Chapter 4.2

Chapter 4.2

To begin with, Cedric only worked at Spade’s Publishing on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday evenings after school until 6pm, and every other Saturday 9am to 12pm.

Billy constantly supervised Cedric, teaching him the basics and making sure he understood the tasks he was given to do.  Cedric had quickly proved that not only he was a very skilled and capable writer but also he was swift and thorough when it came to proofreading other people’s articles, particularly at pointing out the smallest of spelling errors and punctuation.

Cedric somewhat looked up to Billy.  He was a sporty cheeky chappy who always had something to talk about.  Academically, he was not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he came up with such incredible article ideas, although a majority of them were sports related.

Not only that, he was brilliant at dealing with the boss’s stuck-up son, Clark Spade.  Clark constantly criticised Cedric’s working habits and firmly believed that his Father should have hired someone older and wiser with actual experience in the publishing industry.  He often made snide comments when he was stood by Cedric’s desk, which was next to the coffee and tea machine.

“We all have to start from somewhere,” Billy growled back as he slammed a hand firmly against his hip, “not all of us are fortunate enough to have things handed to us on a silver platter.”

Billy was not the only one who was annoyed with Clark’s mannerisms.

“Leave the kid alone,” Lacey often chipped in whenever she saw him pestering or slating Cedric.  Clark would often turn away from her and rudely stick up his nose to her ignore her.

Still, Cedric loved how close knit his small work force was, everyone always seemed to look out for each other and no one was ever left to struggle with a heavy work load.  Clark seemed to be the only bad banana in the bunch.  Cedric naively wished Clark could have been less uptight and had more faith in his fellow work colleagues.  He knew, however, that this was unlikely to happen as it was to win the lottery.

A few weeks after celebrating his sixteenth birthday, Seth sent Cedric an email summoning him to his office as soon as possible.  Cedric obediently made his way to his director’s office unable to stop his legs trembling like jelly as he drifted down the stairs.

After rapping his knuckles against the already half-opened door, Cedric peeped round and saw that Seth was sat at his desk with a hand scratching his chin whilst he glanced intently at his laptop screen.

“Come in, Cedric,” Seth invited without looking up from his laptop.

Cedric’s heart was drumming rapidly against his chest as he took a seat on the beige sofa opposite Seth’s desk.  A sickening sensation lurched through his stomach; he looked nervously at Seth with an expression of dread plaguing every inch of his face.  He was convinced Clark had managed to talk Seth round, so he was going to fire him and replace him with some swanky full-timer who was awesomely awesome at writing.

As Cedric continued to stare ahead with dread, Seth carefully shut the lid of his laptop then drummed his fingers against his chin as he glanced over at Cedric with his head slightly tilted.

“How do you feel about going to China?”

Needless to say, the question was very unexpected and Cedric was rather baffled.

“Uhh, what for?” Cedric managed to respond, his fingers nervously digging into his kneecaps.

“It’s just for a little research project,” Seth clarified, “Billy proposed the idea.  I haven’t confirmed my decision with him yet, but I think it would be a great experience for you if you went along with him and Naomi.”

 

“It’ll be a four day trip, company funded.  We have ties out there, so to speak…”

Cedric realised a trip like this was a once in a lifetime opportunity for most people, so he knew he could not pass up on it.  Still, he was slightly twitchy about going abroad without any of his family members.  Then again, he felt somewhat at ease when he was around Billy, and Naomi was practically the Mother Hen of the office.

“I’m in,” the words fell from Cedric’s lips and were wrapped with assertiveness.

“Brilliant,” Seth beamed as he grey eyes twinkled with pride, “I’ll let Billy and Naomi know so they can brief you, and I’ll email you over the flight details as soon as possible.”

And so a few weeks later, Cedric set off to China with Billy and Naomi to commence their research.

The project Billy had proposed was to study the history and culture behind martial arts in China for an upcoming special feature in Acticom.  After having a few hours kip, Cedric, Billy and Naomi got cracking on their research and headed straight down to the Phoenix Martial Arts Academy, where it was rumoured the greatest martial artists on Earth often came to train.

Naomi was in her element, chatting away to the locals in the impressive amount of Mandarin she knew, and snapping away with her camera whilst they demonstrated their techniques to her.

There was even enough free time for the trio to ‘practice’ on the training dummies outside in the sunshine.  Being a sporting fanatic, Billy was first in line to show off.

Despite his athletic physique, he still managed to make a complete spectacle of himself.

“Forget the trained professionals, let’s take some snaps of Billy’s elite skills,” Cedric joked.

On the third day of their trip, Billy and Naomi went to visit the local library with hope to learn more about the evolution of Chinese Martial Arts.

Cedric had been set the task of proof-reading what Billy had written so far as well as checking over the current layout of the article itself.

Once finished with job Billy had set him, Cedric decided to visit the Phoenix Martial Arts Academy since he had a few hours to kill before Billy and Naomi returned from their hunt for martial art knowledge.  As Cedric set foot outside and was about to head down the steps, towards the outdoor training garden, he heard the dull sound of something thudding against one of the training dummies.

A beautiful looking Chinese lady was stood opposite one of the wooden targets; her focus was one hundred percent on the inanimate training object as she fluently swung her arms and legs with a variety of different combinations.

Cedric was instantly infatuated by her.  He wondered how to approach her, especially since she seemed to be so engrossed in with her training.  The last thing he wanted was a round kick to the face!

Carefully shuffling over, Cedric maintained a reasonable distance from the woman waiting for the right opportunity to strike up a conversation.

Just as Cedric was about to clear his throat, the woman abruptly spun around on her heels.  She took one glimpse at him before she arched an eyebrow.

“Err, hi, I’m Cedric.”  A nervous quiver swept down Cedric’s spine after the words had unwillingly escaped from his lips as soon as the woman had turned to face him.  A delicate warm breeze swept past them as an unwanted silence started to build between them.

“You’re a Meerkato, aren’t you?” The woman eventually spoke in a honey-soaked voice.  The confidence in her voice made Cedric very much aware this woman knew her accusation was correct.

“H-how did you know?” Cedric stuttered.

“My name is Sun Young Kim,” The woman continued after brushing her fingers through her fine black hair, completely ignoring Cedric’s previous query. “Since I was a small girl, I was told to anticipate your arrival.  Please, follow me inside.”

Cedric watched completely dumbfounded as Sun started to head back up the stairs to the building behind them.  Realising he had little control over the situation, Cedric had no choice but to follow her if he wanted some answers from this ambiguous Chinese lady.

Cedric followed Sun into a spacious side room which was diml lit but filled with Chinese decorations, artifacts and books.  Bemusement flooded through Cedric’s head as Sun sat down at a chess table in the corner of the room.

“First, I need to test your abilities, to make sure you are who you say you are.  Take a seat.”

Cedric slowly nodded his head before he reached his arm out and pulled back the chair by his side of the chess table. The legs scraped gently against the wooden floor before Cedric carefully sat down and studied the hand crafted chess pieces laid out in front of him.  Was she going to test him based on this game or chess?  Or did she have another method which he was not aware of…?  Regardless, Cedric decided to play along with her little game.

“It’s been a while since I last played,” Cedric confessed as he started to debate his first move.

Sun snapped her head up; an expression of disbelief plagued her face as she watched him make his first move.

“Already I can tell you’re not a fraud.”

At the time, Cedric was not quite sure what she meant, but he decided not to let it put him off their game.  He was eager to win and he was going to play this game as if his life depended on it.

The game went on for just over two hours, and although he was out of practice and made a few significant mistakes, Cedric was the one who emerged victorious after moving his bishop and knight into a checkmate position, thus fully trapping Sun’s King.

“Impressive,” Sun complimented as she looked up from the board and locked eyes with Cedric, “I would expect nothing more from a Meerkato.”

“What is this all about?” Cedric loudly spluttered as he placed his hand down firmly on the chess table.  Disappointment lurched through Cedric’s chest as he watched Sun rise to her feet.  He felt somewhat cheated as she started to head towards the door without once looking over at him.

“The answers you seek shall be revealed in time,” Sun spoke cryptically before she tugged open the door and stepped out the room.  Cedric bit down his lower lip and tried his hardest to fight back his frustrations, and the heavy absence that now hung in his heart.

Cedric remained seated for quite some time, pondering over Sun’s words and her strange mannerisms.  He soon realised that the sun was starting to set outside, and knew that Billy and Naomi would be back at the guest house waiting for him.

“I’m back!” Cedric announced as he set foot into the dining area, the delicious aroma of fresh homemade cooking wafting up his twitching nostrils.

Moments later, Naomi emerged from the kitchen with a friendly grin on her face.

“Look what the cat finally dragged in!” She joked as she rested a hand against her hip.  Her tone, however, swiftly changed after examining the young brunette’s glistening eyes. “Is that the look of love I see manifesting in your youthful eyes?”

Cedric awkwardly raised his arm up and scratched the back of his neck, giving Naomi the answer she had already assumed and the answer he had been trying to figure out on his journey back to the guesthouse.

“I knew I was right,” Naomi chortled before she waved her hands about wildly, “did you meet a pretty Chinese girl?”

“Maybe,” Cedric shyly confessed, “but I would hardly call it falling in love.  She was a few years older than me too, and a little mysterious.”

Naomi laughed heartedly, a smile stretched across her face as she examined Cedric’s youthful face.

“Oh, you’d be surprised Cedric.  Like friendship, love can blossom at any age,” Naomi revealed in a mystifying tone, teamed with a sorrowful glimmer in her eyes.  Cedric arched an eyebrow, intrigued by the fact that Naomi obviously had a similar experience when she was younger. Judging by her lack of elaboration, it was not particular a pleasant memory.

It was then that Cedric realised then just how little he knew about her and the rest of his work colleagues, and the world he lived in.

The next morning, Cedric, Billy and Naomi packed their bags and prepared themselves for the journey back to Honey Set Valley that very afternoon.   Cedric’s mind was a flurry of thoughts and emotions, which were dancing about erratically like the freefalling cherry blossom from the trees outside.  He knew he was not quite in love, not yet.  But there had definitely been a connection between him and Sun Yung Kim, despite they had only exchanged a few brief but meaningful words.

Cedric had a slight incline he would see Sun again one day, and he looked forward to when that day would come.

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