Fiction: Group 3
“Look, I know this must be hard for you bud, but you're gonna make it through. Tell you
what, how about you come over to my office after your football practice is over. I need to discuss
some thing with you. You know where my office building is?” He asked in his usual loving voice.
“Yeah, I know the way. Dad used to take me there when I was younger.”
“Oh yeah, of course son. Well, I guess I will see you there.” And with that, he walks off of the
field. I finished with practice and took a short shower, then made my way straight towards
Bill’s office building. It took some tries to get the truck started, but it eventually got going. !
I stepped into the front reception of Bechtel Corporation.
“Hi, I am here to see Bill Benson.” I tried to put on my most formal voice.
“And who might you be?” questioned the receptionist, even though she gave me the feel
that she really didn't care.
“I am well, um, I am a friend.”
“All right then kiddo, make your way straight, its the first door to your right.”
“Thanks.” I replied hurriedly, and walked in the directions the receptionist told me to.
Soon enough, I saw a fully glass door on my right, with the letters “Bill Benson. Head of
Marketing.” printed on. I knocked on the door, and Bill gestured me to come in. He was on the
phone, so I just made my way toward the couch and took a seat.
“Ok, ke yi. Ok, listen dude, is there anyone there who speaks english? No english?
Hello? Ni hao? Wo bu speak Chinese? Hello? Can you put an English speaking person on the
phone please? Oh just screw it!” he yelled frantically, his patience running out with every word
from the other side. And eventually, he hug up with a frustrated groan.
“What was that? it seemed like you were speaking some Korean there for a second.” I
asked.
“It was actually Chinese. Learned some on a business trip a few months ago. Its a great
place China, but damn the language is a pain.” replied Bill. I simply nodded my head in
response, while awkwardly brushing my hand on the fabric of the sofa. Bill took a big gulp.
“And this actually brings me to what I wanted to ask you in the first place.” he said.
“Greg, your father, he was an amazing man. He was so-“
“Yeah, yeah he was amazing. What happened to him was so very sad. Bill, I have heard
this all before. From grandma, from mom, from the guy who sells hot dogs outside your office. I
know exactly what you are going to say. I have heard it all a million times in the past five years.
And I sit there and I listen to all of it, because I don't want to act rude. But Bill, I really do not
want to do this talk with you too.” I sighed in frustration. “No, no Greg listen! I did not ask you to come
here for some sympathy speech or even
to make you feel better for that matter. I..um…I need to tell you something. Your father, well, he
was an amazing person. He used to travel a lot, especially when you were younger. Did you
know that? He was gone almost one week from the month. And he didn't just travel to different
parts of America, he went all around the world. Place you would have never even heard of.
Countries and cities he couldn't even pronounce the names of. But his favorite place of all, was
China. He loved going there. He loved everything about China. The food, the culture, the art. He
even took me a couple of times. We used to have so much fun, traveling from the peek of Tibet
and all the way down to Guangdong.” He said, with the utmost fascination on his face.
“And how does this ever so slightly relate to me?” I asked. “Greg, you guys never really got to
travel along with your dad. Your mother won’t let you miss school, and you just never really got the time to
go. But, your father once told me, that he wanted to take you there.”
“Take me where?” “To China of course! To show you the busy streets of Causeway Bay in Hong
Kong. Andto hike in the mountains of Guilin. He wanted to show you the world Greg. He wanted to take
you with him and-”
“You know what, if he really wanted to show me the world, he should have stuck around
to do so himself. My father made a lot of promises back in the day, and it took me some time,
but I have finally caught on and know he cannot keep any of them” I stated angrily. I did not
need to hear all the broken promises my father made, not today. I I stood up from my seat and
started walking towards the door.
“No, Greg please listen. I know your father is never going to get the chance to get to
show you those places himself, but that doesn't mean you should miss out on them.” I stopped
