Chapter 9: Jay

Was I ready??
You bet I was!
But what in the world had possessed me to tell Darren I was with a friend??


Coming to Singapore on my own with one half of the Drifters was turning out to be quite a wild ride; one which reminded me fondly of that MV for Besieged From Four Sides which we had shot in Venice...yes, the one with me and Zhou Xun fleeing from the papparazzi.
I had meant it when I told Ashley that the filming of November's Chopin's music videos had been a special time.
It had taken quite a bit of negotiating to be allowed to film in the Piazza San Marco and the surroundings and also to bring in that classic piano from Milan for the cover photo of the album.
I still remember Rong Ge's expression of disbelief when I had brought up my ideas for that but he knew that once I had made up my mind, I would not be dissuaded so easily, despite the costs and difficulties involved.

Ashley.
What a pretty name!
She was quite a looker too, her hair in a sleek, straight bob (somewhat similar to my dear friend, Lun Mei's hairstyle in Secret), warm brown eyes, porcelain-fair skin with a faint flush now, and a cute dimple in her left cheek which appeared every time she smiled.
She looked almost Chinese but there was a little something different; was it the sharpness of her nose? Or how large her eyes were?
And when she had spoken English to the pappz, she had sounded amazingly British. Or was it American? I could not tell.
Don't laugh.
Honestly, I can learn to play any musical instrument in two days but a few months of learning English in America for The Green Hornet was still not enough to make me comfortable using the language.
I had nothing but utmost pity for the extremely patient English coach Seth hired for me; I'm fairly certain she wanted to give up on me many times but hey, I did my best and I'm nothing if not hardworking. Besides, my fans would be watching this groundbreaking movie (for me); how could I let them down??

The events of the past half an hour flashed through my mind again as I wondered what manner of serendipity had led me to dash into the carpark of the shopping centre whilst running from those dogs and end up hiding where Ashley's car was.
I guess it had been an instinctual reflex when I saw that it was a pink car in an alcove far from the exit doors and the Hello Kitty dolls on the dashboard did the trick.
After all, how could someone driving a car with those adorable cats be evil, right?
Her concern for my injury and admission that she was a doctor had surprised me for awhile but the professional way in which she had examined my wrist convinced me.

I had been impressed already by her remarkable self-composure when she had obviously recognised me and when those two idiots came storming into the carpark, not just once but a second time. Not to mention how she had so coolly engineered our escape out of the carpark and boy, did she know how to drive!
Reminding me to put on my seatbelt was a nice touch and I was rapidly feeling safer with her, so much so that I could not resist turning up the volume of the car stereo as we made our way onto the main road. Musicians like to do that.
When the strains of Ju Hua Tai came on and I looked down to see two of my album boxes on the panel between our seats, I was certain that I had found a friend.
Of course, she might also turn out to be some crazy fangirl who was planning on kidnapping me and demanding a ransome later but nah...I pride myself on being a good judge of character and I could tell she could be trusted.
All the more when she reminded me to call Darren to reassure him and then offered me the use of the charger for my battery-dead phone.

Truth to tell, I had been a little alarmed when she sort of threatened to leave me alone on the street after admonishing me for disrupting her dinner plans. Of course it had been presumptuous of me and I had apologised quickly but it was becoming quite clear to me that I wanted to spend more time with this intriguing doctor who obviously liked my music (her rendition of Nocturne's chorus had been amazingly in tune and word-perfect!) and did not seem too overwhelmed by my fame and who I was.

It had also worried me when I realised that she had been hurt earlier on; what if she fainted whilst driving?
The flush on her cheeks and sudden intake of breath when I had reached out to feel the bruise on the back of her head startled me a little but also told me that she was not as cool as she appeared to be.
Hmm...was she going to take care of me after all?
But just how could she have labelled all Lambo drivers as being stupid??
I had to protest.
Her response about my mother's birthday gift was unexpected but cute and I simply had to tell her just how scary filming The Viral Factor had been.
I didn't even mind her sweetly sarcastic dig at my helplessness without my entourage (Am I really that horrendously inept in mundane matters in the eyes of my fans??) and considering how close I had been to being cornered by the damn pappz, I could only feel relief when she agreed to my proposition.


"Are you ready?"
Dr Ashley was now smiling at me beguilingly as she asked me that question.
Was I supposed to answer?
What did she have in mind?

Oh well...this should be interesting!