K-POP-Brunch

Contains strong language.

I never expected to feel used after a fling with my assistant Valerie. Still, as our professional relationship grew and distance separated us, our friendship morphed in ways I never imagined. The last thing we spoke of was a call from a client in California.

“Sylvia, I don’t understand your connection to a Korean band,” I said.

Sylvia was to promote a K-POP band in the US. But her efforts were undermined by another K-POP band allegedly stealing the group’s intellectual property.

I watched the tape. A sinking feeling settled in my stomach as I saw the other band perform the stolen material.

After my relationships with Connie and Valerie ended, my thoughts drifted back to Sylvia. She was a beautiful blonde with a captivating smile, and I couldn’t help but feel a connection when her son and I hit it off on that airplane ride.

Jimmy and I formed a bond when turbulence caused him to spill his soft drink all over himself. We struck up a conversation and found ourselves talking often. I also had the pleasure of frequently chatting with his mother.

He offered me his game boy, challenging me to beat his high score. I saw through his ploy, but I bit. His mother, however, remained a mystery.

Monday morning, I was at DFW. The TSA agent glared at me oddly when I pulled the Gameboy from my best pocket. “It’s for the kid.”

He nodded like he believed me.

I was wholly absorbed in my latest Cussler novel, lost in a world of caves and strange creatures. But then, a sudden jolt of turbulence brought me back to reality, high above the skies of Arizona. I glanced at seat 12C, where I had met Jimmy, and saw a business executive poring over his notes.

***

I was uncertain about what I would discover while examining the band’s computer systems.

In my experience, most industrial espionage occurs due to careless talk.

My best hope was to locate an unsecured device that provided access to the data.

I was caught off guard by the events that unfolded. Unlike a previous flight where terrorists had tried to hijack the plane, this flight was uneventful.

I arrived in time to meet with the band. The group seemed amazed that I didn’t treat the band members with the reverence their stardom deserved.

There was nobody I held in higher esteem than my parents. They died way too young, leaving me to fend for myself at an early age. I wish they could have been here for my promotion to full colonel.

Even as a full-bird colonel, my bond with my mother never wavered. Making special trips to the cemetery to pay my respects was not out of duty but love. I would talk with them as if they were listening.

***

The band was performing that Friday in San Francisco.

I appreciated the irony of the K-pop band performing at the Great American Music Hall.

Before we parted, I asked if I could bring a plus one. Sylvia looked at me as if I were crazy until I mouthed her son’s name.

She smiled for two reasons. Firstly, she wouldn’t be forced to pretend she wanted to be there, and the second reason is her son was into them.

I didn’t expect to find much, but the investigation involved learning how things worked behind the scenes.

We were invited to have an early dinner with the band. When the fish soup was brought out, Jimmy was not too pleased by the smell, much less the taste.

I chuckled; I had eaten much worse things in my life. I encouraged him to try a bite. His facial expression had me laughing. One of the hosts sent out a staffer to bring him a hamburger.

It was safe to say that I would hear K-pop tunes while visiting. I must admit that they treated Jimmy like they expected to be treated. For that, I was grateful.

Jimmy had been treated like a pawn between his warring parents, and I felt for him.

The concert ended. The few hundred people that had attended filed out of the building, leaving a sea of plastic behind. It became crystal clear how an island of plastic debris was floating in the Pacific.

Jimmy’s face lit up with pure joy as he clutched the signed posters and new CD. It warmed me to see him so happy, knowing that this experience would hopefully replace some of the darker memories that haunted him.

He was falling asleep when I was in the thick of tracing datagrams. I pushed a few chairs together, making a quasi-bed, covering him with my jacket.

I deployed my bots to scan their equipment for any security vulnerabilities. If any spyware or other security holes were detected, my programs would report them to me.

I felt like I was back in battle as I carried Jimmy out to the car. He was 50 lbs. soaking wet.

The journey back to his house in Pleasanton was agonizingly slow as the thick fog had engulfed everything in its path.

It wasn’t until we reached the mountains that the fog finally lifted.

Sylvia had waited for us and opened the door, peering over my shoulder to see Jimmy fast asleep in my arms.

“Why didn’t you wake him up?” she asked.

“This was easier,” I replied. “Jimmy had a big day.”

I carried him to his bed and gently laid him down. The familiar sound of the springs squeaked as they took his weight.

“Okay, Mom,” I said, turning to Sylvia. “He’s all yours.”

Sylvia let out an uncharacteristic giggle as she tossed a blanket over Jimmy and gently pulled off his shoes. She paused momentarily, taking in the sight of her sleeping son before finally switching off the light.

“You went the extra mile, Mr. Smith. How can I thank you?”

“Hey, don’t kid yourself. I enjoyed spending time with him.”

Sylvia looked deep into my eyes as if searching for something. Then she spoke, her voice soft and hesitant. “He isn’t the only one that enjoys your company,” she said, revealing something she might not have said if it were earlier in the day.

As the words left her mouth, Sylvia blushed. I turned to go, but she stopped me.

“Your hotel is back in the city, isn’t it?” she asked.

“That’s right,” I replied.

“How was the fog? Wasn’t it terrible?”

I smiled, sensing where this was going. “What are you getting at?”

She hesitated for a moment before finally speaking. “Spend the night,” she said. “Jimmy will be thrilled to see you at the breakfast table.

I furrowed my brow, causing Sylvia to chuckle. “This is only a two-bedroom place, isn’t it?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yes, it is.”

“What will Jimmy think?”

Sylvia smiled. “Jimmy is mature enough to understand that his mother can have a friend.”

I wanted to make sure I was reading the situation correctly. So, I reached out and embraced her as our lips met.

“Sylvia,” I said, “I smell like fish soup and other foods I can’t even identify. I need to take a shower.”

She flashed me a dazzling smile and gently took hold of my tie, using it to guide me toward the bedroom. I was pleasantly surprised when she opened the door to reveal a candlelit bathroom. She dropped her sheer gown and stepped into the shower, beckoning me to join her.

***

I woke to the smell of bacon and eggs. I could hear Sylvia talking to Jimmy. I noticed a garment at the bottom of the bed.

“He’s here?” Jimmy asked.

“Yes,” she replied. “But don’t make him feel uncomfortable.”

“Mom, I love him,” Jimmy said. “I prayed that he would want to stay.”

There was a moment of silence. I knew Jimmy liked me, but I hadn’t realized he loved me. I should have guessed. The words ‘he prayed’ sent a chill up my spine.

Sylvia spoke again, her voice gentle. “Don’t get your hopes up, sweetie. I know he likes me a lot, but I don’t know if he’s ready to be a dad.”

I knew Sylvia’s words would deflate him, so I intervened. I looked for my clothes, but they were gone. All of them. I had no choice but to face the day in a pink robe, my face unshaven and my hair tousled from sleep.

“Good morning,” I said as I entered the kitchen. Jimmy burst out laughing when he saw me.

“What, pink, not my color?” I joked.

“It’s kind of small,” Jimmy said, still grinning.

I chuckled. “We’ll just have to keep the doors shut. But seriously, where are my clothes?”

Sylvia was smirking, clearly pleased with herself. “They’re in the wash,” she said. “You’re right; they stunk. By the way, if you drop something on the floor, leave it.”

“Well, Jimmy’s right about this not fitting well,” I said, feeling self-conscious in the petite pink robe. “Do you have a towel I can put on my lap?”

Sylvia grabbed a throw from the couch and draped it over me. Then she disappeared into the utility room, leaving me alone with Jimmy.

He glanced at me, his expression curious. “You and Mom?” he asked.

I took a deep breath. “Would you mind?”

“No,” Jimmy said, grinning. “I think it would be awesome.”

I sipped my coffee, looking at the food on the table. Sylvia returned and sat next to me.

“I asked him not to make you feel awkward,” she said.

I chuckled. “I think the pink robe and southern draft tops anything Jimmy could say.”

Jimmy laughed as milk spewed out of his nose. The moment of levity broke the ice, and we all relaxed.

By the end of breakfast, they had convinced me to retrieve my belongings from the hotel and stay with them while I worked on the case.

San Fransisco is a tourist place. We did the family outing things that one does when visiting the city. Grace Cathedral at sunset was worth the trip. The sunlight through the stained glass made the wait for the sun to set worth it.

“Tomorrow is Sunday. Do you guys go to church?”

Sylvia glanced at me shaking her head. “Do you?”

I shook my head. “I used to. I think God has mistaken me for Job.”

Jimmy didn’t know the reference, but she did.

“Care to talk about it?”

“Not today. Maybe we can do something else touristy tomorrow?”

***

An aroma of food came from the kitchen as Jimmy, and I played a video game. I should have been working. There were data dumps on my laptop. This family man stuff was a distraction.

An internal struggle between who I was and who I was becoming reminded me of the sea of trash created by the concert attendees.

I left active duty because of a predicament between being a soldier and a civilian, and now there was a new crisis.

Waking up in a strange bed next to a woman set the stage for an awkward conversation I might need to have with someone, but who?

Sitting next to Jimmy, hearing him laugh at the antics unfolding in the video game, my thoughts drifted to life with them.

To date, there have been three women in my life, Connie, who passed from cancer; Valerie, which was not love but something else. And now Sylvia.

Is staying with someone because their kid needs a daddy a good idea?

Her phone rang. I listened to her above the electronic sounds of the endless maze of dragons and bullets made to look like sharks.

The muted conversation was with her Ex. An argument ensued regarding Jimmy and her husband’s male dominance. She used the words toxic and wasn’t sure he influenced her son well.

I thought back to the pink robe and wondered if that was more than just her washing my clothes. Was she testing me?

It was my turn to navigate the video maze when my phone rang. I handed Jimmy the controller. The Bands manager was on the phone.

***

“Dead? Someone killed him?”

Jimmy stopped the game while staring at me. I got up to take the call outside.

After a lengthy conversation with the band’s manager, the plot thickened as the case of the stolen intellectual property turned into a murder.

***

Suddenly the victim was a household name as the press took the story and ran with it. Sylvia and her company were named in the investigation, as was I. For a gray person, I was certainly not good at it.

Investigators from the FBI were talking with me to see what I knew.

The feds were not my employer, a man in Dubai was.

Homicide was outside of my scope of work. My task was to determine if there was an intrusion on their data network.

Spending Sunday with the investigators, my past became part of their investigation. It would seem the man was murdered using a similar style I had used on the beach while protecting Gloria against a mugger. Martial arts screamed of Asian influence.

Her Ex had moved on since the divorce, and, at last count, he had three other trysts with people he met at the club. I couldn’t imagine why he cared, but he seemed to.

My assistant called after reading about me in the paper.

“Are you over me already?” She asked.

“Over, no. I didn’t plan this, Valerie.”

“Yeah, right. Just tell me you didn’t kill that guy.”

There was an audible pfft from my lips to her ear.

“Do you think I would want my personal life under a microscope used as a defense against a murder? No, I liked the guy. I had no reason to harm anyone.”

The silence was deafening. “Are you ever coming back to Florida?”

“As what? I thought I was just a thing. What did you call me, a ‘boy toy’?

“I didn’t mean it. You get really intense at times, ya know?”

“I’m a soldier; that’s hard to leave behind.”

I heard her tapping on a keyboard before she spoke again.

“Speaking of a soldier, Hank called with concern in his voice. He asked me to find out what you know about this guy’s death. You know how much he cares about you.”

She referred to my friend and old boss, General Hank Edwards. I decided to give him a call after we hung up. The military brass thought it would be a good idea for me to work with the feds to find out who killed the guy.

Great, just what I needed.

This murder became more complex due to officials’ involvement in his home country.

***

“Where’s Jimmy?” I asked after a long day at the office.

“His father took the moral high ground. His lawyer had me send him to Dallas while you are here.”

“You got to be kidding.”

She shook her head. “Is it true?”

I glanced at her. “Is what true?”

She placed some food on the table while lighting a candle. “They said you killed a guy in Florida over some woman.”

I laughed, taking her off guard.

“I was with a person on the beach when we were held hostage at gunpoint by some thug. Yes, I waited until I could defend us, and I neutralized the threat.”

Sylvia poured us both a glass of wine and looked at me intently.

“Neutralized,” she said. “You mean killed?”

I shrugged. “Tomato, tomahto, he had a gun, and we didn’t. Why is this bothering you?”

She took a sip of her wine before answering. “Jake told me,” she said. “Jake is my ex. He doesn’t want our son around you if you’re going to go off the deep end.”

The clanking of my fork on the plate startled the both of us. I shook my head. “What?”

“Damnit, I hate that macho bullshit that men do. Jake would watch football while drinking beer and scream at the officials like he could do better or make a better call. It’s bullshit.”

I smiled, calming the atmosphere. Jake didn’t want Sylvia to be happy, so he was being vindictive. She saw my smile and calmness while waiting for me to say something.

“I don’t have anything to prove to anyone,” I said, feeling defensive.

“Jake sounds like a jerk. If I were some toxic, egocentric man, do you really think I would have worn your pink robe?”

Sylvia’s grin faded, and she looked at me with uncertainty. “No,” she said softly. “I’m sorry. I thought I knew who you were, but now this has thrown me off.”

“I’m still the same person you slept with,” I said, trying to reassure her. “All of my marbles are where they belong, okay?”

Sylvia stood up and walked over to me. She sat in my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me into a kiss that only she knew how to give.

“Hold me.”

She was light as a feather, barely weighing more than her son. Her laughter filled the room as I accused her of being naughty while playfully tossing her over my shoulder. With no little ears around to hear us, sleep was the last thing on our minds.

***

I sat at the table, reviewing my logs. Sylvia made breakfast.

“Working from home?” I asked.

“Our outfits aren’t office-appropriate. What did you find?”

“Encrypted emails between the producer and the victim. The victim threatened to expose the producer’s drug dealing.”

“Did you tell the feds?”

“Yes. Why?”

She was silent as if the dream was ending.

“I guess you’ll be going home?”

I nodded.

“Jimmy is with a toxic male. Get him home.”

***

With my nose buried in another novel, a familiar voice took me out of the story.

“Coffee, Tea, or something else?”

Gloria, my favorite FA, was beaming at me.