Sunshine or Lead

by Adam Van Susteren

  “I understand. I’ll be there to keep her safe. If I feel there is any danger, I’ll just drop Tina and Jessica at the U.S. Consulate General’s Office.”

  “Okay,” Aaron said, and then Aurora walked him out of the building. On second thought, he might almost rather have Tina with Aurora in Barcelona than home alone.

  Chapter 17

  “You think you’ll be coming back tomorrow?” Tina asked Aaron as they drove north along Highway 5 to their home in Orange County.

  “Nannette Allenby’s first appearance in court is tomorrow before Judge Freddie C. Bass. I’d like to be there for it. I also have to get the movers to clear out the office and bring all my stuff up here in the truck. And I have to go get my car.”

  “I guess you have to go. Maybe you can firm up plans for the bachelor and bachelorette parties,” Tina said, in case there was a chance they were being listened to on her cell phone or some other recording device.

  “Are you sure you can get the days off? You don’t have to go,” Aaron said.

  “Are you kidding? Champagne sangria, gazpacho, and paella on La Rambla? How could I not go? Not to mention being there for Jessica to celebrate her upcoming wedding to Kor.”

  Aaron left it at that and they engaged in small talk the rest of the drive back. When they got to their house, he went into his home office and checked his work email. Twenty-seven new emails since Friday morning. Fifteen minutes later while Aaron was responding to emails and making notes, Tina popped in and asked, “What do you want for dinner?”

  “Whatever is fine, you know what I like,” Aaron responded with a quick smile that meant to say he had to keep his focus right now.

  “Okay,” she said as she went to peruse the various delivery options at her disposal.

  Aaron was tapping away at his emails when he saw he had a demurrer hearing on Wednesday in San Diego and a filing deadline for a motion for summary judgment on Thursday. His office was more and more electronic but, even still, he had papers packed in boxes in that truck outside his office that he would need to sort through for exhibits to the motion. He estimated fifteen more hours were needed on finalizing the motion. Not the best time to play international hero again, but not the worst either.

  Aaron had a few petitions to sell structured settlement annuities on calendar this month and had to draft the paperwork for two more, but those were quick. He could easily get another attorney to fill in for him at the hearing as long as the paperwork was done well. Then there was a new client that wanted him to file an anti-SLAPP motion on a defamation/free speech case. Aaron saw the service date and knew he had three weeks to file the motion. He really wanted to take the case because he loved free speech issues but was afraid he was too busy.

  The doorbell rang nearly two hours after Aaron first sat down at his desk. It was the delivery of Taiwanese food from A&J. When Aaron answered the door, he accepted the food from a kid who worked for a local service that picks up food and brings it to you if the restaurant doesn’t deliver.

  Aaron and Tina enjoyed their dinner of beef noodle soup, oxtail noodle soup, and of course the thin savory pancakes known as Bing. They didn’t talk much during the meal. They allowed the slurping and clinking of spoons and chopsticks to fill the air. Near the end of the meal, Tina asked, “Are you going to be up late working tonight? I’m kind of in the mood for a stupid comedy, something really light.”

  “I’d like that. I’ll join you, but start it without me. I need to see what work I can set up to do on the train tomorrow and what work needs to be done this week.”

  Tina sighed. “Now that we’re living together, it seems like we have more distance between us.”

  “It’s just the transition,” Aaron said as they cleared the table in silence. She went up to the bedroom while he went to his office and tried to focus on his other clients’ legal matters. After a quick hour, he relented and focused on Xiaowan again. After a few minutes of pointless web searches, he sent an email to Pat asking if he could provide company research on Ameriprobe.

  Aaron went upstairs to the bathroom and brushed his teeth. He took off his shorts and shirt right next to the bed and crawled in. He nudged Tina onto her side and snuggled up behind her to watch the last thirty minutes of the movie; he fell asleep with her wrapped up in his arms.

  In the morning, Aaron had Tina drop him at the train station on her way to work. He was able to get some work done on the train. The rest of the week passed by like he passed by the Pacific Ocean on this train ride.

  Aaron was so busy with work that the week was uneventful. Nannette was held without bail and waived time for a speedy trial. Aaron’s movers loaded up his office furniture, took it to storage, and then dropped off his files at his new house. He drove back in his car on Monday night and took the train back and forth for his Wednesday hearing so he could work during the commute.

  Tina was able to negotiate getting Friday and Monday off from work by agreeing to cover additional call shifts for her colleagues later in the month.

  Nat focused on the current missions and, on Wednesday, reported that Xiaowan’s parents had received the promo for Victory Casino and booked their trip. They would be in Macau; the mission was a firm go.

  Aurora was back in Washington D.C. working on the Helen Cluntz investigation while staying current with Nat’s updates on Xiaowan’s case. Both Aurora and Nat told their boss that there may be an impending incident with China that wasn’t ripe enough to report on just yet.

  The next thing everyone knew, it was Friday morning.

  “You are fucking kidding me!” Kor bellowed as he finished climbing up the steps onto the Gulfstream. Introductions were made all around as everyone got situated on the couches and chairs in the plane. Within ten minutes, they were wheels up and on the way to Hawaii to refuel. Within thirty, the front half of the plane was deep in conversation.

  Aaron and Kor were seated on a couch across from another couch where Manny was seated alone. Back a row were two rows of three seats each, with a couch at the end. Josh Ruyle and Leonard Fredwards were taking two of the seats in the middle row of recliners. James Lerma sat in the first row with Nat seated next to him.

  Josh, Leonard, and Manny wondered who she was. She introduced herself as Nat and said nothing else for quite some time.

  Manny asked, “So Kor, we are celebrating you this weekend. What made you decide that you wanted to get married?”

  As outgoing as Kor is, he doesn’t normally open up much about things of this nature. Somewhat reserved he said, “I know that Jessica will always have my back, we have a lot of fun together, and we like to do the same things.”

  Manny nodded and stayed silent, a common lawyer’s trick to get someone to keep talking to break the silence.

  Kor added, “And she’s really hot!”

  A big smile from Manny and a few chuckles from the group helped ease the tension. “I’ve been married for a long time, want some advice?”

  “Sure.”

  Aaron was excited to hear Manny talk about any subject. He had such wisdom and incredible experiences.

  “Jessica sounds like an impressive woman. Smart, great career, loyal, and in your words, ‘hot.’ How did you get her to fall in love with you?” Before Kor could answer, Manny asked Aaron, “Same thing for you, how did you get Tina to fall in love with you?”

  Kor joked, “We’re awesome, how could they not?”

  “Sincerely, why do you think they fell in love with you two?”

  Aaron answered, “Because they see us in the same way we see them, as people we want to be around.”

  “Sure that’s true, but even just for your friendship, why are you two so close?”

  “Because I believe in charity,” Kor bellowed.

  Aaron pushed him in the shoulder. “Because we laugh and have fun.”

  Manny raised his glass of champagne. “I submit it is because you find each other interesting. And you find your fiancées interesting. They find you interesting.”
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br />   Aaron shot back. “And you’re the Dos Equis guy, the most interesting man in the world.”

  Manny shook his head. “Not true. But my wife is the most interesting woman in the world so I do my best to keep up. After thirty years of marriage, we both appreciate and respect the impact we have on the world. And we support each other when we fail.”

  “We don’t all have jets like this and the ability to impact the world.”

  Manny shook his head. “Kor, you impact the world every time you interact with someone. Every time you find a family a home or you help maximize a person’s profit, or mitigate their loss, when they use your services. I’d bet that Jessica loves you because of the impact you have on everyone you meet and interact with.”

  “Okay…” Kor said not really understanding the point.

  Manny thought for a second. “Have you ever met a guy, a nice guy, that just can’t seem to get a girlfriend? Maybe he even has a good job.”

  “Sure.”

  “Ever see a couple get married, both successful people, only to get divorced a few years later when it looks like they had everything?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Think about that nice guy who can’t get a girlfriend. What does he do to try to get one?”

  Kor said, “Buy stuff, do favors, things like that. Or maybe nothing at all.”

  “And how does the girl treat the guy that buys gifts for no reason?”

  “She takes advantage of him because he lets himself be taken advantage of.”

  “It seems like that, but think about it, this is the bargain that he is making with her so she’s not taking advantage of him at all. He is offering to do these things to get her interest. She is offering her interest because he does those things. It’s really no different than any successful relationship. He just is not offering anything of significant personal value to the girl.”

  Aaron frowned. “Sounds sad when you put it like that.”

  Manny asked Kor, “What would you tell your friend in a relationship like that?”

  “To get out of it.”

  “But what if he can’t get another girl?”

  “I’d tell him to try harder.”

  “What does try harder mean?”

  “I don’t know. Ask more girls out. Try doing more fun things with them.”

  “That’s it!” Manny exclaimed. “Do more fun things. But there’s the rub, this guy isn’t offering a witty joke, talking about what he has accomplished, or what plans he has for the future. He’s boring. He’s not interesting and your solution is the right solution, become more interesting by doing interesting things.”

  “So don’t become boring?”

  “Exactly,” Manny said. “But that’s easier said than done when you live with someone day after day, year after year. You are successful people in your careers and now you will be married. It’s easy to fall into the trap of just going through the motions at work and then going through the motions at home. Pretty soon you’re working just for a paycheck and watching TV on the couch all night. That’s what the boring guy who couldn’t get a girlfriend did. If you’re not careful, you slowly turn into him.”

  Aaron looked at the plane. “I don’t know Manny, while this plane and trip is pretty special and interesting, a week of laying on the couch watching TV with Tina sounds pretty damn good.”

  “That’s because you are both doing such interesting things that you would love the downtime. The downtown is your escape, not your routine.”

  “Okay, so I won’t take the relationship or Jessica for granted.”

  Manny shook his head. “That’s not what you’re supposed to take away from my points. When you get married, don’t take yourself for granted and your partner will love and appreciate you more. Don’t become the guy that gives up on his dream or forsakes a new hobby in order to please your partner. Encourage and support your partner to impact the world and provide love and support for all the failures that happen.”

  “How do you do that?”

  “You can do something like Aaron and expose the quasi-government organization that has stolen billions of dollars in gold from the Treasury, or travel to China for a client’s interests. But you mean everyday things. Challenge yourself to run a marathon, cook an amazing meal, write a book, organize a fundraiser the next time you hear of a disaster instead of just sending thoughts on social media. Do anything where you set a goal that you can accomplish or fail while trying. Achievements and failures are what make us interesting. Even the achievement of failure is more interesting than never trying to accomplish anything.”

  “Makes sense. What made you think about this?”

  Manny admitted, “About twenty-five years ago, my wife and I were in a rut. She was coming to all of my events and was so supportive. I couldn’t understand why we were losing the spark. She thought it was a wife’s duty to sacrifice for her husband and I thought it was my duty to buy her things and run errands for her. We became boring people compared to who we were when we first met.”

  Aaron asked, “How did you figure this out?”

  “We were particularly chippy at each other one day and she yelled at me saying that I was taking her for granted. Before we were married, she graduated cum laude from Stanford, was part of a choir that won a regional championship, was the youngest editor in the history of the San Francisco Chronicle, and had written articles picked up by nationwide newspapers. She gave all that up to support me.”

  “Sounds like she accomplished a lot.”

  “Yeah, and that’s why I fell in love with her.”

  Aaron said, “So she changed. She was still smart, beautiful, and everything else you loved about her, but she was no longer trying to accomplish things outside of your relationship.”

  “Yes. And when we recognized it, she started working towards other goals and we both had individual goals as well as ‘team’ goals. It was hard to encourage personal, even selfish, interests, but it no doubt saved our marriage.”

  “Thanks for sharing that, Manny. I think that’s some great advice,” Kor said with sincerity.

  Aaron said, “I know it’s only eight am, but I feel like we should have a round of Dos Equis. I think Manny is the real life version of the most interesting man in the world!”

  “Boom!” Kor roared.

  Manny smiled and said on cue, “Stay thirsty, my friends.” Manny had two intentions for the conversation. First, he genuinely cared about helping people and thought it was good advice. Second, he believed it was a quick way to build rapport and bond. That would help ensure he was on the inside of the goings-on. Feeling that bond starting to form, he asked, “Speaking of being thirsty, what is the plan for this weekend?”

  “To have a great time for Kor’s bachelor party,” Aaron answered.

  “There’s more, isn’t there?”

  Aaron nodded yes but then said, “Nope, just going to have some fun.”

  Aaron stood up and pulled out his cell phone, then pointed at it repeatedly so everyone saw. He then pointed to Kor who handed Aaron his cell phone. James and Nat handed theirs over too. He stuffed them in his pockets as his hands were getting full. Manny did not protest and did the same. Peer pressure had Leonard and Josh doing the same without having to be asked.

  Aaron went into the bathroom, placed all the phones on the sink counter, and closed the door. He let Manny, Josh, and Leonard in on the second reason for the trip. While leaving out the details, he told them James was going to bring Xiaowan’s parents back with them. If anyone was uncomfortable with them flying back with her parents, Aaron would pay for them to stay in a hotel in Hawaii so that they wouldn’t have to continue on to Macau.

  Even without all the facts, everyone agreed that they were in. Aaron explained that their cell phones might be used to record them and their rooms in Macau might be bugged or video-surveilled. They shouldn’t talk about any of this unless Nat told them it was clear.

  With that, Nat finally spoke up. “Consider me here as a friend t
his weekend. We may be going to a dangerous place and the best way to help James and me operate is by providing the good cover of a bachelor party.”

  With that, Aaron started passing beers around. “It’s five o’clock somewhere.”

  Chapter 18

  The flight was fun and uneventful. Customs coming out of the private jet was an absolute breeze, as was checking into the VIP suite at the Victory Casino. After a quick meeting in the hotel room, they had free time to be tourists for a few hours. Aaron, Josh, Leonard, and Kor had never been to Macau so they, along with Manny, went to see some sights and took a ferry to Hong Kong where they had lunch at a noodle shop.

  Nat had taken a separate taxi from the airport to a different hotel. She changed and took another taxi to go find James who was trying to find Xiaowan’s parents.

  After walking around the casino floor for twenty minutes, James was beginning to fear that he wouldn’t be able to casually bump into Xiaowan’s parents at the casino.

  He started to play the game he and Xiaowan would sometimes play, “Guess the Asian,” where they would take turns guessing from which country various Asian people originated. They would occasionally play “Guess the European,” but that game was so damn hard.

  James would use the women that he dated with national origins from all over Asia as baselines for which distinctive features to look for: Koreans had higher, fuller cheeks; Pan Asians had flatter noses; Chinese had fuller and round faces. James was assessing, attempting to guess, but dammit, just about everyone looked Chinese to him.

  James realized that he was sticking out and getting glances from everyone. A half-Caucasian and half-Mexican yielded a skin color similar to everyone around him, but his frame was larger and his eyes were larger and round. He felt the glances turn into stares and suddenly felt like everyone in the casino was staring at him.

  He looked around the casino and saw an elevated bar near the center that would provide a good look-around. He walked to that area, headed straight to the bar, and with false confidence said, “Pi Jiu,” to the bartender with a thick American accent.