| Fan Fiction |
by DTLCT
“This is it!” Chen Yi declared in a powerful voice, standing up at the same time for dramatic effects. “I can’t stand it anymore!”
Cyndi wrinkles her face. “What are you doing?”
“I have to know today or I’m going to explode.” He turns to Qiao Qiao’s desk. “Qiao, why…” He stops in mid-sentence because he didn’t know that Qiao Qiao had left again. He turns to Cyndi. “Where did she go?”
“Break room. Probably for a drink of water.”
Chen Yi walks towards the break room. Before he reaches it, Qiao Qiao steps out with a cup in her hand. She almost bump into Chen Yi but stops herself in time.
“Why are you wearing that look?” Qiao Qiao asked. “It’s almost lunchtime. Can’t you restrain your hunger a little longer?”
The others laugh.
Chen Yi turns back to the general working area. “Very funny, guys.” He turns back to Qiao Qiao again. “I have to ask you something before I go crazy.”
“What?” Qiao Qiao asked.
They’re walking back to their desks again.
“Did you find a new job yet?” Chen Yi asked.
“Almost there.”
“Did you go on an interview mission on Wednesday afternoon then? I mean you asked for it off after all.”
“No. Was out with a friend.”
Chen Yi raises an eyebrow. “Friend?”
Qiao Qiao sits down at her desk. “Yes. Problem?”
“No.”
Qiao Qiao’s cell phone rings at that time. She grabs it and answers it right away. “Hello?”
“Want to meet for lunch?” A guy’s voice asked.
“Are we going to discuss about art again?”
“No. We don’t have to.”
Qiao Qiao smiles. “All right then. Same place?”
“Sure.”
“Okay, see you.” She hangs up after that.
“Who was that?” Chen Yi asked.
“A friend.”
“Friend?”
“Yes.”
“Can’t Qiao have friends?” Wallace jumped in. “What’s the big deal anyway?”
“Big deal? She has been acting so strange these past days. It’s driving me crazy.”
“Then don’t pay attention,” Simon blurted out.
“S, suicidal,” Wallace warned him.
Somehow, they had taken up to calling Simon “S” – Wallace’s doing mostly.
Simon turns to Wallace with a puzzled look.
“Don’t get between a guy and his jealous episodes,” Wallace explained. “You might get hurt in the process.”
“Then how come you just told him to stop seconds ago?”
“I’m a pro, he can’t get me.”
“Hmm…”
Wallace glances briefly over at Simon. “Don’t believe me?”
“No. Just strange that…”
Wallace focuses on the file he’s working on again. “Trust me on this one. You don’t want to get involved.” He sighs out. “I can’t wait until lunch. This is torturing.”
“Eager to be with someone?” Cyndi teased.
“No. Need a break. And meeting with Tony this afternoon. He finally found the time to come in.”
“Why don’t you go to his house? Like S.”
“Do I want to enter the lion’s den without preparations? No way.”
“Scaredy-cat.”
“I’m being safe. And I don’t want to be his shield. His mom might attack me with strings of questions. What are my supposed to say then? Tell her the truth or say that we failed to meet his standard? She’s not dumb. She’ll figure out he has a hand in it. One way or another.”
“I take it that you have a grand plan pulled together already since you asked him to come.”
Wallace smiles. “You’ll see.”
Cyndi looks around. “When did Chen Yi leave?”
“He didn’t,” Simon said. “He went to Orchids’ office.
“Oh. I thought he’s taking off already.”
“He’s been taking tons of breaks lately,” Wallace remarked. “That’s strange. But as long as he gets the work done, who cares, right?”
Qiao Qiao turns to Wallace and Cyndi. “He has been doing that? How come I don’t know?”
“You’re too busy being with your boyfriend to know.”
“Huh?!”
“Don’t ‘huh’, we know, Qiao. Well, at least I know.”
Qiao Qiao looks a bit uneasy at that time.
Wallace finally looks up with a bright smile on his face. “Got you! So you do have a boyfriend!”
Qiao Qiao wrinkles her face, hitting him on the arm. “That was a low trick!”
Wallace yanks his hand back. “Ouch. You seriously know how to hit where it hurts.”
“Serves you right for deceiving me.”
They see Chen Yi walking out of Orchids’ office at that time. He sits down at his desk before letting out a yawn.
“This yawn thing is becoming a habit for everyone,” Wallace said.
“Can’t blame me,” Chen Yi defended himself. “This stuff is getting boring. I think I’m going to try a blue folder soon.”
Wallace waves a blue folder in his hand. “Want this?”
“Sun Xie Zhi?”
Wallace nods.
“You want to kill me?”
“I thought you want a challenge.”
“Not that challenge. I don’t need to face some nagging mom who wants sell off her son so soon.”
“Oh? Is your mom doing the same to you?”
“Not exactly.”
“That means partially?”
“She said since I already graduated and have a decent job, why don’t I stop being a player and settle down? What is she thinking? I’m only 22.”
“Better start looking for potential candidates or you’ll be left with all the desperate ones pretty soon.”
“Hard to imagine though,” Cyndi said.
Wallace looks over to Cyndi. “What?”
“How can Chen Yi not find a ‘someone’?”
“Finding someone is easy, but finding someone you like is another thing.”
“What are you talking about?” Simon asked, confused.
“You’ll know one day.” He stands up at that time. “I can’t stand this anymore. You kids keep taking off early. It’s my turn today.” He walks to Orchids’ office without another word.
“What’s with people around here and insanity?”
“Probably the weather,” Cyndi said, shrugging her shoulders.
After that, Cyndi goes back to typing again. Simon looks over to Chen Yi and Qiao Qiao, but Chen Yi has somehow put his head on his desk – trying to relax. Qiao Qiao, on the other hand, is trying to find something on her desk. Simon gives up and goes back to work also. They stay quiet for rest of the time – until lunchtime finally arrives that is. Although Wallace said he’s taking off early, but he just go in to have a talk with Orchids and then comes back out to work on some files again.
*****
Qiao Qiao sighs out as Ming Dao comes back with their drinks. They change location at the last minute and decide to go to a café looking out towards the sea instead.
Ming Dao puts the drink in front of her. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s just strange lately. Everyone at work is acting weird, even Wallace.”
“Why? What happened? Don’t tell me they stop working ‘cause Jacky’s not around.”
“No. Not that. Just that Chen Yi’s acting weird and then…” Qiao Qiao stops herself since she doesn’t want Ming Dao to get the wrong idea.
“Maybe he thinks your group is falling apart? I mean with the four of you.”
Qiao Qiao looks over to him. “You think so?”
Ming Dao takes a sip out of his drink before answering. “Maybe. I don’t know.”
At that time, Bianca sits down next to Qiao Qiao. She has been holding a tray full of food in her hands. Now that she’s back, Ming Dao and Qiao Qiao help her distribute the food among them all.
“What are you two talking about?” Bianca asked.
“People at work,” Qiao Qiao replied.
“Looks like you have to find a new job soon.”
“Maybe.”
“Don’t look so gloomy. It’s going to look like you don’t want to hang around with us.”
Bianca’s phone rings at that time. She takes it out of her handbag and answers it. “Hello?”
“It’s Johnny,” A voice said into the phone.
“Yea and?”
“Where are you right now?”
“At a café by the sea.”
“What’s it called?”
“Hold on.” She covers the mouthpiece before looking around for the sign before answering. “Sea Biscuit.”
“What?!”
“It’s Seahorse, Miss Bai, not Sea Biscuit,” Ming Dao corrected her.
Bianca lets out a nervous chuckle. “Sorry. You heard him, right?”
“You’re with Ming Dao right now?” Johnny asked, surprised.
“Yea. Qiao’s here too.”
“Qiao?”
“Yea. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I guess I’ll just meet with you later then. I’m going to take care of this other stuff first.”
“All right then.” She hangs up at that time.
Ming Dao looks over to her. “Who was that?”
“Johnny.”
“What does he want?”
“Probably getting together to discuss that book.”
“He reads that too?”
“Sure. Why are you so surprised?”
“Never thought he would be interested since he wasn’t so hype about it the other day.”
“He borrowed the book from one of the people at the photo site on the release date and got addicted. He went to the mall that afternoon to get a copy. We talked a bit about it. He was the one who told me about Chapter 5.”
“Oh.”
“Yea.”
“You guys promise no more talk about art,” Qiao Qiao whined.
Bianca turns to Qiao Qiao with a smile. “Sorry. So…what do you want to talk about then?”
“Umm…”
“So…seen Ehlo lately?”
Qiao Qiao shakes her head. “No, why?”
“Nothing. It’s just something Johnny said.”
“Johnny’s into match-making now?” Ming Dao asked, a bit amused.
“No. Probably just taking over for Jacky and watch over Ehlo.”
Ming Dao laughs. “You make it sound like that guy needs someone to watch over him.”
Bianca shrugs her shoulders. “It does seem that way. One way or another, you know.”
Qiao Qiao turns to Bianca. “Talking about that, how is Sonia doing?”
“Not too bad. She has to do double work now since Jacky’s gone. I mean with their special summer program.”
“They’ll probably get someone to fill in the spot, right? I mean…”
“Sonia didn’t say much. She has been quite busy lately.”
Qiao Qiao nods.
Bianca’s cell phone rings again. She picks it up faster this time since she has laid it on the table after Johnny called in. “Hello?”
“Guess what?” A girl’s voice said cheerfully into the phone.
“What?”
“I got a job already.”
“Oh? That’s great. That means you don’t have to help with the shop anymore?”
“Definitely.”
“Where is that?”
“Tune in to KFT tomorrow morning.”
“You got a job at the radio station?!”
Ming Dao and Qiao Qiao turn to look at Bianca since they’ve been looking out towards the water.
“Yes,” The girl continued in that same happy voice.
“That’s great,” Bianca said. “What are you going to cover?”
“Tune in tomorrow and find out.”
“What time?”
“Six.”
“That means I have to wake up early? It’s Saturday.”
“Come on. Show some encouragement, will you?”
“Okay. Fine then.”
“Anyway, I got to go and find some material for it. Talk to you later.”
“Bye.” She hangs up and sighs out.
“Who got a job at the radio station?” Ming Dao asked.
“Angela.”
“What?!” Qiao Qiao asked in disbelief.
“Unbelievable, huh?”
“Not really. Just a bit strange.”
“She always wanted to be a DJ. Now she got the chance.”
“Which station though?” Ming Dao asked.
“KFT.”
“That’s the same station as…”
Bianca nods. “Yes.”
“Which slot?” Qiao Qiao took over with the questioning again.
“The one that’s empty right now.”
“That slot?” Ming Dao asked.
Bianca nods. “Yes.”
“Too ironic.”
Without knowing, Ming Dao sighs out too.
“Oh gosh, you too?” Bianca asked.
“Sorry. I guess it’s contagious.”
Their little lunch gathering end in a somewhat gloomy note since everyone seems down again. Qiao Qiao feels guilty for bringing them down, but she couldn’t help it. Bianca’s right. She needs to find that “new job” soon.
Work isn’t any better when she comes back. Only Simon is talking excitedly about something. Everyone else is just working. The only excitement they’re looking forward to is seeing what Wallace has in place for Tony. He makes it sound so mysterious that they couldn’t help but be curious.
Around 2, Yan Yan comes in to visit them. No, it’s more like she suddenly dances into the agency.
Wallace wrinkles his eyebrows. “What’s going on in your life, Miss Sunshine?”
“Guess what, guys?” Yan Yan asked excitedly.
“What?”
Chen Yi and Qiao Qiao have managed to stop typing so they could tune in to Yan Yan’s words as well.
“I won this one contest and was invited to S.H.E.’s upcoming concert!” Yan Yan continued. “How great is that?”
Everyone goes back to working after that.
Yan Yan’s expression changes from excitement to discouragement. “Hey! Would you guys hear me out?”
Chen Yi continuies to type without looking up at all. “What’s so great about that? You get to go, we don’t.”
“I’m not finished yet.”
“There’s more?” Chen Yi continued in that same passive tone.
“Of course! Look!”
They look up to see her holding some stripes of papers in her hand.
“And?” Chen Yi drawled out, his sarcasm not getting any better than before.
“Will you guys look a bit more enthusiastic?”
“We’re at work.”
Wallace smiles at Yan Yan’s reaction. “He’s putting you on. What can we do for you today, Miss Liu?”
“I got three tickets also so I get to pick which one of you three I can take along with me!”
“I’m definitely out, so what’s great about that?” Chen Yi said.
“Stop sounding ungrateful, will you?” Qiao Qiao scolded, standing up and putting a hand on Yan Yan’s shoulder. “We all know who your best friend is, right?”
Cyndi couldn’t help but smile at Qiao Qiao’s charming tactic.
Wallace puts charming smile on. “And of course who else?”
“Stop acting desperate already,” Chen Yi said, annoyed.
“Hmm…” Yan Yan uttered out.
“You don’t have to decide right away,” Qiao Qiao reassured her. “Sit down. I’ll get you something to drink.”
Although Yan Yan’s not saying anything, Qiao Qiao gently shoo her into her seat and runs towards the break room to tend to the “drink”.
Wallace puts on his amusing look after Qiao Qiao’s gone. He turns to look at Cyndi and then Chen Yi. “What was that?”
Chen Yi smiles. “That’s our Qiao finally back.”
“I haven’t seen you smiled since ages now,” Yan Yan said, resuming her excited tone from before.
“What are you talking about?”
“You haven’t smile at all since…” She wrinkles her face to think. “…I don’t remember anymore.”
“You’re weird.”
Chen Yi goes back to his work again, ignoring Yan Yan. Yan Yan mouths a “What’s wrong with him?” to Wallace and Cyndi. Wallace shrugs his shoulders while Cyndi just smiles. Qiao Qiao finally comes back with two cups. She places one in front of Yan Yan as she sits down at the desk next over, sipping on the other cup.
“So…?” Qiao Qiao asked, gesturing her hand.
Yan Yan smiles. “You’re coming with me, of course. Without even having to go through such…” She gestures towards the cup in front of her.
Qiao Qiao jumps up from her seat. “Hurray!”
“How childish could you get?” Chen Yi mocked.
Qiao Qiao sticks her tongue out at Chen Yi. The others laugh.
At that time, they hear the door opening. Everyone turns around to see who it is.
“He’s here!” Cyndi shouted out, alerting them all.
Yes, who else but the one and only – Tony Sun Xie Zhi.
They all stand up at that time as he approaches them.
“It doesn’t look like it’s going to rain anytime soon,” Yan Yan commented.
Qiao Qiao hits Yan Yan’s shoulder a bit too late since Tony seems to have heard the comment. He takes off his sunglasses and increases his pace towards them.
“Mr. Sun, how have you been?” Wallace said, stepping in front of the girls to greet Tony, extending his hand.
Tony shakes Wallace’s hand before turning towards the girls again. He turns to Wallace again after a brief inspection of both girls. “Is she…” He points at Yan Yan with his sunglasses. “…new?”
“She’s just visiting,” Wallace answered.
Tony glances at his watch briefly. “At working hours?”
“We’re not operating some nuthouse, why should we be such stickler for details?” Chen Yi jumped in.
Wallace turns to Chen Yi. “Chen Yi!”
“It seems like your team isn’t as professional as I thought,” Tony remarked.
Wallace turns his attention back on Tony. “I apologize for their behavior, Mr. Sun. Should we take it to the conference room so it wouldn’t disturb your…”
“Actually…” He shifts his focus to Yan Yan again. “…she looks about right.”
Wallace wrinkles his face, but regains his calm expression quickly. “I’m sorry?”
Tony turns to Wallace again. “I’m taking her.”
“What?!” Yan Yan exclaimed, unable to repress her anger any longer. “You’re kidding, right? Who are you to come in here and claiming me? How arrogant can you get?”
Tony turns to Yan Yan, pointing his sunglasses towards her again before opening his mouth. However, before he could speak up, she snatches his sunglasses from him.
“You know how rude it is to point at people like that, don’t you? Talking about professionalism.”
Wallace steps in front of Yan Yan again. “Mr. Sun…”
“This girl is very interesting,” Tony said, cutting Wallace off.
Yan Yan pushes Wallace aside gently. “Interesting your eye!”After that, she stomps out of there, not looking back at them. When she’s almost at the door, she turns back to them as if remembering something. “Qiao, I’ll come back later and talk to you about the concert.” Then she turns back to the others – excluding Tony. “Bye, guys.” She didn’t forget to give Tony a dirty look before turning around to leave.
Tony looks after her a bit before turning to Wallace again. “So, are you in charge?”
Wallace suppresses his annoyance. “Not exactly, but…”
“It’s fine. Tell your boss, no need to match me up with some random girl anymore. I found her.”
As he’s saying those last few words, he reaches into his raincoat pocket and pulls out something. They could see it’s a checkbook when he lays it on the desk next to Qiao Qiao’s to write on. After he’s done, he turns to Wallace again, putting the check in Wallace’s hand.
“I guess this place does have its strength of being so unprofessional after all.” He pats Wallace on the shoulder. “Keep up the good work.” Then he turns to the others. “See you guys later.” With that, he turns to leave also.
The others stand there – frozen in place and time. It is not until they hear the door banging in that they realize that Tony’s already gone.
Wallace’s the first to speak up as he turns around to face the others again. “What was that?”
“All I know is Yan Yan’s in trouble,” Qiao Qiao said. “How dare he…”
“That means he’s stalking her right now? Let me go check.” Chen Yi heads towards the front door to look for possible signs while Cyndi signals for Wallace to give her the check.
Wallace hands it to her after sitting down at his desk. “While you’re at it, get me a cup of tea or something.”
“This is ridiculous,” Qiao Qiao repeated her objection. “He better be kidding, right?”
Wallace turns to Simon.
“Don’t look at me,” Simon said timidly. “I don’t know what he’s up to either.”
“So much for my grand plan,” Wallace said in a disappointed tone.
Yes, so much for Wallace’s grand plan.
Chen Yi comes back at that time and sits down at his desk.
Qiao Qiao turns to him. “Well?”
“Yan Yan’s too fast for him.”
“Good. He better stay away.”
Cyndi comes back at that time from Orchids’ office.
Wallace turns to her. “So?”
“Orchids said she’ll contact him later to discuss about it officially. Just leave his file aside for now. He might be back again.”
Qiao Qiao wrinkles her face. “What do you mean ‘might’?”
“You want him to successfully court Yan Yan?”
“Uh…”
Cyndi reaches over to Qiao Qiao’s side to retrieve the empty cups before getting up to the break room. She comes back several minutes later with full cups for everyone – including Simon. They seem to be sitting in the same spot and maintaining the same expression since she left. “Come on, guys. Don’t look so gloomy. Yan Yan can take care of herself, right?”
“Of course!” Qiao Qiao exclaimed out with a renewed sense of hope.
“But what about the S.H.E. concert?” Chen Yi asked suddenly.
Qiao Qiao turns around and hits Chen Yi’s shoulder.
“That hurts!”
“Our best friend is at risk of being lured into the lion’s den and you’re over there still thinking about S.H.E.?”
“Cyndi said not to worry.”
“That’s just an expression!”
“Qiao, calm down,” Wallace interfered.
Qiao Qiao is about to turn to Wallace and give him a piece of her mind, but she could see him smiling. “I know that expression! You got a plan, right?”
“Of course.”
“What is it?”
“Blackmail.”
“What?”
“He’s quite well known. If all fails, we could threaten to show a certain picture to the public that he’s harassing one of our agents!”
Qiao Qiao wrinkles her face. “Would it work?”
Cyndi turns to Wallace. “When did you snap pictures?”
“I didn’t. I’m going to.”
“Stop it. That’s not funny. You’re not doing it for real, right?”
“Uh…it’s a nice thought though.” He turns back to the pile of folders on his desk.
Qiao Qiao looks annoyed, thinking they could help her, but now she just has to rely on herself – and maybe Chen Yi. But then wasn’t he thinking of only the S.H.E. concert tickets earlier? She guesses she just has to call for back-up after work. Who else but the trusty Bianca? And maybe Ming Dao too.
© Thursday, July 10th, 2008