by K.J. Rivera
CHAPTER 8
Operation Bust-a-Ho was in full force. After we left the coffee shop we went back to Bo's apartment and switched the BMW for the Buick. We stopped at Wal-Mart and bought a $9 cell phone. Then we parked a block away from the Tang compound ready to portray ourselves as casual joggers. We started jogging and both of us made comments about our muscles aching after a few short minutes. It had been a few weeks since we hiked Camelback Mountain back in Phoenix. I was about to complain about parking so far away when I spotted the compound and told myself I could make it.
Nonchalantly as we could we jogged up to the gate in front of the compound. The Mercedes was gone so we punched in the code and ran up to the door. The Spanish maid let us in after giving us a look of disapproval. Sebastian talked, well pleaded with her at first. I wished my husband would teach me Spanish. I knew only the bad words and a few sweet ones like the word for kiss. The maid kept nervously looking outside to see if anyone was coming. Sebastian handed the maid the cell phone and she cautiously took it. She shut the door and we jogged back down to the gate.
"What did she say?" I asked.
"Tell you in a minute when we're in the clear. Ho could be here any second."
We ran fast to get out of the vicinity. I was out of breath when Sebastian finally slowed to a walk a street over from the Tang compound.
"Holy crap I'm out of shape Sebi," I huffed.
Sebastian put his hands on top of his head and breathed heavily.
"Doesn't this remind you of the neighborhood from License to Drive?" I asked between gasps for air. "The neighborhood Mercedes lived in?"
"Huh?"
"One of the Corey's gives the chick Mercedes a ride home after ditching his pops. This looks like the neighborhood."
Sebastian looked at me with a blank stare.
"You never saw that movie Seb?"
"No I didn't."
"Seriously? That is one of my favorite 80's movies! It's classic."
"So anyway Leah the maid, her name is Lupe and she is on board. She'll call us when Mr. Ho and Mrs. Tang get home."
"Awesome. She seemed pissed at first."
"She is worried about her job she said if Mr. Ho finds out she will be fired. It's all good though I assured her he wouldn't find out she helped us and I told her we would pay her."
"Cool so now we wait?"
"Lupe said they could be back any moment. She said they usually go out at night when they are here. I want to go back to our place and go over my script for confronting Ho. She'll call when they arrive."
We reached our car and Sebastian handed me our bottle of water. I took a drink and handed it back to him.
"Lupe say anything else?" I asked. "Like how much they come here, how long they have been having an affair?"
Sebastian chugged the water until it was empty then responded. "Sounds like they have been sneaking around for awhile. Lupe said they don't talk to 'the help' unless they are giving orders. She said they are usually only in town for a few days at a time. We have to make sure we get the proof fast we can't let Ho leave town without coming to an understanding."
For us to continue our search for Grace uninterrupted we had to keep Mr. Ho from telling Bo's dad about our encounter. We drove back to Bo's to get our camera, go over our plan to bust Ho and wait for the maid to call.
"Leah stop talking," Sebastian said. "Seriously you will not win this."
I rolled my eyes and groaned. "Sebastian! Lebron will go down as a better player than Kobe when it is all said and done. There has never been a player like him. Period!"
"Leah Kobe has a killer instinct Lebron doesn't have. He's clutch. He makes impossible shots. He can carry a team by himself and has heart."
"So does Lebron!" I shouted. Why am I yelling I asked myself?
"No he doesn't. Kobe has five championships! Kobe is better face it."
"Kobe is done dude he won't win another championship. And he is a Mike clone. Lebron is in a class by himself."
"So you think Lebron's better than Jordan?"
"I didn't say that mojón."
I stared at Sebastian from the passenger side seat of our Buick. He looked straight ahead shaking his head. I hated when we debated issues like this. Sebastian would never admit he was wrong about anything. He always had to win against me. I turned back to face forward and relaxed the tension that was in my shoulders. Both of us stayed silent for a few moments knowing this argument was going nowhere.
Sebastian tapped the steering wheel with his thumbs and I knew he was preparing to be the first one to speak again. "What freezes faster Leah cold or hot water?"
"Um cold water."
The tone of both our voices had returned to normal and I was glad to have calmness in the car again.
Sebastian smiled. "Nope hot water does."
"Really?"
"Yep."
"How?"
"It's hard to explain. You wouldn't be able to follow. You would just get confused and call me a geek."
"Why did you bring that up now?" I asked. "What does it have to do with what we're talking about?"
"Nothing I just wanted to show you I know more than you."
I playfully went through the motion of slapping him.
"I'm the best!" He smiled and moved away from my hand.
"Sebastian you are lucky you are cute."
He leaned over and flipped my lip down. I pushed his arm out of the way. We had been waiting outside the Tang compound for over two hours. We knew it might be a long wait. Lupe called us close to 4:00 pm letting us know Mr. Ho and Mrs. Tang arrived. Our plan was to follow them when they left to go out for the evening then snap a few good pictures of them together. If they didn't leave the compound we would have to go to plan B, which would be to try to get Lupe to open a few shades so we could try to get the pictures that way. Plan C was to go storming into the compound to confront Mr. Ho saying we saw Mrs. Tang in the hallway and we knew what is going on.
"I am getting so bored Sebastian."
"You get bored easily."
I turned to face him. "Want to mess around?" I ran my hand down his leg. I leaned over and put my mouth against his neck. I breathed slowly and softly.
Sebastian quickly leaned away from me. "Stop Leah."
"Come on have you ever fooled around in a brown Buick in sunny San Diego?"
Sebastian laughed. "Come on stop it Leah."
"Let's make out or do something."
"Why don't you look up Kobe's stats on your phone and soak in his greatness. That will keep you busy for awhile."
I went back to my side of the car. "Ha ha Sebi-bears." I fidgeted with my phone awhile and tried to find a new way to sit. The lean back lever on my seat was broken so it was at a nearly 90-degree angle.
"Leah please stop and sit still your driving me crazy," Sebastian snapped.
"I don't know why we had to come over here right when we got the call. It's not like they were going to turn around and leave right away. I need to get out and move around. This seat is ridiculous."
"Get in the back seat and spread your legs out."
"That's what he said." I hopped over the seat. "Ew this back seat is nast!"
Sebastian looked back at me and tried not to laugh but did. "Leah nice face."
"It's creepy back here." I put my back against the car door and stretched my legs across the seats. It was uncomfortable and I couldn't help being antsy. "I'm going to have to potty soon."
Sebastian turned around dramatically and gave me a glare. "Sweetheart, I told you not to drink that much water because you may not be able to go potty for a long time."
He said this in a soothing agitated voice like he was talking to a child who may or may not know better.
"Sebastian I know but I'm a woman I have a small bladder what do you want me to do? I don't have capacity of the Congo River like you do. I barely drank anything."
He sighed. "We have a long night Leah you may have to go in that empty water bottle back there."
"No i
t's alright I'll hold it like a champ. I'll Lebron this pee!"
Sebastian didn't react and I was disappointed.
"Dude did you hear me? I said I'll Le-"
"I heard you," Sebastian said with no amusement.
He wouldn't give me credit and I didn't know why I even bothered pleading. "It was a good line. I'll hold it like a champ. I'll Lebron this pee. Boom roasted!"
"It sounds dumb Leah."
"No it -"
Sebastian cut me off. "There's the Ho-bag. Game on. Get back in the front seat."
I crawled back over the seat as the black four door Mercedes cleared the gate and started going south. I hoped Ho would not be suspicious of the brown rundown beater that was following him. Sebastian kept his distance until we got onto a major street and could blend in. I grabbed the camera from our bag of supplies and made sure it was set to go. The sun was starting to go down. The sky looked gorgeous and I wish I could have rolled down my window to take a picture of it. It wasn't the time to do that with us tailing Ho plus the passenger side window was faulty and it literally couldn't be rolled down.
We tailed the Mercedes down Prospect Street. Just like we suspected the Mercedes turned into one of the upscale restaurant parking lots. Sebastian drove past the restaurant and found a place to turn around. We didn't want to go into the parking lot of the restaurant in case it was valet only. I searched the location on my phone to see where Mr. Ho was taking his lady. It was a fancy restaurant boasting the best rooftop dining in Southern California. There goes our idea of snapping a picture of them dining outside. If they're on the rooftop our only option would be to get a picture of them coming out to the car.
Traffic was crazy and it took us at least ten minutes to get back to the parking lot that Mr. Ho had turned into. The parking lot was crowded. They had a valet section that took up half the lot. We debated parking elsewhere and Sebastian was in the process of exiting the parking lot when we saw a spot at the end open up. He backed the Buick in and we looked at each other both wondering what we were going to do next. Our parking spot had no view of the door to the restaurant. There was no way we were going to get a clear picture of the two of them. After bickering back and forth we agreed we would have to go into the restaurant. We noticed the people going to this restaurant were dressed in suits and cocktail dresses. No doubt they had a dress code and we were in our usual attire - jeans, a tee shirt and flip-flops. Since we didn't pack any nice clothes for this trip we had to act quickly. I looked up the closest place to buy dress clothes and Sebastian started to drive the Buick like the piece of crap car it was.
The restaurant was located near a popular strip lined with retail stores. We pulled up to a store that had mannequins dressed to impress. I feared what our bill would be as I got out of the car. Acting fast I grabbed three black dresses that were bearable and hightailed it into the dressing room. Sebastian wined and moaned about getting a suit. He hadn't worn one since he was employed at Smith Avery the architecture firm he worked at after graduating from college. It stirred up bad memories for him and he was being a pain in my ass. We both came out of the dressing room to show each other our threads.
"Damn girl you look fine!"
"Me? Look at you Rico Suave."
"I hate this!"
"You look awesome Sebi shut the hell up you are getting that suit!"
I kissed him on the lips and ran my finger down his stomach.
"It's itchy as hell."
I frowned. "It is part of the gig dude relax. You won't have to wear it again for awhile."
"Again? I am taking this back later tonight."
"Seriously can we do that?"
"If we are keeping this shit I am getting a shirt that doesn't itch."
"Just hurry up we have to get back to the restaurant."
Three shirts later Sebastian was finally satisfied and we walked out of the store looking like we were going to prom. We had no choice but to valet our car once we got back to the restaurant. It was a little embarrassing to say the least. I really wished we were in Bo's BMW it would have fit in perfectly with this crowd. We started laughing when our car slowly made its way to the front of the line. Sebastian winked at the guy and told him it was an experiment.
Since we had no reservations we had an hour to wait until we could get seated. This would give us time to scope out the place and find out where the happy couple was located. The restaurant had a bottom level for dining and a rooftop that had a bar area along with a large dining area. While Sebastian went to stake out the rooftop I took a lap around the bottom level. I didn't spot our target and shyly asked a waitress where the restroom was when she politely asked if she could help me with anything. I nervously walked from the restroom to the front of the bar wondering what I would do if I happened to lock eyes with Mr. Ho. I was surprised when I got back to the front of the restaurant and Sebastian wasn't back from his rooftop trip. I checked my phone and there was a text from him telling me to come up to the rooftop bar.
I found Sebastian leaning against the crowded bar. When I got there he moved me in front of him and told me to sit down. He stayed behind me and started to whisper in my ear.
"Don't look now but Mr. Ho is on the southeast side near the railing."
I turned and Sebastian tilted my head back to the way it was facing. "I said not now!"
"I am just trying to look back at you Sebastian."
He groaned. "Just act like we're actually here for fun not like we're on CSI San Diego."
I sighed with frustration and motioned my hand to get the bartender's attention. I needed a drink.
Sebastian groaned once again. "Please don't ask for a Smirnoff Ice or a blended drink Leah."
I rolled my eyes even though Sebastian couldn't see my expression. It got a smile from the bartender and he asked what I was drinking. Without hesitation I told him I would have a Long Island Iced Tea. I guess that was the most sophisticated drink I could think of in the spur of the moment.
I watched the bartender make my drink curious to see what was in it. I didn't look back at Sebastian because I knew he would have a snarky look on his face. He sarcastically snickered when I had given the guy my drink order.
I took my first sip. "This is yucky."
Sebastian shrugged. "I don't know why you ordered that."
I could never find a drink that I actually enjoyed. I rarely drank so when I did it usually hit me rather quickly. Sebastian would fun of me because I was never able to finish a drink. Sebastian drank his Stella and moved to the right of me since the guy sitting next to me finally moved over. I was giving my drink another chance when Sebastian got my attention by tapping his leg into mine.
"Okay I am going to bend down, look over my shoulder to the far side you will see Ho."
I looked around and saw where Ho and Tang were seated. It was nowhere close to us. "Damn Sebi you made it sound like they were in the same vicinity of us. They are way the hell over there!"
"I know," he mumbled. "But if one of them gets up and walks this way they will see us."
"You think if we zoom in we can get good pics?"
"Maybe we just can't be obvious."
I had my black leather purse with me. It didn't match the elegance of my dress but it was the only option I had. I took the camera out and set it on the bar. "What's the plan?" I looked at Sebastian expecting something detailed.
"Start snapping."
I glared. "Seriously?"
"Yes," Sebastian answered automatically. "Why not they are far enough away they won't notice and everyone around here is in their own world."
He was right this crowd was all focused inwardly. It was full of hoity-toity affluent people. While the restaurant was nice and I am sure the cuisine was delectable I would prefer a hole in the wall mom-and-pop place to this any day. I motioned Sebastian to come closer to me. "Let's at least act like we're on a romantic date to sell this. Can you do this? Let's pretend we just got engaged on the beach and now we're here for dinner. We're plan
ning a wedding and honeymoon in Paris."
"I'm not role playing Leah," Sebastian teased. "Are you saying how I proposed and where we got married sucked?"
"No! It's called acting. We just bought these clothes to pretend we're rich and would come to a place like this. You know I love how you proposed and how we did our wedding. Easy my man."
Sebastian actually proposed to me on the beach in Santa Monica as the sun set. It was romantic and perfect. I slipped my wedding band off and I stood up throwing my arms around Sebastian's neck. I was going to go with my idea and knew Sebastian would have no choice but to play along. Next I grabbed the camera and held it out to take a picture of us. Sebastian laughed at me then grabbed the camera out of my hands. His arm length was longer and we would actually be in the picture he took. He then had me stand by myself and started snapping pictures non-stop. I could tell he was zooming over my shoulder to the right to get Mr. Ho and Mrs. Tang. I stuck my hand out to show off my diamond ring. I hammed it up striking a few poses until Sebastian told me we had enough pictures.
I took one last sip of my drink and handed it to Sebastian to finish. Mr. Ho and Mrs. Tang were finishing their dessert. We left so we would avoid running into them in the parking lot. I smiled when we walked out the door remembering that the valet had our car. Sebastian tipped our valet guy when he pulled up while I tried to contain my laughter.