Fan Fiction |
by Jenny Tran
Ben had the entire lesson written out as he treated her like a client. Speaking to her in his professional voice. Every so often he would clear his throat when Ivy began to get more comfortable and her leg would automatically be propped up on the chair “…don’t ever take advantage of common courtesy. If someone compliments you, simply say thank you and never forget to smile. It goes a long way, people will think ‘oh, she’s friendly’ and they will be more opted to speak to you. I’ll give you a few scenarios…let’s say if someone says something you don’t want to hear. How would you react?”
Ivy raised her hand like an eager student. Ben smiled despite the fact that there were only two people in the room “I will punch him in the nose.” She replied like a wise student.
“No!” Ben let out a sigh “After a full hour of lessons and you still can’t get the common courtesy one down. Do you want me to repeat it?”
She dropped her jaw “One hour? Only?? Damn, it feels like a week had past.”
He pointed at her with his pointer “Okay, that’s it. No more cursing, young lady. Every time you curse, you have to put $100. into a jar.” Ivy opened her mouth to say something and was quickly interrupted “I’ll provide the jar.” He added.
“Lam Sir, are we done? Can I go home now?” Ivy pleaded.
“Not until we have lunch.” He said firmly.
She looked liked she was contemplating the idea “Hmm…Done!”
He laughed as they gathered their stuff and walked out the door. She forgot how busy the environment of the office was as she bumped into a tall guy. She turned to yell at him when she noticed it was Daniel Wu. He threw her a dazzling smile “Hello there, beautiful.”
Ivy’s face turn beet red “Look Bozo, I don’t care who you are, I’m not going to do it with you in the copy room!!!”
Daniel was easily embarrassed as he backed away while Ben stifled a grin “Are you taking her back to the zoo?” he whispered. A few people heard her outburst as they looked over at them.
“Are you gonna stop flirting with my friend? He’s straight!!” Ivy announced.
Ben tapped Daniel on the shoulder “She’s a charmer isn’t she?”
Daniel rolled his eyes “Yeah, a beast charmer.”
*************
Ben took Ivy out to the beach again. They ordered fast food and sat along the sand while they ate lunch. Ivy dug into her burger “Mmm…fat.” She moaned.
He laughed, “You are one of a kind, Ivy.”
“Thank you!” she smiled with her mouth full of food.
He winced with disgust “Don’t do that.”
“Okay.” She agreed and he turned to see her mouth opened all the way with the food chomped up in bits.
Ben’s head whipped away again “How does your father put up with you?”
“He doesn’t. I put up with HIM.” Ivy said.
“How about Tyler? You two are like apples and oranges.” Ben said with interest.
Ivy shrugged while she played with her pickle “I don’t know. Tyler’s always been like that. I think the girlier he got, the tougher I became. I always wanted a brother to pick on but instead I got a sister.” She joked.
“You think he’s…”
“Gay?” Ivy asked “Nah.” She shook her head “He’s not the type to be in denial. I just think he’s just confused on how to act.”
“You think it has to do with his tomboyish sister? So in order to stand out, he has to be the ‘perfect daughter’?” Ben was trying to get her to open up more.
Ivy put her burger down “When did you get all this psychology bullshit from?” He lifted a brow at her and she closed her eyes “One hundred.” She nodded.
Ben laughed “I got all the bullshit from my shrink.” He ignored her dirty glare because he was allowed to curse.
“You’ve got a shrink? What’s the matter with you?” Ivy asked “Besides the obvious.”
“I don’t have a mental problem, I just have a lot of issues that I don’t like sharing with people.” He explained.
“Like what?” Ivy pressed. He tilted his head at her “What? You started it. It’s only fair that I ask too. I’m all about being ‘fair’.” She nodded in explanation.
Ben smiled as he turned to her “Okay. I have a girl problem.” She pulled herself back while her eyes widened, her finger pointing to his manliness. He shook his head vehemently “No, I don’t have a problem performing.” Ivy let out a sigh of relief as she began eating her lunch again “So what if I do?” he suddenly asked “What’s it to you?”
“Trust me. It’s none of my business but if you had a problem, you would be prone more to my teasing. Look at Tyler. I probably turned him into a girl after all those years of teasing.” She laughed at the memories “One time I told him he was adopted and he cried for days.”
“That’s horrible!” Ben shook his head at her but eventually laughed, “That is funny though.”
Ivy nodded “He believed me too. I told him his parents were killed by these barbarians and my old man felt bad so he took him into our home.”
“How old were you two?” he was curious.
“Probably around 6 and he was about 4 years old.” Ivy nodded as she continued “I even told him he was a Prince from this exotic island that no one goes to. Only natives on the island were allowed to live there.” Her head thrown back with laughter “He bought it for years.”
Ben shook his head again “I’m so glad I don’t have a sister like you.”
Ivy pushed him roughly “Hey! I’m a great sister! Damn it, I baby that kid until he was 20 years old!”
He pointed at her “Two hundred.”
“Shit!” She cursed and quickly covered her mouth with her hand “Okay, I’m gonna stop talking now.” She began stuffing her face.
Ben flinched at her manners “You might want to chew once in a while.” He said with sarcasm.
“Your turn.” Ivy said as she pushed the food to her cheeks. Ben looked at her strangely “Share something. We were talking about how you’re incompetent.”
“Big word.” Ben raised his brows.
She nodded “I heard Ty use it the other day.”
“Yeah, that explains it.” Ben smiled “And no, I’m not incompetent. I just have a problem finding the right girl. I was engaged about a year ago. She was the most perfect girl in the world…beautiful, smart, charming, funny and she loved me…at least that’s what I thought.” He added sadly, his head tilted downwards to his burger “I caught her in bed with her ex boyfriend.”
“Wow…that’s harsh.” Ivy said, he had her full attention.
She could tell he was still hurting from the pain because he refused to meet her eyes “Harsh? Try heart-tearing pain. We were going to get married the following weekend. I guess I should be glad that I found out sooner.”
“Oooh, you know what you should have done?” Ben looked at her oddly “Go through with the reception and then announce into the microphone how she slept with another guy a week before your wedding. Can you imagine the look on her parent’s disgraced faces and not to mention she’d be embarrassed in front of all her friends and relatives?” Ivy concluded, “That would have been my icing on the cake.”
He laughed, “I suppose I could have done that. But I didn’t think about revenge. Have you ever heard of the word heart breaking?” Ivy nodded “Well, I literally lived it. It hurt so bad that I refused to see anyone. I didn’t even go to work for a whole week. I just sat home and cried.”
“Wow…” Ivy sighed, “I can’t remember the last time I cried.”
Ben snickered “I thought you didn’t know how to cry. How about the time your mom died?”
“I might have shed a few tears.” She said casually.
“Have you ever been in love?” he asked out of the blue.
She turned to him awkwardly “No…well…I don’t know.”
Finally, they were getting somewhere! He couldn’t give up the chance “What do you mean, you don’t know? It’s either a yes or a no.”
Ivy let out a sigh “But what is the definition of ‘in love’?” Ben shook his head “Everyone has a different answer to one question. There was this guy that I met. I knew I liked him a lot.” Her eyes moved to the ocean waves crashing “It was my senior year in high school. This guy named Bryan, he was the coolest guy in school, the guy every girl wanted to date. But I was the only lucky girl that he chose to be with. He overlooked my crude personality and the way I was always cursing at everything. I thought he was an angel. He never got mad at me, always made me laugh even when I had the roughest day. He even told me that he loved me and I couldn’t return the words but it was okay. Because he understood.” Her eyes were brimming with tears “And at that point, I thought… wow… a guy that was understanding in every aspect possible. I guess it was too good to be true. We dated for about 8 months and I knew I had fallen for this guy. We went to Prom together, but he said it was boring and he only wanted to be with me. He took me to his friend’s house, which was a huge mansion…when I got inside, my heart was floored to the ground. Inside the house was a banner that read ‘Biggest Freak Contest’. I was just a freak…” she whispered while a tear fell from her eye “Apparently, who ever got the ‘freak’ to sleep with him, he would be crowned as the King of Freaks.” She paused to remember the moment “I wasn’t hurt that he considered me a freak or the fact that he dated me only to be crowned as the King of Freaks. Heck, I wasn’t the least upset when he tried to get me in bed after he told me what the game was about and he begged me because he wanted to win really bad. But I was the most hurt when I realized the only person that ever accepted me for me was never real to begin with. It was like a horrible nightmare that I could never forget…” her eyes were dazed away in a distant land in her mind. She didn’t have a peaceful place in her mind, only dark and angry places.
Ben was surprise and sympathy quickly over took him “I’m sorry…I don’t know what to say…” he was for once at lost for words. Her story compared to his was a hundred times more painful. At least he got over his ex, but for a girl to have been used like that. It was beyond him that a guy could ever be that cruel “Don’t cry…” he coaxed gently while his hand smoothed her hair away from her tearing face.
Suddenly she remembered where she was as she practically pounced on him. Her fingers wrapped around his throat “Don’t you dare tell anyone that I cried!!! I’ll kill you and chop you up in pieces and throw you to the fishes. Then I’ll use your bones as a hammer!!”
His eyes wide with fear since he didn’t expect the sudden attack. Ben’s head nodded slowly “I promise…I won’t tell anyone.”
Ivy slowly leaned back but then she pointed at him as his head whipped back “Swear it on your manliness. If you ever tell another soul, you will be incompetent.”
Ben looked at her straight in the eye “If I ever repeat this to anyone, I will never be pleasured in bed.”
She nodded and sat back in her seat “Okay.”
He smiled even though it was a serious matter “I feel so special.”
“That I threatened you?” Ivy asked teasingly while she reached for her cold burger.
“No, that I know this dark secret of yours that no one knows. I don’t care if you won’t admit that I’m special. Ty called me special.” Ben said smugly.
“I wouldn’t be doing the touchdown dance yet. Ty called the hobo down the street ‘special’.” Ivy snickered.
Ben looked at her with rolled eyes “You can’t let me have one can’t you?”
“Well, someone’s gotta put you in your place.” Ivy said matter-of-factly.