Fan Fiction |
by Jenny Tran
After the meeting was over, they walked out of the conference room with a different light. They were respected, thanks to Matt of course. Brad was quickly greeted by Nora again the minute Darwin and Elisa was gone. “Can I talk to you a minute?” Nora asked urgently.
Mia saw Erin turn away. She was tired of the girl trying steal Brad back. She tapped her watched “Sure, you’ve got 50 seconds now.”
Erin shook her head at her friend and she pulled her by the hand “Come on!” she nodded to the others and they respected her decision. Matt turned back at Brad and gave him a nod.
Brad’s eyes lingered on Erin until the elevator doors closed, but she refused to look up at him. He turned to Nora with a sigh “What is it?”
She sensed the annoyance in his voice “If it isn’t convenient…”
He shook his head “No…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound….” He let the words go “What can I do for you?” his lips curled into a warm smile.
“Promise you won’t laugh.” She pointed at him and he nodded solemnly “I think I’m being followed too.”
Brad ruffled his brows “Why do you say that?” he asked while crossing his arms.
“Instincts.” She shrugged her shoulders “I’ve been seeing this woman that seems to show up everywhere I go. But I don’t know who she is. At the same time, she gives me the creeps. I just have a bad feeling.”
Brad trusted her gut and what she said was true. He nodded firmly “Don’t worry about it. After we catch this person, I’ll speak to Matt about your case.”
Nora was beaming “Thank you!” she gushed. Her head slowly tilted to one side “All those years of dating and I had no idea you were interested in this kind of work.”
He laughed comfortably “It’s no big deal. I just started a couple of years ago. It was after the first three years of college. Who would have thought I’d be working for you one day.”
“You have no idea how good it feels to see you again.” Her smile was genuine and it made him smile even bigger. But suddenly it faded when he thought of Erin.
“I have to go.” He announced shortly.
Nora nodded “Of course. I can’t keep you forever.” Her words had a double meaning, but it was obvious after Brad left that he didn’t get it. Nora sighed as she returned to work. Her thoughts wandered to Brad, she never intended to break up with him years ago. But she didn’t know what else to do since her parents made her go to school in the States. She had no choice, it was unfair to hold onto him. But she vowed if they had a second chance, she would treasure it.
Downstairs, the team waited for Brad. Erin stood by the wall where she sat silently. Jessie shook her head sadly, she knew how it felt to be a woman who sees her boyfriend with another girl. She walked over to Erin “How are you holding up?”
Erin looked up with a plastered smile “Good.”
Jessie laughed “You’re a bad liar. And even worse at facial expressions.”
“I guess I’m easy to read.” Erin sighed.
“Not really.” Jessie observed, Erin turned her head up at the girl and she smiled “Sometimes you’re so hard to read that I have to ask Mia. But this time…let’s just say, I know how you feel.”
Erin raised her brows “You mean Doug….” Jessie nodded. “But he adores you. We can all tell.” She insisted in defense for her new respect for the guy.
Jessie let out a sigh as she stood next to Erin. She put her hands in her pockets and leaned against the building “Yeah, I know he does.” Her eyes looked distant staring at the falling sun “Can you do me a favor?”
Erin turned to Jessie “Of course. If I can, I will.” Jessie seemed a bit hesitant to ask her “It can’t be that hard can it?” Erin coaxed gently.
The girl smiled “Promise me you won’t tell Doug.”
“Cross my heart.” Erin made a cross sign on her heart.
“You know how dangerous our jobs are. We can literally die tomorrow.” Jessie began while Erin listened intently “I know that Doug loves me very much. But love makes guys weak. He’ll do anything for me, even if it means losing his life.” Erin nodded while her brows knitted together “If one day, during a mission…I somehow get hurt and you guys have a chance to save yourselves. I want you to run. Doug will want to help me…but you have to take him with you.”
Erin sighed “Why me?”
Jessie smiled “Because you’re strong. You’re so calm and cool when it comes to missions. It’s like nothing can distract you. I know it will put you in an awkward position. But he’ll understand after he reads this.” She pulled out a neatly folded heart made out of paper “It’s my thoughts and final words.”
She slowly took the note from Jessie’s hand with a snicker “What makes you think I won’t die first?”
“Because you’re smart. Why do you think you’ve made it this far?” Jessie asked.
Erin sighed “Because I don’t think about dying.” Jessie looked at her in confusion “If I even start to worry about death, it would easily take over my mind. I wouldn’t be able to concentrate anymore on my work. I know the day will come when I have to say goodbye to this world, but I don’t want to think about when and how the day will come.”
“I just like to prepare myself and others.” Jessie turned her eyes to the setting sun again “My parents are far away and the only closest family I have is Doug. It’s only fair that I think of him first.”
Erin didn’t know what else to say to convince the girl that she would be alright “I will take on this special request, but only because it’s coming from you.”
Jessie grinned happily “Thank you so much!!” she hugged Erin unexpectedly.
Mia saw the girls embrace as she rushed over “Hey…no fair. I wanna join!” she reached out her arms and hugged the girls. The girls giggled together for the moment they were having.
Doug and Darren exchanged glances “Must be that time of the month.” Doug commented causing Darren to laugh out loud.
“Actually to my understanding, girls get that way when there is an emotional moment.” Matt observed wisely.
Darren turned to Matt “Do you have a girlfriend?” Matt shook his head “No wonder you don’t know anything about women.” Doug stifled a laugh and Darren paused long enough to turn and give his friend a high five. A second later, he turned back to Matt “Women are ALWAYS emotional. Whether it be that day of the month or the other 22 days, it’s their excuse of torturing us.”
“You say it with experience.” Matt smiled.
“Did you just meet Mia today?” Darren asked with wide eyes.
Matt nodded with a laugh “You’ve got a point.”
“What point?” Brad asked as he joined his guys.
“Can’t live with women, can’t live without em.” Darren sighed with his head shaking.
The girls rejoined the guys when they spotted Brad “Darren Chiu, are you talking bad about me? My left eye is twitching.” She began blinking uncontrollably on her left eye “Or maybe it’s the after effect of that coffee.” She winked at Erin.
Brad shook his head at Mia “Be nice. The poor girl’s been through enough.”
“Yeah, because making coffee is such stressful work.” Mia nodded unconvincingly.
Erin shook her head at her friend “Gosh, you really can’t shut your mouth for one minute huh?”
Mia was offended as she turned to Erin before getting on the van “Who said? I can too stay quiet for a minute. As a matter of fact, I’ll stay quiet for the whole ride back to headquarters.” She climbed on and took a seat next to Darren.
“You’re on!” Erin exclaimed.
“This should be fun.” Matt laughed when Mia threw him an evil look.
Doug took the driver seat “How about we put in a friendly bet? $25 bucks on Mia talks before we go back to headquarters.”
“I’ll double that!” Brad exclaimed. Mia dropped her jaw but didn’t say a word. He turned to Jessie and Erin “You girls in?”
“I always lose in gambling.” Erin smiled.
“Me too.” Jessie added.
Matt raised a hand “I’m in. $100. bucks!”
Everyone whistled at the gutsy wager. Darren shook his head with a laugh “Of course I have to support my fiance.” Mia nodded at him with a grin “$200. bucks says she doesn’t talk.”
Brad grinned as she looked at Darren “How much for her to talk?”
“$500.” Darren answer causing the guys to explode with laughter.
Mia reached over and began choking him but still, no sound out of her mouth. He was laughing deliriously and suddenly, she stopped. She raised her feet up to the chair and crossed her legs while straightening her back. Concentrating as she let out slow deep breathes. Brad imitated her stance as he asked “Master, have you reached nirvana?”
Doug bursted up with laughter “I’m missing all that?” he asked. Peeking at the rear view mirror as he watched the commotion.
Erin shook her head at the guys but she too was looking Mia to see when she’ll explode. Brad leaned towards Mia as he tried to break her “Tell me Mia, how does it feel to be a woman in a man’s world?”
The guys hissed and oohed at his question while Mia snapped her eyes open. They widened with anger at Brad. Jessie shook her head “You guys are bad.” she commented.
Erin reached over and hit Brad across the back of his head “Play fair.” She warned. Mia was satisfied with her punishment as she opened her mouth and began laughing, but no sound came out.
Brad smoothed out the back of his head as he turned to Erin “No one said there were rules.” A smile came on his face as he turned to Mia “Women can’t do anything that a man can do.” His comment was low and she knew it. Mia opened her mouth and began lipping out words but there was still no sound. Brad cupped his ear “What? I didn’t hear it.”
Darren was cackling with laughter while Mia continued to curse in silence. She turned to Darren and began hailing out words while pointing at him, it only made him laugh harder. When he calmed down, he managed to ask “Speak English…or I mean, doofus language.”
Erin shook her head at the guys “I would translate for you Mia, but I don’t curse that much.” She saw Mia holding her head in pain like it was unbearable. Soon, she was pulling her hair in frustration, but the guys were ruthless, they continued to laugh and tease her. Erin saw Mia about to give up as she quickly said “Don’t Mia! You can do it. We’re almost there.”
But to her dismay, Doug suddenly took his foot off the gas. They were only a mile away, he turned to them sadly “I think we’re out of gas.” the car was rolling at 5mph.
Jessie frowned while looking over at the speedometers “You’ve got a half tank left!” she pointed out.
“Well, my feet is very tired.” Doug said with puppy eyes “Anyone want to switch with me?”
Matt raised his hand “I do! No wait…I’ve got a blister on my toe…can’t.” he looked at Mia apologetically “Sorry.” Her face was burning up as she stared at Erin for help.
Erin turned to Jessie and nodded as she pulled her leg over and stepped it over Doug’s feet on the gas. The van hurled forward as Doug immediately took control of the wheel. Jessie laughed at his scared reaction “Who’s laughing now?”
“I thought you were on my side?” Doug exclaimed while trying to push on the breaks but Jessie’s foot was firmly over the gas pedal.
“Sorry baby, it’s my angels this time.” Jessie said coolly.
Doug frowned “No fair.” He said when they reached the front of the headquarters.
“Life’s tough, suck it up.” Jessie laughed as she pulled her leg away. The team left the van and Mia quickly jumped out.
She pointed at the guys with her red face “You, you….and you….oh…and you!!” She pointed last at Darren “Don’t be expecting any love from me tonight!” she threatened.
“Dude! Mental picture!” Doug pointed to his head again causing everyone to laugh.
Darren gave her his puppy eyes as he reached out for Mia “Aww, come on baby, you know I was just teasing.”
“My ass you were!” Mia cried “How dare you went against me.” She nodded to Erin and Jessie “Come on girls. Let’s go find some REAL men.”
Erin shook her head at Brad and Jessie shrugged at Doug “It’s tempting.” Erin said to the guys.
Matt crossed his arms with a grin “Meeting tomorrow at 12pm. Have fun girls!” The girls cried out happily while skipping down the street. The guys turned to Matt with a look of shock “What?” he asked curtly and then walked away leaving the guys stunned in silence.