They drove to the mall where Jacky first got his hair done, of course Annie doesn't know. She was biting her finger nails while he was yapping away about the 'girls' at the salon "Oh, they'll just die! The girls are really great there and you'll get to meet Jamie!" he glanced at her and found her chewing on her nails "Now stop that!" he scolded.
"Im sorry, Im just nervous." she put her hands beneath her thighs to keep herself from biting on them.
When they reached the parking lot, Annie's stomache did a little turn. She was getting even more nervous, she's never stepped foot in a salon and to get a full makeover? It was more than she could handle. Jacky pushed open the double glass doors to the salon as he walked inside.
Annie looked timid as she stood behind him "Jacky." she pulled at his sleeve "You said there would be girls in here." she counted at least 10 guys.
He looked flabergasted as he pointed to the male hairstylists "What do you call them?"
She didn't have a chance to argue when she spotted a guy bouncing and skipping over to Jacky "Jamie!!" her friend gushed at the overly made up guy.
Annie watched as the guys greeted each other with a European like greeting. They kissed each other on the cheeks. "Its been so long! Oh honey, you need to do your roots again." Jamie said as he picked at Jacky's hair.
"Yeah, I know." Jacky waved his hand in the air "Oh yes, this is my friend I told you about, Annie." she was still hiding behind him. "Don't be shy, he won't bite."
Jamie eyes widened as he put out a perfectly manicured hand "Oooh, Im gonna have so much fun with you!!" he giggled as Annie's eyes seemed to cover in fear.
She glanced at Jacky "Im scared." she whispered.
"Oh please! You're safer in his hands than mine." his reassurement wasn't good enough for her.
"Okay, let me take a good look at you..." Jamie placed his warm hands on her face " A little dry, but not incurable." he pulled up her hands "Ooooh, nail biter I see...tsk tsk tsk" he wagged his finger at her in disapproval "Let me see the hair." he clasped his hands together in anticipation. She let out her long ruffled uncombed hair from the rubberband that she used to tie it with. His face wrinkled with a slight disgust "Annie, do you comb your hair?"
Jacky muffled a giggle but quickly turned away when Annie gave him an evil glare "Yes, I do." she said returning her gaze to Jamie.
"With what?" he asked, almost sarcastically.
"My fingers!" she retorted. She didn't like his tone of voice.
"Well! Someone's on their time of the month huh?" he winked at Jacky.
"Look guys...." she put up her hands.
"GIRLS!!" Jacky and Jamie said simultaneously.
"Whatever, but I came here because my friend here wanted me to get a makeover. If you're gonna make fun of me, I might as well go home."
"She's feisty!" Jamie smiled widely "I like that! Now, you're not going anywhere." he pulled her towards the hair sink as they washed her tangled hair.
Jacky watched with amusement as Jamie worked on her hair while two other guys worked on her manicure and pedicure. The guys were done while Jamie took his sweet little time with Annie's hair. Her once waist length hair was now two inches below her shoulders. Her bangs were swooped to the side as it covered more than half of her forehead. They were layered perfectly to the side. He even added a little red tint to the natural boring color she had. When he was done blowdrying, he crimped her whole head to give it a little crazy look.
Annie was afraid to speak up because he had a pair of scissors in his hand that was snipping away at every strand. She didn't want her hair any shorter, she liked the length and surprisingly the tint was not bad. She would have gone without the crimp but he seemed to be deep in work so she didn't want to bother him. After three hours, her hair was salon perfect. "Finally." she breathed as she began to get up. She didn't know when Jacky disappeared, but she realized that he was gone for over an hour.
"Wait, we're not done yet, speedy." he pushed her back down on the chair. "Now the make up." he waved to one of the guys to bring over the make up. "This is the best part!" he rubbed his hands together.
"Oh no, you're not. No makeup. Im...Im allergic to them." she lied.
Jamie smiled as he reached for the unscented moisturizer "Don't worry sweetie, it won't hurt." he sensed her fear quickly. "Just close your eyes and enjoy." taking off her glasses as he wiped her faced evenly with the lotion. Putting a bit of cover up and eventually the makeup. It was a fair tone for her but the blush was a perfect shade, making her cheeks blush naturally. Jamie didn't want to go too crazy on the eye makeup as he applied everything lightly. The eyeshadow was darker shade of nude. Her lipstick was a glossy pink. After he was done, he sat back and admired his work.
"How do I look?" she was afraid to ask.
"Look for yourself." Jamie said as he pointed to the mirror.
She couldn't see anything, her face looked like a big blur. Although she noticed a figure in the reflection "Jacky?"
He stood there motionless, she looked absolutely exquisite. The lighter shade of makeup suited her to perfection. He had no expectations of how she would look like, since she was already beautiful in his eyes. Jamie smiled as he waved for Jacky to come over "Honey, all I know is, if I wasn't born gay I would be all over you." he chuckled when he gave Jacky a knowing glance.
"Oh you're just saying that, can I have my glasses back please? I can't see a thing." she tried to focus on the two blurs in front of her.
"No, you're not getting them back." Jacky took them from Jamie as he stuffed them in his pocket. "It'll ruin the whole look."
"But I can't see!" she exclaimed.
"That's all? I'll get you contacts then." Jacky said simply. He winked at Jamie "Put the bill on my tab, babe."
"Sure, dear." Jamie smiled as he watched Jacky lead her out the door. "Still got it!" he blew at his fingernails, proud of himself.
Jacky felt like he was leading a blind girl as he wrapped an arm around her and took her to an eye doctor that he found inside the mall. That's where he disappeared to for the past hour. When they got there, the doctor took her in for a quick exam. She was fitted for contacts within 10 minutes. Her eyes adjusted easily to them.
Next he planned to take her shopping for new clothes. They walked together down the rows of clothing stores but she stopped at one in particular. There was a spaghetti strap, baby blue dress that caught her eyes. She smiled adoringly at the dress worn by the manequin in the window.
He stopped walking when he noticed she was no where in sight "Annie?" he turned around to see her gawking at the dress. Jacky walked back to where she was "You like it?"
"Its adorable." she said softly, her eyes glued to the dress.
"Well, lets go buy it." he pulled her into the store like a little kid.
"Jacky." she pulled him back when he went straight for the salesgirl. "I don't have that much money." she whispered.
He threw his head back and laughed "Who ever said you were gonna pay me back?" he winked as he continued to approach the sales lady. They smiled as they greeted the odd looking 'couple'.
"Can we help you sir?"
"Do I look like I need help?" he asked as he pointed at his perfectly fit Armani suit. Annie stiffled a giggle as he continued "No, for her. We would like that dress on the showcase please." he turned to Annie "What size are you?" he whispered.
"Two." she replied shyly.
"What?! Are you sure?" he asked as he looked at her up and down. Her big flowered print shirt was covering her upper half and her brown slacks were too loose.
"Jacky." she clenched her teeth at him.
"Okay, if you say so." he turned back to the sales girl "A size..." he abruptly turned back to Annie "now are you positive?" she hit his arm playfully "Okay, no need to get violent now, she's a size two." he told the salesgirl.
The girl brought out the same exact dress and handed it to Annie. "The dressing room is over there if you want to try it on."
Annie smiled thankfully as she walked over to the dressing room. Inside it looked like a huge room with a curtain that was pulled around the room for privacy. It was the first time that Annie had a good look at herself since she was quickly pulled away by Jacky at the Optometrist's office. She almost didn't recoginize herself as she spun around to see if anyone else was in the room with her. She giggled at her silliness as she slipped on the dress. It fit like a glove, the dress hugged her curves and it was the perfect length as it stopped right below her knee.
"Wow..." she whispered to herself. She was looking at a completely different person. Never in a hundred years could she have imagined herself to look like that. She quickly pushed her ego down as she reminded herself it was all in the dress.
She took a deep breath as she opened the curtain and walked outside to where Jacky was waiting. His eyes were plastered on the beautiful figure that just walked out of the dressing room. She looked like an angel in a heavenly sky blue dress. His eyes never blinking as he continued to stare at her while the sales girls gushed at how beautiful she looked.
Annie smiled shyly as she thanked the girls. She walked over to Jacky, he didn't say anything. She wondered why he was lost in thought as she waved a hand over his face. He quickly snapped out of it as he looked away with a red face "You stare at me like you could see through the dress? I guarantee you, there's nothing there for you to stare at." she teased.
He cleared his throat when the sales girls giggled at Annie's response. "Let me see...." he twisted her around until he found the price tag. Ripping it from her dress as he handed it to one of the girls. "I already paid for it." he said quickly as he pulled her out of the store.
"Where are we going?" she was curious why he was rushing for them to leave the store.
"To the bar down the street. We have to leave now if we want to make it, the doors close at 9. That's when the party starts!"
"Bar? Oh no...not another gay bar." she complained.
"No, silly." he rolled his eyes "Its a straight bar. That way, I'll show you exactly how good you look. Im guessing at least 10 guys will approach you tonight." he grinned at her.
She laughed "That's a bit of an exaggeration, don't you think? But you really think they will hit on me?" her self esteem getting the better of her. "I mean, Im still Annie you know."
"Exactly, but now its Annie with a killer smile and beautiful eyes. Not to mention a million dollar dress!" her eyes widened at the thought of the dress costing that much, he quickly understood from her surprised look "No no, it doesn't cost that much!"
They soon reached the bar, it was a high class place. Even the parking was valet. The door was opened for Annie as they stepped out of the car. She took a deep breath, she's always had such a bad experience at bars.
Chapter 14
Jacky had to literally push Annie through the door because she had a sudden case of cold feet. She begged for him to take her home but he was stern. That same feeling crossed through her, the one she got when she felt like he was acting straight. Her thoughts were interrupted from the yanking of his hand on hers.The two walked inside and Jacky instantly noticed about 6 heads spun around to look at the beauty beside him. Annie was oblivious to the eyeballs that seem to linger on her. They went straight for the bar and Jacky ordered two mixed drinks. Nothing too strong, the last thing he wanted was for her to be drunk. His eyes wandered to a table with three guys who were gawking at Annie.
He smiled flirtatiously at one guy and blew him a kiss. He tried to scare off the guy but to his dismay, the guy blew back a kiss and added a wink. Jacky turned away shyly as he scolded himself. He still can't tell if a guy was gay or straight. Annie took a sip of her drink "Hey, Im going over there. You stay here okay?"
"Wait! You're not leaving me here alone are you?" her voice couldn't cover the desperation.
He put his hands on his hips "How do you expect me to pick up guys if I got a girl on my side?" she nodded slowly "Besides, I'll just be over there." he pointed to the table with the three guys. "Just sit back and prepare yourself to fight off the guys." he gave her a final wink before rushing towards one guy.
Annie sighed to herself 'That is if one guy approaches me.' she thought. Jacky was already working the floor and no one even looked at her. She stared aimlessly into her drink.
Jacky approached the guy that was walking towards Annie "Hey, I saw you looking at that girl." he said casually.
"Yeah, you know her? Can you introduce us?" the guy asked eagerly.
Jacky shook his head "I don't think its a good idea." he looked around slowly and motioned for the guy to come closer "She's a cop." he whispered.
"What?!"
"Shhh!! She's working undercover to catch the sleezes in the bar that pick up innocent women." Jacky lied.
"How do you know?" the guy looked suspicious.
"She almost caught me, but then I told her I was gay so she left me alone." he let out a sigh of relief.
The guy seem to buy his fib as he hastily thanked Jacky and left the bar. He stood back smiling to himself, that was easier than he thought. He found his next target eying Annie seductively. Jacky walked over and sat next to him at an empty table. "Hey, I saw you talking to that girl. Boy I would love to get into her panties." he was a complete pervert.
"Oh, I've been there, not worth it." Jacky shook his head knowingly. "With at least 100 partners before me? Who knows what disease she could have. Or should I say what she doesn't have?"
"She's a hooker?" the guy asked with more interest.
Jacky wrinkled his forehead "I don't think so. But she might as well be." he squirmed in his seat uncomfortably as he groaned "Gosh, I just went to the doctor today and he said I caught something...down there."
The guy jumped from his seat "Hey, buddy. I just got over one of mine....I don't need another one." he walked off quickly, never looking back at Annie or Jacky.
His little lies were working out very well. 'Sorry Annie', he knew that making her reputation look bad was wrong. He had to control himself from not flipping out when they first walked in and he saw the many eyes that stared at Annie. He was so busy thinking that he didn't see a guy holding a drink as he walked closer to Annie. Luckily, she wasn't paying any attention. "Hey." Jacky tapped the guy on the shoulder "You interested?" he nodded his head towards Annie.
"Yeah, she's cute." the guy shrugged his shoulders carelessly.
Jacky tried the cop routine but it didn't work, the guy didn't seem to buy anything Jacky was saying. In the end, he pulled out his wallet and gave him a $1000. The guy turned out to have a little greed so he took the money and left.
Annie glanced at her watch, its been an hour and still no guy has approached her. She took the last gulp of her drink as she ordered something stronger from the bartender. He gave her a long island ice tea, one of the strongest drinks. She took a sip and almost threw it up, but she swallowed it whole. The taste was awful, yet it was satisfying somehow. Her ego was being crushed to the floor, even with the dress it was useless. She took a longer gulp of her drink as she looked around for Jacky. She found him across the room talking to another guy and it made her feel more depressed.
They always said that you shouldn't drink when you're sad because you'll get drunk even faster. Well, it has been proven with Annie who got hit pretty hard after she finished that drink. She suddenly felt dizzy and was stumbling to get off the stool. She was ready to go home. Her eyes tried to focus on the people around her but it was useless. Suddenly a guy walked up to her "Miss, are you okay?" he sounded so concerned.
"Yeah, Im okay...where's Jacky?" she asked absentmindedly.
"Jacky? I know him, let me take you to him." he put his arms around her shoulders and walked her towards the exit. She was too drunk to argue so she leaned on his shoulder for support.
Jacky was busy negotiating with another guy who wanted $2000. for not approaching Annie. "Come on, the last guy got $1000., why should you get twice as much?"
The guy was preoccupied as he stared after Annie and another guy "Looks like you don't have to pay me anything, she's already got a suitor." he nodded towards the exit.
Jacky turned his head in time to see a guy with his arms wrapped around her tightly as they disappeared through the door. Like a bullet, he ran after them at lightning speed.
Outside, the guy had called a cab. Annie didn't recognize the car as she pointed to the yellow cab "Isn't Jacky's car red? Why?....." she looked up at the guy "Who are you?" she tried to push him away but his grip on her tightened.
"Me? I'm Jacky's friend. He told me to take you home." he tried to convince her.
She was drunk but not stupid "No!" she said loudly as she stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. The guy reached down and pulled her back up next to him. "Where's Jacky?"
"He's home." the guy tried again. He was determined to take the girl home.
"Actually, he's right here." Jacky appeared a few feet away with his hands on his hips, he was out of breath from running so fast "I believe, she belongs to me." he reached out and pulled Annie to his side.
The guy was still holding onto Annie's other arm "Hey, there's enough of her to share. Come on, how about we take her?" his perverted face leered at Jacky.
Jacky chuckled as he nodded "Sure..." he yanked Annie to his side and reached back with his free hand and swung hard at the guy's face. He hit him so hard that his knuckles were aching. He wrung out his fingers as he looked disgustedly at the guy "You dare come near her, I'll kill you!" he yelled before the guy crawled into the open cab.
"Jacky..." Annie mumbled.
Jacky's red car was driven up by the valet guy, he payed the guy. Reaching his arm behind her knees and waist as he picked her up with ease. Placing her gently on the passenger seat as he jumped over the door to his own seat. He drove off quickly, speeding down the empty street. The only time he drove like that was when he's upset. And he was mad at himself for almost causing Annie her safety. His car screeched to a stop in the parking lot of his apartment structure.
He took her out of the car and supported her up to his apartment. She was beginning to wake up a little as she looked around at the familiarity of the place. She's only been to his place a few times but she remembers exactly what it looks like.
Inside, Jacky poured her a hot cup of tea to take out the alcohol in her blood. She took the cup thankfully. She smiled weakly at him "Thanks, Jacky." she was talking about his heroic deed earlier.
"Anytime." he said guiltily but she didn't seem to notice.
She took a few sips of the tea and put the cup on the coffe table "Im such an idiot!" she yelled at herself. She leaned back on the couch and rubbed her eyes roughly.
He shook his head "No, you're not. Don't say that...its all my fault."
She laughed awkwardly "Yeah, you're right. It is your fault!" she turned to him abruptly "I was very content with my own life! I was happy, very happy and then you had to come along and give me false hope! What with all the 'you'll be fighting off the guys' and 'you look great'. What was that? Trying to push my ego up and then take me to a bar to crush it?? Did you even see one guy try to approach me, except for that pervert??!"
"Im sorry, Annie. I just wanted to give you a little confidence." he said gently, trying to calm her down.
"Well next time try harder!" she said harshly. "Why do you even bother, Jacky? Look at me!" she yanked at his face with her hands "Im ugly! It'll never change!" she let go of his face as her face fell to her hands on her lap. She was crying.
"Annie, you're not ugly." he tone was serious. He put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her face up with his other hand. "Have you looked in the mirror today? You, my dear, are breathtakingly beautiful. I thought you looked amazing! And Im not just saying that." he wiped her tears with his thumb as he smiled at her.
Annie shook her head "You are just saying that. Anyways, this is coming from a gay guy. Maybe the straight guys find me disgusting? You are my friend, you're obligated to tell me that I look good eventhough we both know that I don't." she wiped the rest of her tears away as she got up "Just don't pull any more stunts like tonight again."
He sat there motionless, what else can he say? He was guilty. Jacky didn't even try to stop her from leaving, he leaned on his hands as he heard the door slamming shut. She was too upset at him, he couldn't blame her. He knew what he did earlier was wrong but he still did it.
The thought of having to face her tomorrow while he did his speech was too much for him to handle. It took him a few hours to actually pull himself away from the couch and return to his room to sleep. He was going to need the rest. He had to go to Jamie's place and get his hair back to normal for tomorrow's speech.
Chapter 15
The next morning Annie strolled in to work feeling the hangover from last night. Her head was pounding like a hammer against a wall. She went straight to her seat without greeting anyone. There was already a huge stack of file on her desk. She groaned at the thought of having to deal with her overbearing boss.She wore the contacts that the optometrist fitted her for, since Jacky still has her glasses. She washed out the crimp in her hair early that morning. The look was just too crazy for her, which fit perfectly because her hair looked even better straight. She pulled her bangs behind her ear as she began working.
Just about half an hour into her work, she was approached by Joe, the guy with a reputation for flirting with girls. He's never even said 'hi' to her since she started working there a few months ago. "Miss? Are you new here?" his winning smile didn't seem to catch her attention.
She looked annoyingly at him "They're called contacts, Joe." she rolled her eyes and returned to her work.
"Annie??" his usually suave voice couldn't hide the shock.
She looked up at him strangely "You don't recognize me?"
He shook his head, his expression serious "Not at all. You look amazing!" he said with so much sincerity that she had to blush.
Annie turned away shyly "Don't exaggerate."
"Im not. Now, if I would have seen you like this before, we would be dating by now." his ego getting the better of him.
She stopped smiling as she turned back to him. "Does looks matter that much to you?" she was curious.
"Well, pretty girls are better to look at." he smiled, showing two perfect rows of teeth.
"So are guys." he grin grew wider at her comment "Too bad you're not one of them." she turned away as he walked off embarrassed written all over his face.
She hated hipocrytes, just because she looked a little different didn't give anyone the right to ignore her. Suddenly overnight, her looks are considered attractive? The thought of how society worked made her sick. Suddenly a hand patted her shoulder, she thought it was her friend "Jacky?" she found Peter looking down at her.
"I don't think he's here yet." he smiled kindly at her.
"Hi Peter, sorry."
He shook his head as he handed her the mail "Annie?"
"Yeah?" she answered while she skimmed through the mail.
"Uh...I was wondering...." he wasn't sure how to ask her.
Annie looked up at him with question eyes, suddenly she smiled "You want me to introduce you to Jacky right? Don't worry, I already put in a good word for you."
"Huh? No...Im not gay." his eyebrows wrinkled in confusion. "I was wondering if you're free tonight?" he smiled shyly "I've been trying to gather up the nerve to ask you out, but I couldn't do it."
"Oh..." was all she said. She was wondering why Jacky would say that Peter was gay. He was the one that told her all gay guys could tell if a guy was straight or gay. Maybe he made a mistake? She quickly pushed the thoughts away as she turned back to Peter "Im sorry, Im just not...ready." she searched for the right word.
He nodded slowly "I understand." he began to walk away, but suddenly stopped "Annie, I think you look great." he smiled and walked away.
She stared after him, that was the second person that complimented her. She didn't understand why the guys at the bar last night wouldn't even approach her? Her thoughts floated over to Jacky, where was he? She hasn't seen him all morning. 'Was I too harsh?' she barely remembered anything last night. "Since when were you hired to day dream?" the familiar voice of Miss Lai broke into her thoughts.
"Miss Lai." Annie gave her a slight nod.
"What is this? A salon, why is your hair red? Our clients come in and out of the building everyday, what would they think of us if they see your hair red?!" she eyed Annie up and down "I don't believe you understand our dress code."
Annie looked down at her knee high skirt "But its over the knee?" she wasn't sure of the dress code. Although she was certain that what she was wore was not inappropriate.
"Don't you argue with me!" Miss Lai raised her voice angrily. Annie lowered her head, trying to hide her red face. "We have a meeting this morning at 10, the new Vice President will be arriving then." she directed her voice over the office "We'll be meeting in Conference Room A" she gave Annie an evil glare before returning to her office.
Annie let out a sigh of relief before slumping onto her chair. "She's just jealous that you look better than her." one girl whispered loudly to Annie.
She turned around and smiled at the girl. "You're new?"
The girl smiled as she nodded "Yeah, Im Tracy."
"Annie." the exchanged a firm handshake before returning to work.
Time flew by as the clock struck 10. Everyone dropped their work as they headed towards the Conference room. Annie stayed behind as she waited to see if Jacky would be coming. There was no way she could have missed him, sighing to herself as she followed the crowd toward the meeting room.
It was a huge room with rows and rows of chairs, but it wasn't enough for everyone. Half of the people took a seat and the other half stood in the back. Since Annie was one of the last to come in, she ended up being in the way back, she couldn't see a thing. But with her mood, she had no interest of seeing some old guy talk about the 'great' company. Everyone was whispering to each other, wondering who this new VP was?
Soon, people began to quiet down when Jim, the President's personal assistant came in. He put up his hands to silent the group. "Good morning. You all might be a little surprise by the familiarity of the new Vice President. But then, I'll let him talk." he smiled as he took a seat next to Miss Lai, who specifically sat in the front for a better look at the VP.
The welcome clapping of the hands were soon drowned out by the whispering of voices when the new VP came in. Annie went on her tippy toes and arched her neck to see, but it was useless, she couldn't see a thing "By the gasps and surprise expression, I assume everyone recognizes me?" Annie felt a cold chill run through her, the voice, it was so familiar. "As many of you may know, I am Jacky Hung, son of the President. I just recently returned from four years of studying in London. I got my major in Music but decided it wasn't for me afterall. So I decided to return to Hong Kong and help my dad. It was his idea that I start working here as an undercover." his voice stopped over the crowd, allowing his words to sink in. He glanced around quickly for Annie, but she was no where in sight. "I wanted to get to know everyone on a personal basis. I have to be honest, I am quite disappointed by the circulation of work around her. Some people might wonder why I chose to be a homosexual, well, I wanted to be different so no one would pay too much attention to me." he looked around the room as he chuckled "Apparently, the disguise worked too well as most of you know, I was ignored and pushed aside like dirt because I was different. There was only one person in this office that befriended me, I don't think I have to tell you her name? I will not hold this prejudice attitude against any of you, but I would like to remind you that we are all people with feelings. Eventhough I am not gay, it still hurt me to know that almost all of the employees in this office didn't want to be my friend."
He paused as he searched for Annie again, but there was still no sign of her, so he continued "In the past three months, I have been taking extensive notes about everyone in the office. I have figured out who are the gems of this company and who are just a waste of a paycheck." his eyes ended on Miss Lai, who's face was completely red from shock and embarrassment. "I have spent the whole morning trying to figure out who will be promoted, fire or remain where they are. Therefore, when you return to your desk, you will find a letter indicating one of the three that I just explained. I hope that all this have taught you a valuable lesson about people, never judge a book by its cover." he smiled at the group "You may return to your desk." he took a seat at the head oval table. His eyes searching for Annie.
She was way in the back, still trying to overcome the shock of what she just heard. She followed the crowd that was pushing out the door. Her eyes glued to the floor as she tried to hide from him. But he was able to find her as long as she is within his eye sight. Jacky put up a hand waving for Annie "Miss Chu, please stay back. I'd like to talk to you."
She let out a sigh as she stood still while the people continued to file out. The final person left the room, leaving Jacky and Annie to confront each other "What do you need Mr. Hung? A cup of coffe perhaps or a new sex change?" her voice was bitter and angry.
"Annie, I know you have the right to be angry." he got up from the seat and stepped closer to her.
"You're damn right I have should be mad. You lied to me, Jacky. I trusted you more than anyone I know. That may not be alot but it sure means something. Which is more than I can say for you." her words charged at him like a bull.
He nodded in agreement "I understand very much that you are angry. But please hear me out?" his puppy eyes begged her as she nodded slowly "At first, I thought it would be a great plan to go undercover as a gay guy. But after a month of working here, I realized how hard it is for a person that's labelled different to be accepted by the 'normalilty'. Everyone was very cold, no one wanted to talk to me, until you came along. Annie, you are by far the person with the biggest heart that I know of. I don't know when it happened, but I am certain that I have fallen in love with you." he reached out for her hands as he held them tightly in his.
She smiled as she shook her head "You know, when I was young I thought that I would just grow up and fall in love with one guy. We'd get married and have kids." her face fell "Life isn't that simple. I realized that during high school, when I was teased constantly. They said words don't hurt? Well, let me write a book on it...I have never trusted anyone more than myself. Until I met Tia...then you. But how could you play me for a fool? All these months that I've known you, you were gay. And now you're telling me that you're straight? And worse yet, you're in love with me?? I find that hard to swallow right now." she pulled her hands away from him as she headed for the door.
Before she had a chance to reach for it, the double door swung open almost knocking over Annie. It was Miss Lai, who was holding the letter in her hand. "Fired??! You can't fire me." she waved the letter in his face angrily "I've been here for a loyal 6 years!! This is not what I should get." her face fuming.
Jacky smiled calmly "Im sorry Miss Lai, I didn't realize you were that loyal."
The lady's face calmed down "Well, that's more like it."
"As a matter of fact, you can stay as long as you like." he walked over next to Annie "Why don't you say hi to your new boss?"
Miss Lai's face turned a beet red again "She doesn't have the credentials or the experience to be where I am today!!" her voice raising to a high pitch.
"That's beside the point. I have seen your work, its very common, I can find people like you all over Hong Kong. But you will never find anyone else out there like Annie." he smiled down at her but she turned her head away. "So, what do you say?"
"You're nuts!" she spat out "If you think she can do a better job, then I feel really sorry for you." she prepared to storm out, but Jacky intervened her.
He chuckled "Actually, I feel sorry for YOU. At the age of 40 and still no husband? Tsk tsk tsk...I never wondered why, but I did wonder if you would die an old maid. Now, I just KNOW you will." he watched her storm out angrily and burst out laughing "Did you see her face, Annie?" he turned to her but she ignored him and stormed out herself.
She grabbed a cardboard box near her desk as she threw her little frames and belongs inside it. She never once opened the letter. "Annie, where are you going. I didn't fire you, open the letter." he said eagerly.
"No, I don't want to know and I don't care what the letter says. Look, Mr. Hung I believe it was a mistake to apply in this company. I will find work somewhere else. Thank you." she picked up the box as she headed towards the elevator, but he was blocking her way. "Excuse me, Mr. Vice President." she said through clenched teeth.
"Annie, please...." she threw an angry glare at him. She was too mad, he couldn't even get through to her. Stepping aside for her to leave as he watched. Looks like he might need Tia's help, again.
