Introduction
A/N: As you can see, the prequel of this story (Ages Later) contains some plot holes and I vow to fix them here. It was my first time writing such a long fic that I might have lost track of the plot, and I feel like I didn't do enough research in some parts. My bad, I'm so sorry!
It's April 2012, and the girl Besties are now literal professionals at 23 years old. First off, let's start with Abby, Stacy, and…. Mei: They finished studying in 2011 and since then have been registered nurses, though they work in different departments. Mei is a paediatric nurse (dealing with children), Abby is an obstetric nurse (dealing primarily with pregnancy), and Stacy is an orthopaedic nurse (dealing with patients with bone-related situations). It's surprising how Mei handles her emotions well in the nursing field, never having a panda incident yet whilst on the job.
As for Priya, she's now an IT, working as a support technician. As soon as she had finished studying in Quebec, she returned to Toronto with her car and had it re-registered in Ontario. Her job, however, sometimes requires her to travel within Canada and abroad.
Lastly, Miriam is a chemical engineer who briefly worked as a lab engineer in the food & beverage industry. She worked in a soft drinks and snacks-producing factory that went bust 4 months into her job there. Now, she runs a small business selling bikes, skateboards, and accessories with all the savings she earned as capital..
All five girls now drive cars, with Miriam and Abby starting to drive in 2010, and Stacy soon followed in January 2012.
Now, for the boy Besties, Tyler and Eduardo, soon they are to graduate at the Royal Military College of Canada in May. The air force awaits the two. Since joining the academy, their bodies have become more toned, and they have since then been moulded from knuckleheads to more-disciplined people, although they still can act like pricks sometimes. Old habits die hard, don't they?
It's the morning of April 23, 2012, a Monday, and the girls had a sleepover in the Lee residence. They were simply reliving childhood memories as they're now full-time working adults who have scarce time for each other.
05:29….
05:30
Mei's digital alarm clock goes off loudly. It's Monday again much to her (and their) dismay.
"Ohhhh heck, Mondays suck," groaned Mei as she turned her alarm clock off and fixed her messy hair, with some strands sticking to her mouth.
Miriam then followed soon afterwards, waking up and yawning quite loudly and she felt quite heavy-headed.
"Morning, fellas," greeted Miriam slightly groaning.
Mei slept on her bed and the other girls slept on sleeping bags on the floor.
"It's just me, Mir! Morning,"
"Let's say we head outside? Aunt Ming's cooking smells…. Delicious!"
"Great!"
Whilst Priya, Abby, and Stacy continued sleeping, Mei and Miriam went off to use the bathroom first to freshen up in the morning. Being both girls, the two used the bathroom simultaneously. Mei was the first to use the seat and Miriam washed up on the sink, switched when they were done, and proceeded off to breakfast.
Using the toilet simultaneously with someone else as a grown-up was nothing new to Mei as she also sometimes did it with Tyler whenever he went home during the weekends or on holidays. Although this sometimes caused the latter to get hard, they never did anything suggestive…. Yet.
"Morning, mother! Morning, dad!" greeted Mei to her parents who were cooking and reading the newspaper on the table, respectively.
"Good day, Aunt Ming, Uncle Jin," greeted Miriam.
Ming took notice of the two women and finally switched off the stove.
"Morning, girls! Just in time, the porridge is almost done,"
Jin also noticed Mei and Miriam standing by the kitchen and turned his attention away from his newspaper.
"Hey! Good morning, come sit down, we're about to eat,"
"Oh, and by the way, where are the other ladies?" asked Ming to Mei.
"Still sleeping, mother, but they'll be up soon!"
Positioning themselves at the table for breakfast, Ming then placed a cork in the middle of the table and laid down the steaming hot pot containing the porridge. She also laid down the toppings in small bowls around the pot and the Timbits which Jin took a piece. Surprisingly, he wasn't stopped by his wife.
"Mom's letting you have donuts now, dad, eh?!" chuckled Mei.
Jin chuckled and flexed his biceps, showing it to the two ladies.
"That's because I've been getting fit lately by lifting dumbbells and going cycling 3 times a week, sweetie,"
Priya, Stacy, and Abby then woke up finally and headed straight to the kitchen, smelling like mouthwash.
"Morning Mei, morning everyone," greeted Priya monotonously. "By the way Mei, hope you didn't mind but we three used your mouthwash too,"
"Menthol tastes good!" remarked Stacy and she dragon-breathed into Priya and Abby's faces.
"Yes, I know, but you don't need to exhale into my face jUST TO SHOW THAT MENTHOL TASTES GOOD!" screamed Abby and everyone laughed at how hilarious she can be when jolted.
"Just in time, ladies! C'mon, let's eat porridge," called Ming as they positioned themselves by the table and ate their breakfast.
An hour later, they then prepared for work. Coming to the living room, the girls were dressed in their work outfits. Abby, Mei, and Stacy were in scrubs, although Mei wore a pink cartoon character-filled top as she was working in paediatrics. Priya wore a black polo shirt, dark blue jeans, and a leather bomber jacket and she also brought along a suitcase, and Miriam wore a gray polo shirt and black jeans.
Their entrance resembled the aunties' epic entrance to the temple 10 years ago.
"So… Is everyone off to work now?"
"Yes, mother! We're taking my car today" replied Mei.
"You girls take care always, okay?!"
The girls bid goodbye to Ming and Jin who remained home to prepare the temple for visiting hours by 8 AM. To ease Mei's load, they have been hiring staff since 2009 to assist the couple in temple duties.
Entering Mei's car, the girls positioned themselves comfortably and Miriam, as usual, rode shotgun.
"Ready to change the world?!"
"So ready,"
"I was born to do this,"
"Let's burn this city TO THE GROUND!"
"Dude I hate Mondays"
Mei then put the key into the ignition and drove off to drop Miriam and Priya off to their workplaces first, then head to the hospital. The sun wasn't even starting to shine yet, so some of the ladies continued sleeping.
First stop: Toronto Pearson International Airport.
"Passport? NEXUS card? Everything ready?" inquisitively asked Mei to Priya.
"Triple check!"
"And your boarding pass?" continued Mei.
"Here!" said Priya, flashing her printed United Airlines boarding pass she printed after checking in for her flight online.
Priya would be heading to San Francisco for 4 days and Los Angeles for 3 days for a transborder business trip, totalling to 7 days in the United States. Approaching the terminal, they quickly dropped her off so the remaining ladies could have more time to head to work.
"Take care, Priya! Have a safe flight," said Mei behind the wheel.
"Bye, girlfriend!" waved Stacy goodbye.
Abby and Miriam just continued napping, their snoring being audible.
Priya then unloaded her suitcase from the trunk and proceeded to the terminal. Mei sounded her horn twice as a goodbye signal, then left for their next stop.
Next stop: Miriam's shop.
From Pearson Airport to her shop, it was a good 15-minute drive. The rolling doors sealed her shop shut and at 6:30 in the morning, she had ample time to prepare for her 10 AM opening time.
Miriam was still fast asleep but she was nudged by Mei to wake her up.
"Mir, Mir!"
She then groaned awake after a few nudges and wiped saliva from the tip of her mouth.
"W…wh…where are we?"
"At your shop, dumbass," replied Mei cheekily.
Getting to her senses, Miriam quickly woke up and saw her shop.
"Gosh. Oh hey Mei, thanks for the lift!"
Mei then smiled at her friend who disembarked from the car and called on Stacy to ride shotgun. Abby then had all the middle row to herself and laid down on the entire row.
"Take care, hit you up later!"
Next stop: Toronto General Hospital.
10 minutes later, they arrived at the hospital, parked at the staff parking, and headed off to their respective departments.
"See you around, girls!" said Mei.
"During my break later, I might check you out in paediatrics," replied Abby. "Maybe you could come visit me in L&D during yours!"
"Same, see you later, Mei!" replied Stacy.
The trio then parted ways and headed off to their clinics/departments to begin their 12-hour shifts.
Mei was usually the loud and energetic person to greet the paedia ward early in the morning. Apart from the Besties, she had also made a few new friends from her department.
"Morning, ladies! Gents!" energetically greeted Mei at the reception.
The other nurses who were visibly tired from their 7 pm-7 am shifts brightened up and returned the greeting. There were 4 of them: Cindy, Pauline, John, and Imran.
"Hey, morning, Lee!" greeted Cindy holding a clipboard of records from one of her patients.
"Eyyyy," monotonously greeted Pauline holding a 16oz cup of coffee, visibly tired from her shift.
John and Imran were playing Cut the Rope on their phones as their shifts were coming to an end and they needed not to do any further stuff. They were quite focused on their game and were seemingly oblivious to the presence of Mei in the vicinity, so she simply approached the two.
Then, she pranked them and was jolted to their senses.
"BOO!"
In shock, the two male nurses almost dropped their phones and shifted their attention to a chuckling Mei.
"Captain Price, Zakhaev, good day you two!"
And they quickly greeted their morning-shift colleague.
"Hey, hey, hey, wassup B!"
"You scared me, hi Mei!"
John, hearing Mei call her "Captain Price", quickly retorted.
"But Mei, I said I'm MacTavish, not Price!"
"Don't you want to be called someone more superior?"
"Fine, whatever, but hi again, Meilin!"
"Nah, she's Michelin Star, John, don't forget that!" butted in Cindy.
Mei laughed at her colleagues' banter and then switched her phone to "vibrate".
It was then 7 in the morning and Mei finally started her shift. Her graveyard shift colleagues then left the hospital and she bid goodbye to them. Her day then officially starts with more 7 am shift nurses coming in.
"Okay, Lee, you got this!" thought Mei to herself as she began her day, clipboard in hand, stethoscope around her neck.
At the airport, Priya was chilling at the business class lounge. She was listening to Rick Astley songs on her laptop with headphones on as she was completing some work, having a club sandwich and coffee for breakfast.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a very familiar-looking man. She slowly observed the familiar face.
"Is he…."
Priya slowly approached the man for a closer look. Recognising the man, she screamed inside.
"Oh shit, it's JESSE!"
She composed herself to not look so starstruck and slowly approached him.
"Sir, sir?"
Jesse, sipping a cup of coffee, noticed Priya and he took notice.
"Yes, maam, how may I help you?"
Recognising Priya from Pandapocalypse 2002 at the SkyDome (now Air Canada Centre/Rogers Centre) 10 years ago, he entertained her.
"Wait, you're the wavy-haired girl from 10 years ago at Rogers?"
Her biggest idol had recognised her. She felt starstruck deep inside. She maintained composure so as not to cause a disturbance at the lounge.
"Yes I am, you're Jesse, right? From 4*Town?"
"You bet, maam!"
"May we have a picture?"
Jesse chuckled at Priya's request and went,
"Aww sorry, I don't do pictures when I'm not with the boys, but I can sign on anything you have there!" he replied, bringing out a permanent marker.
She then brought out her photocard of Jesse and had it signed on the front and back of the photo.
"Thank you, Jesse! You rock, have a safe flight!"
"Anytime, maam! By the way, where you're headed?"
"San Francisco, and you?"
"Los Angeles. Have a good flight, too, and what's your name again?"
"Priya. Priya Mangal!"
Priya then bid goodbye to Jesse and returned to her position. She quickly messaged the Besties' group chat.
"GUYS"
"GUUUUUYS"
"OMGOSH U GOTTA SEE THIS"
She sends a picture of her photocard with Jesse's autograph for the rest of the Besties to see later on.
At Miriam's shop, she continued to sleep on the floor by the counter with a sleeping bag she keeps in the store with the glass doors locked and rolling doors still down.. When she woke up at 9:45 AM, she viewed her phone and saw Priya's excitingly aggressive chats when she opened Facebook.
She was also in shock and excitement when she saw her friend's chats.
"WOAH we got a lucky one here!", chatted Miriam.
Mei, Abby, and Stacy were unable to chat as it still weren't their respective break times, so they remained absent, along with Priya who was already mid-air on the way to the US.
"Open sesame!" exclaimed Miriam as she unlocked the glass doors and rolled up the rolling door, opening her shop at 10 in the morning.
The boy Besties were at the parade ground practising for their graduation/passing-out parade which would be held on May 18, 2012, a day after Tyler's 23rd birthday.
Inserting their sabres/swords into their sword belts after parade dismissal, the two struck up a conversation with each other.
"Today I learned we're graduating a day after your birthday, Tyler,"
Learning about this, Tyler gasped.
"Dude, shut up? For real?!"
"Man, you're the birthday boy on our P.O.P, and for sure the presence of your special someone is gonna be your birthday gift,"
Digesting Eduardo's words, he quickly imagined Mei at the parade ground on their graduation day. He daydreamed about him wrapping his arm around Mei's waist, holding his white pith helmet at the back of her waist and kissing her, along with Mei in her full panda form and Tyler pointing his sabre to Mei like he were going to defend himself.
Noticing Tyler's blank stare, Eduardo quickly snapped him to his senses.
"Dude? You good bruh?"
With Tyler not even budging, he quickly commanded,
"ATTENTION!" and Eduardo nudged his friend's shoulder further.
Tyler quickly returned to his senses and stood at attention with his command.
"Stand easy, brother"
"Wait dude, I was just imagining Mei!"
"You always have her on your mind,"
"As if you don't have Abigail flying around your mind too, dumbfuck!"
One of the instructors, a female Army lieutenant colonel, saw the friendly commotion between the two and approached them.
"Ehem"
Tyler and Eduardo quickly noticed their superior and quickly stood at attention.
"Maam!" The two saluted in unison and the colonel returned the salute.
"Stand easy, you two, it's a calm day," chuckled the officer. "Baker, I heard your birthday's a day before your graduation, am I correct?"
"Yes, maam," politely replied Tyler.
"I said stand easy, right? You two can be relaxed," laughed yet again the colonel. "By the way, happy birthday in advance to you! Looking forward to see you in the field months from now,"
The pair smiled and Tyler politely replied, "Thanks maam!"
"You two always take care," smiled the colonel. Her phone rang and excused herself from the boys. "Excuse me, gentlemen, I have to take this call. Dismissed,"
To be continued
A/N: Thanks for reading! Your review/s will be highly appreciated. Oh and does this seem rushed again? You decide lol