go before him.
Cyndi smiles a secret smile as they make their way to the door. This is going to be an interesting show, she thought.
*****
Qiao Qiao is overcome with relief as she checks her watch again while catching her breath. She’s still a bit early – just like she planned. She reaches into her handbag to take out two tickets, making sure the information is correct – for the hundredth time since she got them. She smiles to herself, knowing it’s all worth the effort. She tugs the tickets safely into her handbag again as she continues the wait.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
It is Sunday night – after Bianca left.
Qiao Qiao scrambles to find the phone in her room. She has forgotten where she disposed it to earlier when she tried to make space for Bianca. After about five minutes of wandering around her room – being pressed for time, she finally found it hanging lazily on the iron table. She settles down on the floor before pulling the whole set down with her. She has managed to look up the number earlier while Bianca went out to the kitchen for a drink of water. She retrieves the wrinkled up paper ball from her pocket and tries to restore its original state. She dials the number cautiously and waits for someone to pick up, hoping it’s not closed yet – since she had remembered from the website that the phone lines are opened on Sunday until 9. She hopes she remembered correctly. She waits for it to ring until the 4th time, feeling uneasy and anxious inside. Finally someone picks up on the 5th ring. A man’s voice travels through the line.
“Hello, this is Northside Theater,” He rattled out the usual formal greeting. “How may I help you?”
“Uh…yes,” Qiao Qiao stuttered, trying to collect her thoughts. “I want to ask if you still have tickets for Wednesday’s show.”
“Which show are you referring to, Miss?”
Qiao Qiao lets out a nervous chuckle. “I’m sorry. It’s the one with the Soulfest Duo.”
“Let me check.”
Qiao Qiao hears silence from the other side for a full minute before the man comes back on.
“Yes, Miss,” The man announced. “We still have 7 spots left.”
“Hurray!” Qiao Qiao exclaimed cheerfully.
“I’m sorry?”
Qiao Qiao’s face turns red at that time although no one could see her embarrassment. “Sorry. I mean could I please pre-order it right now and come pick it up tomorrow?”
“Yes, Miss. Could I please have your name?”
“Joanne Zeng.”
“How many tickets, Miss?”
“Two.”
“What time will you be coming by to pick up the tickets?”
“Around 12.”
“I’m sorry, Miss. We’re closed for lunch.”
“Uh…how about 1:30?”
“That’s fine. We’ll see you tomorrow then. Thanks for doing business with us.”
“All right. Thank you. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Qiao Qiao hangs up, feeling relief. She places the phone set back onto her desk before heading to the closet, picking out an appropriate outfit for the event.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
As Qiao Qiao’s lost in thoughts, reflecting back to that night, someone calls her so loud that she almost jumped. She regains her composure before turning to that person. She’s about to give that person a piece of her mind for blasting her eardrums when she sees Ming Dao in front of her.
“Finally!” Ming Dao said, still in a voice a bit too loud for comfort.
“What?” She glances at her watch briefly. “You’re the one who’s late and you’re still saying that you have time off?”
“I’ve called you several times already, but you didn’t hear me.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
“So…where are we going now? Since you’re finally back.”
Qiao Qiao gives Ming Dao a look before scanning the street ahead with her eyes.
“How about going to Go-Go Café for a drink first?”
Ming Dao studies at her expression cautiously. “You mean we’re making other stops as well?”
“We’re going shopping later too, remember?”
“You’re quite persistent.”
“Let’s go or we’ll be standing at this street corner forever.”
Ming Dao smiles and follows Qiao Qiao as she turns the corner, wondering what’s her hurry anyway. Then he remembers that she still has to go back to work. He increases his pace to catch up with her, making sure she isn’t rushing into the streets unexpectedly like before.
When they finally sit down at the same table as last time, Ming Dao turns to Qiao Qiao again after ordering drinks for them. “So…what’s the big secret?”
“What?” Qiao Qiao asked back innocently.
“I’ve been watching you closely since the last two blocks. You have on this expression like you’re hiding something. What is it?”
Qiao Qiao sighs out. “All right. You found out so might as well tell you now.”
She unzips her handbag and pulls out two tickets. She zips the handbag up again and puts it aside before placing the tickets in front of Ming Dao. He picks them up, studying them carefully. His head snaps back up as soon as he realizes what it’s for.
“You got it already?! Wow! How did you get it? It’s sold out.”
Qiao Qiao smiles. “It wasn’t when I got them. There were still 5 left after I ordered.”
“But…when did you…”
“Sunday night after Bianca left.”
“Uh…”
Qiao Qiao wrinkles her face. “What’s wrong? Don’t want to go anymore?”
“It’s not that. How much is it? I’ll pay for my portion.”
“How about paying for our drink?”
“That’s different. Our drink doesn’t cost much.”
“How about paying for a particular item when we go shopping later then?”
Ming Dao smiles. “Sounds fine. Can’t argue with you, right?”
Qiao Qiao smiles also. “You know better than that.”
As the waiter comes back with their drinks, they sip it away greedily with excitement as they’re getting ready to leave after Ming Dao paid. Ming Dao had ordered to-go before since he thought Qiao Qiao’s pressed for time. Now, he’s glad he did since they will have plenty of time for the walk to the theater. They walk out of the café together chatting away happily, not knowing there’s a silhouette lurking in the shadow across the street – following their every move.
© Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008