Elaine Things

The Obedient Daughter After four years at USF Elaine’s stay there had finally come to close after her graduation ceremony weeks a couple weeks ago.  Since then Elaine had bid her goodbyes and moved back to Chinatown to live with her parents. She felt like she spent four years independent of her parents, their rules, their drastic hold on her, yet here she is back at square one. It wasn’t that she hated her parents, she loved them dearly but they always wanted her to be this obedient daughter. Her mother wanted her to be this business CEO and her dad hoped she would be a corporate lawyer. However that just wasn’t in the cards for Elaine. She wanted to go globetrotting catching international criminals on the loose. But she could never tell her parents that. They would say, “You want to be a spy? Do you want to go and get yourself killed? We work tirelessly to make sure you had all you needed to go to college, and you want to WHAT?!” Elaine knocked her head against her door. Her dad and her just finished another shouting match about her getting a job. She finally told them that she was going back to school and that she would be moving out tomorrow. They were furious. They thought she would be going to business school like she promised, or what they thought she promised. Through the door he shouted,  “Li Li! Open up this door right now!  We discussed that you were going to business school not this what you call it…this this ACME academy! What will you study there? Huh? No one has ever heard of that school Li Li! Why not go to USC? They have a great business school. Even UC Berkeley!” Elaine replied, “ACME academy Baba. it’s  the world renown academy for international affairs and other professions.  It’s also an international agency that focuses on catching criminals. I’ll be going to school and working Ba.“ She couldn’t believe her parents were acting like this. She told them early on that she wasn’t going to be that business tycoon they always dreamed of. That wasn’t her. Didn’t they see that? “Well Mama and I have never heard of it! How can I go to my friends and tell them you’re going to this ACME academy? They won’t know Li Li! Do you want to embarrass me even more? It’s enough you didn’t go get a degree in Business but now this!” “Ba…” Elaine groaned, “Why can’t you trust me? It’s even here in the city! Aren’t your proud I’m not like all your other friends' kids. I’m different! I’m not  going to be that typical doctor, that typical lawyer, that typical daughter.” Her dad tiredly replied, “No I rather you be like other daughters. “ Dejected her father walked away feeling defeated. Elaine stood against her door crying knowing she disappointed her father and mother. She disappointed her mom so much that she refused to even talk to her. But this was her dream. As much as she loved her parents she need to follow her dream. Despite their reservations though at least she knew she would still be close, and that was enough comfort for her. Notes** Ba = Mandarin for Dad Li Li = In Chinese culture a way to give a nick name is to repeat the last character in one's name. This is very common for parents to give their children nicknames this way. So Elaine's Chinese name is Lin An Li(林安理 ) hence Li Li. Don't Call Me That ­­­­­­­­The bells ran at Saint Peter and Paul Church announcing a newly wedded couple that made their union official a moment earlier. Elaine stood nonchalantly with the rest of the crowd waiting for the nuptials to walk through the beautiful white doors. It was a beautiful and grand affair Elaine had to admit but she was here on duty. The groom, according to intelligence, was an important figure in the art forgery business. He was capable of hiring brilliant artists to not just copy but perfectly duplicate masterpieces. After he would employ his best con men to switch the fakes with the real ones, then auctioning them off on the black market to highest bidder. His operation was quite impressive because thus far no one knew who was the man behind it all. The agency was able to catch the artists, con men, and auctioneers but were unable to trace a name to their employer, well because they didn’t even know themselves. That was the case until an agent was able to pick up a name during one of the exclusive art auctions when he went undercover as a buyer. Anthony De Luca, the sole heir to the De Luca fortune. Which explained why Elaine was standing outside with her Canon EOS hoping to catch a couple shots of the man for HQ. It was a simple reconnaissance mission but an important one because there were absolutely no pictures of Anthony De Luca. He was good at staying out of the public eye considering his family was sitting on a good pile of money. They had enough power, influence, and not to mention money on the west coast to keep the paparazzi away from Anthony. To the public he was just another member of the De Lucas but on the flipside of things he was master of large art forgery operation. However on the wedding day the family felt the need to flaunt for once. Elaine was impatiently tapping her foot on the ground in disguise of another paparazzi photographer. She just needed a few shots of his face and she could head home. It was a long wedding and the summer sun was relentless to the crowd outside. “Don’t you look absolutely divine,” chuckled a man behind her. Irritated Elaine replied without skipping a beat, “Well it is a wedding Charles. I wasn’t going to go looking nothing less then presentable,” turning around she faced the newcomer, “Which can’t be said for you of course. Not that I’m surprised.” Dressed only in a pair of jeans and a casual button-up he laughed even harder, “Oh do I love seeing that little spitfire in you however if I must remind you it’s Charlie. I’m appalled Elaine you’ve turned to the paparazzi circuit now to make money.” A playful smile rested on his mouth just like he used to when they younger. He was always teasing and taunting her growing up.  After middle school he moved out of Chinatown and into one of the “better” neighborhoods her parents told her. By coincidence during the summer they joined the same CIA internship program and he resumed his quest to annoy her at any moment he could. Elaine knew he was just teasing her, she also knew Charlie figured out immediately she was here taking pictures of De Luca. In response Elaine clicked her camera quickly temporarily blinding Charlie with the flash before moving her attention back to the church. “What are you doing here Charlie? I’m just here to take a couple shots of De Luca and head back to HQ. I don’t think you need to supervise me taking a few pictures.” she tiredly answered. The sun was really boring onto her now and she already imagined that it would be burnt tomorrow. She didn’t mean to be rude to Charlie but his presence at the wedding could tip of anyone that they were here for other reasons than celebrating the wedding. “Sure you don’t, but maybe I just wanted to be here,” he smiled before walking in the other direction. Elaine snapped her head back to see his retreating back contemplating his cryptic statement. Unfortunately though the moment she turned her head the couple finally made it out the church doors. Cameras were going off like crazy and people were pushing her out of the way. When Elaine finally caught up with the chaos, the De Lucas made it into the limo. Frustrated Elaine huffed loudly knowing that she failed to take sufficient pictures of De Luca.  She scrolled through her picture screen to see what she could salvage and saw that she had two decent pictures of De Luca. It would have to do for now but it meant Elaine would have to go to the reception to take more. Before shutting off her camera she flipped to the picture she took of Charlie. On the screen she could see in he was smiling genuinely through her camera, as if he was smiling at her. Brought out of her train of thought her phone rang and without thinking she answered it. “Hey where are you? I got a cab waiting in back so we can head to the reception—,” Charlie started before getting cut off. “You’re so—UGH,” she exasperated before stomping her way to nemesis’ waiting cab. “Of course I am, baobei,” he replied smugly. **Note: Baobei= babe/baby in Mandarin