| Fan Fiction |
by DTLCT
“Hey you!” Wallace greeted her. “How’s it going?”
“I swear my luck got worst after I ran into that arrogant, smart-mouth whoever he was,” Yan Yan said in an irritated tone.
Cyndi and Qiao Qiao come back from Orchids’ office at that time.
Cyndi smiles. “Back?”
Yan Yan nods.
Qiao Qiao walks to Yan Yan. “What’s wrong?”
“Sun Xie Zhi just turned her luck,” Wallace said.
Qiao Qiao sits down at her desk. “I’m guessing it’s for the worst.”
Yan Yan sits down next to Qiao Qiao. “Such an annoyance.” She turns to Wallace. “He’s not coming back, is he?”
Wallace shrugs his shoulders. “No. Probably not today. Why?”
“Just want to make sure that I’m safe for now.” She looks around. “What happened to Chen Yi?”
“Meeting with his latest client,” Wallace said.
“Oh.” She clears her throat at that time. “Okay, everyone. Let’s resume our conversation.”
Wallace puts on an amused look. “You mean the whole showdown to see who gets to go to S.H.E.’s concert with you?”
Yan Yan smiles. “Yes.”
“Let’s see…” Wallace drawled out for dramatic effects, tapping his pen on his desk. “…Qiao’s in so that means two more tickets. And…” Before he could continue, Cyndi bursts out laughing. He stops his tapping and turns to her. “What?”
“You make it sound like we’re getting ready for some disaster strike or something,” Cyndi said.
“Come on now. It’s S.H.E.”
“How about we all put our names into this cup,” Cyndi suggested, pointing to the pencil cup in front of her. “….and let Yan Yan select the names out? Whoever gets chosen will go.”
“Not a bad idea,” Wallace said, turning to Yan Yan. “Well?”
“Might as well,” Yan Yan said. “Since it wouldn’t go anywhere if we keep debating it.”
Cyndi empties the pencils and pens out of the cup before rustling around the desk to find a piece of paper. She tears it up into small pieces enough for writing down their names before handing one to each of them.
“What about Chen Yi?” Yan Yan asked, looking from one to the other.
Wallace’s writing down his name when he heard Yan Yan’s question. “We’re going to wait for him to come back. He won’t be long since it’s closing time soon and he was gone like an hour ago.”
“Okay then.” She turns to Simon. “Interested?”
“You guys go ahead,” Simon said with a polite smile.
“Not a fan?”
Simon smiles. “It’s not that. I got tickets ahead of time already.”
The others turn to him.
Simon could feel the little tension building up. Feeling like he needs to explain, he clears his throat quickly before continuing. “My girlfriend’s a fan.”
“Oh…” The others said at the same time. Then they go back to filing out their names or paperwork.
“Hmm…if…” Qiao Qiao mumbled.
Wallace looks up at her since he’s done with filing out his name and folding it up. He stays silent for her to continue.
“Never mind,” Qiao Qiao said quickly.
“What’s with…”
“Don’t start,” Cyndi jumped in.
Wallace turns to Cyndi. “What?”
“If you’re going to say ‘Girls, always saying half and leaving half open’ then don’t say it.”
“Since you already said it for me?”
Cyndi puts her name into the cup before turning to Wallace again. She’s about to deliver a counter-strike when they hear the door open.
“You’re just in time for our final showdown for…” He couldn’t finish because the person at the door isn’t Chen Yi.
Yan Yan finally turns around since she sees Wallace’s expression. She jumps up from her seat. “It’s you again? Why don’t you just get lost?”
Wallace gets up also. “Yan…”
Yan Yan turns to Wallace. “What?!”
Wallace could see the irritated look on her face, but he knows he must handle the situation at hand. He lowers his voice a bit so Tony couldn’t hear them. “Orchids still needs to talk to him about something.”
“Oh. Okay then.” She sits back down and distracts herself with looking over Qiao Qiao’s shoulder as Qiao Qiao’s scanning through the database for her latest case.
Qiao Qiao’s not covering the information up because there are only pictures showing up as she searches, not personal information. The information only shows up when she clicks into the picture itself.
As Wallace was explaining to Yan Yan, Cyndi has gotten up also and is heading towards the door. Wallace joins her seconds later.
“Mr. Sun…” Cyndi began.
Tony puts his hand up to stop Cyndi. “I’m not here to talk to you…” He sees Wallace walking up to them. “…two.” He turns his attention towards Yan Yan and continues on his way to her.
“Mr. Sun,” Cyndi attempted again, following him. “Orchids needs to talk to you about…”
Tony turns to her again. “You guys got the check, what’s the big deal?”
“That’s not how things work here.”
“How should it be operate then? Is this…” He gestures in the general direction. “…some type of military base where there should be orders and…”
“Mr. Sun…”
Wallace could see that Cyndi’s getting impatient, so he steps in front of her. “What Cyndi means is that we need your signature in the document before we can proceed to closing your case.”
“Oh. Then why didn’t you say so?” He looks at his watch real quick. “I have about ten minutes for that and then…”
“That would be enough. If you would please step into Orchids’ office with me.”
Tony glances briefly at Yan Yan’s back before turning to Wallace. “All right then.”
Cyndi walks back to her desk after Wallace and Tony are finally in Orchids’ office.
Qiao Qiao could see Cyndi’s expression. “It’s not like you to look upset.”
Cyndi shakes her head. “Not that. I’m just…”
Yan Yan looks at Orchids’ closed office door. “Who wouldn’t be upset with that arrogant…”
“Forget about him,” Qiao Qiao said, attempting to calm her down. “Almost time to go. Let’s grab a drink at…”
“Don’t say Go-Go Café. I’m sick of that place.”
“Wherever you want to go then.”
“How about Seahorse Café?”
“That’s fine. I could try a different drink this time around.”
“You’ve been there lately?”
“At lunch with Ming Dao and Bianca.”
“Oh…”
The door opens again at that time. Yan Yan turns around to see who. Her smile turns on as she sees Chen Yi walking in.
Chen Yi wrinkles his face. “Why are you all still here? I thought it’s closing time already.”
Yan Yan’s smile fades. “Guess who came back?”
“What’s with the monotone?” Chen Yi asked, shifting his eyes towards Orchids’ office door. “You mean…”
Yan Yan nods. “Who else?”
Chen Yi walks towards them, tossing the folder in his hand on his desk before speaking up again. “Just ignore him. He’s probably just bored so he needs to find a target to pick on.”
“If he keeps it up, I’m going tell him to take his game somewhere else.”
Qiao Qiao finally stands up from her seat and begins to pack.
Chen Yi eyes her suspiciously. “Don’t tell me you have a gathering with some friends again.”
Qiao Qiao nods. “Yup.”
Yan Yan sees Chen Yi’s expression. “Qiao meant us.”
“Oh,” Chen Yi muttered.
Qiao Qiao turns to him. “So start packing.”
Chen Yi goes about cleaning up his work area and sorting out some folders as Qiao Qiao finishes. “Where are we going then?”
“We’re going to Seahorse Café later,” Yan Yan informed him. “Let me call Xin Yu to see if she wants to join us.”
They wait for Yan Yan to make the call in silence. After a few minutes of talking, Yan Yan hangs up.
“She coming?” Chen Yi asked.
Yan Yan nods. “Yes.”
“That’s good. Been a long time we haven’t gathered.”
Qiao Qiao wrinkles her face. “What do you mean? We just gathered like last Sunday.”
“I meant us four.”
“Oh.”
At that time, they hear the door to Orchids’ office open. They all turn to see. Somehow, Simon is still around although work ended about 10 minutes back. It seems like he wants to stick around for the last show of the day.
Tony is the first one walking out of the office with Wallace trailing behind. They could see that Orchids’ getting ready to leave also. She has gestured for Wallace to leave her door open.
“Ah…good that you’re still here, little lady,” Tony said upon seeing Yan Yan.
Yan Yan ignores Tony’s comment and turns to Chen Yi and Qiao Qiao. “Let’s go.”
“Wait a second.”
Yan Yan turns around abruptly. “I don’t know what your problem is, but…”
Before Yan Yan could finish, she sees Tony reaching towards her face with his right hand.
Yan Yan jumps back. “What are you doing?!”
Tony smiles. “My sunglasses.”
Yan Yan reaches up towards her head and pulls down the pair of sunglasses that has been resting on her head since she came through the door about twenty minutes ago. The others seem to see it also. It’s very strange that they haven’t noticed at all before. Yan Yan silently hands the sunglasses to Tony without a word for some strange reason. Tony takes it from her, still smiling. She turns to leave with Chen Yi and Qiao Qiao after that brief contact.
“Hey,” Tony called out again.
Yan Yan turns around again. This time, she has her usual annoyed expression on like the previous times while addressing Tony. “What now? Don’t tell me I have your earrings.”
The others snigger.
“No,” Tony said, tuning the others out. “Here.”
They could see him holding another pair of sunglasses on his left hand. He reaches towards her and places it on her head where the other pair had resided for so long earlier before Yan Yan could object.
“This one looks better on you. I picked it out at the shop just now. Nice or what?”
“Crazy,” Yan Yan mumbled as she turns to leave again.
Tony looks after her a bit more before leaving also. Before Tony reaches the door, he sees Yan Yan turning around again. She races past him and back towards Wallace and Cyndi. Chen Yi and Qiao Qiao catch up to her, running past Tony without caring if they’re going to knock him down. He jumps out of the way in time.
“What happened now?” Wallace asked.
Yan Yan smiles. “Our showdown, remember?”
“Okay. Let’s get started then.”
Tony – who is standing at the door, walks back to them again since he’s curious to see what they’re up to.
Yan Yan sees him coming back to them. “What’s with you and stalking us?”
“I’m one of your clients,” Tony rattled out in his as a matter of fact tone.
“I don’t work here. And it’s after office hours.”
“Then how about…”
“How about just let him stand aside so he can satisfy his curiosity?” Cyndi jumped in.
Tony turns to Cyndi. “You’re not so bad yourself after all.”
“I’m not helping you. I just want to know the results as soon as possible.”
“Very straight-forward. I like it.”
“She’s my girlfriend,” Wallace interjected, his eyes piercing Tony’s but still maintaining a calm composure on the surface.
Tony glances briefly at Wallace. “My bad then.”
“If you’re going to watch, could you shut your mouth then?” Yan Yan asked, glaring at Tony with the same hostility as before.
Tony smiles. “As you please.”
As if proving that he could cooperate with them, he takes several steps back from them, waiting silently.
“Chen Yi,” Yan Yan prompted, handing him a blank piece of paper next to the pencil cup that still has three little folded up papers inside.
Chen Yi turns to Yan Yan for an explanation.
“Just write your name down.”
Chen Yi does as he is told. Then he hands it to Yan Yan. She folds the paper up and tosses it into the cup like the others. She mixes the papers up a bit before taking out a piece. As she’s unfolding it, they hear the door being opened – yet again.
Yan Yan turns around in the process. “Could you people leave us alone for two seconds?!”
Then she stops herself – although it’s a bit too late. It’s actually not some annoying pest, but Penny coming in with Melody.
“Sorry about that,” Wallace apologized on Yan Yan’s behalf. “We kept getting bothered, that’s why.”
“We should be sorry for barging in like that,” Penny said.
“It’s okay. Come on in.”
Melody walks towards them. “What are you guys up to? Why are you guys still here?”
Orchids comes out of her office at that time, locking the door before joining them. She smiles upon seeing the group still gathered around the work area. “Not leaving yet?”
Yan Yan turns to Orchids. “Apparently we kept getting interrupted.”
“Let’s see what that piece said then,” Qiao Qiao urged.
Yan Yan returns to the task of unfolding the paper in her hand again. Her eyes brighten as she sees the name written on it.
Qiao Qiao sees the name also. “I swear you were holding it in your hand the whole time while mixing it.”
“Was not,” Yan Yan said defensively.
“Forget it,” Wallace said suddenly. “Doesn’t matter who gets the last ticket anymore. Invite Xin Yu. I’m leaving.”
Wallace grabs his briefcase as he makes his way to the door. As if he forgets something – like the others before, he stops midway and turns around to address them again. “Coming, Cyn?”
“Uh…” Cyndi managed, confused.
Wallace glances at his watch. “If we leave now, we can beat the crowd at the mall.”
“I guess so.” She grabs her handbag and joins Wallace at the door, wondering what he has to talk to her about this time.
Melody turns to Orchids. “What are they doing?”
“Wallace probably needs to talk to her about something again,” Orchids replied with a smile. “It’s one of the over-used excuses to get her out the door.”
“Oh,” Penny said absent-mindedly.
Orchids turns to the others. “Okay, everyone. Can we all go home now?”
Simon stands up from his seat. “Not much excitement, but I guess it’ll do for today.” Then he turns to Orchids. “Bye, Lady Boss.”
Orchids smiles at him.
After Simon leaves, Tony walks towards Yan Yan again. Yan Yan turns around at the same time and almost bumps into him. She takes two quick steps backward in time.
“What now?!” Yan Yan exclaimed, her frustration escalating again.
“Just wondering what you guys were doing before,” Tony replied. “What was that names about?”
“None of your business.”
With that, she turns to leave with Chen Yi and Qiao Qiao. Tony tags them to the door.
Orchids looks after them, smiling to herself. Unbelievable, she thought. Just then, her cell phone rings. She has been holding her cell phone while waiting for the result earlier, so she picks it up right away. “Hello?”
“Are you done yet?” A guy’s voice asked.
“Yea. I’ll be out after I lock the door.”
“All right. See you.”
Orchids hangs up and turns to Penny. “You two…”
“We were looking for Wallace,” Penny explained. “But guess he’s busy, so…”
“It’s all right. You want his number? That way you can get in touch with him better.”
“He gave it to us earlier, but...it’s okay. Since he’s busy.”
“He and Cyndi are probably out somewhere with Angela again. You girls can probably join them if you call about now.”
“Thanks, but it’s okay.”
Orchids locks up after the girls leave. She arrives at her car to see a guy standing there waiting for her. She smiles and unlocks the door for the guy to get in. They drive off together a minute later.
*****
“Good morning, everyone,” A cheerful radio broadcaster greeted them all over the airwave. “I’m sure you’re very surprised to hear a new voice coming across the way this morning. I’m the new DJ the station just recruited yesterday. I’m happy to be with the station and to be part of this hard-working team. To start off the hour, I would like to share with you a song – one of my favorite – about friendship. Enjoy and I’ll be back with the topic in about five minutes.”
The song “Friends Forever” comes on at that time. Qiao Qiao hits the radio button to turn it off and rolls around to the other side of her bed, covering her head with her blanket again. She was expecting some lively introduction, considering how aggressive Angela’s personality is. So much for an hour full of surprises. As she tries to go back to sleep, her cell phone goes off. Without removing the blanket from her face, she rolls to the other side and reaches towards the night stand with her left hand to retrieve the phone. She pulls it inside the blanket with her to answer.
“Hello?” Qiao Qiao said groggily into the phone.
“Are you listening to the radio?” A guy’s voice asked.
Qiao Qiao yawns. “You mean that boring beginning?”
The guy lets out a chuckle. “It’s getting better now.”
“How much better?”
“Uh…are you all right? What’s wrong with your voice?”
Qiao Qiao pulls the blanket off her face. “Nothing. Just tired.”
“Oh! How inconsiderate of me. It’s still early.”
“Never mind. I had it set to listen in on KFT. But I was kind of disappointed so I turned it off already.”
“Since you’re up now, want to go for a drink?”
“Not now. I want to stay home some more.”
“What were you doing since yesterday afternoon? You sound really tired. Are you coming down with something?”
“Nah. Was trying to fend off Sun Xie Zhi last night. Can’t believe he’s so thick-skinned. He’s trying to annoy Yan on purpose.”
“Sun Xie Zhi? As in…”
“As in that annoying arrogant genius who just happened to stumbled into our agency one sunny day, but ended up empty-handed until now.”
The guy lets out another chuckle. “You sound like some Hollywood movie narrator.”
Qiao Qiao yawns. “Do I?”
“Maybe I should let you sleep some more.”
Qiao Qiao yawns again. “Okay. I’ll call you in half an hour.”
“You don’t have to. Just meet Bianca and me at the local park.”
“The one near your house, right?”
“Yea.”
“Okay, bye.” She hangs up without making sure if Ming Dao hung up or not. She tugs the cell phone into a wedge of her pillow before rolling to the other side and covers her face with the blanket again.
*****
Qiao Qiao didn’t wake up like planned. In fact, Orchids walks in to check on her an hour later to find her still in bed. Orchids walks over to her and peels the blanket away from her face.
“Qiao!” Orchids called out.
Orchids walks to the other side of the bed to sit down, checking Qiao Qiao’s head in the process.
“Qiao, wake up,” Orchids urged anxiously.
Qiao Qiao mumbles something and rolls to the other side again. Orchids gets up from the bed and walks out of the room, leaving the door ajar. She comes back a few minutes later with a wet towel to put over Qiao Qiao’s head as she adjusts Qiao Qiao’s body to face upward again. As she’s about to leave the room, she hears music coming from Qiao Qiao’s bed. She spots Qiao Qiao’s cell phone stuffed next to the pillow seconds later, so she picks it up and answers it.
“Hello?”
“Orchids?” A guy’s voice asked.
“Yes. You are?”
“It’s Ming Dao. Is Qiao there?”
“Yes, but she’s coming down with a fever. I’m trying to get her fever down right now.”
“What?! She’s sick? And I thought…”
“Calm down. I just found her when I was walking into her room. Was she up earlier or something?”
“Yea. I called her about an hour or so ago. She said she would meet us here half an hour ago, but she never showed up. We thought she got caught in traffic or something but didn’t know she would…”
“I don’t mean to cut you off, but I’m going to get off the phone to tend to Qiao, okay?”
“All right. Call me if anything.”
“Okay.”
They hang up after that. It was more like Orchids clicks the phone shut and tosses it loosely next to Qiao Qiao’s pillow again. She turns to Qiao Qiao again to check on her. The towel is getting warm, so Orchids takes it off Qiao Qiao’s forehead and steps out of the room again.
About half an hour or so later, Orchids manages to lower Qiao Qiao’s fever to a safe level since Qiao Qiao’s face doesn’t look as red as before. Qiao Qiao begins to stir also.
“Qiao…” Orchids called out once again.
“Let me sleep some more. So tired…” Qiao Qiao muttered groggily like several hours before when Ming Dao called.
“How are you feeling? You want some water?”
Qiao Qiao nods absent-mindedly.
Orchids switches the towels for Qiao Qiao again as she gets up from Qiao Qiao’s bed once more to go to the kitchen. As she’s walking past main hall, she hears the doorbell dinging. Still with the wet towel in her hand, she steps towards the door. She opens it to find Ming Dao, Bianca, Sam, Ehlo, Wallace, and Cyndi staring back at her. She couldn’t help but smile at the scene.
“I guess our Qiao is very popular,” Orchids joked.
“Well? Is she all right?” Ming Dao asked anxiously.
“She’s much better now. Her fever has already ceased. I’m just getting her some water now.”
Orchids steps aside for the others to come in.
“I’ll help you,” Bianca volunteered. “I know where Qiao’s room is.”
“Thanks. I’m going to call Vincent and tell him to order more food.”
Cyndi steps forward at that time to take the towel from Orchids’ hand and goes into the kitchen to soak it with cold water.
“Uh…we’re fine,” Ming Dao said. “It’s okay. We’re just here to make sure Qiao’s okay.”
“You’ll be here for the majority of the day anyway,” Orchids teased.
Ming Dao lets out a nervous smile. “Uh…”
“I’m joking. Go ahead.”
Ming Dao and the others follow Wallace’s lead to Qiao Qiao’s room as Orchids continues on her way to the kitchen to call Vincent. When they reach Qiao Qiao’s room, the guys – except for Wallace, stop outside and look in. Bianca is already by Qiao Qiao’s bed, checking her forehead to make sure she’s all right.
Wallace turns to look at the others. “What are you guys waiting for? An invitation card? Come on.”
Ehlo scratches his head. “It’s just strange to enter a girl’s room like that.”
“You guys are too funny. You insisted on coming about half an hour ago and now you’re all standing there, acting like some high school boys.” Wallace turns back to look at Qiao Qiao, not caring to tease the other guys anymore. He pulls a chair up next to Qiao Qiao’s bed and sits down. He turns to Bianca – who’s sitting at the other side of the bed. “How’s she doing?”
“She seems better,” Bianca said.
They could hear Cyndi’s voice at the door at that time.
“Would you guys move out of the way?” Cyndi requested. “Wet towel coming through.”
The other guys have no choice but to step into the room and stand on both sides of the door to make way for Cyndi. Cyndi walks towards Qiao Qiao’s bed and sits down at the edge of it, exchanging the wet towels.
Bianca turns to Wallace. “Let me go get her some water since Orchids said she was getting Qiao some water earlier.”
Wallace nods.
Bianca gets up to leave. All three guys at the door look like they’re fighting with themselves inside, trying to decide if they should step closer to Qiao Qiao’s bed.
Wallace couldn’t take it anymore so he turns to them again. “Could you all knock it off? Just treat her like your sister, then you won’t feel so awkward.”
“I don’t want to treat her like a sister!” All three guys yelled out at the same time.
Then all three guys turn to look at each other. Ming Dao is the first to break the stare by letting out a little cough.
“I meant she looks like she’s the only child to me,” Ming Dao muttered out lamely.
Wallace laughs at Ming Dao’s attempt to resurrect himself from a possible slaughter.
“That was what I mean,” Sam followed suit.
Cyndi joins in with Wallace, but tries to muffle her laugh.
“Whatever,” Ehlo muttered.
Ehlo is the first to walk towards Qiao Qiao’s bed. He looks at her pale face, pondering when she would wake up.
The other two guys are coming closer to Qiao Qiao’s bed also as Bianca comes back with a glass of water.
With the water glass in one hand, Bianca tries to pull Qiao Qiao up with the other hand. She turns to Ming Dao seconds later. “Ming Dao, could you give me some help?”
“Uh…sure,” Ming Dao hesitated.
He steps forward and sits down on the edge of Qiao Qiao’s bed, facing Bianca. He reaches forward and lightly lifts Qiao Qiao up. He tries to get her to lean on his right shoulder in a sitting position. As that’s going on, Ehlo gives Wallace a dagger look, meaning Wallace could have helped lift Qiao Qiao since he’s on the opposite side of Bianca and is even closer to Qiao Qiao than Ming Dao. But Wallace didn’t do anything thus giving Ming Dao a chance to be close to Qiao Qiao. Wallace and Sam are the only ones who could see Ehlo’s expression since the others are either helping Qiao Qiao drink water or is just focusing on Qiao Qiao’s well being. Ming Dao has taken over to feeding Qiao Qiao the water since Bianca is at an inconvenient in the direction she’s sitting. Qiao Qiao becomes a bit more conscious as she’s drinking the water. She seems to want to say something, so Ming Dao takes the water glass away from her mouth.
“Qiao…you feeling better now?” Ming Dao asked, concerned.
Qiao Qiao chokes in an attempt to speak. Ming Dao straightens her up and tries to thumb her back to get rid of her cough. She finally stops coughing after a minute. That coughing fit seems to have awakened her also. She opens her eyes and gives the room a scan before speaking up. “What are you all doing in my room? Isn’t it a bit too early?”
“Qiao, it’s 10 already,” Wallace informed her.
Qiao Qiao turns to Wallace. “So? I was out late last night, okay? We could have gotten together earlier but Sun Xie Zhi kept tagging us and…”
She has to stop because as she was talking, she begins to straighten up also, exerting her energy more than necessary. Her head has begun to throb as she could feel the room swaying. Luckily, Ming Dao’s by her side, so she only falls back into Ming Dao’s arm.
“Stop moving,” Ming Dao said. “Your fever just sub-sided.”
“Why are you…” She had moved again after realizing that Ming Dao’s so close to her. She clutches her head as if trying to grab the pain and pull it out of her head. “Ugh…why does it hurt so bad?”
“You had a fever earlier and Orchids have been taking care of you the whole time,” Bianca explained. “We just came a bit ago since Ming Dao phoned Orchids back regarding the meeting. That was when we gathered the others to come here and visit you.”
“Oh. No wonder I feel so tired earlier. Didn’t realize it would turn into a fever.”
Orchids walks into the room at that time.
“Orchids!”
Orchids smiles. “You all right now?”
“A bit. My head’s still hurting though.”
Ming Dao begins to move away since he sees Orchids walking closer to them.
“Don’t move…ugh…”
Ming Dao stops moving as instructed.
“It wouldn’t kill you to stay still until my head stops throbbing.”
“Sorry, I…”
“Forget it.” Qiao Qiao leans back onto Ming Dao’s shoulder to rest. The others stare at them.
Ming Dao looks uncomfortable since he had been put into a difficult spot, but he couldn’t move since that would mean causing Qiao Qiao’s head to hurt again.
Qiao Qiao could see Sam’s expression. “I just need to borrow your best buddy for a bit. I’m not going to lock him into a dungeon and throw the key away. Unless you’re thinking that I’m the dragon.”
“Uh…” Sam managed.
Ehlo didn’t realize that Sam has a look on his face. He turns to Sam for an explanation.
“All right guys,” Wallace interfered, seeing how the hostility is beginning to build up. “Let’s get out of here so Qiao can rest.” He turns to Qiao. “And you should be able to move your head a bit so you can lie down again, right?” He winks at her after that.
Qiao Qiao suddenly realizes the situation, so she tries to lie down again also. She winces as her head throbs again, but manages to bite down the pain since she doesn’t want to make a scene again. After Bianca and Cyndi pull the blanket up to Qiao Qiao’s chin, the guys make their way out of Qiao Qiao’s room again. Wallace has to follow them, making sure they wouldn’t start anything right at Orchids’ house.
They step into the living to find a guy sitting at the sofa, watching TV. He has his back to them so they don’t know who he is, except for Wallace. Wallace walks with speed towards the sofa as the others follow behind, looking from one to the other for any clues as to who the guy is. They finally know when Wallace speaks up.
“Young Magician!” Wallace teased. “How are you doing”
Vincent turns around to face them finally.
Vincent smiles. “Seems like someone hasn’t changed at all.”
Wallace shrugs his shoulders. “Is there a reason to change for?”
“Guess not.” He could sees the other guys standing there. “Come on, take a seat. Don’t stand there and gawk like I’m some kind of monkey.”
Wallace smiles at the others. “He doesn’t bite in case you’re wondering.” Then he turns to look at Ehlo. “And you know him. Stop acting so strange.”
Ehlo is the first to sit down at the sofa next to Vincent among the three guys. Ming Dao and Sam follow suit, sitting at the sofa next over.
Vincent turns to Ehlo. “What’s wrong? You look like you lost your best friend.”
Wallace clears his throat loudly at that time – a bit louder than necessary.
Vincent turns to Wallace again. “What?”
“I’m sure Orchids told you what happened last weekend.”
“You mean Jacky ran away with Jo?”
“What?!” Ming Dao and Sam exclaimed at the same time.
“He’s kidding,” Wallace clarified.
“That’s not funny,” Ehlo gritted at the same time as Wallace.
“Oh,” Ming Dao and Sam said upon Wallace’s clarification.
“I must give the person who drove him away some major points,” Vincent continued. “After all, who could drive him away? Not even that nut of a cousin of his.”
“What are you watching now?” Wallace asked, changing the subject on purpose. “Don’t tell me just these commercials.”
“No. I haven’t found a good show yet.” He turns to the others. “Oh yeah, food’s in the kitchen if anyone wants some.”
The others nod.
“What’s with you all today? You were quite lively at the party couple weeks ago.”
“That was couple weeks ago,” Ehlo snapped sarcastically.
“Where did Johnny go?”
“Photo-shoot, what else?” Ehlo said, but he had switched to his monotone instead of his sarcastic tone.
“Okay then.”
Orchids enters the room at that time. “Why aren’t you guys eating?”
Ehlo turns to Orchids. “We’re trying to wait on your royal boyfriend here.”
“Whoa!” Vincent jumped in. “Sharp edge. No wonder you’re his best friend.”
Ehlo gets up from his seat and goes to the kitchen. Wallace, Ming Dao, and Sam get up and follow him, leaving only Orchids in the room with Vincent.
Vincent*turns to Orchids. “What’s wrong with them?”
“Probably they’re just worried for Qiao.” Orchids answered.
“But they look like they lost their best friend.”
“I can say Jacky for Ehlo and Wallace, but…”
“Wallace was in high spirits until…”
“Until you mentioned Jacky, right?”
Vincent nods.
“Flash-line, your highness. Stop mentioning Jacky around them so much. They might lose it and wrestle with you – literally. Especially Qiao.”
Vincent nods. “Got it.”
Orchids finally gives him a smile. He gets up from the sofa and walks with Orchids to the kitchen, joining the others after turning off the TV.
*****
The weekend passes by in rapid pace as they already kill Saturday off at Qiao Qiao’s house and Sunday doing house-cleaning or the like. (Apparently, the guys’ basketball match also gets postponed. The guys somehow don’t feel like playing anymore.) Chen Yi doesn’t come to visit Qiao Qiao until Sunday since he didn’t catch the drift of the news. Achel and Yan Yan come with him also, entertaining Qiao Qiao as Orchids makes sure Qiao Qiao stays in so she could recover as soon as possible. Orchids’ efforts aren’t lost since Qiao Qiao is able to get out of bed by Monday. She returns to work on Wednesday, looking more energetic. She dives right into work, even more active than ever since she has been coped up for so long.
The current week rolls by faster than the previous because everyone seems to bring their concentration back into their work instead of thinking of other unrelated matters.
Qiao Qiao manages to meet up with Ming Dao and Bianca again for lunch since she got back to work as well as hanging around with Chen Yi, Achel, and Yan Yan after work. This time, they make sure the famous Sun Xie Zhi isn’t around before going anywhere. For some unknown reasons, Tony seems to disappear from their lives also. They come to the conclusion that he must’ve been bored with the little teasing game towards Yan Yan already – to which she’s very relief to know.
On the other hand, after that little announcement in front of Tony that Cyndi’s his girlfriend, Wallace focuses his full effort into work like before, oblivious to any external matters. Penny and Melody come by to visit them from time to time during the week also, but they do not stay long like before.
By the end of the week, Angela’s schedule gets moved around with Sam’s slot since they need the morning slot for the weekly special summer program. Sam has joined Sonia to do the weekly program with her, easing her burden a little bit.
As the majority of the group returns to their normal lives, there seems to be a different story going on inside Wallace, Ehlo, and Johnny’s place. Ehlo seems unusually quiet, causing Johnny and Wallace to worry for him. They pursue the matter one night during dinner, but Ehlo brushes it off as work stress and fatigue. Ming Dao and Sam do not join them for dinner from time to time anymore.
Although they had promised to start anew as friends, but they haven’t kept in touch for a whole week. It seems like they’ve returned to the state they’re in two years ago. Only the original groups of friends – the groups before they got together as a big group, are getting along among themselves.
Another week comes to an end, but what will the weekend bring them?
© Friday, July 18th, 2008