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just a small post about vanessa's personal life
krister, welcome aboard. go peekaboo at http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/jodrell/75/ where the postings of ZULU (your new team) were stored. Had taken the liberty to add your bio, name and URL inside 8P 8P ;P hope you don't mind.
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Vanessa loved her freedom. She found it wonderful that she was able to come and go where she pleased, without having to answer to her parents, and not to have them nag at her for days for getting a job that required her to stay away from home for days. Once in a blue moon however, she would wonder if she had made the right choice, moving so far away from a family that was already almost like strangers to her.
Today, fortunately, was not one of those blue days.
She had risen early in the morning, and ran to the nearby park and jogged a few rounds. The hectic schedule taken by her first mission with the X-files had disrupted her daily exercise routine, and she told herself not to skip it on the days that she was not on the move. After the exercise and a hearty breakfast, she had done a little springcleaning, and had went back to the office wher she finally unpacked the carton of personal stuff that she had intended to decorate her workstation, but never had the time.
In 2 hours, without anyone to disturb her, she had turned her little corner into a smaller version of her apartment, distinctly hers. Before she left, however, she saw Jenny, ZULU's 'personal secretary (whom they shared with so many other people)' putting some data into a brown file.
"Hi, Jenny." She said.
"Morning, Agent Lee." Jenny said, smiling at the young agent who winced at the combination her job title and her name. "You heard about it, haven't you?"
"About what? Jordan's getting married?" Vanessa joked.
"Of course not. Rather, ZULU is getting a new team member." She waved the brown file in front of her.
"Is it?" she raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I thought that we had enough in the team. Moreover, with the lack of support from 'above', I would have thought that they would be unwilling to send any more people in."
"Well, Agent Lee. The upper management always work in strange ways. How is Agent Gorky, by the way?" She asked, referring to the agent who was hurt in the previous mission in Santa Fe.
"She is fine. I accompanied her when she went for a followup in the hospital yesterday, and everything is fine. I'm sure that when the next case came along, she would be able to report to duty just like everyone else."
"That would be great. It would be a shame if anything bad happen to her. She is a nice girl."
Vanessa nodded her head in agreement.
"So who is the newcomer, Jenny? Any hints? Come on, give me a early Christmas present. Tell me its a chinese." She asked jokingly.
"Sorry, but I am no Santa Claus." They laughed at that joke, and Vanessa left soon after.
After she left Station X, she made her way to the supermarket near her apartment. It was ran by a Hong Kong couple, and it was a place she visited often, to buy the cheaply-priced chinese goods and to soak into a atmosphere which was filled with the chatterings of chinese and other dialects, mostly cantonese. As usual, she exited from the supermarket with two whole bags of groceries, and made her way home, humming some Broadway songs.
By the time she reached her apartment, it was 2pm, and there was hardly a single soul around, everyone being in the office or in school. Balancing the two bags on one hand, she pressed the lift button and waited for the lift to come down.
The lift was a old one, and as it descended, the sound it gave off was enough to cover the sound of light footsteps approaching. Vanessa did not know the presence of the other person until she felt a pair of arms grabbed her.
Called it instinct, or whatever (though when Vanessa thought about it after the incident, she called it lousy reflex), but the first thing Vanessa did was to step on the feet of whoever it was with her boots. She heard a small shout of pain, and felt the arms around her losen. Turning around, with her groceries still in her arms, she leaned slightly to the wall, stretched out her right leg and kicked, aiming right at the stomach of the other person. She saw him pushed by the momentum and crashed onto the wall opposite the lift, his hand automatically going to his stomach and his head down in pain.
Serve you right, she thought, as she quickly put down her paperbags and pulled her gun. I'm not going to let you people treat me like a damsels waiting to be kidnapped.
"FBI. Put your hands up." She said, as she pointed her gun at the figure on the ground.
The person groaned, and took his time inspecting his tender flesh, before he lifted his head and looked at woman in front of him.
"Hey, is this anyway to greet an old friend?" he asked in a whisper.
Christopher Starling smiled with satisfaction as he saw Special Agent Vanessa Lee drop her jaws in recognition.
**********
10 minutes later, Vanessa's apartment
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"Does it hurts?" Vanessa asked for the 5th time as she passed him a ice bag.
"You mean when you wana kick somebody with your size 5 boot, you don't intend to hurt?" He asked.
"I'm sorry, Chris. Its just that I thought it was someone trying to attack me."
"You are forgiven, Vanessa. On one condition." Chris said as he pressed the bag on his skin, which was already showing signs of blue-black.
"What condition?"
"Remember when we last met? What you told me at the very end?"
Vanessa looked at the young man in front of her, his hair still messy like the last time she remembered it, making her wanting to get a comb and brush it straight.
The last time they met, was 3 years ago.
*************
Vanessa had always hated blind dates, and it did not help that she had turned up for this one because she has lost a bet with her best friend, Jennifer.
"Come on, Nessa. It will be fabulous. He's a very nice guy. One of the most eligible Chinese guy I had known. " Nif had told her.
"Chinese? I thought you said his name was Starling?"
"Yeah, Christopher Starling. He is Chinese. Adopted by a caucasian couple. And he is cute, had a degree, and is gentlemanly. If its not for Robby, I might have decided to keep him for myself. And he is just a few years older than you. Just finished his medical studies. Just perfect."
"God, Nif. I don't want another blind date. Remember last month when you introduce me to that Bill Gates brain and Tom Cruise look guy ? "
"That was then. This is now. Look, this one is really good. Trust me."
*****************
"I met Robby and Nif recently." Chris told Vanessa, breaking into her train of thoughts.
"How are they? I keep telling Nif that I would call her as soon as I come, but I just come back from Santa Fe a few days ago. " A pause. "Not much of an excuse right?"
Chris laughed, showing all those laughing lines around his eyes. "Not much, I have to admit. Anyway, I met them, and Nif told me that you just moved here recently. So I decided to pop in for a visit. What I didn't expect was that you would misinterpreted my welcome hug into a attack."
**************
For once, she had to admit that Nif's 'trust me' was a sign of good taste. Nif had arranged for them to meet in her housewarming party, and had tried to make it as un-blind-date as possible.
Christopher Starling, son of George and Ellen Starling, of Carter, Starling and Partners. Named after the priest who had found the abandoned baby outside the church, George and Ellen had adopted the child and raised him like the child that they never had. He was a few years older than Vanessa, but they found that they had alot in common, and had went out a couple of times. Until he asked her to be his girlfriend.
"No."
"No? "
"Chris. You are a very nice guy, but I have to tell you the truth. I am leaving for Singapore in a few weeks' time. I had applied for a university there. If things go well, I will never come back."
"But if you come back?"
"If I come back? We'll talk about it then."
****************
"You told me that you'll consider if you come back, Vanessa. If we meet again. "
"You are a hard man, Chris." Vanessa said with a sigh.
"How about if I throw in a dinner? Will that make the offer more tempting?"
She had to laugh at that one.
"Chinese?" She asked.
"Chinese."
Deal.
----
Regards,
Lee Sau Woon aka SA Vanessa Lee