Fan Fiction |
by Jenny Tran
Kathy sat in her office working diligently on her new designs when she noticed a pair of eyes looking at her. Jill, her assistant quickly turned away. She found it strange since it was not the first time she’s done that. They were constantly having a stare contest of some kind. This went on for months until Kathy could no longer handle the awkwardness as one day she called Jill into her office.
Jill walked in with a stride “Yes Miss Lau?”
“Is there a problem, Jill?” Kathy asked.
The girl shook her head vehemently “No. Nothing. Why would you say that?”
Kathy frowned “Don’t lie to me. Every time I look up, I catch you staring at me. If you don’t have any work to do, maybe you shouldn’t be here...”
She didn’t mean to threaten her but the girl looked at her fearfully “No, please don’t fire me. I need this job. I have a family to support…my mom has cancer and her treatments are very expensive…and my sister…they need to go to school…”
Before the scared girl could continue, Kathy brought up her hand to silence her “Calm down. I never said anything about firing you. I was just worried that you would be bored and eventually quit. But I guess that’s out of the question…”
Jill laughed with relief “Oh…” she clutched her heart “You scared me for a minute.”
Kathy smiled warmly “I would never fire you.” She assured the girl.
“You’re so nice…” she said almost reluctantly “No wonder he loves you so much.”
“Who?” Kathy frowned “Are you talking about Neil?”
Jill nodded with a grin “I always wondered…how is he really like?”
Kathy laughed “If you’re so interested, go ask him yourself.”
Her eyes popped open “Really? I mean, you won’t get jealous?”
“No, why should I?” Kathy shrugged carelessly.
“Okay.” Jill giggled with her hands covering her mouth. She looked giddy and way too perky. “Do you have anything you need to give to him?”
Kathy furrowed her brows “We work in design, he’s a photographer, what would I have to give to him?”
She laughed nervously “That’s right.” There was sudden awkward silence. “Oh crap!!” Kathy was startled and Jill quickly apologized “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. But look at the time. It’s noon. You have to go to lunch.”
“Speak of the devil.” Kathy tilted her head towards the door where Neil was walking in. She got up and reached for her purse “We were just talking about you.” She teased Neil.
Jill looked away shyly “Uh…I’m gonna go to lunch now.”
Neil smiled at her with a nod “Okay, bye Jewels.” It was a nickname he had given her when he first learned she was Kathy’s assistant.
Kathy and Neil walked out of the building together hand in hand. It’s been almost 1 year since they got together. Their lives had changed tremendously and not to mention the Triad life was no longer lingering around them. Her mind was on Mel again. She found herself thinking of him very often. But every now and then, she would remind herself that Neil was her boyfriend, she should treasure the time they spent together. But to her it was too much, they saw each other at home and went out to lunch everyday together. It was only a matter of time when she would start to feel suffocated.
Neil was talking on about some photo shoots that he had to do that morning but Kathy was in her own little dreamland. He nudged her when she almost hit a pole and he had to pull her away “Oh…” she said with no surprise.
“Anything wrong, honey?” he asked sweetly.
She shook her head “No…I’m fine. I was just thinking about something.”
“You mean someone?” he assumed.
Kathy sighed “Neil, I don’t want to argue with you about that again. Why do you have to bring him up?”
Neil quickly stopped in his steps and let go of her hand “Why do you always think about him when you’re with me?” the two often avoided saying Mel’s name just in case any of his enemies were around.
“I don’t think about him.” Kathy lied, but he already caught it in her eyes. She let out a long sigh “I’m sorry…it’s just…”
“Just what?” he pushed.
Kathy looked up but then shook her head “Nothing.”
“You can’t let go of him, can you?” Neil asked.
She turned her head away but did a double take on a girl that was snooping on their conversation. Jill was wearing glasses and holding up a magazine and popping her head up every so often. Kathy had enough of the whole mess. She marched over to Jill and pulled down the magazine she was using to hide herself “Okay, Jill. That’s enough. Why are you always following us?” Kathy asked flatly.
Neil rushed over to the girls “Jewels? What are you doing here?”
Kathy rolled her eyes “Don’t be so naïve Neil. She’s been following us like this for the past three months.” She pointed threateningly to Jill “You’re lucky I never pointed you out, but this is getting ridiculous. What is so interesting about us?” she asked bluntly.
Jill shrugged nonchalantly “It’s not you.” She said to Kathy. But her eyes had moved up to Neil’s face.
“I see…” Kathy nodded and slowly turned her head to Neil. “Looks like someone’s got a crush.” She smiled at Neil despite their earlier argument.
Neil looked at Kathy worriedly “Honey, don’t be mad…when she told me, I said that I was already in a serious-“
Kathy put up her hand to stop him “Wooh, wohh…she told you?” her brows lifted questioningly.
“Well, yeah…” Neil frowned at Jill “I thought you said she knew?”
Jill smiled crookedly “Whoops… I may have forgotten that tiny detail…”
“This is great…” Kathy shook her head unable to believe the situation they were in “My assistant has a crush on my boyfriend and my boyfriend knows about it but decides not to talk to me about it…how long has this been going on?” Kathy crossed her arms and her left leg began to tap against the cement.
Jill looked at her worriedly “No Kathy…it’s not like that. Nothing’s going on. I just have a tiny…little crush on Neil.” She squeezed her thumb and index finger together to show her how small it was. “Just because it’s lasted since high school doesn’t-“
Again Kathy put up her hand “Okay…now I’m totally missing something… you, went to high school with us?” she pointed to her and Neil.
Neil nodded “I thought you knew.”
Kathy laughed sarcastically “Apparently YOU did…” she sighed as she rubbed her forehead with frustration “Is there anything else I need to know?”
Jill smiled brightly “No. But you should know that I am planning to steal Neil away from you. And by the looks of your arguments, it’s gonna be easier than I thought.”
Neil laughed. Jill sure had a way with her words. Out of all the times that he’s spoke with her, he noticed that she was adorable in her own special way. She was often there to comfort him when Kathy had to work overtime and he wanted to stay back and wait for her in the office. Kathy turned to Neil with her eyebrows raised “You find that funny?”
Neil’s smile quickly faded “Well….yeah…”
She snickered at the two of them “That’s just great. You know, I don’t feel very good. I’m gonna go back to work, why don’t the two of you go to lunch together?” with that she walked away.
Jill was beaming while Neil turned to Kathy with an exasperated “Don’t turn the finger at me. You’re doing the same thing!” he yelled but Kathy kept walking.