Fan Fiction |
by TheTruthLies
“Nice pin,” she commented.
“Thanks.” The elevator stopped at the thirty-fifth floor and Ah Lik went out. The door closed and the elevator continued its way down.
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It finally got dark enough for the ceiling lights of the mall to turn on. Man Gwan looked up and what was once a white canopy was now filled with sparkling stars. She climbed up the stairs to get a closer look. It was an out of this world experience. She felt like she was floating in space. The stars were twirling around and there was this white unicorn flying across the sky. Ah Sze wasn’t kidding when she described the Canopy. It was breathtaking. She ran to chase the unicorn, but bumped right into Ah Lik. Ah Lik’s gold pin fell off of his tie and into her purse. “I’m sorry,” said Man Gwan and she continued on her way. Ah Lik noticed that she was the girl in the elevator with him earlier. He was in a hurry so he didn’t really think much of it and quickly went down the stairs. Ah Lik met up with Lilly outside of the mall.
“Sorry, I had to finish up a few papers.” He held her hands.
“For being late, I get to punish you.”
“And what do you have in mind?”
“Mmm…can’t think of anything right now. I’ll tell you when I do.”
“Okay.”
“Where’s the pin I gave you? I thought I told you to wear it everytime we go out?”
Ah Lik looked at his tie and noticed his pin was gone. “Where did it go? I know I had it on me the entire time.” He started searching all over. He looked in his pant pockets, his jacket, and his surroundings.
“You lost it? I can’t believe you lost it. Do you have any idea how much it means to me?”
“No, I didn’t lose it. It’s just misplaced that’s all. I promise you I’ll find it.”
“You better and until you find it, don’t talk to me again,” she said bitterly and hailed a cab.
“Lilly, please wait.” She didn’t stop. She ordered the cab driver to drive off. Ah Lik kicked a can in frustration. Where could it possibly be?
The next morning he went into his office and searched all over for it. He looked at every crack and crevice, but there was no sign of it. He retraced his steps hoping to remember where he might have dropped it. Something suddenly sparked his memory. There was a girl, a girl that ran into him last night. She was the one that commented on his pin. He could have sworn the pin was still on him before she bumped into him. Could it be? He tried to remember what the girl looked like. What he could recall was that she was wearing a customer service uniform. He had never seen her before. She must be new. He decided to look for her. He went up to the customer service desk to see if she was there. She wasn’t. “Gigi, is there a new girl working here?”
“Yes, she started yesterday.”
“Where is she?”
“Over there.” She pointed in Man Gwan’s direction. He turned and made his way to her.
“Excuse me?” He tapped her on the shoulders.
“Yes? How may I help you sir?”
“I’m not a customer. Do you remember me?”
Man Gwan searched her memory. “Vaguely. You seem familiar, but I can place where I’ve seen you before.”
“Well, let me refresh your memory. I was the one in the elevator with you last night, the one that had a gold pin on my tie?”
“Oh yes, I remember now. I love that pin by the way. Where did you get it?”
“Where is it?”
“Where is what?”
“The pin.”
“How would I know? Don’t you have it?”
“Not anymore because I have reasons to believe you took it.”
“Are you saying, I stole your pin?”
“Yes.”
“What? Why would you think that?”
“If you remember, I was the one you also ran into last night. I know I had my pin right before you bumped into me. After you bumped into me, it was gone and you like the pin, you said so yourself.”
“I may have liked your pin, but it doesn’t mean I would steal it. Bumping into you was an accident. I didn’t do it with the intention of stealing your pin. You might have dropped it or something.”
“I looked everywhere. I even retraced my steps. I’m asking kindly, please give it back. This pin means a lot to me. A lot is at stake. If you turn it over now, I promise you I won’t press any charges.”
“How can I give it back if I don’t have it?”
“Fine! You want to do this the hard way? I’m going to search your purse. I remember you had your purse with you last night. You must have bumped into me and put it in your purse.”
“You can’t do that. That’s invading my privacy.”
“Not when I have valid reasons to search.”
“I am not going to let you do that.” A crowd of people had already gathered to watch them argue. Alan had just gotten off the escalator and noticed a large crowd. He went to investigate. He saw Ah Lik and Man Gwan arguing.
“What’s going on?”
“Alan, great, you’re here. I have reasons to suspect that this girl has stolen a valuable of mine.”
“Alan, I didn’t do it. He’s accusing me. He doesn’t even have solid evidence.”
“You know her?”
“She’s my cousin.”
“Oh…well, tell your cousin to hand over her purse. I have a feeling it’s in there.”
Alan looked over at Man Gwan. “Did you do it?”
“No, I didn’t do anything.”
“Okay, we have to solve this problem. Hand over the bag.”
“What?”
“Please, if what you say is true then you should have nothing to worry about, because it wouldn’t be in the bag. This is the only way to prove whether you are guilty or innocent.”
“Fine, but I want you to search not him.” She handed her purse to Alan.
“What is it that you think she stole?”
“A gold pin.” Alan looked through the bag carefully. As he was searching he hoped he wouldn’t find anything, but to his disappointment, Ah Lik was right.
“Is this it?” He took out the gold pin.
“Yes!” He grabbed the pin from Alan. “See, I knew she stole it.”
Man Gwan was in disbelief. “I don’t know how that got there. I swear. Alan you believe me don’t you?”
“With your past record, I really don’t know what to believe.”
Man Gwan felt crushed. Just when she thought her relationship with Alan was improving it had turned for the worse.
“Ah Lik, can you do me a favor and not press any charges?”
“Since I got my pin back and she’s your cousin, okay, you have my word.”
“I apologize for her actions.”
“It’s not your fault.” The crowd dissipated and everyone went back to what they were doing. There was some chatter among Man Gwan’s colleagues. They all looked down upon her. The whole mall will soon know about this incident. Good news doesn’t travel far, but bad news spreads like the plague. Man Gwan felt that the world was collapsing in on her. It felt like everyone was plotting against her. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
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(c) April 1, 2005 TheTruthLies