What if I ain't no violinist?

103. Twoset Teachers XI (Paparazzi 2)

Continuing from Twoset Teachers X...

-----------------------------------------------

Eddy was so glad they didn't go for bubble tea today, otherwise, he would've ended up in the morning news bulletin as the teacher who choked on his bubble tea. Instead, he was trying to recover from a coughing fit from his coffee.

"Eddy, are you okay?"

"OMG... Brett, I had no idea...you...solved the case??!!!"

"I didn't bloody solve it, I just helped a bit. But it was the process of myself clearing my name which the media liked. Which leads us back to the paparazzi you saw in the car park..."

"OMG...surely they still won't be there by the time we finish up here..?!?!"

Eddy slowly drove back into the staff carpark. Their surroundings were already starting to get dark.

"Looks like almost everyone's gone, Brett."

"I'm actually surprised a few cars are still here.. shouldn't they all be gone by now?"

"Well.. it could be other teachers who left their cars to go out as we did?"

"I suppose.. ok, I'll get out here, thanks Eddy."

"Hang on, I'll just drive next to your car."

As soon as Eddy put his gear into park and was just about to pull the handbreak, someone emerged from behind Brett's car.

"Sh*t Eddy, look away !!!"

A camera flash went off suddenly illuminating the carpark with a bright light for a brief split second.

Eddy had just managed to cover his eyes with his arm as he put his gear into drive and drove his car away from Brett's car.

"Yeah Eddy, just keep driving... don't rush.. just don't look outside."

Eddy muttered while driving.

"OMG this is insane..!!"

Flashes continued as Eddy drove out of the car park.

"Sh*t, sorry Eddy, I'll catch a cab home from your place, yeah?"

"It's okay, let me drive you home. How about we have dinner nearby your place?"

"You'd do that for me? Great, dinner is my shout. I owed you a bubble tea anyway."

"OMG then you just owe me a bubble tea. You don't have to buy me dinner, Brett."

They decided to eat dinner at one of Brett's favourite Taiwanese noodle shops near where he lived.  They sat down and had their order taken.

"Man, Brett, I was actually shaking for a while afterwards... that was quite intimidating to have the media chase you like that... it must have been awful when it was in full force."

"Yeah, especially at the beginning, when they thought I was a suspect because I knew the kidnapper's plot."

"Geez, I'm so sorry this happened to you Brett..."

Brett smiled.

'That's very sweet of you to say that Eddy, thanks man. I'll be okay."

Eddy saw a bright light flash in the corner of his eye and flinched. Brett also turned his head sharply towards the light.

".. it's okay Eddy... it was just someone's phone's flash."

"Oh. Phew.. man, even I'm a bit on the edge now Brett."

"Yeah... you never get used it."

"So it's been 4 years and they still chase you around...?"

Brett shrugged.

"Every year, around this time of year. It must be in their diary to check up on all their "where are they now?" items. Last year we had the Covid lockdown around this time of year and the media was obviously too busy chasing other stories which was probably why you didn't know. Even I'd forgotten about them last year."

"Brett I vaguely do remember this news... the hoax kidnapping incident.. but I had no idea an English teacher was involved in solving the case. It is kinda cool y'know."

Brett gave a self-deprecating smirk.

"Well... English prac teacher to be precise. And to tell you the truth, yeah it was kinda exhilarating when I first suspected something and it turned out that I was correct. But it's since become a major pain in the ass, really. It's only once a year but it's quite unpleasant to be chased around like that. I mean, what am I supposed to say? They try to get a story out of me by asking whether I really didn't have anything to do with it, as if I had perhaps suggested them the idea. It's ludicrous."

"Geez, I'm so sorry that's been happening to you. I guess this 15 minutes of fame thing is not so much fun."

"No it isn't. It's way over-rated. I mean, if I was ever going to be famous, I'd hope it would be for something good, y'know, some kind of legacy for what I do, not just some fluke thing that gives me 15 minutes of fame."

Eddy smiled at his favourite colleague.

"For what it's worth, you did good for that girl's parents Brett. But yes, of course you would rather leave a true legacy, Brett. If you were to ever become famous, I bet it would be for something absolutely brilliant."

A/N: This concludes the duology Paparazzi within the Twoset Teachers series (X and XI).  Hope you enjoyed it❤