Fan Fiction |
by Jenny Tran
A week soon passed and it seemed as if the waves had stopped crashing. Ethan only received one visit from TK where he commended him for the beautiful job he did on Erin. He was shocked at how she stood up for him and turned against her friends to save him. Ethan was neither proud or willing to let TK threaten him to do another session on Erin. Surprisingly, TK didn’t put up a fight, instead he left him alone for a couple of days.
Chuck received a call from Joe, who was flying down for an event party hosted by the Mayor. The entire team was invited and Chuck called a meeting just for that. Erin too was present “This is a prestigious honor or our team, we are finally recognized by another authority besides Joe, who actually wanted to keep the P.R.A. a secret. But from the past few years, things didn’t allow us to stay in hiding. I’m glad though, maybe one day we will be honored like the police force or FBI’s.”
“Well it’s about time!” Becca blurted out.
“You’re the one to talk, you’ve only been here a couple of months. How about a hand for those that have been here longer?” Doug pointed out Erin and Mia, who were the originals.
“We’ve lost too many…” Erin sighed sadly.
Mia smiled as she reached her hand over and squeezed Erin’s shoulder “They’ll never be forgotten.”
“That was what the Mayor said.” Chuck nodded at his team, he had grown so attached to all of them that it broke his heart just to think that he would lose one member “I know we’ve had some peace throughout the week, but I want you guys to be careful and be on your toes. We don’t know if TK is lurking around the corner waiting to pounce on us. Don’t let your guard down, but remember to have fun.”
“Well, if that’s not ironic, I don’t know what is.” Becca shook her head in dismay “How could we have fun if we have to constantly turn our backs?”
Doug chuckled as he got up “Like this.” He pretended to shake someone’s hand “Hi there…” suddenly he whipped his head back and put his hand up in fighting mode then a second later, he was normal again.
Mia narrowed her eyes at him “You’ve got problems.”
“You’re the one to talk.” Doug snickered.
Darren lowered his head while Mia threw her friend an evil look. Ted cleared his throat to keep the tension down “Is it formal Chuck?”
“Kind of. The theme is old England. When petticoats and penguin suits were in. It’s going to be like a masquerade.” Chuck explained with a smile “I have to dig through my closet and find the old monkey suit I wore to a Halloween party years ago.”
“Are you sure you can still fit it?” Becca asked with a snort.
Chuck turned his head to her “The same way you’ll fit into your old prom dress…oh wait… you probably didn’t go. No guy could bear standing next to you for a whole night.”
“That’s what you think! I’ve got a date.” She leaned over and linked her arm through Doug’s with a smile that would make Chuck puke.
“Shh…” Doug twitched his lips to the side to hush her. He wasn’t ready to expose their affair but she could careless.
Mia stifled a laugh while Erin too had a smile on her face “Are you ashamed of us?” Becca exclaimed loudly.
“No.” Doug whispered, “Lower your voice.”
“It is lowered!! This is my calm voice!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Mia covered her face while her body trembled with each laughter. She tried hard not to make any sounds but when Doug turned to her “What are you laughing at?”
She turned up with a reddened face from suppressing all the laughter “Nothing.” Mia was unsuccessful at keeping a straight face.
“Doug, why don’t you admit it.” Ted smiled as he turned to the group for assurance.
Darren laughed “I’m not sure if I should congratulate you or feel sorry for you.”
Mia pointed at him while blowing up with giggles “I was thinking the same thing!”
“Any guy would be lucky to date me!” Becca retorted with defense.
“Isn’t that what your mother use to tell you?” Erin pointed out with an apparent grin on her face “Dear, parents would say you look gorgeous eventhough you look like an ape.”
“My momma would not lie to me!” Becca gaped at Erin in shock “I thought you would agree with me…traitor.” She was joking but Erin’s smile quickly faded as she remembered some things.
Mia quickly caught on as she turned to Becca with a shaking head “I guess I would be one too. I agree with Erin.” Mia said.
Becca backed down as she relaxed herself “I thought girls were suppose to stick together.”
“If that were true, Doug would be on our side.” Mia cracked, suddenly she stopped laughing “Wait…he is on your side. What was I thinking?”
“Okay, spit it up. How did the affair start? Did Becca lure you to her cave while she poisoned you with red wine?” Darren asked as he pictured it in his head. He turned to Ted with a wink while he looked at Doug pitifully “The poor lad didn’t even have a chance.”
Becca nose began to flare, a sure sign she was upset “I’m not that bad!!”
“No, but you are bad.” Ted laughed as he joined in the bashing “We know how weak Doug is when he drinks.”
“Tell them!” Becca turned abruptly to Doug and pushed him on the arm almost causing him to fall off his chair. Chuck laughed with his head thrown back, he was enjoying it too much.
“That it’s all true?” Doug asked innocently. Her face looked ready to burst as he put up his hands in defense “Okay, alright…wow you sure drive a hard bargain. Becca did not seduce me or make me drink any wine. I actually approached her for a lunch date and she agreed. We are just seeing each other, it’s nothing serious.”
After he finished there was an awkward moment of silence, no one said a word until Darren let out a sigh “Damn, you’re whipped.” Mia began laughing slowly as she too nodded in agreement.
“I guess we know who wears the pants in that relationship.” Ted added with wide eyes.
“Whoop-pack!!” Chuck made a whipping motion with his hand while the guys laughed.
“What the hell is that?” Becca arched her neck at him.
“It’s like a whip…” Chuck explained as he mad the motion again. Becca rolled her eyes as he quickly cleared his throat “Meeting adjourned. I want everyone to meet outside the Hilton Suites at 7pm sharp. We’ll enter together, it’s this Sunday so don’t forget.”
“Can we bring dates?” Mia asked when everyone began to get up.
Chuck turned to Darren who seemed emotionless “Sure…I don’t see a problem in that.” He snapped his finger when a thought came to him “Oh and Darren, Joe asked me to tell you that Jenna would want to attend. Which means you have to escort her.”
Darren nodded “I figured that.” He turned to Mia with a smile “Are you bringing Ethan?”
Mia nodded shyly “Yeah.”
“Good, I haven’t seen him for a while. It’ll be nice to thank him for the sessions.” Darren replied politely.
“God, they act like they just met.” Becca whispered at Doug.
Doug smiled with his arms crossed “Yeah, isn’t it great? It’s like a brand new start.”
“Who side are you on?” Becca hissed while pulling him out of the room.
“My friend’s.” He replied nonchalantly “I know Darren is my friend, but Ethan has been my friend longer.”
“What kind of reason is that? Darren is perfect for Mia!” Becca darted her eyes back to make sure the two were not within earshot.
“So is Ethan.” Doug stood up for his friend “Anyways, it’s not our choice, it’s Mia’s. Just let her take her own strides.”
“I guess…” Becca sounded defeated.
Ted assisted Erin up while Chuck followed the two outside “I’ve got to go pick up Joe right now. So I’ll see you two later for dinner.”
Erin nodded “Okay.” She allowed Ted to take her arm “Can we take a walk downtown? I haven’t been there for ages.”
“Sure.” He agreed. They casually walked through the crowded streets. Everyone seemed to be in a rush while they looked like they were in slow motion compared to the others “Erin…”
“Hmm?” she asked with her brows lifted.
“I wanted to ask you but didn’t want to embarrass you earlier…but…will you-” Ted was cut off by her answer.
“Sure.” She smiled at his shyness.
He paused in his steps causing her to stop too “You know what I wanted to ask?”
Erin nodded “Of course.”
Ted let out a sigh of relief, he was so nervous thinking of how to approach her with the question. He knew she was not ready for a step ahead “I thought you would say no.”
“It was either you or Uncle Chuck.” Erin giggled as she imagined his blushing face “To be honest, I’d rather have you as a date. I don’t think my uncle wants me hanging around while he’s trying to scope out the women.”
“You think that’s what he’ll do?” Ted laughed at the thought of Chuck clumsily flirting with other women.
“I’m just guessing.” Erin smiled. She turned her head to the side when she heard a lady calling out a sale on live lobsters “Let’s make lobster legs tonight. Uncle Chuck likes it.”
Ted nodded but then he caught his eyes on another seafood open market “Hey, they have fresher food over there.” He pointed “I’ll be right back.”
Erin wasn’t paying attention when she began talking to the lady “Is it fresh?” she asked the woman who insisted it was the best in the market “Ted?” Erin’s smile faded slowly “Ted?” she spun around in circles with her hands pointed outward “Ted!!” she began walking down the street calling out his name, but there was no answer. Suddenly, she felt a body bump into her, she lost her balance and fell to the side of the street. Then a shoe stepped right over her hand, which had landed on some sharp pebbles. The person mumbled a quickly apology while Erin whipped her hand back into the safety of her body. It was bleeding, she could feel the liquid seeping through the cut.
The hundreds of footsteps crossing by in front of her made her nervous since it was obvious no one noticed her there. She squeezed herself against the wall, while she held onto her hand. The pain had numbed the cut but she herself felt useless. The tears brimmed her eyes but she pushed them back in. I’m not going to cry. She told herself it was not a big deal, that Ted would be back for her.
Ted had bought three lobsters, all of which were about four pounds. He paid for them and returned to the place where he had left Erin. When he got there, his heart nearly dropped, she was nowhere in sight “Erin!” he yelled while returning to the woman that Erin had approached “Auntie, did you see the girl I was with?”
“Who are you?” the woman asked blankly.
Frustration hovered over him as he snapped “The blind girl that was asking you about the lobsters! Where is she??”
“Lunatic.” The woman muttered while she went about her business of selling seafood.
He grunted in dismay as he began running to his right “Erin! Erin!!” he yelled over and over.
His voice was calling her in the distance, she could hear it. Erin had no idea how far she had traveled to until Ted’s voice began bellowing out. She pulled herself up with the help of the wall as she began walking towards his voice, only to be bumped in all directions by passerbyers.
“Ted!” she called back in return.
His head arched to the familiar voice as his eyes darted through the crowd and spotted Erin, reaching out blindly “Erin!” he rushed over to her as he dropped the bag of lobster and embraced her. His hand reaching over the back of her head as he soothed out her tied up hair “You scared me!” he scolded.
“I didn’t know where you were…I tried looking but there were too many people.” Erin whimpered, the tears she was trying to hold in eventually got loose “I was scared, Ted.”
“It’s okay.” He continued to stroke her hair “I’m here now…I’m sorry, I won’t let you out of my sight again.” He pulled away and pulled his palm over her face, his fingers carefully wiping the tears off her cheeks “Its okay.” He soothed.
Erin nodded with a smile, her nose and cheeks red “I know…because you’re here.” She fell against his chest softly as the two hugged each other, oblivious to their surroundings. A few onlookers stared at the strange couple while others continued to their destinations.
Hundred of yards away stood TK, hiding behind an alley. He was about to come to her rescue when Ted found her. He punched the wall roughly “Damn nuisance!” he cursed the guy.