Fan Fiction |
by Jenny Tran
One hour later into the party, the Mayor approached the podium once again to announce the dinner, which was the time to take off the masks. There were gushes and whispers as well as chuckles from people who met for the first time. The team had the honor to sit in the front of the dinner room. Freshly prepared plates were set in front of everyone. They were pre ordered and most of the team ordered Filet Mignon or Sea Bass as the main entrée.
After they ate, the Mayor began his speech “I want to thank everyone for coming today. It’s great to be back and I hope who ever kidnapped me will be punished, he had better change his sex or move out of the country because when we catch him. He will be in jail for a very long time.” There was a hush in the crowd as he continued “I have some people to thank for giving me back my life. A secret special team called The P.R.A., obviously it’s no longer a secret because they will be on the front page of every magazine.” The audience laughed at the light joke “I want to introduce our head of security, Mr. Joseph Cheung who will give the Honor Award to this great team.”
A wave of applaud rang throughout the room as Joe straightened his jacket to get up and take over the podium. Jenna placed her finger and thumb at the corners of her lips as she blew out an ear piercing whistle “Whoo!! Go Daddy!!!”
Darren winced painfully as his ears began to ring “Thanks, now I’m deaf.” He said with sarcasm.
Joe nodded to the important guests “It is an honor to have formed this team as it was my dream to develop a skilled group of six that would exceed all my expectations of what agents are suppose to be. I would have never guessed five years ago, when I first thought of this idea that it would turn into a beautifully crafted team. Without them, I would have not existed and without me, this country would never have uncovered such intelligent people. I want to present this award…” he held onto a crystal tear drop on a black marble stand “to my special team. I would like to ask Lieutenant Charles and Captain Ted to approach the podium.”
After he was done, a thunderous applause crashed through the crowd like a wave. Chuck turned to Ted with a nod as the two walked together to the front of the room where all eyes were on them. Chuck smiled broadly as he nodded at everyone “Thank you very much for this award. I want to dedicate this to the team, who works harder than anyone I’ve ever known. Ted, Erin, Mia, Darren, Doug and Becca…I have learned so much from each and every one of you…although Becca, I am still waiting to be impressed.” Everyone laughed while he gave her a quick wink.
Chuck nodded to Ted so he can take over “I want to dedicate this to not just the team but the fallen agents that we have lost throughout the year. To Jessie, who always gave a hundred percent, even when she was in pain, she never gave up for the lives of her teammates. And to Brad, the former captain. He will never be replaced and we could never find a better captain. They will forever be in our hearts. This is also for Matt, a former lieutenant…we expect you to walk one day. And to Dennis, a retired lieutenant, we are as proud of him as he was to us. Thank you.”
Hours later, the party ended and everyone walked outside together. Matt, Ryan and Shelly were the first to leave. Mia and Ethan were gone next. After that was Becca and Doug. Joe turned to his daughter “Come on, I’ll give you a ride home.”
She shook her head “But I want to go with Darren.”
“Don’t bother him anymore, it’s getting late.” Joe nodded at Darren to agree with him.
“It’s okay Joe, I’ll take her home.” Darren offered. He didn’t feel like driving home by himself “Anyways, her stuff is still at my home.”
“Yeah.” Jenna nodded with beaming eyes “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Where are you staying?” Erin asked.
Joe put his hands in his pocket “Not too far.” He nodded to the Hilton “Just behind you.” Ted raised his brows “The Mayor insisted on getting me a suite.”
Chuck placed a hand on Erin’s shoulder “You should go home too. Ted could you…”
“You don’t have to ask.” Ted smiled as he took Erin’s hand and walked her to the limo.
“Are you leaving Chuck?” Joe asked.
“You want to talk to me about something?” Chuck guessed.
Joe nodded as he turned to his daughter “Don’t be a nuisance to Darren.” He warned.
“I know!” she rolled her eyes with annoyance. Darren and Jenna watched as the two walked into the Hilton “Finally!” she let out a sigh and reached down as she took off her heels and lifted her gown with both hands “I can feel my feet…Ah…” she walked around to get the circulation back in her feet.
Darren laughed “Well, if you told me you were in so much pain, I would have bought tennis shoes for you on the way to the ball.” He pointed to his personal limo which was pulled up minutes ago.
She crawled into the car when the driver opened the door for her “Its okay, the pain reminds me that I’m a girl.”
“I thought PMS cramps was enough?” Darren joked.
“Oh…right.” Jenna groaned when she was reminded “Hey, can we go somewhere?!” she asked excitedly.
“Yes, we’re going home.” Darren nodded firmly.
“No, somewhere else.” Jenna shook her head vehemently “It’s really nice.”
Darren nodded after a moment “Sure, where do you want to go?”
“Mountain Peak. The night view is beautiful.” She sighed dreamily while picturing it in her head.
“You’ve lived in Hong Kong most of your life and you still haven’t been to Mountain Peak?” Darren was curious.
“I go there whenever I can. But I’ve never taken anyone up there. You’ll be my first.” She pointed out with a sly grin “You should feel special.”
He smiled shortly and for the rest of the ride, he let her babble on about her childhood days. But his mind was on Mia. She was different that night. While he was dancing with Jenna, he could feel Mia’s eyes on him. When he stole glances at her, he noticed she was staring at him too. When they limo stopped, his mind returned to reality. Jenna pushed the car door open, instead of waiting for the driver. She waved to Darren to come out. Her feet were bare against the cold cement, but the tiny pebbles didn’t bother her feet as she skipped her way over to the gazebo. Darren took his time as he embraced the night air and the lights of the city were even brighter than the moon.
“This is relaxing.” He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.
“And romantic.” Jenna winked at him with a not so subtle meaning. He began to squirm uncomfortably while she laughed it off “I love seeing you get all nervous and jittery. Reminds me of my first boyfriend.”
“Poor fellow.” Darren snickered with his head shaking.
“Hey!” she was insulted “I was a very good girlfriend.”
He smiled with a tilted head “Really? Then why did you two break up?”
Jenna’s usual smile faded as she turned to the view “He died.”
Darren was about to apologize when he guessed what she was up to “You almost got me there.” He laughed.
She turned to him with a straight face “I’m serious.” He knitted his brows together. Jenna let out a sigh “I wouldn’t kid about it.” Her eyes moved to the moon “He used to take me up here all the time. He was too poor to take me out to a nice restaurant, so he would set up a sandwich dinner up here once a month. It was our caviar and red wine.” It was too dark to see her tears but Darren could hear the quivering of her voice as she talked about the past “We were like Romeo and Juliet…two young people madly in love. Daddy didn’t know about Kevin. I didn’t want him to worry about me, plus he was always so busy with the P.R.A. that he barely noticed that I was growing up. In his eyes, I would always be a little girl.”
He wasn’t sure how to react. Darren too had fallen under her act, who would have guessed such a mature heart was under the playful exterior “I’m in shock myself.”
Jenna laughed, her eyes glued to the moon “I know. I grew up too fast…so I had to find a way to keep my youth, especially in front of my Daddy. It was bad enough my mother died when I was young, he only had me most of his life. I couldn’t let him know that I was independent. That’s why I took so long to finish school…and now I’m starting culinary arts.”
“That’s not fair to you.” Darren said sadly “You should be able to do what YOU want to do. I’m sure Joe would agree. Have you tried telling him?”
She shook her head with a laugh “He’s so busy with his work, he wouldn’t have two minutes for me. I’m not upset with Daddy, I know he’s got important things on his mind. But sometimes, I’d wish he would just take a break and we could hang out together. Like father and daughter.” She wiped the tear that slid on her cheek “I remembered when I was four, my mom passed away…I didn’t know what happened, but I remember clearly my dad crying over her dead body. He didn’t even notice I was standing there crying too. I was confused, not sad…I’ve never seen him break down before. After that night, it happened again and again. Then I was scared. It took him years to move on. After that, he moved us to Beijing. When I hit my early teens, he wanted me to attend a Hong Kong school, so we moved back. During my high school years, Daddy was constantly traveling to Beijing while I stayed with a Nanny. She was great, but she wasn’t my Daddy.”
“I didn’t know your life was so hard.” Darren’s heart went out to her “I always thought you were overprotected and too sheltered. I think we all saw a different you.”
Jenna turned to him with the playful grin “Is that good or bad?”
“I’m not sure.” Darren answered after a moment “I’m glad that you have a mature side and you are way smarter than you give yourself credit for.” Jenna looked at him with questioning eyes “You picked that lock in my room. I knew after looking at the lock closely.”
She shrugged her shoulders guiltily “Oops…You discovered my secret.”
“Why don’t you tell Joe? He’d love to have you train for the team one day.” He could imagine Joe cheering on his girl.
Her eyes widened and her face paled “No…” she shook her head slowly “My dad would never allow it. It’s too dangerous, Jen. Girls are not made for this kind of work.” She mimicked her dad’s stern tone “If he knew I was messing around with spy work, he’d send me to a reform school in England or worse, marry me off to some doctor.”
Darren chuckled “Really? I find Joe to be more open minded about things.”
“Yes, to other people. But to his own daughter, he’d rather chain me to his feet, that way he would know where I was all the time. You should have seen his face when I told him I wanted to do bungee jumping when I was 16. He practically fainted…but he knew I was determined so he took the class with me and even bungeed with me.”
“Really?” Darren laughed at the thought of Joe bungee jumping off a bridge.
Jenna nodded with rounded eyes “But after that, I stopped telling him the dangerous stuff that I did, because he would panic every time. I was afraid if I told him, he would come with me.” She laughed.
He looked at her with a new outlook, just from that night, she had turned into a completely different person that he met and got to know. Jenna grinned ear to ear when she caught him staring at her “Sorry.” He muttered.
“For what?” she teased.
“You’re different.” He commented “I think Becca would like you if she got to know the real you.”
Jenna snickered, “Becca. She’s judged me from the minute you rescued me from the burning building. But it’s understandable. If my friend’s ex fiancé was a hero to another girl, I’d be jealous for her too.”
His head whipped over at her “How did you know?”
She smiled with her eyes closed “Nope…not telling.” She shook her head adoringly.
“Did you feed Doug wine?” Darren took a wild guess.
“No, I didn’t have to.” Jenna said with sarcasm “I just asked him over a friendly lunch… where we had a taste of 20 different red wines.” She added with a laugh.
“Now that everyone knows his weak spot.” Darren shook his head in awe “So you know now.”
She nodded “I was only teasing you most of the time. But in all honesty, I think Mia still loves you. Her amnesia is just her excuse of fighting her feelings. Didn’t you see the way she kept stealing glances at you?”
“You saw it too?” he exclaimed.
“14 times.” Jenna nodded firmly “I counted.”
Darren smiled but slowly it disappeared “But what use does it do? She won’t be honest and I refuse to push her.”
“Ooh! I got an idea!!” Jenna raised her hand like a student.
He tilted his head “What? Knock her head with a metal stick and hope her mind de-amnesia?”
Jenna’s face slowly fell “So you thought of the same thing too huh?”
Darren rolled his eyes as he began walking back to the car “It’s not going to work.”
“How about I fake to be your girlfriend and make her jealous? That’ll show her!!” Jenna lifted her dress as she skipped beside him “Girls don’t like competition.”
“NO!” Darren said firmly “I don’t want you meddling in our affairs. I just want to let nature take its course.”
“If you wait for nature, Mia would be married to Ethan, with two kids and a pretty little home with a picket fence.” She was convinced.
“Good for her. At least she’ll be happy.” Darren opened the door as he pointed for her to get inside.
“But how do you know she’ll be happier with him?” Jenna asked stubbornly.
He let out a sigh and pushed her from the back “There are some things you just know.”