| Fan Fiction |
by x.shuang.dao.x
Still Wednesday night- two days left
Ashley excused herself and ducked her head low as she made her way to the ladies’.
Owodog and Fabien looked at each other. Then Fabien stood up before Owodog could and went after Ashley.
“Damn it!” Owodog cursed as he slumped into the chair.
Fabien pulled Ashley’s hand when he caught up with her in the dimly lit corridor leading to the washrooms.
Ashley got a fright initially but calmed down when she realized it was Fabien. “Yeah?”
“Ashley, I know this probably sounds stupid and lame and the timing is all wrong but I really need to tell you this, in case I die or something.” Fabien said in a fluster.
She nodded slowly, “Uh-huh. Okay, go on.”
“Erm, I really want to be with you.”
“You mean physically?” Ashley said, remembering all his flings and one-night-stands and whatnots. “Then no thanks I don’t want to be with you.”
“No, not physically. I mean, yes, but no, not only that. I—I think I’m in love with you.”
“We’ve only known each other for three days. How do you know you’re in love with me?” Ashley narrowed her eyes at him.
“Because… Uh… Erm… SHIT! Ashley, you’re the only one who can actually make me tongue-tied and stutter! I’ve never had it this bad before.”
Ashley observed Fabien. He appeared really frustrated and his face was red. It wasn’t exactly her idea of how a conceited and egotistic man should look like, or behave. She reckoned he was probably telling the truth. But, anyway, she said, “Then too bad for you.”
“Ashley, believe me. I really, really do like you a lot.” He said softly as his electrifying gaze bored right into Ashley’s and she was already this close to accepting him.
He seemed really sincere. She had an inexplicable urge to say yes for her subconscious self had already grown attracted to him; yet she sighed, “Firstly, I don’t know you all that well and I probably don’t like you half as much as you like me. Secondly, how am I supposed to know if you won’t treat me like any other woman you used and dumped?”
“God, Ashley, what do I need to say or do to convince you?” His eyes were pleading now.
“Xiaoyu, I don’t want to choose between you and Quan. Quan’s my best friend and my bestest partner. And you’re his best friend.”
“Call me Xiaoyu again.”
“Xiaoyu.” Ashley said, without thinking. “Shit—”
“Ash.” Fabien cut her off. And forced a kiss on her.
Ashley reacted almost immediately as she remembered what happened with Owodog. She hit Fabien’s arm away and slapped him instinctively. “What the freaking hell is wrong with the both of you?”
Fabien said nothing.
“You know what, Fabien Yang, you’re gonna be the death of me.”
“Wh—”
“Literally.” Then Ashley jerked Fabien’s head forward and kissed him forcefully.
Fabien was drawn into her assertive touch and intoxicating scent and momentarily forgot about the murderer on loose as there was only Ashley on his mind.
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Owodog was getting fed up with just sitting in the booth and not doing anything (and wondering what Fabien was doing). But he was also getting worried. Ashley and Fabien had been gone for over ten minutes and none of them were back yet. He tried to look in the direction of the washroom but couldn’t see anything. So he plucked out his cell and speed-dialed Fabien’s number.
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Fabien felt his cell vibrating in his pocket. He tried to ignore it but it was becoming increasingly annoying that by the time the seventh sequence of three continuous strong vibrations he pulled his cell out and pressed the ‘answer’ button.
“YU!”
Ashley pulled away from Fabien when she heard Owodog’s voice boom through the cell.
“Yeah?” Fabien said, rather irritably.
“Why the hell are you taking so long?”
“Um, yeah I’m coming back now.”
“Okay, hurry. You’re making me worried. And I assume you’re with Ashley?”
Fabien glanced at Ashley, who looked back at him quizzically. “Uh, yeah.”
“Okay,” Owodog sighed, “You two come back quickly.”
“Okay.” Fabien said and hung up.
“If I die, I’m going to haunt you forever.” Ashley muttered as they made their way back to the booth.
“You won’t have a chance to.”
Ashley narrowed her eyes at Fabien. “Are you trying to imply something?”
Fabien shrugged and shot her a smile that melted her insides. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
Ashley blushed and tried to hide a shy smile that was creeping onto her face.
Owodog was looking rather impatient when Ashley and Fabien returned to the table, showing no signs of what happened between them just now.
“Can you two not do things that worry me? I’d wonder if you had been captured by some murderer.”
“Sorry.” Fabien said.
Ashley kept quiet.
“And should I take it that I lost?”
Ashley looked up at Owodog. “Maybe, maybe not.”
“Shit man,” Fabien said, “Quan, this is one difficult woman. I won’t be surprised if she ditches me tomorrow.”
“Does that mean you guys are together now?”
“Not really.” Ashley answered just as Fabien was about to say ‘yeah’.
“Y-what?” His ‘yeah’ evolved into a stunned ‘what’.
“I’m still thinking, okay? It’s a big risk.”
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Owodog kept his eyes on the road while he deadpanned, “You’ve chosen Yu, right?”
Ashley looked at Owodog. “Honestly, I don’t know.”
“Whatever you say.” He shrugged.
“Quan, I don’t want this to affect our partnership. Or the case.”
Owodog nodded. “Yeah, I know.”
“Ugh,” Ashley groaned. “All these shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”
“Sorry.” Owodog said quietly.
“It’s not your fault—”
“If I didn’t try anything the other day—”
“Let’s just forget about it, okay?” Ashley said in a resigned tone. “For the time being… Put our focus on this case.”
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Thursday- one day left
“Elliot Lai works in Sugar Factory.” Ashley said as she barged into Owodog’s office and dumped a stack of papers on his desk.
Owodog furrowed his brows. “How is he connected to Heather?”
“Well… That, no one knows yet. But take a look at this.” Ashley pointed at Elliot’s profile. “He’s the second-in-command in the HR Department, and he has been there for six years. I’d say he should be quite familiar with Sugar Factory’s staff.”
Owodog nodded slowly. “So you’re saying that this Elliot guy knows Heather’s from Sugar Factory?”
“Yeap, but the thing is, Sugar Factory has so many workers, he can’t possibly match a name to each face. He can probably recognize a lot of them, though.”
“Looks like we need to make a trip to Sugar Factory.”
Ashley nodded.
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“I’m Detective Zhuang Hao Quan, this is my partner Detective Ashley Wu. You must be Terry?” Owodog asked.
The brawny and athletic-looking guy nodded as he shook their hands. “Yes.”
“Okay we have a few questions to ask you regarding your ex-colleague Elliot Lai.”
Terry nodded, “Please come with me into my office.”
Once the door was safely shut behind them, Owodog started questioning. “What do you think of Elliot Lai?”
“He’s a really hardworking man, despite his appearance. I know he frequents the pubs and often drinks but when it comes to work, he puts in his best and never once neglected his duties.”
“Uh-huh, how about his social skills?”
“Oh, he’s very friendly to everyone and all of us around here like him a lot. Well, this IS the Human Relations Department.”
Owodog nodded. “Okay, so do you know if he has any enemies? Or any jealous ex-girlfriends or anything like that?”
Terry shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. Elliot’s so nice and well-liked, I doubt he’ll have enemies. As for jealous lovers, I suppose it’s quite unlikely. Elliot’s been single since the day he entered this company.”
“Who’s the closest to him around here?” Ashley cut in.
“Me.” Terry answered, apparently amused by the question.
“You’re sure he isn’t in close contact with any other Sugar Factory employee, females maybe?” Ashley continued.
“As far as I know, no.”
“You said that he’s friendly to everyone and all of you like him a lot. Does he know everyone personally?”
“No. There’re hundreds of people working here, he can’t know every single one. But I think he recognizes most of them.”
“Okay, thanks for your help. We’ll get back to you again if needed.” Owodog smiled politely.
“And thanks for sending us the list of employees.” Ashley added.
“No problem.” Terry returned a smile to both of them.
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“So what do you think?” Ashley asked as Owodog started the car.
“I would say that Heather’s from Sugar Factory.”
“Everyone who’s seen her died. It’s not going to be easy.”
Owodog stepped on the accelerator. “I’m going to go through the employee list one by one today. There has to be something we can see that Yu won’t notice. Because he’s not a detective.”
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->shuang.dao
omg finally. my brain juices are squeezed dry. STRESS! i don't wanna go to school. ): but anyway, that's an uninspiring chapter 10 for you. :X