"Till the World Ends" Episode 5

Raymond quickly grabbed a seat on the couch in the dance studio. He had been rehearsing choreography for his upcoming concert for the last four hours and was eager for a break. He had just started to let his eyes close when his manager Tammy came running in.

“Raymond, you have to be at a promotional event today at 6PM,” Tammy informed him.

“What?” Raymond quickly sat up in his seat. “You never toldme anything about an event today Tammy! I thought tonight was supposed to be my night off?”

“I know and I’m sorry, but this was a last minute arrangement and the more exposure you can get before your concert, the better,”she replied.

 “Alright. I guess I’ll have to miss dinner with my friends,” he sighed, and took out his cell phone to text Myolie to tell the others he won’t be able to make it tonight.

The promotional event wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Raymond sang two songs and proceeded to listen to the host drown on and on about the organization he runs, which honestly did not sound very reputable or well-meaning as he tried to make it. Afterwards, he went to get a cocktail and quietly snuck over to a less hectic side of the room. He always enjoyed singing, but he was almost always a little overwhelmed by the grandness of everything and just wanted a little quiet to himself.

"Hey, you were great up there," a female voice said. Raymond felt a tap on his arm and escaped from his trance to see a tall, curvaceous woman in her mid 20s in front of him. Her Cantonese was highly accented, but in kind of a cute way. Must be from Mainland, he thought.

"Thanks," he muttered out of obligation.

"You don't sound very enthusiastic now," she said playfully. "Anything wrong?"

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to sound rude," Raymond replied, embarrassed. "I just wanted a little quiet, these events can be a little much," he said.

"I hear you, my feet are killing me," she said, reaching down to rub her ankle. She was wearing spiky 4-inch heels that actually looked like they could kill her.

"Why don't you just take them off?" Raymond asked her nicely.

She laughed, handling his comment as a friendly joke. "Right, because that would look so professional in front of all these people. Not to mention, who ever heard of a model who doesn't treat wearing heels like it's second nature?"

"No I'm serious," Raymond replied, and gently put one hand on her waist and moved her farther back in the room, then stood in front of her, mostly blocking her from other people's view. "Here, now you can give your feet a break without anyone noticing," he said with a mischievous smile.

"Thanks," she said, and laughed, with a smile as sweet as honey emerging on her face. "I'm Margaret, Margaret Zhao," she introduced, extending her hand to Raymond.

Raymond took her hand and shook it. "I'd introduce myself but..." he started.

"No introduction is needed," Margaret finished with a playful smile, and Raymond smiled back.

"Margaret, we have to go, the car's here!" called a middle aged woman, who approached them. She looked down at Margaret's feet in horror. "Why aren't you wearing your shoes?" she cried.

A look of shame washed over Margaret's face. "I'm sorry, Sandy," she said, and started to put back on her shoes. "I'll meet you in the car, just give me a minute!"

Sandy looked at Raymond and suddenly a phony smile came over her face. "Oh Raymond, it is so nice to meet you! I loved your performance" she said, then turned back to Margaret and her previous strict expression returned. "Two minutes," she said, then left.

"Sorry, my manager," Margaret explained to Raymond.

"She seems like a true pleasure," he replied with sarcasm.

"She's not so bad," she said. "Anyway, it was great meeting you."

"Same to you," Raymond smiled.

Margaret pulled a pen and old business card out of her clutch. "I don't usually do this," she started. "But if you ever want to give me a call," she started, then handed the card to Raymond, which she had written her number on.

"I will," he replied, taking the card and slipping it into his pocket.

"I should get going now, before my manager has a cow," she said.

"Have a good one," Raymond said, and waved to her as she started to walk away. Margaret waved back and gave him a wink as she left.

"Cute girl," he said to himself.

Tammy peered over his shoulder. "I don't have a good feeling about that girl..." she said warily.

Raymond jumped at the sight of Tammy behind him. "When did you get there?" he shouted.

"Keep your voice down! You're so jumpy," Tammy said.

"How many times have I told you not to do that to me?" he whispered, then took out his card to show to Tammy. "She gave me her number," he said happily.

Tammy looked at the card and rolled her eyes. "Are you still a teenager or something?" she asked.

Raymond put the card back into his pocket without responding.

"Beware of her though, those Mainland models usually come with a whole lot of trouble," Tammy said.

"Yeah, yeah," Raymond said.

"I mean it! We don't need some girl walking into your life and putting your career in jeopardy," Tammy  warned.

"She's just a girl I met who gave me her number, I'm not running away and eloping with her or anything!" Raymond argued.

His eyes drifted over to the table at the other side of the room. "Ooo, chocolate fountain," he said, putting his hands together in an excited fashion and leaving Tammy by herself.

Tammy rolled her eyes again. "Such a child," she muttered, then laughed. Her thoughts drifted back to Margaret again. "I don't have a good feeling about this..." she said.

**********

Earlier that same day, Ron was wrapping up another day working at the gym. “Alright, now do twenty sets of those,” Ron told Dan, one of his clients. It was his last personal training session of the day. He went to get his water bottle from his bag when he noticed Vincent on one of the weight lifting machines in the corner of his eye.

Ron patted Dan on the back after he finished his set and said “Great, that’s it for the day. I’ll see you on Tuesday,” then went over to where Vincent was.

“Hey, haven’t seen you around here before,” Ron said as he approached him.

Vincent looked up from his concentration. “Hey. Yeah, I just joined this gym, I used to go to the one a block away. You work here?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m a personal trainer here,” Ron replied. An awkward silence took over for a short moment.

“I’m sorry about barging in on you and Fala yesterday night,” Ron apologized.

Vincent looked up again in surprise. “Oh, it’s fine. You didn’t barge in on anything,” he said.

Ron scrunched his eyebrows. “Really? Then why did Fala grab me by the shirt collar yesterday and yelled at me for interrupting the moment?” he said.

Vincent laughed imagining her doing such a thing, then asked “She did?”

“Alright, let’s not beat around the bush. Fala told me what you said to her before I came in last night,” Ron bluntly said. “I can tell you like her buddy, and she seems to have a thing for you too.”

“She does?” Vincent asked.

“Yes. And I’m telling you now you can’t do much better than a girl like Fala. If you’re serious about courting her, hurry up and make your move already,” Ron said.

Vincent became quiet. “Okay, since we’re being blunt, I have a question for you, and I want you to answer me honestly,” he proposed.

“What is it?” Ron asked.

“Are you and Fala more than friends?” Vincent questioned, seriously.

“Easy question, no,” Ron said.

“And do you have any feelings for her?”

“No. Don’t get me wrong, I love her to death, but as a friend, a sister, and sometimes she acts like my mother,” Ron shared, and realized what was holding back Vincent.

“If you’re worried about me, don’t be,” Ron continued. “If anything else was going to happen between us, it would've happened by now. Fala is the greatest friend I could ask for, but we know way too much about each other to ever even stomach the idea of being more than friends,” he laughed.

Vincent laughed, and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Reassured yet?” Ron asked him, and Vincent nodded.

“So, while we’re on the subject of Fala...What is it you like about her?” Ron tried to pry, sitting down on a machine opposite Vincent.

Vincent laughed nervously. “Uh...She’s just amazing,” he began. “She’s smart, funny, witty and beautiful,” he said. “And the best part is she doesn’t even realize just how awesome she is.”

“Yes, that is true,” Ron honestly answered, then rolled his eyes. “Unless you’re me and she constantly reminds you about how lucky you are to have them as a friend,” he said.

“Are you serious about her?” Ron asked him in a serious tone.

“Of course!” Vincent exclaimed.

“Good. Just remember one thing though,” Ron said.

“Yes?”

“If you break her heart, I’ll break you,” Ron said with a straight face.

“Alright then,” Vincent said. “Don’t worry, I don’t ever intend on breaking her heart.”

Ron’s face formed into his typical goofy expression again. “Good, I’ll see you around then. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you a lot more often from now on,” he said, and playfully and lightly slapped him on the arm. Then, he started to poke Vincent’s arm.

“Hm, nice biceps,” he said.

“Um, thanks,” Vincent said with an awkward laugh, and Ron started to walk away.

“Hey, thanks for clearing it up with me!” Vincent called after him, to which Ron turned around and simply gave him a smile and a thumbs up sign.

**********

After another delicious home cooked meal courtesy of Myolie with some help from everyone, Kate sat at the kitchen counter punching numbers into a calculator. Edwin came over to sit down next to her. "What are you calculating there?" he asked.

Kate exhaled an exasperated sigh. "Even with mine and Myolie's savings, we don't have enough money for a substantial initial investment," she said.

Myolie looked up from the dishes and said "I still have some money left over, but I'm hesitant about pulling out all of my savings." 

Ron, bored, came over to offer to help do the dishes to have Myolie slap his hand away. "You'll only make it dirtier," she claimed. Ron looked at Bosco, who was drying dishes beside Myolie, and put up his hands in defeat. Bosco laughed and shrugged.

"Oh, that reminds me," Bosco said, putting the dish he was drying down and going over to his messenger bag on the couch. He pulled out a check from the pocket and set it down in front of Kate.

"I am investing into Little Sweet Things," he said. Kate picked up the check in surprise, and Myolie scurried over to look at it.

Kate started to hand it back to Bosco. "Bosco, we can't take this," she said.

Bosco set it back down. "Yes you can," he replied.

"No, we can't," she resisted again.

"I insist," he said.

Myolie snatched the check and slipped it into his back pocket. "Bosco, I appreciate this but you don't have to do this," she said.

"I am an interested businessman who thinks Little Sweet Things has potential and is worth investing into, okay?" Bosco said, opening Myolie's hand and putting the check into them. Myolie and Kate still looked hesitant.

"How about you take this as a rather pricey early joint birthday present for the both of you," he proposed.

"My birthday was last month, Bosco," Kate replied.

"Just take it," he said, setting it down one more time.

"Just take it guys!" Ron said from the couch. "Don't act like such traditional Asians and accept it, he's not giving away an arm and a leg. I'd invest too if I weren't broke," he joked. "Me too, but I'm a reporter, I don't make much money," Fala quipped.

Kate put her hands up in surrender. "Thank you very much for your investment and interest in Little Sweet Things, Bosco," she said, as if she had just finished making a business transaction.

Ella clapped her hands together. "Hooray, Little Sweet Things is back into business!" she said.

"Thank you," Myolie whispered to Bosco.

"Of course, sweetie," he said, and put his arm around her waist and kissed her on the cheek while Myolie smiled sweetly.

"Alright, can we not make me want to throw up guys?" Fala joked.

"You're just jealous that's not you and Vincent yet," Ron said, poking her.

Ella's eyes lit up. "Who's Vincent?" she asked excitedly.

"He's just this guy at work," Fala tried to reply casually.

"Who has the hots for our girl right here," Ron finished for her. Fala hit him with one of the couch cushions.

"What? I'm just telling the truth!" he yelped.

Bosco came over and sat down on the couch beside them. "Someone's interested in our Fala?" he asked, intrigued.

"Okay, fine. I give up on you nosy people. Vincent and I were working on a story for the magazine and were getting along really well. He was about to tell me that he liked me and then Ron over here with his tiny bladder interrupted us before the poor guy could finish!" Fala exclaimed.

"I don't have a tiny bladder," Ron muttered.

"Do you like him too?" Ella asked curiously. Fala shrugged.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "How about you get the door instead of interrogate me?" Fala teased Ella, who promptly got up to open it to see Raymond.

"Raymond, you made it after all!" Ella exclaimed.

Raymond smiled. "Yeah, I know I missed dinner but I figured since I still had some free time I should stop by and see my favorite people," he said.

"I thought your favorite people were those screaming female fans," Ron joked.

"Well, you guys are a close second," Raymond joked back. "So what are we talking about?" he asked, taking a seat on the recliner chair.

"Oh nothing, Fala was just telling us about her new love interest," Ron said.

"Oh, juicy," Raymond said. "Fill me in." Ella bent over to tell him what Fala just told them.

"Enough about me," Fala started in an effort to divert the attention away from yourself. "Meet any cute girls lately Mr. Superstar?" she asked.

"Actually, funny you should mention that," he replied.

"You player, you really did meet someone!" Ron said, pointing his finger at him. Raymond pushed his finger away.

"Her name's Margaret Zhao," Raymond said. "She's a model I met at the promotional event I went to today; she gave me her number." Ella felt her stomach sink after he said that.

Edwin searched her name on his tablet. "Is this her?" he asked, handing it to Raymond.

Raymond looked at the picture Edwin had pulled up. "Yeah that's her," he confirmed.

Ron snatched the tablet from Raymond. "Wow, sexy lady!" he said. "Mainland chick?"

"Yeah, why do people keep asking me that? Tammy said the same thing," Raymond said.

Fala peered over. "She has plastic surgery written all over her!" she said, and handed it to Ella.

The picture was of a voluptuous looking young Chinese woman, but like Fala said, it was evident that she had a lot of work done.

"Really, you guys Google her and criticize her looks?" Raymond asked.

"We're in a technological age and you just make it easier being in the public eye," Edwin replied.

"Well, she's a sweet and nice girl," Raymond argued.

"We're not saying she's not," Ron said. "But...I don't know. You should be careful. I heard those Mainland models can be a lot of trouble."

Raymond made an exasperated look. "You too?"

Kate came over and sat down on the floor beside Raymond. "Oh come on guys, let's be happy for Ray for finding a girl he likes," she said.

"Thank you," he said.

"But Ron's right, you should be careful. Not just because of the stereotypical notion that Mainland girls are trouble, but just because you've never been in an actual relationship since entering the industry. Dating's going to be different now," she warned.

"I understand, but guys, I know what I'm doing," Raymond said.

Ella looked down at the tablet at the picture of the girl who had just caught Raymond's eye in slight jealousy.

========================================================

Author's Note: Two episodes in two days! New record, haha! A longer episode than normally, but it didn't feel right to end it anywhere else and I wanted to be able to focus on more than one subplot this time around and have all the characters together again. It looks like love is about to blossom for both Fala and Raymond! However, one of these relationships will turn out to be a sticky situation. Perhaps Raymond should really listen to his friends and Tammy. *hint hint*

"Till the World Ends" Episode 4

HK Lifestyle magazine had just distributed this month's issue, and Fala sat at her desk twirling her pen deep in thought about what she should write next.  She had already written a fashion critique, a movie review, an editorial about the excessive technology use of today's generation and more.  She was experiencing what every writer dreaded most: writer's block.  Vincent sat across the room at his desk scratching his head trying to churn out ideas as well.

"Fala, Vincent, can you two see me in my office please?" said their boss Maggie Jie (cameo by Maggie Cheung) said from the door of her office, breaking their train of thought and evoking curiosity.  What did she want with them?

Inside Maggie's office, Fala and Vincent sat down with their backs straight a sense of self-awareness.

"I have good news," Maggie announced.  Fala and Vincent let out a simultaneous sigh of relief and relaxed their shoulders a little, making the atmosphere much less tense.

Fala's ears almost immediately perked up.  "Are we getting a promotion?" she asked with curious excitement.  Vincent chuckled at her bluntness.

"Don't get ahead of yourself there Fala, it's not that good news today," Maggie laughed.

Fala's face turned to one of disappointment so quickly Vincent had to hold back his laughter.

"I had a meeting with the CEO Mrs. Chan over the weekend, and she has been very happy with how HK Lifestyle has been doing lately.  She especially had a lot of praise for you two and thinks you are our best writers.  The pieces you write are fan favorites!" she exclaimed.

"That's fantastic!  Praise from the big boss," Vincent said.

"Yes, and we thought that for this issue you and Fala could collaborate on an op-ed piece for the magazine that presents both the female and male perspective of young Hong Kongers.  With the unique writing style and talent you two have, it could be something cutting edge, insightful, yet humorous that the readers would love!" Maggie said.

Fala nodded in acknowledgement, thinking about the possibilities.  "What would we have to write about?" she asked.  Next to her, Vincent tried to contain his surprise and excitement.

"That is up to you two to decide, I just want to approve the idea first," Maggie replied. "So do I have your word?" she asked.

Fala and Vincent looked at each other and simultaneously said "Of course!" Who could pass up such a great opportunity?

"Perfect, I'll let Mrs. Chan know," Maggie said, picking up the phone. She signaled them out of her office.

After exiting Maggie's office, Fala turned to Vincent and extended her hand out. "Here's to a good collaboration! But be careful of pushing my buttons," she said in a mock serious voice.

Vincent laughed and shook her hand. "I'll watch my back," he said. "Shall we start brainstorming then?"

Fala nodded and went to pull up the seat of her desk towards Vincent's as he sat down because, according to her, his desk "is in the ideal position, at the center of everything," whatever that meant. To this, Vincent just chuckled.

Fala and Vincent worked together, for the most part, in harmony. Sure, there was your typical bickering. Vincent teased her about some of her weird habits, like unintentionally clicking her pen repeatedly while deep in thought and she punched him in the arm in protest to only end up turning red, realizing he was right. She would attempt to make fun of him back but much to her displeasure, only made a fool of herself in the end. Not that Vincent actually thought she was a fool of course.

Fast forward two weeks later on a Friday evening, and the final draft of their op-ed piece, which was on what people are attracted to in the opposite sex and their take on the reasoning behind it, was due on Monday morning. However, there were still final revisions and finishing touches that had to be made.

Everybody was gathering their belongings and getting ready to leave for the weekend. Fala picked up her bag and went over to Vincent's desk. "Hey, instead of trying to work this out online, do you want to just come over to my place to finish?" she asked.

"Your place?" Vincent asked, a little startled. Although they had been getting along very well, their relationship had still been confined to the office and some online exchanges here and there up until that moment.

"Is that a problem?" Fala asked. Noticing the expression on his face, she added with a smile, "Don't worry, I don't have any creepy things hanging around my apartment or anything. Well, except for Ron when he comes over. Other than that I apparently have one of the neatest apartments ever."

"No, no it's not," he laughed. "I was just a little surprised, that's all. Um, so do you want to meet tonight or...?" he asked.

"Tonight is fine by me, unless you're too tired and want to meet tomorrow," Fala said.

"Alright, I can do tonight. Just give me your address and I'll swing by my place real quick and meet you there," Vincent said.

"Sounds good," she said and looked around for a post-it or piece of scratch paper to write her address on. "Are you kidding me, how can an office for a magazine be out of paper so often?" she asked, annoyingly.

Vincent looked around noticing the sudden disappearance of paper. "Of all things this place doesn't have enough of," he said with a chuckle.

Fala took a pen from her desk and picked up Vincent's hand and wrote her address on his hand, taking him by surprise. He could feel his heart suddenly beating a little faster and smiled a bit goofily. Oh crap, I hope I'm not turning red... he thought to himself.

"Are you okay? You're not worried I'm going to give you skin cancer by writing on your hand are you?" she asked, pulling him out of his momentary trance.

"Oh no, sorry, I was just thinking about something," Vincent replied, embarrassed.

Fala rolled her eyes at him and laughed. "I'll see you in a bit!" she said, leaving him to his embarrassed self.

**********

Ring, ring!

Fala opened her door later that night to see Vincent, who had changed from his semiformal work clothes to a more casual t-shirt and jeans. His hair was a little ruffled as always, but he looked more comfortable and actually quite attractive. However, something else seemed a little different. She wrinkled her nose. "Are you wearing cologne?" she asked.

"Yeah...too much?" Vincent replied, shyly. 

"No, it's just...since when do you wear cologne?" Fala asked, amused. 

"Oh, no particular reason," Vincent said, trying to keep his cool. "I figured since it's just us this time and not another 10 people around us I shouldn't risk smelling or else you'd think I have B.O."

Fala burst out laughing at the cute comment. "Well, don't stand there like the tall pole you are, come in so we can finish this thing," she said, signaling him to come in.

Two hours and many leftover cupcakes made by Myolie later, they finally finished their op-ed piece. 

"It's finally complete!" Fala said, throwing her arms up in the air in accomplishment. 

"This is a great piece," Vincent said. "I don't think I've ever gotten a chance to tell you this, but I really do think you're an amazing writer."

"Thanks," Fala smiled. "You know, you aren't so bad yourself. I'm sure all your female readers swoon at you with your little sensitive, understanding but humorous perspective," she said, to which he blushed.

Instead of wrapping up and calling it a day immediately though, they continued to chat. For some reason, Fala got this very sweet and at ease feeling around Vincent. She wasn't sure why he always seemed to have a goofy and embarrassed smile on around her though.

"Now, we wrote an entire piece on what we think people are attracted to in the opposite sex, but I still don't know what you are attracted to in a girl," Fala said, playfully. "So whose your ideal girl?" she nudged him with her foot from across the couch they were both sitting on.

"Hm..." Vincent looked into space thoughtfully. "My ideal girl...has to be smart of course. Someone who I can talk to and isn't afraid to be herself. She has to be genuine, sweet, funny, and beautiful inside and out," he said.

"That's asking for a little much isn't it?" Fala asked. "Not that I don't know some great girls, but..."

Vincent looked at her and something in him finally decided to do something about his irritatingly fast beating heart. "It wouldn't hurt if she had adorable dimples and was an amazing writer with a killer style too," he added. 

Taken aback, Fala put a hand to her face and felt her dimples. "Wait, are you talking about..." she started. Vincent bit his lip waiting for a reaction.

Suddenly, there was a rapid knock at the door. "Sorry, I need to get that," Fala said to Vincent and got up. Ron was on the opposite side of the door, still knocking when Fala opened it. She caught his hand, which apparently didn't realize the door was no longer there quick enough.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Ng?" she asked in a mocking tone, slightly annoyed at the interruption.

"I need to borrow your bathroom," Ron said.

"Are you kidding me?" Fala asked in disbelief.

"Well I was on my way home and I suddenly really needed to pee, and you happened to be close by so I thought I'd make a pit stop here!" he said.

"The gas station's close by too, I don't see you going there for a pit stop," Fala replied.

"Yeah but gas station restrooms are gross and your bathroom always smells like lavender," he said cheekily.

Fala rolled her eyes and opened the door for Ron to come in. Ron started to quickly run towards the direction of her bathroom when he noticed Vincent sitting on the couch, who had been watching the friend's exchange in slight discomfort, feeling as if he was the intruder.

"Hi...Vincent right?" Ron greeted in surprise.

"Yeah, Ron right?" Vincent replied awkwardly.

"Yeah..." Ron said. He turned to Fala and whispered "What's he doing here?"

Fala pinched his arm and he jumped backward in pain. "Didn't I tell you I was working on a story with Vincent?" she said, annoyed.

"Yes, yes you did, I just went blank for a second," Ron said, catching his mistake just barely in time. Fala scowled at him. "I listen to you, I swear!" Ron defended himself.

"It's nice to see you again man," he nodded to Vincent. "Anyway, nature's calling," Ron said and quickly darted to the bathroom and out of sight.

"I'm really sorry about that," Fala said to Vincent, embarrassed.

"It's fine," Vincent gave her a reassuring smile and pretended to playfully shrug it off, though a knot had started to twist inside his stomach watching the banter in front of him. He started to gather his stuff and got up.

"You're leaving?" Fala asked, disappointed.

"Yeah, it's getting late and we're all done here. Goodnight, I'll see you at work on Monday," he said, gently patting her on the side of the arm.

"Goodnight," she said quietly and closed the door for him, then walked towards the bathroom and barged through the door.

Ron looked up from washing his hands alarmed. "Hey you don't knock?! I could have still been half naked!" he protested.

"Why did you have to come in and ruin the moment?" Fala yelled, exasperated.

"What moment?" Ron said, blankly.

"He was telling me he..." Fala started, then trailed off.

"Telling you what?" he asked, then it came to him. "Oh, he really does like you!" he said.

"What? You know and you didn't tell me?" Fala said, grabbing her friend by the collar of his shirt. "How do you even know?"

"Please, it was obvious from the way he was looking at you when I came to give you lunch the other day," he said, then started to smile in a sly way. "Wow, somebody's worked up. Does Fala have a crush on someone?"

Fala's grasp of his shirt softened, as did her facial expression. She quickly realized how much her face was giving it away and wiped the smile off her face. "He's not so bad," she brushed it off.

Ron raised his finger and playfully pointed it at Fala. "Aw, somebody does have a crush," he said, then looked down. "Uh...can you let go of me now? Or do you want to take off my shirt or something?" he joked.

Fala looked down and realized she still hadn't let go of his shirt. "You're crazy," she said, letting go.

"Hey, I say that if my best friend catches a guy's eye, he must have good taste," he said to her, playfully putting his arm around her.

"Why thank you," Fala said. "That's the smartest and most sane thing you've said this entire time," she said.

"He also sure has a ton of patience to get through that whole facade of annoying to really get to know you," he added, mockingly.

"Ha, I could say the same about anyone who gets to know you!" she said back.

"Well, what can I say, we're special people," Ron stated. "I'll have to do some digging to see how this Vincent is though," he said to her.

"Don't scare him away again," she muttered.

"Alright, I'll try my best Ms. Longwinded," he rolled his eyes, then looked around. "Say, I know we are pretty weird, but why are we having this conversation in the bathroom?" he asked.

Fala looked around. "Hey, I needed to pick a bone with you right away. It's not my fault you had to answer nature's calling," she said, then turned to walk away. "I'm going to bed, you can see yourself out. Goodnight!" she said.

==================================================

Author's Note: I'm back after over a half-year hiatus from "Till the World Ends"! Apologizes it's a little slow and doesn't involve many characters. It took one whole episode to properly introduce Vincent's character, but I hope people like him because he'll be around for a while. The other characters will be back next episode and I'm looking forward to writing for them again. Hope not everyone has completely forgotten about this fic and will keep reading! :)

Our Little Heaven Chapter 4

 Discovering Danny  
 It's Saturday morning, and Niki had just returned from the photoshoot. "Ugh," groaned Niki as she threw herself onto her bed and kicked off her heels. With the comfort of her soft bed and her feet now free from the restricting and painful high heels, she let out a sigh of relief.

She laid there motionless while staring at the ceiling and soon she was drifting off. She had been up since 4 in the morning preparing for the shoot and had spent the entire day so far on set, so she was sore to the bone. You would think that simply posing and smiling in front of a camera would be easy, but it's less than glamorous when you're stuck doing it for 7 hours straight.

Just when she was about to fall asleep, a loud beeping sound woke her up from her trance. She rolled over to her stomach and grabbed her phone. It was the alarm that she set to remind her of her tutoring session with Danny.

Great...I forgot about Dummy. Niki slumped down on her pillow, ruffled her hair, and let out a sigh of frustration before lugging herself out of bed.

Danny's house was a short 15 minutes away by bus and soon Niki found herself standing in front of his door ringing the door bell excessively. She had been standing there for at least 3 minutes knocking and ringing the door bell, yet there was no response.

"Where is that guy! I'm sleep deprived and the last thing he wants to do is blow me off. So help me I'll..." Niki ranted angrily. In the middle of her rant, she noticed that in the corner of her eye a little boy riding past on his tricycle had stopped and stared at her wide-eyed. She let out an awkward smile and waved lightly at the boy. "Hi..." she said softly.

"Mom! There's a weird lady yelling at a door!" yelled the little boy as he peddled off as fast as he could.

Niki sighed. "Great...for my future resume I can put yelling at doors and scaring kids," she muttered.

"Don't forget talking to yourself," a voice behind her added. Startled, she turned around to see Danny leaning against the door ruffling his hair. Danny was in a white T-shirt and sweatpants. From the looks of it, he had just woken up.

Niki gave him an annoyed look. She stood there for 3 minutes and he picked the most awkward moment to open the door?! "So, what are you doing here? Besides scaring my neighbors...and my door..." Danny asked.

"I was scheduled to teach a monkey how to read," Niki said smiling innocently at Danny.

"I know how to read!" protested Danny.

"Oh! So you're the monkey?" Niki teased as she slipped by Danny and into the house. Danny closed the door behind her and gave her a scowl.

  The inside of Danny's house gave Niki quite a surprise. It was nothing like she had imagined it would be. It was a relatively small house with a square design and you could see everything form the door way. The house gave off an aura of simplicity with its plain cream colored walls decorated with only a few family photos. It was almost a complete contrast to Danny's loud and (according to Niki) obnoxious personality.

What surprised Niki the most however, was how religious the family seemed to be. Besides family pictures and a  the only other decorations were religious symbols such as: a small statue of the Virgin Mary, several crosses scattered about the rooms, and a set of bibles.

 "So...." Danny said interrupting Niki from her train of thoughts. "Umm...can you wait for me in my room? I'll catch up with you in a bit," he said.

"Ok..." Niki said, still somewhat distracted.

"My room is the second one on the left," said Danny, and with that he ran off into the bathroom.

Niki walked down the narrow hallway and into the room instructed. She continued to be surprised by her surroundings. Danny's room was no exception to the rest of the house, it was equally simple and organized. The room only had a computer desk, a dresser, and a bed. What intrigued her was the level of organization; she was half expecting to be drowned in dirty laundry and magazines, yet everything was placed neatly in its respectable place.

Niki grabbed a seat at Danny's desk and tried to take in what she had seen.

"Hey," Danny said coming into the room.

"Hey..." Niki replied giving Danny an intrigued look.

"What... do I have something on my face?" Danny asked turning to a mirror and fixing his hair.

Well, he's still normal...as normal as he can be at least, Niki thought to herself as she rolled her eyes at Danny's vain action.

"It's just that I expected your house to be something...different," Niki replied.

"Oh? Like what, studded door, provocative posters, a gun?" Danny joked.

"Yes," Niki said looking at Danny with a straight face.

Danny stared back at her and there was a moment of awkward silence.

Niki let out a chuckle and said playfully "I'm joking! But I did expect the posters."

"Well no posters, but I do have some magazines hidden." Danny replied with a wink.

"So um, where's your parents?" Niki asked curiously.

"They're at church." Danny replied "On a Saturday?" Niki asked.

"Yeah, my dad's a pastor so he's up there preparing for tomorrow and my mom's pretty religious too, so she goes up there to help," Danny explained.

"So why aren't you up there helping out?" Niki asked continuing her probing.

"Do I look like I'm into religious stuff?" Danny asked.

"No, but your room says otherwise and you've managed to surprise me so far," Niki replied, frankly.

"Yeah, I just go along with it, whatever makes them happy. If it weren't for them I wouldn't care about all this tutoring stuff and grades...That's why they can't know about what I'm like at school...They'll probably die from disappointment," Danny said unconsciously rambling off.

Niki looked at Danny and for the first time she did so with a serious consideration. He's not as childish and mindless as she thought.

"I'm sure they won't be disappointed or...at least not DIE from it," Niki said kindly.

"Hopefully not...Anyways," said Danny, trying to change the subject. "Let's get to tutoring!...and what not."

"Sure! What do you wanna start with?" Niki replied happy to be moving on, yet still curious to know more about the new side of Danny that she's just discovered.

"Well let's see! I think my weakest subject would be....everything..." Danny said returning to his usual playful tone.

"Let's start with English, from our speaking exercise the other day I swear you were making up your own words," Niki chuckled and replied playfully.

"I was not!" Danny protested. "Really? Then what the heck was mooney (he meant money)" Niki teased.

"What! Didn't I say that right? You know mooney." Danny replied.

Niki laughed at Danny's silliness, this was the longest time she's spent with Danny (the first time she spent with him alone) and to her surprise she didn't feel like killing him. And here I thought I might want to rip his head off have way through.....Maybe this tutoring thing could work, Niki thought as she listened to Danny's hopeless English pronunciation trying not to laugh her head off.

**********

Niki and Danny continued with their lesson while exchanging a few jokes and teasing comments every now and then. They were disrupted by the jingling of keys and a big thump; it was Danny's parents returning home from church. Only then did the two of them check the clock and realized they had spent the last 2 hours together.

"Shen De! We're home! Where are you?" exclaimed a female voice from outside in the living room.

"Oh my parents are home,"said Danny. He got up and walked out to greet them, Niki followed suit.

Niki came out to see a middle-aged couple setting their things down. The woman was petite. She wore a light yellow sun dress with floral designs and her hair was cut in a shoulder-length bob that complemented her soft facial feature. The man was quite tall and thin, his hair was neatly combed in a side part and he had his pastor's suit on.

Danny walked out into the living room to greet them and Niki stayed behind in the hallway.

"Ba, Ma. Welcome home," Danny said.

"Oh there you are sweetie," said Mrs. Wong as she sweetly pat his cheek. Danny bent down to lightly kiss her cheek.

Then Danny's dad came up to him and said, "You should've came, your help would've been appreciated."

"Oh, honey give him a break. It's the weekend he's tired from school, let him have a break." replied Mrs.Wong.

"I'll come next week," Danny said wrapping his arm around his dad's shoulder.

Niki looked in envy as she saw their closeness, her family feels even more cold in comparison.

Danny's mom looked to the side and noticed Niki standing there. She flashed a smile towards Niki and asked, "Oh hello, Shen De who is this?" she asked.

Niki returned the smile and bowed respectfully towards the couple. "Hello uncle, auntie." Niki said.

Danny's dad nudged Danny slightly and teased, "So this is why you didn't want to come."

"Danny's never brought his girlfriend home before! He rarely brings anyone home actually. I was getting worried about him," Danny's mom added, smiling sweetly. She walked toward Niki and gripped her hands lightly, greeting her.

His parent's teasing comments made Danny glow bright red and Niki smiled widely.

"This is Niki, she's my new tutor," Danny clarified to prevent any further comments.

"Oh I see, well I knew your tutor was coming, but I didn't expect such a pretty girl," said Danny's mom.

"I didn't either," mumbled Danny to himself and smiled coyly.

Niki smiled shyly and scratched her head.

"Well, we'll be troubling you with Shen De from now on," said Danny's dad.

"Oh it's no trouble uncle," Niki assured Danny's dad then turned to Danny and asked, "Shen De?"

"It's my Chinese name," Danny replied unwillingly. "Don't you dare tell anyone," he added. He's always been embarrassed of his name; "Shen De", personal virtue, of course his parents would give him such an old fashion name it was so likely of them.

"Don't worry who am I going to tell," Niki replied giving him a wink and mischievous smile.

"So how is the tutoring going? Danny's slow so you'll have to be patient with him," said Danny's mom.

"We're just about done actually. I'm going to pack up now. I should get back home," Niki replied.

"Why don't you join us for dinner?" offered Danny's dad.

"I don't want to impose," Niki replied.

"No it's fine, we insist. Right Shen De?" Danny mom said nudging Danny to support her.

"Yeah, you should," Danny said.

Niki complied and stayed for dinner at Danny's house. They had a plain meal with rice, cabbage soup, fried eggs, and marinated ribs.

Danny's dad told Niki stories about his preaching experience, Danny's mom would tease him for being so geeky and Danny and Niki would burst out in light laughter. The atmosphere was warm and comforting, something Niki had not experienced in a long time. After dinner, Niki stayed to help with the dishes and chatted with Danny's mom who asked her many questions.

"Alright, I should get going now. Thank you for everything. Danny, I'll see in school," Niki said as she stood up and grabbed her stuff.

"Thanks for coming dear. Shen De, you should walk her out," Danny's mom said.

Danny listened and got up.

"It's no problem, I should thank you for the meal. I'll be troubling you from now on," said Niki.

"It's fine, come anytime you like Niki," Danny's dad said, looking up from his newspaper.

"Well let's go, its getting late," Danny pressed.

Niki bowed to Danny's parents and said goodbye again before following Danny out the door.

He walked her out into the Main street and hailed her a taxi.

"Sorry my parents are so old-fashioned," said Danny.

"It's fine, they're really nice. It's nice how close you guys are," said Niki.

"They're really dorky and well you only get one mom and dad, no point in constantly defying them," Danny said.

Niki smiled and said quietly, "You're lucky."

Danny couldn't make out what she said, but he returned the smile and said, "Thanks for coming today, Ms. symphony probably told you my problem with tutors."

"It went better than I thought it would, so we'll see," Niki replied.

"I'll see you Monday then?" Danny asked and realized how stupid the question was considering they have school.

Niki laughed and replied,"Yeah, I'll see you Monday." Then she opened the cab door and stepped inside.

Before driving off she lowered the window, looked up to Danny, and warned in a playful tone, "Oh, and remember to do your homework; if you forget I'll beat you up."

Danny laughed and returned a threat, "I will, don't worry, and if you tell anyone what you saw today I'll..."

"What? You'll beat me up too?" Niki interrupted playfully asking.

"No...I don't hit girls..." said Danny.

Niki scoffed and stuck her head back in the taxi. She signaled for the taxi to start and said, "Bye."

"Bye," Danny replied he began walking backwards slowly, waiting for the taxi to drive off out of sight. Niki stuck her hand out and waved back at him.

"Till the World Ends" Episode 3

"Ray, sweetie!  Your first few outfits for your concert are ready!" Raymond's wardrobe stylist Hannah said.

Raymond's short break after his series of concerts in the US were was over, and it was back to work for him.  Today was his first costume fitting for his upcoming concert at the HK Colesium, and he wasn't sure what to expect.

Bosco's words from the other night echoed in his head.  "Hey...HK Coliseum concerts usually have some bold and outrageous costumes", he had said.

How bad could it be? he thought.  His stylists knew him and his style, simple and classy.  Surely the outfits couldn't be too bad.

"Here you go!" Hannah came back with a rack of costumes.  Raymond looked up and felt a pang of panic.  One was a bright yellow colored jumpsuit with rhinestones embedded on it, another was made of transparent fabric, and the last one looked decent at first sight, but then he realized there was something that looked like a tail hanging off the back of it.  Outrageous didn't begin to describe the costumes.

"Uh...Hannah, don't these costumes look a bit over the top?" Raymond asked as he bit his lip.

"Of course not, you need to stand out on stage!  You can't just wear your normal boring clothes," Hannah said as she looked Raymond up and down in his button down shirt and dark jeans.  "It's the Coliseum for crying out loud, you need to look like a star!" the enthusiastic stylist said as she waved her hands in emphasis.

"Now go try them on!" Hannah urged.

Raymond went into the dressing room and hesitatingly tried on the jumpsuit.  He closed his eyes to keep himself from seeing how he looked until the jumpsuit was all on.  He opened his eyes slowly and shuddered.  A star?  I look more like a lemon, he thought.  How could he even walk out like this, never mind perform in front of millions of people?  This wasn't him.  This wasn't even him at a drunken Halloween party.  He looked fake.  He felt like a phony.  He...

"What's taking so long!  Let me see you!" Hannah yelled, interrupting him from thought.

Raymond slowly opened the door.

"Well come out here, I can't see you from here!" Hannah complained, then caught a glimpse of him and gasped.  "Raymond, darling, you look fabulous!"

"I do?" Raymond asked shocked.

"Yes, now try on the second costume!" she said, pointing to the transparent one.

Raymond obeyed his stylist and drudgingly went back into the dressing room to try it on.  It exposed his whole bare chest and back for everyone to see, and he didn't even have that much muscle to show!

"I feel objectified," he muttered as he walked out for Hannah to see.

Hannah turned him around and gave a nod of approval, completely ignoring what he just said.  "The girls are going to love it!" she said.

"Now just try on that last one for me please," she added.

Raymond looked at the costume with the tail with dread.  He did not want to try that thing on.

All of a sudden, his phone rang.  Yes, a distraction! he thought.  "Excuse me," he said to Hannah, and answered the call.

"Hey Ray, it's Ella!" she said.

"Hey!" Raymond replied, breaking into a smile.

"Are you busy?  I cooked some soup and thought I'd bring some to you when you're free," Ella said.

Raymond's ears suddenly perked up.  He smelled opportunity.  "Oh, mom, you fell?  Well, are you okay?  It could be serious, let me come visit you!" he faked.

"Wait, what?" Ella asked, confused.

Raymond cupped his ear over the phone and turned to Hannah.  "My mom got hurt!  I need to go see her right away, I'll try the last one on tomorrow, same time!" he told her as he started to dash off.

"Wait, get back here!" Hannah cried.

It was too late, Raymond was already off.  "I'll explain later, you can come over now", he whispered into the phone and took the first taxi back to his place.  He'd have to try on that animal costume eventually, but chatting with a good friend and getting his mind off it for now sounded more promising.

He arrived back home before Ella came had just kicked his shoes off and made himself comfortable on the couch when he heard a knock at the door.

He opened the door to see Ella and his face instantly lit up.  The bright and sweet aura around Ella always made him a little happier.

"Hey!  I made you some soup.  You need the nutrition, it's good for you," she said, holding up a thermos.

Raymond moved his face closer to hers and stared at her intensely.

Ella made a nervous face.  "...What?" she said.

Raymond blinked and said "Oh, I was just checking to see you weren't my mother in disguise," he joked.  "You know, bringing me soup and telling me how I need more nutrition."

Ella blushed.  "Well, I was cooking at home and made a big pot of soup.  I brought some to Fala too," she replied, then proceeded to make herself at home on the couch.

"So what was that about your mom falling?  Is she okay?" she asked with a genuinely concerned expression.

Raymond laughed.  "I was using you as an excuse to get away," he answered.

Ella raised her eyebrows.  "Why...?"

"My wardrobe stylist gave me all these costumes to try on for my Coliseum concert, and they all looked ridiculous", he told her.  "I was just about to be put into a get up with a tail when you called and saved me," he said.

"Oh come on, how bad can they be," Ella replied.

"It had a tail!" he repeated with emphasis.  "This other one made me look like a bedazzled neon lemon, and then this other one was all see through so you could see my whole torso," he described.

"Oh...that sounds bad," Ella said, wrinkling her nose.

Raymond stared at the floor pondering.  "It's not just the appearance of the clothes.  I feel like I'm becoming more of a machine made idol than a musical artist," he said.  "I definitely don't mind having so many girls fawning over me," he said as Ella rolled her eyes.  "I want to be known as an artist though, not some glorified blow up doll, but I can't just refuse to do what I'm asked."

She listened with understanding.  "I get what you mean.  You're just going to have to find a way to satisfy both.  Own what's been given to you, no matter how much you think it resembles a lemon, but also show everyone who you really are," she said.  She looked down at her watch.  "I have to go!" she said, getting up from the couch, causing Raymond to look slightly disappointed.  "Don't forget to drink the soup!  Bye!"

She opened the door and started to walk out.  "Oh, and one more thing Raymond," she said, stopping and turning around.  He looked up.  "Remember that you love music, and that's the reason you decided to enter this industry in the first place," she said with a smile, and then closed the door behind her.

**********

"No, this just doesn't give me the right feeling," Myolie said, stressing the word "feeling".

Kate gave her a puzzled look.  "What do you mean it doesn't give you the right feeling?" she asked.

Bosco, Myolie, and Kate had spent the afternoon checking out sites up for rent to place their cafe in.  They had looked at five different locations that all showed promise, but Myolie had found something wrong with all of them.  "This one's too small!"  "This one's too big!"  "Do you think we're opening a cafe or operating a drug factory?  This place looks so shady!" were just a few of the things that had come out of her mouth that day.  

"It doesn't make me feel anything, doesn't exert anything special," Myolie explained.  

"It's just an empty room right now, of course it doesn't feel overly special.  We still have to renovate and decorate the place!" Kate said, rolling her eyes.

Bosco inspected the place.  "This is a pretty good place," he said, and began poking fun at his girlfriend.  "Not too small, not too big, doesn't look like drugs are being made here," he said into Myolie's ear from behind, making her jump.

Kate looked out the windows.  "It's a good location too," she said.  "It's near the local university so we'll attract a lot of students, and a moderately busy street," she added.

"I don't know," Myolie said.  "I feel like it's missing something."

Kate sat down at a seat by the window and signaled Myolie to sit down next to her.  "I don't think so.  Just imagine what it'd look like once we renovate the place," she said.

Bosco joined the two girls in their vision.  "Yeah, come up with a nice color scheme, decorate the walls, a large display of cakes could go there, the sitting area there," he said.

"Ooo, we could decorate the cafe by theme!  Do something different as the seasons change," Myolie proposed.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Kate replied.  "See, don't you think we could do a lot with this place?"

Myolie looked around thoughtfully.  "Yes we could," she said.

"So is this going to be the site of Myolie and Kate's to be named cafe?" Bosco asked.

Kate and Myolie looked around again, putting together a vision in their minds, and smiled.  "Yes," they both said at the same time and laughed.

"Ok, I'll call the landlord," Bosco said with a smile, and walked to the other side of the room to make the call.

"So what are we going to name the cafe?" Myolie asked Kate.   And that was the next big question.

**********

Now in a good mood, Myolie was back to cooking and making her delicious but healthy dinners.  Bosco and Edwin came over to join Myolie and Kate as usual.  It was just the four of them tonight, and they were throwing around possible names for the cafe.

"We should combine our names!  What about Myate's?" Myolie said while placing the plates onto the table.

"No," Kate said, slightly cringing at the idea.

"Kayolie's?"

"No."

"Mate's?"

"You're not going to say yes to anything I suggest now are you?" Myolie asked.

"Probably not," she said back playfully.

Edwin browsed a list of the things they planned to offer including different hot chocolates, smoothies, cupcakes, cookies, brownies, and other sweets.

"Gosh, everything on this list makes me want to give into my sweet tooth," he joked.  "Hey, how about  Little Sweet Things?" he asked.

"Oh, that's cute and catchy!" Myolie said excitedly.

"I like it!" Kate replied.  "It's short and sweet."

"No pun intended right?" Bosco teased, and the other three rolled their eyes at the joke.

Edwin put his glass of water up.  "Cheers to Little Sweet Things, the next cafe to hit Hong Kong and take it by storm!" he said, cheerfully.

"Cheers!" Four glasses clinked together in joy.

===============================================

Author's Note: It was nice writing again!  Having already come up with the outline for two episodes, the writing process of this went a lot more smoothly.  I like how once I know what I want to write, I'm able to go with the flow more and let the dialog just come to me, which makes it more enjoyable.  There's focus on Raymond and Ella for the first time, and continued development of Myolie and Kate's cafe!  I hope this sitcom of mine is still enjoyable and fun to read!  Comments appreciated.  Next episode's focus will be on Fala and Edwin.  One relationship will be explored, and a new character will make their entrance!

"Till the World Ends" Episode 2

"Wait...so what exactly happened?" Bosco asked Kate the next, who had just found out the two girls were now unemployed after coming home from work early.  Kate had called Bosco and Edwin after she and Myolie arrived home. Edwin, who was working at home, immediately came up from he and Bosco's apartment downstairs, which was located directly below the two girls.
Kate opened her mouth to reiterate, but Edwin repeated for her instead. "Basically, Kate stood up to the wicked Rachel for Myolie. Myolie got overexcited, as if some supernatural force got into her, and decided to stand up to her as well. Rachel bursts, and fires the two on the spot", Edwin said, making hand motions as he said it to make it sound even more lively and exciting.

Kate nudged Edwin. "Don't forget, as we walked out, she turned back and yelled 'See you suckers!'" she said, with her fist in the air.

"You two sure had an interesting day", Bosco said. Of course he felt bad about what had happened...but the way it happened was rather amusing. His girlfriend would do such a thing. He turned to Kate.

"Getting fired may not be the worst thing in the world though. Now you don't have to work for that Rachel", he said.

"I know, but what if we end up working for a boss that's even worse? And now it'll follow us to any companies that we apply to", Kate replied.

"Also, if I'm worried about this, I can only imagine how hard Myolie's going to take this when it all sinks in", she said as she bit her lip.

"Speaking of which...where is she? I haven't seen her since we came up", he said. He and Kate looked around the apartment for her.

Edwin, who had gone to the kitchen for a glass of water, popped his head out from the other room. "No need to keep looking, I already found her", he told them.

Bosco and Kate came over, but didn't see her. "Wait, where?" they asked.

"Wait, she's about to come up", he said as he playfully shushed them.

Myolie popped up from under the kitchen counter with a large batch of cupcakes. "Has anyone seen my frosting utensils?" she cried.

Bosco and Kate looked around with widened eyes. Trays of cookies, cupcakes, and muffins lied on every surface in the kitchen. There was enough to feed a whole classroom of hungry kids with sweet tooth's. Myolie had cracked.

"What did I do? What did I DO?" Myolie wailed.

Bosco came over beside her and started to massage her shoulders.  "You let out something that you've been keeping bottled up for a long time", he replied.

Myolie budged from Bosco's grasp and went to pull a kitchen knife from out of the drawer.

Edwin's eyes bulged.  "Ahh!" he screamed when realized what Myolie had taken out.  "Myolie Jeh, we know you're feeling frazzled right now but don't need to resort to this!"  he said.

"I want to cut the brownies!" Myolie pointed at the fresh batch of brownies on the counter with the knife.  She looked like she was more prone to passing out from the stress she was feeling at the moment than actually inflicting harm on herself.

Kate reached over and cautiously removed the knife from her friend's hand.  "Let me do that for you...", she said.

Myolie failed to react to Kate taking the knife from her, and instead sank her face into her hands.  "What am I going to do!  How am I going to find a job in this economic state?  And why did I have to pull you into this?" she said as she turned to Kate.  She leaned down and buried her face in Kate's shoulder and started to sob.

Kate, Edwin, and Bosco all looked at each other.  What were they going to do?

**********

Ron exited the elevator to enter the floor of Fala's work place with a bag in hand.  He could see Fala diligently working at her computer through the glass door and smiled.

Opening the door, he tip toed across the room and put up a finger to his lips to shush the puzzled co-workers who caught sight of him from their desks.

Once at Fala's desk, he reached over from behind to cover her eyes.

In response, Fala started to scream.  "Who's this?!" she yelled.

Ron burst out laughing, and Fala immediately recognized the sound of his laugh.  

"Ugh, it's you!" she playfully scoffed.  "What brings you here?" she asked in her normal voice.

"You've been so busy working on your story lately, I thought I'd visit you during your lunch hour and bring you food or you would totally forgot us humans need to eat", Ron replied, handing her the take out bag.  

Fala peered into the bag and took out a hot sandwich and cup of soup from her favorite cafe.  "My favorite!" she said happily.  She reached up and cheerfully pat Ron on the head, who was leaning on her desk.  "Thank you!"

Cindy, one of her co-workers and fellow reporters nudged Fala.  "Your boyfriend?" she pointed at Ron.  "Very handsome", she whispered to her, but not quietly enough so that Ron could still hear.

Ron started to break into a big smile at the compliment on his looks.  "Why thank you", he said.

"Him?  Yeah right", Fala laughed.  Ron rolled his eyes.

He put his arm around her and said "This thing here is just my good, good, very good friend".  He paused, and added "However, she is quite a handful".

Fala elbowed him in the chest lightly for that last remark, and Ron responded by mocking great pain.  "Ow!" he mouthed.

"Could've fooled me", Vincent (Vincent Wong), another co-worker of Fala said with a laugh.  "Bringing you your favorite lunch during your lunch hour, that's not something I ever did for even my own girlfriend, he said.  "And did you notice her eyes perked right up when she saw it", he poked Fala's cheek.

"No wonder she dumped you", Fala joked and pushed his finger away.

Vincent pretended to take offense at the playful assault.  "Aww..." he said, and went back to work.

"Yeah, and she can't go more than a few hours without food.  Try starving her, it's like purposely inflicting pain on yourself because she becomes so irritated and irritating to the people around her", Ron said about Fala.

"That's not true!" Fala said.

"Aw, you two are like an old married couple", Cindy teased.

"Shouldn't you guys be taking your lunch break now?" Fala asked, in an effort to shoo them away.

"We still need to finish our stories too, no lunch for me today", Cindy replied.

"Then get working!", Fala said, and everyone turned back to their computer screens.

Ron turned to Fala again.  "Are you going to the gym after work today?  My last session ends at 5 but I still have to squeeze in a workout for myself too", he said, then poked her arm.  "Looks like you should too, your muscle's going away!"

"It is?" Fala said and looked down and poked at her arms.  "Aw man!  Yeah, I'll be there, I should have this story done by the end of today", she said.

"Ok, see you then.  Don't work too hard", Ron said.  He patted her head then started to leave to go meet his first client of the day at the gym.  As he left the office, from the corner of his eye he could see Vincent sneaking looks at Fala from his work station, then quickly looked back at his computer screen.  Fala, of course, was oblivious.

As Fala finally started to turn her attention back to her story, a new distraction appeared.

"Ahh, he's so handsome!" "He makes me melt!"  "He looks so good in that suit!" a group of girls huddled together in the office flipping through a magazine.  Raymond was on the cover.

Fala raised her eyebrows as the girls fan girled over Raymond.  She heard a lot of remarks on his looks and how "cool" and "hot" he is, but nothing about his talent.  The fan girling continued, but no productive praise seemed to come out of it.  She had a high appreciation of music as well as Raymond's.  She saw him go through vocal training and work hard for so many years before getting where he was today.  Did they not realize her friend Raymond was more than just a pretty face?  He's an artist, not a glorified idol.  Fala sighed.  None of these girls seemed to really appreciate and like Raymond.

**********

Later that day, Fala and Ron ran on treadmills side by side at the gym.  Fala was ranting to Ron about the girls at the office who were cooing over Raymond.

"There are so many more things to praise Raymond about!  His voice and range, stage presence, work ethic, why do the girls only comment on his looks?" she pondered, annoyed.  

"Well, not every girl is as thoughtful and observant as you", Ron replied.

"They're not teenage girls anymore, surely they can show more deep thinking than that", she said.

Ron shrugged and said "You'd be surprised. Not every adult is as bright as they should be."

"But you do have a point. Raymond spent years studying music, training his voice, and searching for opportunities to become a musician, not just the subject of ogling girls", he said seriously. Then, he thoughtfully added "Not that I would mind if girls wanted to fawn over me."

Fala stared at the suddenly daydreaming Ron. "You were doing so well being serious for once until that last part", she said.

He snapped out of his daydream and turned his face to look at her. "Hey, of I was serious all the time you wouldn't find me so fun to hang out with, would you?" he asked in his typical silly and playful tone.

Fala rolled her eyes. "I guess not, she said with a smile.

"And she finally smiles again!" Ron said, pumping his arms in the air as if he had achieved victory.

Fala laughed wholeheartedly at her silly friend. Life would be so less entertaining and fun without him.

**********

"So what are you going to do?" Ella asked Kate later that evening.

"Well, I got fired, I didn't resign. It's not like I can just go back and ask for my job back", Kate said.

It was dinner time of the same day, and the whole group sat in the living room eating instant noodles. While Myolie had downgraded from hysterical to just super worried and unsure of what to do next, she was still in no mood to cook. When everybody showed up ready for dinner, she handed each one of them a noodle cup.

"We'll probably be blacklisted by every PR firm in the area once word gets out about how we were fired", Myolie said sadly.

"You have a decent amount of money saved up, you can just take a break then start applying to jobs again and go from there", Bosco said.

"I'd barely call that a plan", Myolie mumbled. She couldn't go with the flow the way Bosco did so well.  She needed a structured plan she could carefully follow to feel at ease.

Edwin returned from the kitchen with a small plate piled with various baked goods from Myolie's baking spree earlier.  "Myolie, these are delicious!" he said while chewing a brownie.  "You should open your own bakery!"

Ella's eyes lit up.  "Hey, that's actually not a bad idea!" she said.

Edwin looked up from his plate.  "Wait, we were being serious?" he asked.

Bosco stood up straighter.  "That actually is a good idea!  Maybe not just a bakery, but a cafe too!" he replied.  He turned to Myolie and Kate.  "You two studied business in college and have experience", he said.  He pointed at Myolie.  "You're a great baker and love to bake and you're the most organized person I know", he stated.

Then, he pointed at Kate.  "You work great with Myolie and you know how to deal with all types of people and customers well", he said.

"If nobody wants to hire you, become your own boss.  You won't need to deal with unreasonable superiors anymore and you have all of us to help you out too.  People love sweets and it could be a great place for all kinds of people to come relax at", he proposed.

Myolie's ears began to perk up and she started to get excited.  "I can bake and decorate different pastries and create a serene atmosphere that will make people want to come and wind down", she said.

Kate nodded thoughtfully.  "That does sound very nice", she replied.

"And I can help you with the money to start it up and go visit potential locations with you", Bosco said.

"I can help you design the look of the cafe!" Ella exclaimed.

"Oooh, and I can write the first review of the place!" Fala said.

"I can advertise it on the web and create a website for it", Edwin added.

"I can come to the grand opening of the place and attract more people to come", Raymond offered.

"I can..." Ron started.  Unable to think of anything he could do for the cafe related to his job as a personal trainer, he said "I can try all the baked goods and give feedback!"  Everyone laughed.

"I think Edwin has that job covered", Kate said as Edwin continued to indulge.

Myolie and Kate grew more excited and at ease with the idea that had just been born and their friend's support.

Bosco put his arm around Myolie.  "Do we have a plan now?" he asked sweetly.

Myolie paused to think, and everyone waited intently for what she'd say.

"I guess we do!" she said, and kissed him on the cheek.

Everyone started to cheer happily for the great cafe that was about to be born.  Ron picked up his cup of noodles.  "A toast to new beginnings and the unnamed cafe of Myolie and Kate!", he said, goofily.  The friends chuckled at the silliness of the action, but all obliged and touched their cups together.  "Cheers!" they all said in unison.

======================================

Comments: After four months, I finally got the second episode done.  Yay!!!  I suddenly had the urge to start writing it again.  I already had part of it done a while back and finally got a chance and the inspiration to finish it.  I hope everyone enjoys it, that is if there are still people reading.  While I feel like I probably created too many main characters, I love writing their interactions together and have plans for all of them (some more detailed than others).  Fala and Ron's friendship was mainly set up here, and Fala is revealed to have a potential admirer.  And of course, Myolie and Kate quickly found new opportunity.  Next to come, Raymond will be going to the first costume fitting for his upcoming concert!