| Fan Fiction |
by x.shuang.dao.x
Because the keyword there was ‘uncontrollable’, Owodog leaned forward just a bit more to close the gap between their mouths.
Ashley subconsciously returned the kiss for a brief moment, before she realized what she was doing. She pushed Owodog away violently and sent him reeling back into the chair and the chair rolled away from the table and stopped just before it hit the window. She flumped back into her chair and buried her head in her hands. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled.
Owodog was still slightly in shock from the immense strength Ashley had used to push him away. Okay, so maybe ‘immense’ might be a little exaggerated, but it was still unexpectedly forceful. He took a while to recover before he apologized too. “I should be the one saying sorry. I—” Owodog stopped abruptly. All that was in his mind were the memories of the first time they kissed and, God, how much had he wanted her since then. ‘Yeah, sorry but I really want to kiss you until you cannot remember who’s Monkey anymore and I’ve been waiting to do this for so long,’ Owodog thought bitterly. Instead, he sighed and said, “I think we’d better go home and get some sleep.”
Ashley nodded. “We should.”
Obviously Kale Chou wasn’t on the top of their minds right then.
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Owodog was sending Ashley home and the trip had been made mostly in a comfortable silence.
Owodog was too chagrined to speak while Ashley was thinking of the strange and complicated relationship she had with Owodog and Fabien.
Before Monkey’s appearance, her life had simply revolved around her detective work, Owodog and Fabien. She couldn’t remember a day from that period of time when she didn’t see either of them. The two guys always bickered over where to eat, who was going to pay, et cetera. She liked watching those two squabble over petty issues. The only thing that made her feel awkward was that they tend to talk their hearts out about anything in the world. Of course, that included the feelings they both had for her.
And because Ashley wasn’t exactly sure whom she liked more, especially when she saw the both of them so much it was hard to make a decision. For so long, that was their relationship – ambiguous. She didn’t even know if she could consider it as pure friendship. It seemed rather impossible to be just that. As much as she didn’t want to drag the issue, there was nothing much she could do. She did not find it exactly good to choose between brothers. Choosing one would mean the other would be unhappy and as much as both of them said that they would accept her decision, Ashley knew that it was inadvertent that their relationship would be affected in some way or another.
Ashley snuck a sideways glance at Owodog, who was concentrating on the road at that instant, or at least, appeared to be doing so. It suddenly reminded her of the first time they kissed, when Owodog sent her home and they went up to her apartment together. She thought she might have liked him quite a bit during that time. But who knew, Fabien’s presence changed a lot of things.
She had to admit she did feel attracted to Fabien. His eyes were electrifying and that power seemed to be turned on pretty strong all the time. The first impression she had of him was, of course, that he was quite the ladies’ man. It was hard not to think that when there was direct connection between him and the several women who eventually were killed. But a few more times of speaking with him and feeling the manliness and the sexual vibes he so subtly exuded, she thought she might just fall in love with him after all. She half-did, and Fabien’s kiss should have decided their fate, but Ashley didn’t let it. That was why they were all in this situation now.
Ashley didn’t know what would have eventually happened if she didn’t meet Monkey. Would she have met someone else? Or would she have just stayed single and let the ambiguity of their relationship just carry on?
Suddenly, she wasn’t all that sure who was the one she loved most right then. Was it really Monkey? Or was he just a backup for the feelings she could not express for the other two guys? Ashley suppressed a groan as she shut her eyes and breathed deeply. ‘What exactly am I thinking about? Am I doubting my own feelings towards Monkey? This is… Ugh. Fuck, why am I back to square one again?’
Ashley was awakened from her thoughts when Owodog called her name.
“Ash, hey Ash. We’re here.”
She took a while to respond. “Uh, okay. Thanks.” She unbuckled her seatbelt and grabbed her bag before opening the door.
Owodog didn’t say anything else as she got out of his car and shut the door.
He resumed his drive home in more silence, just that the silence wasn’t awkward anymore. It was deafening.
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Ashley didn’t even have time to think about her stalker as she trudged her way up to Monkey’s apartment. Fortunately for her, Kale had gone home straight after his kill and had been enjoying a long bath and glasses of whiskey.
Ashley turned the key in the lock and opened the door. Sam greeted her at the doorstep. She scooped him into her arms and nuzzled his face. Sam purred. She locked up behind her and headed to the bathroom, letting Sam down on the way when Luna trotted out lazily from the room to get a hug from Ashley. When both Luna and Sam were satisfied with the amount of affection they were getting from Ashley, they finally left her alone and ambled away.
She closed the bathroom door behind her and stripped down before stepping into the shower. The cold spray from the shower beat down on her back as she tried to wash away the strange emotions that were surfacing in her. She closed her eyes and willed herself to not think about Owodog and Fabien. She couldn’t remember when was the last time she had to do that. It was too long ago. So why was this feeling back to haunt her again after so long?
When the cold water finally started to bite at her, Ashley quickly stepped out of the shower, shivering. She dried herself and pulled on nothing but a pair of panties and an oversized t-shirt that belonged to Monkey. Then she spaced out again as she blew dry her hair.
By the time she was done and slid into the covers beside Monkey, she was feeling a whole lot of guilt. She kissed him lightly on his forehead like she always did if he was already asleep when she came back, then laid her head down on the fluffy pillow, watching him all the while and studying his features that weren’t darkened by the shadows.
Monkey stirred and turned to face her. He opened an eye as he did and found Ashley gazing at him. “You’re back,” he smiled.
She managed to return a smile which didn’t look too forced. “Yeap.”
He extended his hands to draw her to him.
Ashley was too tired and just laid limply in his arms. She rested her head on his chest as he held her quietly.
Then both of them fell asleep without any more exchange of words, but with a whole load of things on their minds.
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Monkey woke up first the next morning. He saw Ashley sleeping peacefully on the other side of the bed and propped his head on his elbow to watch her. He stretched out his other hand to play with her hair. He wondered if this was one of the last times he would be able to do this; of course he hoped it would not be, but he had a feeling it might. Sure, Ashley was important to him, but the opportunity to take charge of a whole operation did not come all the time.
Ashley shifted her position a little, then blinked a few times before her eyes opened fully. She was staring straight into Monkey’s deep, dark eyes that seemed to hold a thousand secrets. She wanted to say something, but she had a feeling that he wanted to say something too so she kept quiet.
Monkey did want to say something, but the silence remained for quite a while until Ashley couldn’t take it anymore.
“Is something wrong?” She felt rather uneasy about this strange awkwardness that had suddenly surfaced between them.
Monkey had stopped twiddling with her hair. He tried to avoid eye contact with her. Ashley was still gazing intently at him, waiting for an answer. Then, finally, Monkey took a deep breath, sighed, and said, “Lucas plans to expand our company to Japan.”
“Isn’t that good?”
Monkey turned to face Ashley, “He wants me to move to Japan to take care of things there.”
“For… how long?”
“Frankly, I don’t know. Could be six months; could be up to a year. I haven’t agreed to it yet.” He refrained from telling her that if things went all right, he might be staying there forever.
“Oh.” Ashley replied blankly as she tore her eyes away from his to stare at the ceiling. A few moments later, she continued in an indifferent tone, “So what do you plan to do?”
Monkey suddenly sat up and pulled Ashley into his embrace. Her head rested on his broad shoulders while her hands hung loosely at her sides. He tightened his arms around her. “Look, Ash, I really don’t want to leave you. But I can’t be selfish either. I don’t want to give up this chance to expand our company; if I ask you to go along I know it’ll be unfair to you. I really don’t know what to do, Ash…”
For the first time in months, maybe years, Ashley felt like crying. She had always been strong and independent, but for some strange reason the uncertainty in Monkey’s voice made her want to break down. She stretched out her arms and wrapped them around Monkey. She had grown so used to him throughout the past year and more; and she was starting to become dependent on him too.
“Ash…” Monkey whispered against her ear, “You know I love you.”
“But you’re still going to leave me, right?” Ashley found it hard to keep her voice steady but she did, anyway. “It’s okay, really. A man should always put his career first. It’s seldom you get a chance like this.” Ashley breathed deeply as if bracing herself for what was going to come next. “You should go.”
Monkey had expected her to say that, though he was half-wishing she would either say that he shouldn’t go or that she would go with him, but that was quite impossible. “Then what about us?”
Ashley said nothing but simply held him tighter.
And Monkey knew, at that moment, that it was definitely one of the last times he would be doing this.
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Kale had waited for Ashley the whole morning but he never saw her leave her house. He had then moved his focus to the station. But he didn’t even catch a glimpse of her there either. His brows had been perpetually furrowed since his day started and it did not look like he was going to unfurl them anytime soon, seeing as he had no clue where Ashley was.
He was certain she went home last night. She couldn’t have been at the station. If she were, then he would have spotted her when he was spying on the station. Perhaps she was ill and stayed at home, Kale thought. That had to be it. He made a sudden right turn into a small street and parked in an empty lot. Not bothering to place any parking coupon, he walked into a small cosy shop named ‘Petal Talk’.
The fragrance of fresh flowers engulfed him the moment he stepped in. He nodded to the shopkeeper, whom he knew quite well after having bought flowers from the shop for a long time. He wasn’t afraid the shopkeeper would give away his identity; after all, she was once his client.
Kale looked around the little shop, wondering which type of flowers he should get. He wanted to get flowers that carried the meaning ‘get well soon’ but he wasn’t all that sure if she was really ill or she might just be taking a break from work. So he stuck with his usual roses.
The shopkeeper never once charged him for the flowers though he had always insisted that he would pay. Kale liked to get his flowers from this shop; because he always appreciated that the shopkeeper would help to keep everything anonymous.
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Owodog had been worried when Ashley called in sick that morning. He did not care all that much about the murder case; he was more afraid that what he did the previous night might cause a rift between them. And that, was certainly not wanted.
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Lucas Trent, on the other hand, was overjoyed. His most trusted partner and subordinate, Monkey, had informed him of his decision about the plans to expand the company. Monkey had agreed to it, which meant that Monkey was willing to move to Japan to oversee all the proceedings. Lucas had went about organizing things right away and Monkey knew that with Lucas’ speed of doing work, he would be flying to Japan in a very short time.
Monkey took the day off as well. He needed a break from work, just like Ashley did.
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They spent almost the whole day lying in each other’s arms, saying nothing but cherishing the few moments in which they still had each other and the world ceased to be of any importance.
Eventually, both of them left Monkey’s apartment at night to go for dinner. They never did. Because the first thing they saw when they stepped out of Monkey’s apartment was a bouquet of roses outside Ashley’s door. Monkey made Ashley go back into the apartment while he checked it out.
The bouquet was sent anonymously like always. Monkey left it where it was and went back to his flat and locked the gate and door.
“What is it?” Ashley asked, her eyes unusually showing the slightest bit of terror.
“Do you think your stalker could be watching your every move?” Monkey said as Ashley carried Sam and hugged him.
“I don’t know… What are you trying to say?”
“What I’m trying to say is that, whoever your stalker is, he might not know as yet that you live with me. If he does… To be honest, I think he’s a psychopath and… You know what those nutcases can do.”
“You really think so?” Ashley knew her voice was quivering, because Monkey had picked Sam out of her arms and placed him on the floor and took her into his arms.
“I…” His voice trailed off.
“What?” Ashley pressed on.
“I got a threat from your stalker on my cell yesterday when I was at work.” Monkey blabbered in one breath.
Ashley took a moment to absorb the fact. Then she said, “Does that make a difference? You’re still going to Japan, aren’t you?”
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->shuang.dao
whee chapter 4! (: comments please! :D