Fan Fiction |
by Jenny Tran
Travis stepped into his boss’s office and closed the door at his request “You wanted to see me Mr. Chan?”
“Yes, I was meaning to ask you, how that class is going?” he pointed for him to sit down.
“The first session was…interesting.” Travis found it hard to describe the class.
“Good. I want you to be able to interview Billie Cheng by the end of the semester.” He ordered, “She’s a tough cookie. We’ve been trying to for years to get her to answer our questions but she’s always brushed it away.”
Travis sighed “But what makes you think that she’ll answer mine? Just because I took her stupid class? We’re one of the most respectable Newspaper around.”
“Don’t give up on me. I’ve heard such good things about her class and a few of the reporters ended up quitting their jobs after taking her class. Apparently it changed them to go out and search for true love. What a bunch of crock!” the forty something year old man spat with disgust.
“You can say that again.” Travis agreed with a snicker.
“That’s why I have faith in you!” Mr. Chan pounded his hand on the table “You hate love and you don’t believe in it. What more can I ask for in a dedicated reporter? If you get this story for me, a very generous promotion will be coming your way.” He tempted.
Travis was definitely intrigued “How generous?”
“Let’s just say a view will be in the prize.” He gave away enough for Travis to secure his mindset on getting the interview with Billie. Before Travis excused himself, Mr. Chan reminded him “How’s that article on the Liu murder case going? I think the court date is today.”
“It’s going fine. I was going to leave at two, its estimated to be done at three.” Travis replied.
“Okay. Make it a good one.” The boss nodded with a firm smile.
“I won’t let you down.” Travis closed the door behind him and got back to work. When the time came for him to leave, he rushed out with an associate and they quickly joined the other reporters. With his luck, the case was let out within minutes of his arrival “They’re out.” He pointed to his co-worker as they squeezed to the front and snapped pictures while Travis pointed a recorder to the lawyer’s face “What’s the verdict lawyer Cheung? Is Ms. Liu guilty for murdering her husband?”
The lawyer laughed, despite losing the case “Guilty is not for anyone to decide. Just know that the jury was not given enough facts to determine this case. Only God knows if my client deserved this. That is all I’m commenting on.” He turned to his secretary “Ellena, I forgot my briefcase in the courthouse. Can you go get it? I’ll meet you back in the office.”
“Yes, sir.” She nodded politely and hurried back to the court. Travis tilted his head strangely, he couldn’t pin point where he saw the girl before. Suddenly remembering, he chased after her but was stopped at the door of the court building, he was not authorized to enter. She eventually emerged as he quickly rushed over to her causing her to step back fearfully “What do you want?” she asked, her arms wrapped around the briefcase.
“Just a few questions.” He smiled.
“Sorry, I’m not allowed to answer anything.” She muttered and tried to pass him but he blocked her once again “Look, I can’t tell you anything!” by raising her voice, it caught a few of the reporters’ attention as they ran over to bombard her with questions about the case. Ellena panicked as she lowered her head and rushed towards the steps. Trying to fight off the people and walk down the steps at the same time was a challenge in itself. She eventually tripped over someone’s foot and rolled down the stairs taking a few reporters with her.
Instead of helping her up, the reporters took their chance to throw out more questions. Travis was outraged by their rudeness as he rushed over to help Ellena on her feet “Damn it! Leave her alone! You people are acting like hungry animals fighting for food! She’s just a secretary, whatever she says is not valid.” He pointed out. The group realized he was right as they eventually disbursed. Turning to Ellena, he asked, “I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s okay.” She smiled weakly “I can’t really give you an answer.”
Travis laughed “I wasn’t going to ask you about the case.”
She was confused “You weren’t?”
Shaking his head, he pointed to her ankle “We better get that checked out.” She limped to his car as he took her to a walk in clinic he knew personally. There was no line waiting as she was tended to by a doctor “It’s only a sprain right?” he asked the doctor.
The old man in the thick glasses nodded “Fortunately, but she tore a ligament. You need to stay in bed for a full day, Miss Lai.”
“Oh…” Ellena said unsurely.
The old doctor gave Travis a prescription for an ointment and they were on their way out. He supported her to the car so that she didn’t have to use her feet. It was wrapped up in a thick bandaged and he was holding onto her shoe for her “No seafood and drink lots of water.” Travis helped her into the car and gave her a friendly smile when she turned to him with wide eyes “That’s what the doctor said.”
“Thank you.” She said quietly, still unsure of why he was being so nice “I really can’t answer your questions.” She tried again, thinking it was what he wanted.
Again he laughed with a shaking head “Do you have a hearing problem too? We can check it out while we’re still here.” He pointed to the clinic.
She smiled from his teasing “No, it’s just…I don’t know you.”
“But I know your friend.” He began driving off “You should call your boss and tell him about what happened. If he needs the briefcase, I’ll take it up to him while you wait in the car.”
“Thanks.” She said unsurely “What friend?”
Travis glanced over briefly “Does it matter?”
“Yes.” She answered more curiously.
“Here’s a hint. She teaches a night class.” Travis grinned when Ellena’s lips curled into an ‘O’ shape.
“You’re one of Billie’s students?” she stared longer at him “Wait…we’ve met.”
“Yes!” He nodded.
“Don’t tell me you’re Kyle.” She leaned towards the door.
Travis looked at her strangely with a laugh “No…I’m Travis.”
“Good, you’re the other one.” Ellena patted her chest.
He laughed “That bad huh? So you already heard about us. We must be doing something right.” It was sarcastic and she knew it.
“Sorry, I’m sure that’s not what you want to hear.” She said sympathetically.
“No, it’s okay. I’m use to being judged quickly. I am a reporter after all.” He sighed pitifully.
Ellena was easily softened “I know Billie can be a bit hasty when she meets guys, but once you get to know her, she can be a real sweetheart. Trust is not always the easiest thing to earn from a stranger.”
“Easy for you to say, you’re her lover.” Travis threw out. She giggled slightly and he heard “It’s okay. I won’t judge you.”
“We’re not lesbians.” Ellena sighed, “It’s just something that Billie uses to fend off men. For some reason, she always attracts these weird guys, I told her it’s because she teaches that class but she thinks it’s her dumb luck.” She laughed it off.
“Well I’m glad you told me sooner. I would have blown her cover during the next session class and be the one with egg on my face.” He shook his head “I should have known. She loves torturing men too much to be gay.”
Ellena turned to him “She has every right to be.”
“How so?” he asked with interest.
“Because…actually, I shouldn’t be telling you this.” Ellena suddenly remembered her friend’s request to keep her private life private.
“I’m not going to blurt it to the world.” He promised.
“I believe you.” Ellena said firmly “But it’s just that Billie is very private about her past. She doesn’t share it with anyone. Maybe if she learns to trust you.”
Travis nodded, his mind already thinking of ways to get her to open up “I understand.” His thoughts suddenly reminded him “Can you not tell her that we met? I don’t want it to affect the way she treats me because I helped her friend.”
“Yeah, I was going to suggest the same thing. She despises reporters.” Ellena hinted.
“So I heard.” He said under his breath.
“Excuse me?” she heard him muttering something.
Shaking his head, he assured her “Nothing.” Travis took her to her work as he dropped off the briefcase to Ellena’s boss, who didn’t believe that she was injured. Travis walked him down to the car and proved that she was hurt. Reluctantly, the lawyer let her off for the day but expected her to be back the next morning “Nice fella.” Travis snickered while taking off in the car.
“Yeah. Great boss.” Ellena replied without feeling. He dropped her off in front of her apartment and helped her to the door but she insisted that he leave “I don’t want Billie to see you, she might snap and pick on you during class or something.” She laughed nervously while looking around.
“Okay, take care of yourself.” He waved and jogged back to his car, parked illegally in front of the building. She stared after him with a small smile, he was the most decent guy she’s met in ages.
*************
Excited to tell Anesa about his day, he rushed into the apartment and straight to her room, never bothering to noticed the disheveled apartment “You’ll never guess who I ran into…” he faded away when he saw her tied up to a chair, dressed in pajamas “What did I tell you about doing kinky stuff? Lock your door!” he shook his head while she tried to cry out for help.
He closed the door and walked outside thinking that he would run into a guy in the bathroom, instead he noticed the cushions on the couch were thrown on the ground, knocking a few items off the coffee table. His gut feeling said it wasn’t good as he rushed back into Anesa’s room “HELP!!” she managed to yell.
Travis quickly untied her “I’m sorry, I thought you were…”
“When did I ever tell you I was into kinky stuff?!” she growled “What the hell did you do? There were like this huge group of men that barged into the apartment and threw things around. They tied me to chair after I kicked one of them in the balls. I thought they were going to gang rape me but luckily they didn’t.”
“I’m sorry.” He apologized.
“You borrowed money from the sharks?” she asked in shock.
Travis nodded slowly “I should have warned you.”
“If you needed money, you could have asked me.” She said sincerely. Knowing exactly why he would need the money.
“You don’t have ten grand to spare.” He said knowingly “I’ll take care of this. Don’t worry.” He assured her.
“How could I not worry? They might burn me down next time.” She said half jokingly.
Travis sighed, “Just two more months…then I’ll get my story and my big promotion. Then I won’t have to go to the sharks anymore.” He promised “I got an inside tip today.” Anesa looked at him blankly as he told her about his run in with Ellena.
“I’ll keep my fingers crossed.” She grinned.
“So…were they really huge?” he walked to the living room to clean up.
“Yeah, they were six feet tall and big built.” Anesa nodded with wide eyes.
Knowing his friend had the tendency to exaggerate, he laughed “Did they rip their clothes after flexing and turn green?”
Anesa leered at him while he laughed, “They could have.”
“Just like the hulk.” He shook his head at his friend “What did I tell you about exaggerating?”
“That it’s a great exercise to practice.” She finished with a nod “You don’t know how many times it’s helped me out of trouble. Like tickets and dates…and…among other things.”
“I don’t want to know.” He raised his hands in defense while she laughed.