Always and Forever

[nickianjo]

Tweety,
How do you write so fast?! I got a lot of catching up to do. I love what you got so far and will finish reading your newest chapters asap.

[tweety365]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><table border="0" width="80%" bgcolor="#dcdcdc" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1"><tr><td width="100%"><table border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="10" bgcolor="#DCDCDC"><tr><td width="100%" bgcolor="#eeeeee"><font size="1">Originally posted by nickianjo:
<STRONG>Tweety,
How do you write so fast?! I got a lot of catching up to do. I love what you got so far and will finish reading your newest chapters asap.</STRONG></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></BLOCKQUOTE>

<IMG SRC="smilies/laugh2.gif" border="0"> Because I'm a multi talented gal. <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0">
J/K. To tell you the truth, I've already written a lot of the chapters and have only recently decided to post them here. <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

Maybe I should slow my postings so you can catch up, how's that nickianjo? <IMG SRC="smilies/tongue.gif" border="0">
Enjoy them while you can because once I post up all my chapters, I will at most post 1 chapter a week. <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">
I'm actually quite slow with the updating. Tehehehe.

<font size="1">[ March 12, 2003: Message edited by: tweety365 ]</font>

[nickianjo]

Hehehe... No don't slow down cause other readers might throw rotten tomatoes at me for making u post slowly... <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> . I just haven't been here for a while..

[tweety365]

Chapter 9 - Memories

Character Appearances:
Annie Man Chung Han
Ruby Lin Xin Ru
Lau Don as Dan Lau
Nancy Sit Ka Yin
Tae Sattawat Sethakorn as Tae Leung
Kevin Cheng Ka Wing
Sunny Chan Kam Hung as Stephan Chan
Kenneth Tsang Kong as Keith Tsang

Ruby’s eyebrows shot up as she saw the amount on the receipt. “Whoa! No wonder doctors are so rich. I can’t believe they would take so much money from poor, unfortunate patients like us.”

Annie sighed as she took out her cell phone. “I guess I better call the taxi company to send someone over to pick us up.” She mournfully shook her head. “Now, we’re going to have to spend more money to hire a taxi.”

Standing near a bench at the front entrance of the hospital, the girls were too tired to notice two figures approaching them from behind. They screamed as two hands were placed on each of their shoulders and fearfully ran straight ahead without even turning around to check behind them.
“Annie! Ruby!” An elderly man yelled out. “You two come back here!”

Recognizing the voice, the girls immediately stopped running and turned around. Standing several yards from them was a middle-aged couple with two disapproving frowns on their faces.
“Uncle Dan? Aunt Nancy? What are you doing here?” Annie inquired in a shocked tone.

“Yeah, shouldn’t you still be in England?” Ruby had a puzzled look on her face.

Aunt Nancy gave Annie and Ruby each a tight hug. “Your uncle and I felt uneasy about leaving you and Ruby all alone in Hong Kong, so we decided to return from our vacation in England one week early.”

“When we arrived at the airport, we heard that a group of armed men were holding people as hostages at the Dream-Crescent Hotel,” Uncle Dan stated with concern in his eyes. “Reporters managed to tape most of the guests entering the hotel and when I saw you girls on the news, I almost had a stroke.”

“We were worried sick and rushed to the hotel, but all the roads were blocked. So, we stayed home to listen to the news and prayed for your safety.” Aunt Nancy turned to Annie. “Your parents, God rests their souls, would never forgive us if anything happens to you.”

“Come on girls, you two are staying with us tonight. It’s too late for you to be out waiting for a cab.” Uncle Dan pulled the girls toward his parked car.

Dan Lau was Annie’s uncle, her mother’s only brother. Eleven years ago, Annie and her parents were on a plane trip to Singapore to visit some relatives, but the plane unexpectedly encountered some engine problems and came crashing down. Out of the 250 people aboard the flight, Annie was one of the lucky seven people who survived the crash. At the young age of fourteen, she had lost suddenly lost both her parents. From then on, height became her number fear and she swore never to take the airplane anywhere again. Luckily, her parents bought life insurance and listed her as the sole recipient if they die. She used that money to open her catering business and placed a down payment on her apartment last year.

After her parents’ death, Dan became her legal guardian and took her into his family. Nancy Sit was a gentle and caring woman, who always wanted a daughter of her own, but she had two sons instead. They treated Annie like their very own daughter and she also grew to love them like her parents. Being orphaned at such a young age, she had always been grateful for their kindness.

Twenty minutes later, they finally reached an apartment complex and took the elevator up to the top floor of the twenty-five story high building. Stepping inside the small, but quaint household, Annie tiredly flopped down on the sofa and rested her legs on a footstool. Lying down next to Annie, Ruby proceeded to use Annie’s thighs as a pillow for her head.

Annie tried to muster up the strength to yell at Ruby. “Do I look like a cushion to you?!”

Ruby rubbed her head as she sat up. “Shoot! I forgot how bony your legs are.”

“Annie, I stored some of your old pajamas in the closet, so why don’t you and Ruby go change and get some rest,” Aunt Nancy said. “I’m sure you’re both very tired.”

“Yeah, you two can stay in Annie’s old room,” Uncle Dan pointed down the hall.

Annie and Ruby gave Aunt Nancy and Uncle Dan a kiss on the cheek before heading toward the bedroom. After turning off the lamp on the table stand next to the bed, Ruby turned to her side and closed her eyes. Annie was extremely tired, but she couldn’t go to sleep, so she continued to stare up at the ceiling in the darkness.

“You can’t sleep either?” Ruby whispered ten minutes later.

“Yeah.” Annie smiled in the dark. “How did you know I wasn’t asleep?”

“Because you snore like a bear in your sleep.”

“I do not!” She elbowed Ruby in the ribs.

Ruby softly giggled as she rubbed her ribs. “Damn girl, you didn’t have to drill a hole through my skin.”

Annie reached for the switch on the lamp. “Since we both can’t sleep, want to look at our old photo albums? I asked Aunt Nancy to keep some of my stuffs in this room since my apartment doesn’t have enough space.”

“Sure.”

Hopping out of bed, Annie opened a drawer in the dresser and took out a worn out blue photo album. They sat on the bed and flipped through the yellow pages holding their treasured memories. Grinning cheerfully, Ruby pointed at a photograph with two chubby five year olds sitting on the swings.

“Look Annie, our first day of kindergarten. You were adorable with your messed up hair and tomboyish looks.”

“Urghhhh! Don’t remind me. I looked hideous back then while you always looked like a perfect angel. I thought you were another one of those stuck up pretty girls.”

Ruby smoothed her fingers over the picture. “And I thought you were one of the bullies on the playground and was scared to death of you. Of course that was before you defended me and beat up that fat boy.”

Annie lightly yanked on several strands of Ruby’s hair. “He was making fun of you and pulling your braids while you were too nice to fight back and just stood there crying. By the way, you never told me what he said that made you cried.”

“I wasn’t too nice to fight back, Annie.” She started to reminisce back to that day and continued in a soft voice. “I was too hurt to think clearly. He called me a bastard and my mother a bad woman. His family lived several houses away from us, so he knew that I didn’t have a father and always tried to bully me. But all that changed after you beat him up so badly that he had to be rushed to the nurse’s office.”

“I didn’t hurt him that badly.” Annie balled her hand into a fist. “If I knew what that idiot said to you, I would have given him a real beating.”

“If you consider giving him two black eyes, leaving deep bite marks on his arms, and ripping up his shirt, not beating him up too badly, then I don’t think I want to see what would happen if you really went all out.” Ruby sighed, “I still can’t believe that we caused so much trouble on our first day of school.”

As Ruby silently flipped through the album, she saw a picture of Annie and her father, and suddenly felt a familiar ache in her heart. Annie saw the look in Ruby's eyes and whispered, “Do you ever think about him?”

“You mean my father?” Annie nodded. “When I was younger, I often fantasized that my father isn’t a wealthy, married man living a separate life with another family. He would be a devoted father to me and a loving husband to my mother. At the end of the day, he would come home after a hard day at work and eat dinner with us. As I grew older, I faced reality and tried not to think of him too much. Right after my mother died of leukemia, I wanted to rip open his chest and carve out his heart every time I saw him on television or in the newspapers. Now, I’ve decided to be the bigger person and just pray that he chokes on his shark fin soup and abalone, and die a long and suffering death.”

“If I wasn’t deathly afraid of flying on an airplane, I would take the next flight to Taiwan and beat the crap out him for you,” Annie stated loyally.

Ruby smiled and hugged her friend. “Thanks, Annie. I know I can always count on you to defend me.”

“Of course, but as long as it doesn’t involve flying.”

“I know, I know. Let’s go to sleep. I think we’ve reminisced enough for the night.”

**********

AT KEVIN’S APARTMENT

Stephan and Tae decided to stay at Kevin’s apartment for the night since they were too lazy to drive home. Tae already called his parents to inform them of their whereabouts. Kevin and Stephan were sitting at the kitchen table sipping their beers and eating peanuts while Tae lay sprawled on the sofa with his mouth wide open and snoring loud enough to wake the dead.

Kevin popped a peanut in his mouth as he glanced over his shoulders at Tae. “Damn! Look at that horrible sight. It is truly amazing that so many women are willing to throw themselves at him. How can they possibly stand that awful sound?”

Stephan shook his head in wonder. “That’s a question I’ve always asked myself. At least you didn’t have to listen to that racket every night for three months. I had to share a room with him on our family trip to Paris at Uncle Bob’s mansion. I was seriously thinking of hanging myself just to end my misery.”

“Aren’t there like over forty rooms in his mansion? Why did you have to share a room with Tae?”

“Well, Uncle Bob didn’t remember how many people he invited to his home for summer vacation and too many people showed up that year. Our relatives thought it would be fun to have everyone spend the summer under the same roof since we rarely get together.”
Tae suddenly choked on his saliva and started coughing. After several seconds, he rolled over to his side and resumed his snoring. Stephan walked over to the sofa and threw his jacket over his brother’s head, but it unfortunately failed to silence Tae.

Stephan stared at his younger brother with disgust. “I give up. Hey Kev, I’m going to hit the sack. Don’t stay up too late.”

“I won’t.”

Stephan headed down the hall toward one of the guest rooms and closed the door while Kevin continued to sit at the kitchen table. He was tired, but didn’t feel sleepy yet, so he decided to kill some time by paying his bills. Taking out a stack of mail from the corner, he started to open the envelopes when his cell phone started ringing. He glanced at the clock on the wall and noticed that it was 1 o’clock in the morning.

Kevin muttered to himself, “Who would call at this hour?” He picked up his phone. “Hello.”

“So how’s it going, Black Hawk?” a familiar deep voice inquired. “I see you had quite an exciting night.”

Kevin’s expression instantly turned grim as he tightened his hold on his cell phone. “What do you want, Keith?” he whispered in a gruff tone.

“You know I wouldn’t call you if this is not urgent. Meet me at Mammoth Peak in half an hour. We need to talk.”

Kevin wanted to ask him more questions, but Keith had already hung up. Walking into the guest room, he found Stephan sound asleep. On his way out the door, he grabbed his coat and car keys without bothering to check up on Tae because he knew his friend wouldn’t wake up even if the building collapsed.

MAMMOTH PEAK

Kevin arrived at the top of the hill fifteen minutes later and saw a man in his fifties wearing a black leather coat standing against the railing near the ledge. Turning off the headlights, he took a deep breath to prepare himself for what he knew was going to take place. Walking up to his former supervisor, the two men stood there side by side without uttering a single word for several minutes and just stared down at city lights below.

“Hong Kong really is a beautiful place. Don’t you think so, Black Hawk?”

“Yes, it is,” Kevin said after a brief pause. “And I am no longer the Black Hawk.”

“Still stubborn as hell,” Keith chuckled. “I’m sure you know why I called you out.”

“If this is regarding another assignment, then forget about it. My days as a police officer are over and I’m not interested in working as a spy again. I’m tired of always having to look over my shoulder and putting my life on the line.”

There was a keen look in Keith’s aging eyes. “You may say that, but do you think I don’t know the real reason you retired from the force? It’s been over three years, Kevin. I thought you would be able to get over Ricky’s death by now.”

At the mention of his younger bother’s name, Kevin angrily slammed his palm down on the steel railing and fixed a cold stare on Keith. “Leave Ricky out of this,” he uttered in a dangerously low voice. “You’re wasting your breath, Keith. I’m sure you can find someone else to do the job, so I would appreciate it if you don’t contact me anymore.”

Kevin turned to leave, but he froze in mid-stride at the older man’s words.

“You would pass up on the opportunity to catch the Dragon?”

Shock registered in his dark face as he whirled around with disbelief in his eyes. “He’s still alive?!”

“Apparently that explosion three years ago didn’t kill him,” Keith disclosed the information. “He is now the mastermind behind the multi-million dollar cocaine operation in Shanghai and using several large investment companies to launder money for him. We need you, Kevin. Only you have the skills and experience to finish this job. The guys in the unit still talk about Black Hawk’s great accomplishments.”

“I’ll do it,” There was a deadly determination in Kevin’s eyes as he instantly agreed to the mission.

“I knew you wouldn’t let me down,” Keith sighed with relief. “I’ll contact you in a couple of days with the details.”

Kevin stepped on the gas pedal, sending his car racing down the streets toward Victoria Harbor. Making a screeching stop at the railings on the edge of the pier, he stepped out of his car and strolled aimlessly along the bridge while staring up at the starry sky. As the cool breezy wind blew against his face, his mind wandered back to thinking about his brother’s death at the age of twenty-one.

No matter how many times he told himself that Ricky’s death was not his fault, guilt remained tearing at his conscience for the last three years. He may act the happy, flirtatious guy on the outside, but not many people were able see or understand that beneath his cheerful grins was a haunted soul. Tae and Stephan knew that he was hiding a secret, but they never tried to pry any information out of him. Whenever he felt depressed, he would call them out and they would all just sit around and get drunk together, but he didn’t feel like bothering them tonight.

Coming from a wealthy, caring family, Kevin grew up getting everything he wanted. What he couldn’t buy, he would charm out of people with his dazzling smile and winning personality. So, he didn’t feel that there was much challenge in life. Wanting to contribute to society and make a difference in people’s lives, he decided to join the police academy. At the young age of twenty, he graduated in the top 3% of his class and worked as a regular police officer for one year before being transferred to the Special Crime Unit as an undercover agent. In the short span of seven years, he managed to crack over ten of the top cases involving drugs and money laundering, and placed some of the most high profile criminals behind bars.

For years, he worked under the secret identity of Black Hawk, the legendary spy of the HK Criminal Investigation Department. Everyone assumed he was just an ordinary officer, patrolling the busy streets of Hong Kong. He prided himself in his accomplishments, but never underestimated the criminals he had to apprehend and was never arrogant of his abilities. He had a great family and a dangerous job that he loved, but just when he thought nothing could dampen his spirit, his life abruptly took a nosedive.

THREE YEARS AGO:
AT AN ABANDONED CARLOT

Kevin and his team of undercover agents comprising of five other men had been working for months trying to capture the leader of the Red Scale Gang, nicknamed Dragon. After obtaining the location of their illegal dealings, his team and a large group of other police officers staked out at the warehouse. Assuming the identity of a regular cop, he hid behind several large loading carts and waited for the Red Scale gang members to exchange their illegal drugs for money from another gang. As the exchange was taking place, the officers immediately seized all the suspects along with the drugs and money, but one man standing in the back managed to outrun them and headed toward the five story high warehouse fifty yards away.

Kevin jumped out from his hiding place to chase after the other man. “STOP!!!
The pursuit led to the roof of the building as he pulled out his gun and aimed it at the suspect’s back. He was breathing hard as he screamed at the other man. “I SAID STOP, @$$HOLE! Put your hands behind your heads and lie down! NOW!!!”
The other man slowly placed his hands behind his head and turned around.

Kevin was so stunned that he almost dropped his gun. “Ricky?! What the hell are you doing here?!”

With fear showing in his eyes, Ricky ran toward his brother. “Kevin, I’m so glad it’s you. I didn’t want to do it, but they made me. You have to help me.”

“Slow down. Tell me exactly what happened. Who made you? Why are you here with those gang members?”

Ricky nervously racked his hands through his hair. “I lost two million dollars playing the stock markets and borrowed some money from this guy one of my friends knew. I wanted to recover my losses and bought some more stocks, but the damn company went bankrupt and I lost all my money. He told me that if I help him out by bringing some briefcases to some of his friends, I don’t have to pay him back. I didn’t want Mom and Dad to find out that I owed so much money, so I agreed.”

Kevin had a sinking feeling at the pit of his stomach. “How many times have you done this?”

“This is the fourth time, but he promised I won’t have to do this anymore,” Ricky said as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

“Come back with me to the police station, Ricky,” Kevin said in a quiet voice. “I’ll ask the courts to be lenient on you. I’m sure that since this is your fist offense and that you didn’t resist arrest, they will give you a lighter sentence.”

“NO!! I’m not going back with you! Don’t you understand, Kev?! I’m going to graduate from college in a couple of weeks! I can’t go to prison! My life will be ruined!

With a pained look, Kevin sadly shook his head. “You should have thought about that before you agreed to break the law and sell drugs.”

“I didn’t KNOW there were drugs in those briefcases!!!” Ricky panicked. “You’re my big brother, why aren’t you helping me?! You always helped me out before.”

“Even I can’t bail you out this time.” Kevin turned anguish eyes on his brother. “Turn yourself in. Mom and dad will forgive you.”

“Let me go, Kev.” Ricky dropped to his knees before Kevin with tears running down his cheeks. “I don’t want to go to jail!” he sobbed.

As Kevin stood there wavering for a split second, Ricky jumped up and pushed him aside. He ran toward the fire escape, but tripped on a loose wire and fell over the side of the building.
“AHHHHHHHHHH!!!” Ricky screamed out.

“RICKY!!!” Kevin leaped up and ran to the ledge. Terror ripped through his body as he saw his brother tightly hanging onto a rusty cable antenna attached to the wall.
He was lying flat on his stomach as he reached for Ricky’s hand. “HOLD ON, RICKY!! I’LL GET YOU UP! GRAB MY HAND!”

Ricky reached for Kevin’s outstretched hand, but just when he managed to grasp Kevin’s fingers, the antenna snapped and he fell screaming down to his death.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!! RICKYYYYY!!!"
Kevin was too horrified to move as he continued to lie on the ledge, staring down at his younger brother’s twisted, lifeless body on the pavement. He slowly closed his eyes against the bloody scene, but he knew that this day will haunt him for the rest of his life.

BACK TO PRESENT TIME

Kevin pulled out his wallet and stared at a picture he took with Ricky when his brother graduated from high school. He looked so young and happy with a vibrant grin on his face.
“Don’t worry, Ricky. I’m going to get that bastard,” he solemnly promised. “I won’t let him and his gang hurt young, innocent people like you ever again.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay, for my long delay, I’ve written a slightly longer chapter. Hope you guys will enjoy it. I know it’s kinda dark and sad, but hey, I have to introduce the background first before I can start on the fun stuffs again, right? Well, do tell me what you think. ^_^

[jeh]

Ooh, look like somebody have a crush on Stephan. Anyway, Annie and Ruby are just so hilarious. It was so funny to see Ruby screaming her lung out when she thought Annie was dead <IMG SRC="smilies/laugh2.gif" border="0">. Great chapter, Tweety. Hope you can update soon <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">

[lil_bubble]

Haha! The last chapter brightened up my day! Hmm.. more like night.. Anyway, spice things up huh? Can't wait! <IMG SRC="smilies/tongue.gif" border="0">

[tweety365]

Hehehehehe, just thought I post another poster for this story <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://www.boomspeed.com/tweety365/AlwaysForever2.jpg')

[tweety365]

Chapter 10 - Burglar In The House

Last chapter: Kevin’s background as an undercover agent was revealed and his old supervisor, Keith Tsang, wanted him to return to the force to work on a special case. Without waiting to know more details about the case, Kevin agreed to the mission after knowing that the “Dragon” was still alive.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Character Appearances:
Annie Man Chung Han
Ruby Lin Xin Ru
Kevin Cheng Ka Wing

True to her words, Annie slept till noon on Saturday with Ruby more than willing to join her in dreamland. However, their stomachs started growling and demanding food, so they grudgingly dragged themselves out of bed to get something to eat. With her hair all messed up, Ruby staggered out to the kitchen with her eyes half closed and a blanket wrapped comfortably around her. On the other, Annie was walking behind Ruby and leaning on her friend’s back while hugging a fluffy pillow to her chest with her eyes closed. Rubbing her eyes, Ruby picked up a note on the kitchen table and nudged Annie’s arm with her elbow.

“Hey, it seems like we have the whole house to ourselves. Your aunt and uncle went to buy more Chinese herbs for their shop and should be back late in the evening. They left some food for us in the refrigerator.”

“Girl, wake up!” Ruby started to poke Annie’s cheek with her index finger.

“What?” Annie replied sleepily. “I’m awake.”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “No, you are not. Your eyes are still closed. And would you mind not leaning on me anymore? You’re not exactly light.”

Yawning, Annie she shifted her weight to lean against the wall. “I’m just resting my eyes.”

“Fine, rest your eyes.” Ruby headed toward the fridge. “More orange chicken for me.”

Annie’s eyelids instantly popped open. “Hey! Save some for me too!”

“Okay, you get the drinks and I’ll get the food.” Ruby rummaged through the fridge, gathering the food.

They piled two plates of orange chicken, two large bowls of rice, one plate of beef and broccoli, two bowls of potato soup, and two cans of soda on a large tray. After comfortably settling themselves on the couch, they turned on the television and stuffed their faces with food while watching the news.

“Annie, look.” Ruby pointed to the tv screen and spoke with her mouth full of chicken. “That’s us on the news!”

Annie’s head jerk up and saw that the news station was reporting about the incident at the Dream-Crescent Hotel yesterday. Images of people being rushed out of the hotel and onto ambulances were flashed onscreen.

They intently listened to the news reporter. “It has been verified that the armed suspects responsible for the hostage crisis at the Dream-Crescent Hotel, one of Hong Kong’s most reputable hotels, are members of the Eagleside Gang. They wanted to exchange the hostages for the release of their leader, Mark Chan, also known as Soaring Eagle. The Eagleside members are notorious for the trafficking of illegal drugs and money laundering as well being linked to numerous homicides. Several large companies are currently under investigation for their alleged connections with this gang. For the past several years, a gang war has erupted between the Eagleside Gang and the Red Scale Gang for the rights to operate their activities in the much-coveted downtown territories. For the latest updates on this precarious case, please tune in at primetime tonight.”

“Damn!” Annie exclaimed. “I still can’t believe that we were the targets of such a dangerous gang. I feel so blessed to be safe and alive now. Don’t you agree, Ruby?”

Not hearing a response from Ruby, Annie turned around to see that her plate of orange chicken was in Ruby’s hands and the contents were half gone.
“HEY! YOU GREEDY PIG! I didn’t even get to eat any chicken yet!”

Annie lunged toward Ruby with the intent of getting her plate back, but Ruby immediately jumped over the back of the sofa and ran around the room.
“RUBY LIN!” Annie quickly pursued her. “You come back here with my food! You already had your share!”

Ruby was running with the plate in her hand. “Too bad! I’m still hungry.”

They continued to joke around until late that evening and created a mess in the living room. Needless to say, Uncle Dan and Aunt Nancy were more than surprised to see the state of disorder in their house.

SUNDAY MORNING

After spending several hours last night cleaning up the house, the girls decided that it was time to return to their apartment. “I still think you and Ruby should move in here to live with us,” Uncle Dan said, frowning. “That way, your aunt and I wouldn’t have to constantly worry about your safety.”

“I’m twenty five years old and fully capable of taking care of myself,” Annie reassured them. “Our apartment is located in a great neighborhood and besides, I have Ruby living with me.”

Aunt Nancy turned to the girls. “Well, you two be extra careful and remember to give us a call once in a while. The weather is starting to get cold now, so don’t forget to put on some warm clothes when you go out. I know I’m annoying you girls with my boring talks, so you two better head off.”

“You can never bore us, Mrs. Lau,” smiled Ruby. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of Annie.”

Aunt Nancy gave Ruby a stern frown. “Ruby, how many times do I have to remind you not to call me Mrs. Lau? Call me Aunt Nancy. You’re practically my second daughter.”

“But I’ve been calling you, ‘Mrs. Lau,’ for twenty years, so it’s really hard to change now.”

“Well, you better remember next time you see us or you can say goodbye to her home cooked meals,” Uncle Dan warned.

“Is that a threat?” laughed Ruby.

“Of course,” Aunt Nancy said with humor glinting in her eyes. “Now, you girls better go before we change our minds and decide to keep you here.”

The girls were standing at the bus stop waiting for their ride when Ruby suddenly remembered about the terrier at the Dream-Crescent Hotel.
“Oh, shoot! Annie, I totally forgot about that dog that Tae and I found at the hotel. I want to go check on her at the animal shelter. You go ahead and take the bus home, and I’ll take another bus to the shelter.”

“Sure, but don’t take too long.”

As Annie got on the bus heading home, she abruptly recalled that the music albums she asked Benny to order for her came the day he left for Singapore. Being so busy lately, she totally forgot about her cds. Pulling her cell phone from her purse, she dialed Ruby’s number.

“Ruby, I'm going to drop by Benny’s house to pick up my cds, so I might be late coming home… Okay, I’ll see you later. Bye.”

Forty minutes, Annie stepped off the small bus and walked on the narrow pathway leading up to a luxuriously furnished two-story house. Taking a spare key that Benny gave her before he left, she opened the front door and disarmed the security system in the house. Remembering that Benny told her he placed her albums in the garage, she headed toward the back of the house and opened a door separating the garage from the kitchen. She opened the cabinets and was astounded to see that countless boxes were lined up against the wall.

“Darnit! Stupid Benny!” she grumbled loudly. “Why couldn’t he label these cartons?!” She stared at the cabinets for several minutes. “What the heck, I’ll just open all the boxes. They’re bound to be in here somewhere.”

After half an hour of rummaging through the boxes and not being able to find her albums, Annie was becoming extremely frustrated. “DAMN! Why are there so many boxes?!”

She was about to give up and go home when a package in the far corner of the cabinet caught her eyes. She quickly ripped open the wrappings and to her delight, found her music albums.
“FINALLY!!!” she squealed with joy and hugged the package to her chest. “Oh, fifty of my all time favorite music albums!”

She left all the opened boxes in the garage and headed out the door. “Benny wouldn’t mind cleaning up the garage. Afterall, it is his fault for not placing my cds in an easier place to find.”

Walking out of the garage, she suddenly heard someone opening the front door and the sounds of footsteps heading her direction.
[* Annie thinking to herself *]: HOLY CRAP! A burglar! (Remember seeing a metal baseball bat in the garage, she went back to arm herself with a weapon.) Well, I’ll show him the consequences of trying to steal from one of my friends.”

Placing her albums on the dining table, she hid behind the kitchen door with the bat held high above her head and prepared herself to strike at the burglar when he walked through the door. With sweaty palms and a racing heart, she prayed that this intruder wasn’t a bulky man. The door opened and she immediately swung at the man’s head with all her might. However, a split second before the bat made contact with his head, he swiftly grabbed the bat and yanked it out of her hand. With blinding speed, he roughly grasped her right arm and forcefully twisted it behind her back.

Annie instantly rammed her elbow against her attacker’s stomach and stomped on his foot with her high-heeled boot. Grimacing in pain, he slammed her head several times against the wall and pinned her down on the cold floor. Trying to restrain her, the man had his knee on her lower spine and her arm locked behind her back. While lying on her stomach, she was in so much pain that her head was spinning, yet she was still desperately trying to twist free of his hold.

“Let me go, you overgrown baboon! I have close connections with some of the top police officers in Hong Kong. So if anything happens to me, they will hunt you down like a dog and have you skinned alive!”

“Annie?” the man abruptly released her arm. “Is that you?”

“Who the hell are you?!” she asked, confused. “How do you know my name?”

“I’m Kevin.”

“Kevin?!” she tried to turn her head to get a good look at him. “You dimwitted moron! Why are you still kneeling on me?! Get your bony knee off my back!”

He promptly moved off her back and tried to help her up. “I’m so sorry, Annie. I didn’t know it was you and thought a burglar was breaking into the house. Are you all right?”

Angrily shoving his hands away, she cradled her sore arm and pulled herself up. Without warning, she gave him a vicious kick in the shin with the pointed tip of her boot before heading over to the dining table. Howling in pain, Kevin grabbed his leg and gave her a disgruntled look.
“Now, was that necessary?” he whimpered. “I already apologized to you.”

“Hey, an eye for an eye,” she glowered back. “Since you almost dislocated my arm and nearly gave me a concussion by banging my head against the wall, the least I can do is return the favor.”

Feeling light headed, she leaned against the table and tentatively touched her forehead. Staring at her hand, she saw blood on her fingertips. “OH, MY GOD!” she gasped out in horror. “I’m bleeding!”

Seeing a small cut on her forehead and several large bumps starting to swell up near her hairline, Kevin limped toward the kitchen cabinet to get the first aid kit. Hastily returning to her with the kit, he opened the box and took out several small packages of antiseptic napkins. She was too dizzy to notice what he was doing.

“Aiya!” she winced in pain as he wiped her cut with the wet napkins. “That stings!”

He tightened his grip on her head. “Hold still! I can’t clean your wound if you keep fidgeting.”

“I can do it myself. Nobody asks for your help and don’t think I’ll thank you for helping me. This is all your fault.”

“Don’t you ever shut up?” he asked in an annoyed tone.

She was about to give him another scathing reply but her arm was aching too much and her head was still throbbing.

He applied a soothing antibacterial balm on her cut. “What? No biting remarks?”

She narrowed her eyes and said, “I don’t want to waste my breath on a low-down, dirty, vile, rat that is definitely a poor excuse for a human being.”

He chuckled as he placed two small bandages on her forehead. “Well, this must truly be my lucky day since Miss Annie Man is bestowing her kindness on a worthless man like myself by not hurling insults at my direction.”

Hearing the sarcasm in his voice, she jumped up from her seat and was about to give him a piece of her mind, when she suddenly felt extremely dizzy and collapsed to the side. Kevin immediately rushed forward and swiftly caught her before she hit the floor. Wrapping his arm securely around her waist, he supported her head against his chest.

“Annie! Annie!” he gently shook her. “Wake up!”
With concern in his dark eyes, he carried her upstairs to one of the guest rooms and laid her down on the bed.

SEVERAL HOURS LATER

Annie moaned as she gradually opened her eyes and stared at her unfamiliar surroundings. Only feeling a slight headache, she slowly sat up in the dimly lit room. Holding her forehead, she made her way downstairs to search for Kevin and headed toward the sounds coming from the kitchen. The scene in the kitchen caused her to smile as she stood leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed over her chest. Kevin managed to appear completely at ease wearing a yellow cooking apron and frying something in a pan. He was humming a happy tune and swaying his hips to the beat. With his attention focused on his cooking, he failed to notice her standing behind him with a silly grin on her face.

His tall, muscular frame along with his striking features could easily land him on the front cover of any fashion magazine. Now that she thought about it, he wasn’t really such a bad guy. So, he jumped to conclusion and thought she was a hooker. Maybe there was some misunderstanding with his conversation with Benny. He also did apologized for unintentionally attacking her. Out of the blue, he held up a spatula and started singing and waving his hands like he was a singer at an actual concert. Annie burst out laughing and clutching her stomach. Kevin whirled around and his face turned crimson red once he saw her standing in the corner giggling her head off.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to spy on people,” Kevin said, embarrassed.

Annie was trying to stop laughing as she wiped the corner of her eyes with her sleeve. “Damn! I wish I had a camcorder! That moment was priceless!” Unable to continue on, she burst out in another fit of hysterical giggles.

He turned around and continued his cooking. “Well, I take it that you’re feeling a lot better since you definitely have your warped sense of humor back.”

She sat down at the kitchen counter. “Since I’m in a good mood, I will let that remark slide by, but don’t push your luck. By the way, what are you cooking?” she asked while sniffing the mouth-watering aroma coming from the food. “It doesn’t smell half bad.”

“Just some grilled steak and steamed vegetables. You hungry?”

Annie’s stomach was throwing a tantrum, but she didn’t want to let him know that.
She shrugged, “Not really, but I wouldn’t mind giving you some pointers on your cooking.”

“You have my undying gratitude for providing me with much needed feedbacks on my cooking,” he grinned.

She was trying hard not to smile at his teasing. “Consider this my good deed for the day.”

Kevin placed the food on a plate. “Of course.”

Placing his plate down on the kitchen counter, he turned to prepare Annie’s portion. Gazing at the juicy steak and steaming vegetables on his plate, she was barely able to keep her hands off his food as her mouth watered with hunger. Returning with a can of cold sardines and some dried crackers, he plopped the contents on her dish.

Gaping with shock, Annie turned to yell at him, only to find him beaming with silent mirth. “Gotcha.”

Annie had a scowl on her face. “Hahaha, very funny. Now, where’s my food?”

“You mean, you don’t like sardines and crackers?”

She held up a fist near his face. “You don’t want to mess with me with I’m hungry.”

“I thought you said you weren’t hungry?”

“So, I lied,” she said with a shrug.

He took out a plate filled with a large, hot steak and a side dish of vegetables from under the counter. “In that case, enjoy the food, milady.”

The two sat next to each at the kitchen counter, enjoying their meal in an oddly peaceful silence. Kevin never felt so at ease with a woman before. Stealing a quick glance at Annie’s profile, he saw that she was totally absorbed in her food. “You seem to be enjoying the food. So, how’s my cooking?”

“Not bad, but hey, when a person is hungry, anything can taste halfway decent,” she mumbled while chewing a piece of steak.

“You really do have high standards,” he said while shaking his head.

She shoved the last piece of string bean into her mouth. “Of course. After all, I am a chef. Well, thanks for lunch, Kevin. It’s getting late, so I’ll be going now.” Picking up her purse and music albums, she headed toward the door. “Hopefully, I won’t see your face again anytime soon. Bye.”

“I hate to disappoint you, but we’re stuck here for awhile. All the roads around here are blocked,” he calmly revealed.

Spinning around, Annie had on a very astonished look. “What are you talking about? The roads were perfectly fine this morning when I took the bus here.”

Kevin was casually sipping his ice tea. “That was before a truck rammed into a telephone pole and knocked down several miles of phone lines as well as causing a huge traffic jam.”

[jeh]

Great chapter! <IMG SRC="smilies/thumbsup.gif" border="0"> I can't believe Kevin had such a sad past. <IMG SRC="smilies/frown.gif" border="0">

[tweety365]

To jeh and lil_bubble: A <IMG SRC="smilies/hug.gif" border="0"> to my devoted readers. Always so sweet with the comments. <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

I will bring in certain sad elements into the story, so hope you guys will still find this little tale of mine entertaining <IMG SRC="smilies/tongue.gif" border="0">

Don't worry, nickianjo, I haven't forgotten about you <IMG SRC="smilies/hug.gif" border="0">, even though you're a little slow with the reading <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">. I mean, you're one of the "THREE" readers I have who actually comment. Means a lot to me and I really appreciate it.

[tweety365]

Chapter 11 - Together For A Day

Character Appearances:
Kevin Cheng Ka Wing
Annie Man Chung Han
Ruby Lin Xin Ru

“How do you know?” Annie asked with a doubtful frown.
“After I placed you in the bedroom, I decided to watch tv to kill some time while waiting for you to wake up. The news stations aired the accident live only a couple of hours ago. Apparently, the truck driver was drunk and smashed into the telephone pole a couple of miles from here. It was estimated that 15 cars were involved in the accident. If you don’t believe me, turn on the tv and see for yourself.”

She grabbed the remote control on the coffee table and flipped on the television. Sure enough, several stations were still covering the accident. Scenes of telephone lines lying on the roads and an endless line of cars stuck in traffic were shown.

Seeing her unhappy expression, he tried to cheer her up. “Hey, don’t look so down. The roads and phone lines should be cleared out by tomorrow morning.”

She turned off the television and slumped down on a nearby couch. “Of all the damn luck! Now, what are we going to do? And how can you eat at a time like this?”

Kevin continued eating his lunch. “Even if I starve myself, we are still going to be stranded here.”

“There has to be another way out. Don’t just sit there. Think of something.”

“If I had a solution, would I be sitting in this chair having this delightful conversation with you? We’re just going to have to wait till morning.”

“Great. Now, I’m stuck in this house with you,” she muttered in a depressed voice.

“Hey! What is that supposed to mean? I’m not exactly thrilled to be here either, so that makes two of us.”

All of a sudden, she jumped up from her seat. “Oh, shoot! What time is it? Ruby must be worried sick about me by now.”

“It’s 2 o’clock.” He saw her reaching for the phone hanging on the kitchen wall. “Don’t bother. None of the phones in this house are working. Like I told you, the phone lines within several miles perimeter of the accident are temporarily down.”

Annie’s eyes lit up as she remembered her cell phone. Grabbing her purse, she hastily searched the contents inside. While this was going on, Kevin had his elbow perched on the counter with his chin resting in his hand as he stared at her with an amused grin. Finally, locating her phone, she started dialing the apartment’s number, but the battery was dead. She started cursing up a storm as she paced the living room floor.

He smugly took out a small object from his coat pocket and started waving it around. “It seems someone is in need of a phone,” he said smiling.

She happily rushed over to him and reached for his cell phone. “Why didn’t you say anything sooner? Let me borrow that.”

He quickly stood up and held the phone high above her head as she jumped up and down trying to reach it. “Not so fast. First of all, I only let polite people borrow my stuffs.”

She was wearing a disgruntled expression as she asked in a stiff tone, “May I PLEASE borrow your phone, Mr. Cheng?”

He was trying hard to keep a serious face. “I don’t know. You don’t look or sound very sincere. Maybe if you apologize for kicking me earlier, I might consider letting you borrow this.”

“WHAT?!” she protested in outrage. “Have you lost your mind?! First you brutally attacked me and now you want me to apologize to you?! Not in a million years!”

“I already said I was sorry for mistaking you for a burglar and unintentionally hurting you. However, I have yet to hear an apology from you for nearly puncturing a hole in my leg with your boot.”

She gave him a death stare and pointed to her forehead. “I only kicked you once. Look how many bumps I have on my forehead. Plus, my arm is still aching.”

He casually shrugged. “No apology, no phone.”

With an angry growl, she charged toward him just as he was about to put the phone back in his coat pocket. He immediately stretched out his hand and blocked her attack by placing his palm against her forehead. She reached out and attempted to grab the cell phone out of his grip. Unable to reach the object of her desire, she quickly found another way to get it by punching him in the ribs. As he doubled over in pain, she jumped on his back and tightly wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Now, are you going to give it to me or not?!” she asked while squeezing his throat.

“Annie, let go of my neck!” he exclaimed as he tried to pry her arms away. “You’re suffocating me!”

She stubbornly shook her head. “Hand over your phone first!”

“No!”

She started to tighten her grip on his neck. He finally relented and squeaked out, “Fine!” He tossed the phone down on the plush carpet. “It’s all yours. Now let go.”

She immediately released her hold around his throat and hopped off his back. She joyfully picked up the cell phone and started dialing. After a couple of seconds, she whirled around and gave him a threatening glare.

“You slimy, underhanded, rotten, good-for-nothing WEASEL! What’s the password to turn on the phone?!”

Kevin was coughing and laughing at the same time. “You didn’t think I would just hand you my phone, did you? Why don’t you try choking the password out of it?”

“KEVIN CHENG!!!” she screamed.

He stood leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest and a wide gloating smile plastered on his face. “I think someone owes me an apology,” he said, clearly enjoying her frustration.

She contemplated her options and knew that it was highly unlikely that she could wrestle the password from him. Ruby was most likely freaking out by now and probably called Uncle Dan and Aunt Nancy to ask about her.

“Sorry,” she muttered irritably.

“Did you say something, Annie?” he asked, cupping his ear with his hand.

Her hand was itching to give him a punch in the nose. “Sorry.”

“What was that? I didn’t quite catch what you just said.”

“I said I’m sorry,” she grumbled in a slightly louder voice.

He thought she looked really cute when her eyes flamed up with anger. “You have to speak up, Annie. I can’t hear you.”

She walked over to him and stood next to his left side. “I’M SORRY I KICKED YOU!!!” she shouted in his ear.

He instantly backed away while covering his ear. “AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Jesus, woman! No need to scream the house down.”

She stood with her hands perched on her waist. “Well, I already apologized. What’s the password? I don’t have all day you know.”

“Now, was that so difficult? I didn’t know you could be so cooperative. The password is ‘11122233312345.’ ”

She made a face. “What kind of stupid password is that?”

“Any more lip from you and I’m taking my phone back.”

She stuck out her tongue at him before turning around to dial the apartment’s number. “Hello, Ruby?”

Ruby’s loud voice could be heard several feet away. “ANNIE!!! Where have you been?! I tried calling your cell phone, but you didn’t pick up. What happened?”

“Ruby, calm down. I’m perfectly fine. Have you called my uncle or aunt yet?”

“No, I didn’t want to scare them, so I decided to wait a while more before contacting them.”

Annie breathed a sigh of relief. “Good thing you didn’t call them; otherwise, they’ll probably want me to move back in with them again. Anyways, I’m at Benny’s house right now and all the roads leading out of here are blocked because there was a huge traffic accident. The phone lines are down and my cell phone ran out of battery, so I wasn’t able to call you before. Kevin is here with me and luckily he has his cell phone.”

“So, when will the roads be cleared out?”

“Most likely by tomorrow morning, so I’ll see you then.”

“WHAT!” Ruby cried out. “Don’t tell me you are going to spend the night in an isolated house with a guy you barely know.”

“Well, if you don’t hear back from me by tomorrow afternoon, Kevin Cheng is the person responsible for my demise.”

“Annie, this is not the time to joke around! You know I have a weak heart, so don’t scare me like that.”

“I was only joking. I promise to call you if anything goes wrong. Talk to you later. Bye.”
After hanging up, Annie idly tossed the phone back to Kevin and headed toward the stairway.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“I still have a slight headache, so I’m going to take a nap,” she yawned. “Unless the house is burning down, don’t bother me.”

He could only shake his head and smile. Annie Man was definitely a very unique girl. One minute she was jumping on his back, demanding his phone and the next she could take a nap and act like nothing out of the ordinary was happening. She definitely had spirit though. He sat down on the couch and gingerly rubbed his shin where she kicked him this morning. It seemed like every time they meet, he ended up getting hurt in some way. One thing was for sure, he would never be bored with her around. His happy countenance suddenly turned grim as his thoughts returned to thinking about his upcoming secret mission. Keith will be sending him all the information regarding the case tomorrow, so he still had today to relax.

LATER ON THAT EVENING

Annie sluggishly opened her eyes and turned to her sides with a loud yawn. Her headache was totally gone and her energy was fully rejuvenated. Sitting up in the bed, she stretched and gazed out the window to see that it was completely dark outside. Tossing the blanket aside, she got off the bed and went into the bathroom to wash her face and freshen up. Walking out of the bedroom, she noticed that the house was in total darkness except for the living room downstairs. Making her way down the steps, she walked around searching for Kevin and found him sitting on the sofa with his head bent over a board game. Tiptoeing across the carpet, she stood behind him and saw that he was in deep concentration.

She leaned down close to his ear and eerily whispered, “What are you playing?”

He gave a startled yelp before turning around. “Didn’t anybody ever tell you it’s not polite to sneak up on people?” he asked with a peeved expression.

“Hahahahaha,” she laughed while pointing at him. “Scared you, didn’t I?”

“Of course not!” he denied.

She was still laughing. “You looked like you were about to pee in your pants!”

He ignored her and focused his attention back on his game. She glanced at the board and found that he was playing chess by himself. With her hands placed behind her back, she continued to stand quietly by his side and stared at the chessboard for several minutes. He finally stared up at her hovering form. “Do you want to play?”

She promptly sat down on the stool facing him and smiled happily. “I thought you’d never ask. I love this game.”

“Are you any good?” he inquired curiously.

“I play chess once in a while in my spare time.” She failed to mention that she was the former chess champion at her high school and won numerous awards at the regional chess competitions. They cleared the board and set up the 16 black and 16 white pieces for a new game. She made her moves skillfully, but never underestimating his ability. Being bold at first, she was decisive and quick, but after one hour, she started to slow down.

“It seems I have finally met my match.”

“I didn’t think you noticed,” he replied, chuckling. “You’re not half bad yourself.”

She moved her pawn forward. “Why, thank you. I wouldn’t want to disappoint you.”

They continued for another hour and the game ended in a tie, so they started a second match. When he reached for one of his knights, she gave her warning. “If I were you, I wouldn’t make such a rash move.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “You are hardly in the position to give advice after your last careless move, Annie.”

She smiled as she shifted her bishop to an empty spot. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“By the way, what are you doing at Benny’s house?”

“I asked Benny to order 50 music albums for me because his country club was giving their members discounts to several large music stores. The day he left for Singapore, the albums were delivered and I’ve been so busy that I totally forgot about them. I finally remembered this morning and dropped by to pick up my music albums. Some of these cds are no long in circulation and I’ve been looking everywhere for them.”

“Have you known Benny for a long time?” he questioned curiously.

“Approximately two years. We met at a New Year’s Eve party. What about you? How long have you known him?”

He shifted another rook. “We were roommates in college. Great guy to have around when you need something fixed. I have yet to encounter a device that he doesn’t know how to operate. His nickname in college was mechanical boy.”

She cleverly blocked his move. “Yeah, I have noticed that he likes to take things apart and then put them back together. So, what were you doing snooping around here?”

“For your information, Benny borrowed my tool set and kept forgetting to return it to me. So, I decided to get them back before he loses the kit. I keep telling him to buy a set instead of borrowing mine, but that guy is too damn lazy. And I’m not too sure about who was doing the snooping. At least I wasn’t hiding behind a kitchen door armed with a deadly weapon.”

“How was I supposed to know you would come barging in like that? I’m not a psychic. Your turn.”

He moved his rook into a dangerous position and left his king open to be checked. With a glowing sparkle in her eyes, Annie thought she was going to easily win this round. A couple of minutes later, she stared in shock as her king was checked. She shook her head in disbelief. “That can’t be. How did my king get checked?”

“You were too eager to make your move earlier and made one fatal mistake by leaving one of your rook unguarded. I took the opportunity to advance my pawn closer toward your king without you noticing. Like the saying goes, ‘One false move and you lose the whole game.’ Better luck next time.”

He stretched and stood up with the intent of leaving. She grabbed his arm and yanked him back down. “I demand a rematch. This game isn’t finished, yet.”

“Game’s over. I’m going to get something to eat.”

“I don’t think so. We stop when I win,” she said willfully. “Besides, I think you somehow cheated.”

“CHEATED?!” Kevin was completely stunned. He had been called a lot of things, but never in his life had he ever been labeled a cheater. “Good Lord! You are such a sore loser.”

She pouted prettily. “I take offense at being called a sore loser! I’m not a loser, yet.”

“Okay, okay, we'll play another round after I feed my stomach.”

She sat at the coffee table and tried to figure out how she lost. “This time, I’m keeping my eyes glued to the board.”

After dinner, they continued their match late into the night. She managed to win the third round, but he defeated her in the next two matches. Needless to say, she was not too pleased at being the loser.

[jeh]

Woah, that was a pretty long chapter but I don't mind. It was hilarious <IMG SRC="smilies/laugh.gif" border="0"> Love Annie and Kevin together in this fanfic.

[lil_bubble]

I like how you made all the characters "human". Thank you for the warning that there would be more violence later on. I know what you mean now. My goodness, banged her head against the wall several times?! *shakes head* <IMG SRC="smilies/tongue.gif" border="0">

[zzzbeauty]

<IMG SRC="smilies/wave.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/wave.gif" border="0">

<IMG SRC="smilies/blush.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/blush.gif" border="0">

I'm a quiet reader. I just wanted to say that i enjoy your story. I love the characters and cast.

I love Annie and Kevin; they're soooo cute.

Please continue to update. Thanks

[tweety365]

jeh – Thanks for your constant support. It really helps inspire me to continue. If you have time, give me a brief idea of what you think of the main characters. But, I’m just happy to hear from you, so a simple “hi, I’m still here,” is good enough for me. <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

lil_bubble – LOL, you’re welcome about the warning. Hopefully, I didn’t put anyone off with the violence thing. There will be more in upcoming chapters, so better prepare yourself. <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

zzzbeauty – <IMG SRC="smilies/wave.gif" border="0"> Yeah! A silent reader. I’m so happy to hear from you. I made Annie and Kevin so likeable that I’m falling for them myself. Talk to ya later.

To all my silent readers – No, I haven’t forgotten about you. I know you guys are reading and I hope you’re still enjoying this story. Take care and have a great day.

<font size="1">[ March 24, 2003: Message edited by: tweety365 ]</font>

[tweety365]

Chapter 12 - A New Job

Character Appearances:
Annie Man Chung Han
Kevin Cheng Ka Wing
Ruby Lin Xin Ru

Annie was not a gracious loser. She continued to sit on the carpeted floor, pouting and sending Kevin dirty looks. In an attempt to appease her anger, he agreed to wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen. As he was busy in the kitchen, she once again stared at the chessboard, trying to figure out how she lost the last two games. She was quite tired, but was too upset to go to sleep. Eventually, her eyelids slowly started to droop and she unconsciously dozed off. Kevin finished washing all the dishes and was drying his hands on a towel as he walked out to the living room. He stopped in his tracks to stare at the scene before him. Annie was fast asleep with her head resting on the table. Even in her sleep, she was still holding a chess piece in her right hand and had a very determined look on her face. The soft lamplight spilled on her features, making her look very demure and angelic. For once, she was silent and not yelling at him or making snide remarks.

Shaking his head as a small smile lit up his face, Kevin removed the chess piece from her fingers and gently picked her up in his arms. Careful not to wake her, he laid Annie on the sofa and placed a soft pillow under her head. Fearing she would be cold, he went to the closet and took out a wool blanket. After making sure that she was comfortably situated, he headed upstairs toward one of the guest rooms. Unable to sleep, he stood on the balcony that overlooked the streets below. Leaning against the metal railing, he started to smile as he remembered Annie’s surprised looks after losing to him. He couldn’t recall ever having so much fun playing chess.

Women had always been attracted to his handsome dark looks and wealthy background, but they never tried to understand him as a person. None of his relationships lasted more than three weeks because they always ended up boring him and making him feel like it was a chore to go out on dates. He grew up in a rich environment, but his parents were often too busy with work to spend much time with him. Although he loved his brother, Ricky was too young for Kevin to really talk to him. Sure he had plenty of friends, but he always felt there was something missing in his life. After Ricky’s death, he felt even lonelier than ever. Not wanting to cause his parents additional grief, he put up a brave front and acted cheerful to cover up the emptiness inside him.

He never expected to meet a person like Annie Man. She was a complete surprise to him and a breath of fresh air to his static life. Strangely, he felt completely comfortable in her presence and couldn’t help joking around with her. Her unrestrained temper and innocent nature were so different from the women he knew. He felt like they had met in a past life and were rekindling a long time friendship.

**********

MONDAY MORNING

The bright sunlight streaming through the window woke Annie up from her deep slumber. Squinting, she turned to her side and tried to go back to sleep. Suddenly remembering where she was and that it was Monday morning, she jolted upright on the sofa and threw off the blanket. She ran upstairs to search for Kevin and eventually located him sound asleep in a guest room at the end of the hall. She rushed over to the bed and shook his shoulders to wake him up, but to no avail.

Annie threw off the covers and yanked on his arms. “KEVIN, WAKE UP!!! It’s morning already!” She bent down and placed her mouth next to his ear. “KEVIN CHENG!!! WAKE UP!”

Seeing that she was still not getting any responses from him, Annie started to slap his face, but her hand started to hurt after several slaps. She decided to change her tactics and marched over to the bathroom. After filling a large glass with cold water, she headed back out toward the bed. She stood gazing down at his sleeping form and with a nonchalant shrug, she tipped the glass upside down and emptied the content on his face.

Kevin immediately opened his eyes and bolted upright. “OH MY GOD! THE HOUSE IS FLOODED!”

All of a sudden wide-awake, he quickly glanced around the room and saw Annie standing beside him with a look ranging from irritation to amusement. Staring at the empty glass in her hand, it finally dawned on him that she was the one who poured cold water on him.

He started wiping his face with the blanket. “Why did you pour water on me?!”

“Don’t give me that look.” She glared right back at him. “I tried to wake you up by shaking you, yelling in your ears, and even slapping that piece of granite you call a face, but you sleep like the dead. What else was I supposed to do? I need a ride home and I don’t have the key to your car.”

“Just give me a couple more hours of sleep.” He yawned and proceeded to lie back down.

“Oh no you don’t!” She tugged on his arms with all her might. “Get your lazy *** off this bed and drive me home! The roads should be cleared out by now and I need to get to work.”

Kevin refused to sit up as he yawned loudly. “Why are you so eager to leave?” he mumbled. “You own the business. Arriving a couple hours late won’t hurt you.”

With a fuming look, she released his arms and paid another visit to the faucet. Filling another glass with cold water, she briskly walked over to the bed and poured water on his head for the second time.

He jerked upright and gave her a menacing look. “AIYAAAA!!! Will you stop that?! What is wrong with you?!”

She was undaunted and continued in a reprimanding tone, “If you don’t pull that sorry behind of yours off this bed and get me out of here, I won’t be so kind as to use cold water the third time. I really don’t want to waste my time and boil that tough hide of yours. Now, are you going to drive me home or not?”

“NOT!” he said stubbornly as he pulled the wet blanket over his head

Rolling up her sleeves, Annie was ready to give him a real pounding when something on the table stand caught her attention. Turning around, her eyes lit up as she hastily picked up the key to the car. She smiled and loudly jingled the set of keys in her hands.

“Cool, I always wanted to drive a BMW.”

Kevin quickly jumped off the bed and ran after Annie. “Give me back my keys! Don’t touch my baby!”

**********

BACK AT THE ANNIE’S APARTMENT

Annie was holding her box of albums as she quietly unlocked the front door to her apartment. She tiptoed into her room to put her albums away and went to check on Ruby, but she wasn’t in her bed. She walked out to the living room and muttered to herself, “That’s odd. Where’s Ruby?”

At that moment, a foot unexpectedly stuck out from the end of the sofa and almost scared Annie to death. With a small scream, she jumped back from the sofa and was prepared to bolt out the front door. However, at a closer look, the foot appeared very familiar. Finally recognizing that it was Ruby’s foot, she rushed over and glanced over the backseat of the sofa to see her best friend sleeping at an uncomfortable angle. Her head was tilt back and her mouth was wide open.

Annie gently shook her shoulders. “Ruby, wake up.”

Ruby automatically pushed her hands away and mumbled, “Just five more minutes, Mommy. I’ll get ready for school.”

Annie pulled her to an upright position and gave her shoulders a hard shake. “Ruby, Ruby!” Seeing that she was getting nowhere, she thought of another idea. “Oh, my God! Bae Yong Joon is in our house!”

Ruby’s eyelids instantly popped open and she frantically searched the living room. “BAE YONG JOON?! WHERE?! WHERE?!”

“I knew that would get your attention,” Annie smiled.

Realizing that her friend was home and there was no Bae Yong Joon. “That was a mean and underhanded trick, Annie,” she said irritably. “You didn’t have to bring out my idol for the sole purpose of waking me up.”

Annie shrugged. “No other method would work this effectively. Anyways, why are you sleeping out here and not in your bed?”

Ruby scratched her head. “I was waiting for you to come home and I guess I fell asleep without even knowing it.”

“But I already told you that the roads were blocked.” She smiled as she looked at Ruby’s goofy morning expression

“I know,” she said as she yawned and stretched. “I was just too worried to go to sleep and wanted to see if you were able to return early.”

“Well, you better get dressed.” Annie ruffled Ruby’s already messy hair. “It’s already 7 o’clock.”

“Oh, by the way, how did things go at the animal shelter? How’s the dog?” Annie called out as she changed her clothes in her room.

“The dog is fine,” Ruby yelled back while washing her face in the bathroom. “On my way to the shelter, I saw a poster with the picture of a missing terrier posted on a telephone pole and the dog looked a lot like the one I found at the hotel. So, I took the terrier back to her owner, who only lives a couple of miles away from here. She is such a kind and gentle lady. I stayed at her home for two hours chatting and keeping her company. She attended Sarah’s wedding with a friend of hers and during the chaos, lost her dog.”

“Well, that’s nice. Now, you don’t have worry about the dog anymore.”

“Yeah.” Ruby finished dressing and went into her room to get her briefcase. She poked her head into Annie’s room. “I’ll see you tonight.”

“Okay. Bye.”

HK DAILY NEWS OFFICE

Ruby was diligently typing up an article for Wednesday’s issue when Ada lightly tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around with a bright smile. “Hi, Ada. What’s up?”

“Hi, Ruby.” Ada smiled back. “Mr. Wu wants to have a word with you.”

“Thanks. Is he in his office right now?”

“Yes, he’s waiting for you.”

She knocked on the vice president’s door and heard his reply to come in. Opening the door, she saw that he was buried behind a tall stack of documents and looking quite stressed out.
“Hi, Mr. Wu.” She cleared her throat before continuing on, “Was there something you wanted to discuss with me?”

Mr. Wu glanced up from a report he was reading. “Have a seat, Ruby.”

She nervously took the seat facing him and waited for her boss to continue.
[* Ruby thinking to herself *]: He’s probably going to fire me without giving me two weeks to find another job. Oh well, I better start packing my stuffs. (inwardly sighing) I knew this day was coming, but I really didn’t expect it to be this soon. Maybe I could go work for Annie. Good God! What is my life coming to?! I don’t want to work for Annie! I hate cooking!

“So, what do you say, Ruby?”

She realized that Mr. Wu had been talking to her all this time. “Huh? Uh, I’m sorry, Mr. Wu, but I didn’t quite understand what you just said. Could you please repeat the details?”

“Would you be interested in writing an article on your experience at the Dream-Crescent Hotel holdup?” Mr. Wu repeated. “It would be a great story to print and I’m sure the public will love it. Your involvement in the incident will definitely provide the added attraction to the article. I am positive that our newspapers will sell like hotcakes. So, what do you say?”

She was relieved to know that she wasn’t let go yet. “I’d be happy to write the article, but when do you need it by?”

“How about tomorrow night?” he grinned.

“That’s fine. I’ll have it ready for you by then. Is there anything else you wanted to discuss?”

“No, that’s about it,” he said with a slight shake of his head. “You can get started on that article now.”

**********

By Wednesday afternoon, Ruby was shocked to find that copies of their newspapers were sold out. Apparently, people were really interested in the hostage crisis at Dream-Crescent. She was cleaning up her desk and ready to leave when Mr. Wu opened his door and called out to her.

“Ruby, may I have a word with you.”

“Sure.” She entered his office and sat down, wondering what he wanted to go over with her this time.

“First, I would like to commend you on the great article you wrote,” he complimented. Even the Superintendent at the police department was impressed with your story. Your thoughts and details were very well written.”

“Thank you,” she said blushing.

“I also want to take this opportunity to tell you that HK Daily News, as well as several other major newspapers, are trying to land a very coveted interview with Tae Leung. As you probably already know, he is the hottest and most popular celebrity in today’s entertainment circle, but also a very private individual and rarely does interviews. In response to the public’s increasing demand for information on him, his publicist sent word to all five of the largest newspaper companies in Hong Kong that he is willing to do an interview. We were offered the chance to bid for this interview and the appointment to meet with his publicist is set for Friday afternoon at 2 o’clock.”

“That’s great news, but what does any of this have to do with me?” she questioned.

“I want you to go to this appointment and meet with his publicist.”

“Me?” she asked in an astonished tone. “But I don’t have the experience or the ability to handle this job. Plus I’m leaving this company by the end of next week. Why don’t you have Ada meet with Tae’s publicist?”

“Let me clarify. I’ve just received news from the president to temporarily postpone the laid offs. We would love to have you back on the team. You are a great asset to this company.”

She was so elated that she was almost speechless. “Oh, thank you so much, Mr. Wu! I would love to take this job, but I’m still not sure I can handle it.”

“Don’t worry. I already discussed this assignment with Ada and she is more than happy to work with you. Of course, we haven’t landed the interview yet, so I’m counting on you and Ada to convince the publicist that we are the best choice for the job. Remember, this is a very important opportunity to promote the newspaper, so I’m depending on you to do your best.”

She grinned as she jumped up with joy. “Yes, sir! I won’t let you down. That interview is as good as ours!”

“That’s the type of attitude I like to see. I’ll discuss the details with you tomorrow.”

She vigorously shook his hand. “Thanks again for this wonderful opportunity, Mr. Wu. You won’t regret it.”

“I’m sure I won’t.” he smiled fondly at her while nodding his head.

[jeh]

Nice, Annie and Kevin is hilarious as always. I like how your story always manage to have some humor in wach chapter. Can't wait until you focus more on Ruby and Tae <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

What do I think of the characters?

Annie Man- A girl who can stand up for herself. She isn't scare of anybody. I love her "nothing will happen" attitude.

Kevin Cheng- Playboy on the ourside but instead is really mature on the inside. He seem to be very misterious about his past. He seem to care for his family and fiends alot.

Ruby Lin- At first, I saw her to be annoying but then I started to like her. She is so cute and funny. She act like a kid.

Tae- Haven't seen him much of him so can't really judge. From what I read so far, he is a gentleman. Remember how he try to protect Ruby from the bad guys? Ruby and him is very cute together.

[tweety365]

Hey jeh, thanks for commenting <IMG SRC="smilies/hug.gif" border="0">. You are always so quick with the feedbacks. Yup, I love humor. I especially like to laugh, so great to know you appreciate my attempt at comedy. <IMG SRC="smilies/tongue.gif" border="0">
Man, do I have a surprise coming for you. If you think Tae is a gentleman, you might be in for a shocker. I like to surprise my readers. <IMG SRC="smilies/laugh2.gif" border="0">
So, don't say I didn't warn you.

[Em]

Hi Tweety

Had some time on my hands today at work so actually read your story from the beginning, I must say how impressed I am by it all so far... <IMG SRC="smilies/clap.gif" border="0">

As for my feelings towards the characters, I am intrigued by Kevin's "double life" and how Annie will react when/if she ever finds out. Annie is sweet, as is Ruby - but why are they so violent??!! <IMG SRC="smilies/tongue.gif" border="0">
As for Tae, I am waiting to find out a bit more about him and I think I am developing a bit of a crush on Stephan as well... hee hee hee!

Keep up the fantastic writing and look forward to reading more!

<IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">

[zzzbeauty]

I love Kevin and Annie, they're sooooooo cute!!

<IMG SRC="smilies/laugh2.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/laugh2.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/rofl.gif" border="0"> I love this chapter, Annie IS a sore loser.

Yep, I can't wait until Annie finds out that Kevin is an undercover agent; what would become of their relationship.

I'm biased, I like Annie and Kevin more than Tae and Ruby. <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> Annie and Kevin are so childish and immature and of course cute!!

<IMG SRC="smilies/blob.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/blob.gif" border="0"> Thanks for the great chapter; can't wait for your updates. <IMG SRC="smilies/blob.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/blob.gif" border="0">