Fan Fiction |
by Jenny Tran
Jenna was in dreamland when an annoying knock on her door took her out of her fantasy “Go away!” she groaned, pushing the pillow over her head.
Ryan opened the door, dressed in sweats as he jogged over to her bed and nudged her while jogging in place “Come on sleepy head. Time for exercise.”
She peeked her eye from under the pillow “Oh, it’s you…” she sighed “What exercise?” she curled comfortably into a fetal position.
“Hmm, I recall someone begging me to help them train into shape. There’s a taekwondo tournament in one month and Doug will be judging, he wants you to enter the competition.”
“He what?!!!” the pillow and blanket exploded as she sat upright “Is he crazy?? I haven’t done that martial arts in…in…years…I can’t even remember the last time I practiced it. And who gave him the right to enter me into a competition.”
“Actually, it was your Uncle’s idea. He thought it would be good experience for you.” Ryan frowned “Jenna, are you playing the short term memory game again?”
She closed her eyes “Yeah…it was working.” Grumbling, she crawled out of bed looking ruffled from head to toe “Give me two minutes.”
Ryan clicked on his digital watch “Done. If you’re not out by that time, I’m going to have to punish you.”
“With whips and chain?” she grin flirtatiously “I like that.”
His face grimaced “Ew…I think I just got a mental picture.”
Jenna quickly covered her body “Ryan! Why, I didn’t think you were that kind of guy.” She said haughtily but quickly laughed it off when he began to blush “I’m kidding!”
“That’s one minute.” He tapped his watch before exiting the room and waiting for her downstairs. Jenna emerged minutes later in a jumpsuit and her hair tied back “Not bad.” He looked at his watch “I expected ten minutes, that was only half the time. You’re improving.”
“Ha ha.” Jenna answered wryly “Now let’s get this day over with.” Waving her hand nonchalantly as she headed for the door when a high pitch whistle stopped her. She turned to him with widened eyes “What the hell was that? Are you trying to kill my ear drums?” she began hitting her ear with the palm of her hand.
“From this minute forth, you must refer to me as Trainer Ryan. You will do exactly as I say and give me 110% of your efforts. Shall I feel that you are lagging, a punishment will be announced that very second. Is that clear?!!” he spoke like a military Sergeant.
Jenna’s jaw dropped and then quickly merged into a smile as she chuckled nervously “Oh that was good…I almost fell for that.”
“This is NOT a joke.” Ryan warned. He placed the whistle in his mouth “Begin jogging as I whistle.” He blew the tiny instrument as it belted out a shrieking noise that Jenna knew she would grow to hate “Move!!” he ordered when she stood still. Her eyes widened as she found herself listening to his orders.
Ryan led her to a small town where he knew stood the endless stairway leading to an apartment building complex “One, two. One, two…” he repeated while he watched Jenna jog up the stairs at a slow and steady pace “Pick it up, Cheung. One! Two! Hurry!!” he challenged as she sped up a little but quickly tripped onto a step and scraped her knee “Get up!! Get up, no resting!”
Jenna turned up to him as she pouted “It hurts.” She pointed at the wound that was beginning to bleed.
“Oh my God! I’m sorry, I didn’t see it.” He felt horrible as he pulled out a water bottle from his backpack and cleaned her wound with pieces of gauzes he carried around for emergencies “Does it hurt?” he asked worriedly.
Jenna smiled with a shaking head “It tingles…but it doesn’t hurt.” She was enjoying the moment, he had never cared for her the way he did at that very moment.
He glanced up and noticed she was staring at him with a goofy grin “What?” he asked when she turned away with embarrassment. She shook her head “Was I too mean?”
“It was more funny than it was mean.” Jenna replied, she could feel her cheeks burning “It’s really hot today.”
He finished bandaging her knee “Really? It’s suppose to be around 50 degrees.” He looked up at the gray sky “Possibly rain too.”
“Try jogging up and down a thousand steps of stairs.” Jenna snickered as she stood up “Okay, let’s keep moving.”
“Wait, you’re hurt.” Ryan pointed out “If you keep jogging, your knee could get infected from the sweat. We’ll just walk up at a slow pace.”
Jenna sighed with disappointment “Okay, but I was so looking forward to finishing the jog.”
He laughed “Whatever, I know you’re jumping up and down inside.” Jenna grinned as she nodded vigorously “Come on, I’ll help you.” He took her hand and wrapped a free arm around her waist as he supported her up the steps. She felt like she was floating on a cloud with each step passing.
*************
Erin was eating breakfast in the kitchen when Doug walked in “Hey, have you seen Ryan and Jenna? They’re not in their rooms.”
“Well, if you don’t even know where your own kids are…” Erin teased with a laugh “I think Ryan’s training her.”
“For what?” Doug reached in the fridge to get a container of orange juice.
“That stupid competition Devin was talking about last night.” She waved her hand casually.
“Oh right. I’m judging that ‘stupid’ competition by the way.” Doug said with sarcasm.
Erin smiled “No offense.”
Doug shrugged “Nah, it’s actually really stupid.”
Erin laughed, “So why are you judging? Oh, let me guess, he forced you.”
“No, actually he didn’t. But I think he used that reverse psychology crap on me. That always works, I don’t know why…” he looked daze for a split second and quickly snapped himself out “Oh well, I’m off to the shrink.”
“Jessie?” Erin raised her brows in surprise “That’s the third time this week. Sounds serious.”
“Well, I just figured she’s so desperate to learn more about me, I wanna give her more chances that’s all, since my first impression of her wasn’t that good to begin with.” Doug lied. He decided not to tell anyone about his catching Becca in the hospital.
Erin nodded “I see. You might wanna zip up your jeans before you leave the house though. Wouldn't want to leave a bad impression with her.” She turned back to her newspaper while Doug turned away to zip himself up.
“Thanks.” He muttered before rushing out. He didn’t bother checking in with the receptionist; marching towards her office he peeked inside and found her staring at the computer without blinking. His forehead wrinkled with curiosity as he walked closer and stood directly behind her “Who’s the guy?”
She practically jumped off her seat “Jesus! Don’t you know how to knock?!!” she cried while stumbling to click out of the screen she was looking at.
Doug laughed with amusement “Aw, so the innocent little doctor isn’t so innocent. Looking at porn during working hours?” he teased at the same time taking a seat across from her “It’s okay, I won’t tell your boss.”
Jessie frowned “It’s not porn.”
“A guy in a girl in bed, kissing…oh no, I guess it’s all innocent fun.” He said unconvincingly.
“What do you want?” she sighed, her hand draped over her forehead tiredly.
“Wow…it’s like the life has been sucked out of you. What happened? Were you attacked?” he asked curiously.
Jessie shook her head and looked at him strangely “No. Why do you keep asking if I was attacked? And what are you doing here again? You’ve been here three times this week already…” Turning her head suspicious, she asked, “Are you dying?”
“Don’t curse me! I’m very healthy.” He patted his chest.
“Are you sure? Because I know when people are about to die, they like to get things off their conscience. Like when they’ve hurt someone’s feelings, they’ll apologize or look for some type of closure. Considering the fact that you’ve judged me wrongly since we met, I’d figure you were feeling remorseful.” Jessie analyzed.
Doug pointed a wagging finger at her “That’s good…but no. I’m healthy as can be, as a matter of fact, my psychic told me that I’ll be living until I’m 100 years old.”
“Psychic huh?” Jessie tapped her chin with the end of her pen thoughtfully “I’m going to give you a prescription.” She began writing out on her doctor’s note “I think you’re delusional.”
He reached for the paper under her pen, crumbled it in his hands and threw it on the ground “I’m normal as can be.” He insisted, “I think it’s about time we had a heart to heart talk.”
Jessie raised her brows “Wow, that's a big step, Douglas. Are you really ready?” he nodded in answer “Okay, so… what do you want to get off your chest?”
Doug leaned back on his chair as he began “Well, I’ve been having these strange dreams about you…” thinking of the story as he spoke “Eh…you have something really important, could be in your office or maybe something you carry with you…like…eh knowledge. In the dreams, I try to get you to confess, but you always turn away. What do you think that means? Do you have any secrets?” he pressed.
“Hmm…that’s interesting. Dreaming about someone you barely know or even care to like. That’s very odd Doug.” Jessie shifted her swivel chair from side to side “I think you might have deeper feelings for me than you think. This important factor that you’re looking for…could be my acceptance. You want me to confess my true feelings for you.”
“Eh…yeah…that make sense.” Doug stammered unsurely.
Jessie sighed as she leaned forward on her desk “Unfortunately, I’m engaged.”
“You’re what?!” he asked with a little too much surprise in his tone “How come you never told me?”
She raised her left hand showing the large diamond on her fourth finger “I guess some people are just not that observant.”
“Oh…wow…” Doug was speechless, he felt a little disappointment at the pit of his stomach “Congratulations.”
Jessie snickered “Yeah…congratulations to me for picking the biggest cheater in a the whole bunch.”
“Huh? Why would you marry a cheater?” Doug asked.
Sighing as she shook her head “Have you ever heard that it’s easy for a doctor to help others but they can never save themselves?” he nodded and she pointed to herself “Exhibit A.”
“Is he forcing you?” Doug was concerned.
Shaking her head, she sighed again “No. I’d feel better about myself if he was pointing a gun to my head but no…the decision was all mine.” Doug looked even more confused, she knew she had to explain, “I met him about three years ago in a bar, he was drunk and so lonely. I started talking to him and realized we had so much in common. I thought it was fate, we began dating officially after the third sober date. He took me home one day to meet his parents, they adored me after they realized I was a doctor. I didn’t know he was born from a prestigious family and at first I thought it was great until the late night rendezvous and going out with his co-workers and coming home drunk. Every time I wanted out, he would beg and cry until I took him back. And I did…all twenty times, it’s become a routine for me. Like an addiction, I know it’s going to happen and I know I’ll take him back.”
Doug tilted his head sympathetically “Is that the guy in the computer?”
She nodded sadly “I had a detective follow him. This is just one of the many pictures that he took for me. Every week is a new girl. I guess I figured after he was done playing, he would come back to me. I mean it’s always different girls, it couldn’t be serious.” She chuckled half heartedly.
“That’s sick!” Doug spat with disgust “What if he brings back some disease to you? How will you feel then? No…this can’t go on. You’re going to break up with him once and for all.” He pointed, “I’ll go with you. Hey, I’ve got a gun, we can threaten him. I can act like a jealous boyfriend. I took tips from Darren, I can do a very good impression.” He offered.
Jessie laughed, “No…it’s okay. Anyways, he’s got a gun too.”
“He does?” Doug was taken aback.
She nodded “He’s the Commissioner of Sa Tin Police Department.” Doug’s eyes widened as he figured out what Hung Gor was looking for.