A Matter of Opinion

[Neva]

She didn’t know how much time passed between her arriving at the car to his arrival. Zula didn’t even realize he’d returned until the car door shut, and even then she refused to look at him. But she did listen, and without another word she ignited the engine and drove, much calmer than how she actually felt. The entire time her head swam, going between each thought that did nothing to ease her. If anything, she worked herself up more.

When they reached the stop Zula parked the car, and for a long moment she was silent. She didn’t really know what she wanted to say, really. There was anger, and frustration, but she didn’t know if it was at him or herself. Part of it was definitely at him, she knew that. Finally she turned to him, and before she could even think to stop it, the hold she’d kept on her words the entire day broke and the words came out of her in a furious rush.

“Do you really expect me to just read your mind? You are so vague and hold information from me purposely, so how am I supposed to know what you want me to do? There were guards coming your way, and you wanted me to sit there and do nothing. Not only that, but you continuously talk to me like I am a child. Why do you—-“

Zula cut herself off, clamping her mouth shut. No, she needed to stop. Maybe he frustrated her to no end, but she couldn’t blame him for her faults. That wasn’t fair. He might pull out every defensive wall that she had, but she knew that between the two of them, he knew what was best. It was just her pride getting in the way, and the need to prove she was capable. And that was getting to her more than any stress he could put on her. As much as they clashed, her mistakes were hers, and she had to own up to that.

“I’m sorry,” she said after a long pause, calmer than a couple minutes before. She was half surprised she even managed to say it, but an apology wasn’t weakness. “I made a mistake, and it could have turned out terribly, and I apologize. You weren’t wrong earlier today. I have way more Triad in me than I like to admit. That's what I know. And that’s my own fault.”

Zula looked away from him, sitting back in her seat. “I do have a lot to learn. Habits to break, even. And I know you think I’m some naive, spoiled rich girl who is playing dress up. I know this isn’t at all what you’d like to be doing. But whether you want to hear it or not, I want to learn. And I am more than willing to learn if you have the patience for it.”

He didn't have to be doing this. If anything, he was doing her favor. She was waiting for him to say they were done. That he’d seen enough and, like he suspected, she couldn’t handle the pressure. Zula didn’t want to hear it. But she would have to, and she was sure he was about to tear into her for what she’d done. She probably deserved it.

“I know you don’t really care about any of what I’m saying.” Zula sighed, turning her head to look out the driver’s side window. “So go ahead. Your turn.”

[Kenji]

Kenji listened to Zula go one, before she finished and then he began as he said " I only listened  to about half of it because only about half of it was important, the rest I've heard before and with some very careful training in dealing with your sister  have learned to block out." he chuckled for a minute and then continued his voice still even " So let's start with the obvious,  I don't think your some naive, spoiled rich girl who is playing dress up.
I know that's what you are. What you need to do is own that fact, because if you don't that's all you'll ever be, your past doesn't have to define you but you do have to acknowledge that it's part of who you are, trust me on this."

His voice still didn't raise and he kept an even keel, because he had learned that it was best to pick his battles " I'm guessing for most of your life, you always had a safety net of some kind, be it parents, teachers, the general good will that comes with nobility. Well that brings us to third lesson: I am not here to be your safety net. I am here to see what you can do without a safety net,that's why I'm not spelling things out for you, I want to see what you'll do when your back's to the wall what instincts you have."

He paused for a minute and then finally said " You know why we broke into there without masks? I'll tell you, it's because if you get caught with a mask in a place like this, questions are asked, investigations are launched and best case scenario they get on to what your doing and pursue the same line, worst case scenario they just think your a criminal and then make things infinitely harder for. The same thing happens if you knock out a bunch of guards. But without a mask, your just a person, a person with options, a person that can make up an excuse  as to why your somewhere, your not supposed to be, to fake an explanation and  get out clean and the guards around you are." he paused and pulled out the folded stack of papers he had taken from the embassy " none the wiser as to what you stole." he put the papers back in his pocket.

"People tend to assume, and you can work those assumption to your advantage, but you have to be able to think on your feet and not just go for the easiest solution all the time. Which brings us to lesson four: Play on peoples assumptions, but don't let your assumptions play you."

Kenji stretched and then pulled out a coin, he rubbed it in between his fingers until it became a flat disk and then he tossed on the Satomobiles dashboard  and pointed to it as it now had an address on it as well "  We're done for tonight, come to that address tomorrow around noon, go around the back, and down a flight off stairs to a door by the basement, and knock twice, and then we'll continue." Kenji chuckled and then said " Oh and there's no nice way to say this so I'll just say it, tomorrow dress like you actually had to work for your money for five minutes, it's not exactly your kind of neighborhood, and where we're going to tomorrow your going to want to blend in."

He got out the satomobile and then started to walk away, and then paused and walked back to the car as he said " Oh and one last thing, if you think that just because I didn't raise my voice, you might be doing better than you thought, remember this, we still have two free lessons and a favor to complete before you and me have an actual discussion on whether you keep that mask. When we get to that conversation, that's when my voice is gonna raise, so stay tuned."

He then walked quick to catch the late train.

[Neva]

Zula listened as he spoke, keeping her gaze out the window. He had given her the time to talk, and even if she didn’t like what she heard, she had to give him the same quiet. She did understand him as he explained everything. Maybe she didn’t like his methods, but when he told her his reasoning...they weren’t as crazy as they felt. Still, that didn’t mean they were completely sane. It was one thing to hear it all laid out for her. It was another to try and act on it. Eventually she turned to look at him, listening until finally he gave her instructions for the next day.

“Okay,” she said simply as he got out of the car. She leaned back again, looking up at the roof. Before she could think, he appeared back at the side of the satomobile.

Zula clenched her jaw but said nothing more as he walked away. She waited until he disappeared from sight, and then leaned forwards on the steering wheel and sighed. He hadn’t yelled like she’d expected, but she didn’t for a second believe that she’d done well. If anything, she was worse off than from when they started.

She reached out and picked up the disk and looked at the address before placing it back on the dashboard. Like he had said, they were done for the night. Now all she could do was go home and attempt to prepare.

Who knew what tomorrow would bring.

~ 

The next day Zula stood in front of her mirror, staring hard at her reflection. She’d done as she’d been told and dressed to blend in, a very toned down version of herself. Instead of the rather expensive clothing she usually wore, she’d opted for something plain and normal among Republic City citizens. Hopefully this would be fine for whatever the plan was today.

She eyed herself in the mirror, hands braced against the sink. Then she took a deep breath, “I am a naive, spoiled rich girl. I don’t know everything.”

Well, they were her words, not his. She couldn’t get mad at him for saying them, at least. But she wanted to do better, and so if she had to hear and accept them as fact...she’d do it. He told her she had to own it, and maybe it would take a little time. But she would learn to accept it, sooner rather than later. She couldn’t let it wear her down for much longer.

But the longer she stood giving herself a pep talk, the more time she wasted for training. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't worried. After the disaster that was the night before, she knew she had to do better. Two lessons and a favor left. And then she had nothing left but his judgment to face. She was off to a terrible start. Today either would either redeem her, or drag her further through the mud.

Zula gave one last look to herself in the mirror and then headed out, pulling the disk from her pocket. She made her way to the address, checking twice to make sure she was right, and then headed around the back. A rather complicated way to get in, but it was a little too early for her to start questioning everything. Besides, it was all about playing by his rules. She found the stairs he’d told her to take and descended them, and approached the door.

She glanced around for a moment, and then raised her closed fist and knocked twice. Then she dropped her arm, waiting for him to open the door.

[Kenji]

Kenji was lightly dozing when he heard the knock on the door. She was punctual, he'd give her that. He got up from his chair and walked to the door and opened the door and gestured for her to come in, locking the door behind her. Despite the less than upscale surroundings, the inside was surprisingly well furnished. Given that Kenji's last office had been, for lack of a better word, burned to the ground this would have to do until he could establish a bit more a foothold and get some better real estate.

He sat behind a desk, as he dove right in  foregoing the pleasantries as he said "  Now as you probably know, as an ambassador or a member of the embassy, you can pretty much eat, drink,and live on your countries dime if your so inclined so long as the account department have a record of it. To that end, if you ever want to find out what dirt an ambassador is up to, you find his account sheets. Luckily for us, I only needed the most recent pages to figure out how to get to our Earth Kingdom Ambassador."

He slid the pages he had taken from there last night and said " Take a look at it, tell me what you see, if anything."

The first page was the boiler plate info on the ambassador listing his family, and his place of residence, as well as it would seem another place of residence for some of his extended family. The rest looked to be various meals, and drinks, covered by the embassy, but nothing that seemed all that incriminating to the casual observer.

However, Kenji was curious if she'd spot anything on her own, so he waited to see.

[Neva]

Zula entered the office and almost felt as though she'd stepped into a different setting entirely. The outside threw her off, and she hadn't really expected it to not reflect the exterior. It was all quickly forgotten as he started talking, and Zula's attention focused to the task at hand. She took a seat in front of the desk, leaning closer as he slid the account sheets over to her. Zula glanced to him and then down to the papers, reading over them carefully. Really, nothing immediately screamed that there was anything suspicious going on. Family, residence, food and drink; it all seemed rather ordinary. Zula never would think any of it meant more than what it said.

But there had to be something. She read it over again, trying to think of all the possibilities that could come from the list. She dismissed anything about the food and drink, as it all seemed basic information to her. Then her eyes scanned over the rest of it again, before she finally tapped her finger against the listing of another residence, looking back up to him. "The only part of this I would consider odd would be this other residence, even though it is listed for extended family. I wouldn't expect to see it."

[Kenji]

He heard her comment and then nodded and said " Your on the right track. If you have family, you don't have a residence for them,especially a place they can stay without end on your dime. You put them up at hotel, some place nice, but a place that kicks them out after you've stopped paying." he chuckled. He then said " The other part of the puzzle is in the restaurants, most of them are places you'd expect a politician to wine and dine donors and such things, but there a few that are little bit down market, and more importantly close to the adress listed on that secondary residence." he said with shrug. That part was where some local knowledge came into play.



He leaned back and said " If I had to place a bet, I'd go with a mistress, but we'll find out soon enough." he paused and took a piece of paper and jotted down a few things
before looking back up at her and saying " Which brings us to the next lesson: Learn to read between the lines, things are rarely as simple or as complicated as we make them out to be."

He then rose up and said " Alright then, well now that we've covered that time for a bit of a working lunch."  He gestured to another door to the left of  the desk and said " Come on, I'll drive."

He went through the other door that lead to small garage. There was a Satomobile that he had "borrowed" from Teo for the day. It was average looking, but it ran okay and would do for today's purposes. He  flicked his hand and the metal door rose up, giving them a clear path to the street as he said " Hop in."

[Neva]

A mistress, huh? It seemed plausible. Zula had never seen the Ambassador in a favorable light, and not just because of his attitude towards her. It wouldn’t surprise her if that was what was really going on there; everyone had their dark secret and she could see that being his. From her viewpoint, it fit his personality well.

Zula broke from her thoughts as her mentor continued, and she nodded at his mention of the next lesson. This didn’t feel like the type of thinking-on-her-feet kind of lesson, but an evaluation of sorts. Even still, she didn’t dare to think it would be less challenging. Before she had time to consider it more, she watched him gesture to the door and then rose to her feet, following him out to the garage.

She watched the door move up and looked out into the street, squinting a little as the light from the outside filled the garage. Blinking a few times she then took her place in the Satomobile, getting into the passenger side. Zula settled back, her mind turning over the possibilities of the day and unable to really stop wondering about them. She knew she should just let him lead her to the plan instead of asking questions, but Zula couldn’t help herself. If he didn’t want to give information, she knew he wouldn’t. It wouldn’t really be hurting anything to ask. And at this point, she wasn't sure if she could endure making small talk with him. She glanced at him as he entered the vehicle, “I take it that this isn't going to involve breaking and entering today? At least, not right off the bat."

It was possible she was wrong, but it was a start to hopefully getting to know a little more of what he had in mind.

[Kenji]

At Zula question, Kenji just simply chuckled and said “ No breaking and entering, we’re just going to have some lunch with a friend, than get a messenger, and one last thing a little later.” than he than flicked his hand up and the door to the garage opened up and they took off, closing it behind them.



It wasn’t too long a ride, no more than five or six blocks, before they arrived at their destination. It was a restaurant specializing in Water tribe cuisine. It looked like the place that the term hole in the wall was invented. However when they got inside it was a bit bigger than you’d expect, but still crowded with people.



Kenji flagged down someone and they escorted the pair through the tightly packed crowd, eventually seating them in a small cramped table, and leaving them with some menus. As Kenji pretended to read the menu he than looked at Zula and said “ If your wondering why some of these people look familiar it’s because you’ve probably seen most of them or even had a few shouting questions at you. This place is the watering hole for most of the newspaper people and paparazzi in Republic.” He smirked “ Thats why I had you dress to blend today, they might not recognize your face, but if you walked in here with fancy clothes on, they’d remember you all too quickly and then there’d be a feeding frenzy,” he smirked “ So glad you followed directions this time, short of getting up on the table and dancing you should blend in fine.”



He paused and said “ Now take a look and see if there’s anything you want to eat or drink because we still have ten minutes or so before my contact arrives.” as his eyes returned to the menu

[Neva]

That didn't sound nearly as bad as their first night. Still, Zula couldn't help but be suspicious. She was convinced that he had tricks up his sleeves somewhere, and if she could help it, she wasn't going to be caught off guard. As for now, she could be content in knowing that the day didn't appear to be a repeat of the day before. But different agenda, different lessons. She wouldn't really know what she was getting into until it happened.

Stressing about it, however, would not help. Zula nodded and stayed quiet the rest of the way there, and then followed him inside. Her eyebrows rose as they entered and saw how crowded it was. Not a place she would have thought to go to...but that wasn't saying much considering her background. She had to admit she was intrigued nonetheless, her eyes flickering over the place. As she looked around at the patrons she could feel the slight pull of confusion on her face. Some of these people were familiar to her, but not enough that she could put names to faces. They didn't pay her much attention, so they couldn't be all that important. 

Zula took a seat at the table, trying not to stare but glancing out at the rest of the crowd to try and figure out why she felt the way she did. When he began speaking she turned back to him, and at his explanation her eyebrows rose in surprise--and slight irritation. Thank the spirits she'd dressed as plainly as she could, because he was right: they weren't paying her nearly the attention she'd been giving them. She supposed that they wouldn't expect her to be here and that at least worked in her favor. The last thing she needed was for anyone to realize she was here and start questioning her. Just another one of the downsides to being a public figure.

She complied with his instructions and looked down at the menu finally, now that she had answers to at least a few of her questions. She wasn't really hungry but sitting here with nothing would look a little strange, and so she ordered seaweed noodles and a drink when the waiter came by, handing her menu over. Zula waited until their orders had been taken and they were back to being left alone to look to him again and ask, "So, who is this contact of yours? Or is that a surprise?"

[Kenji]

Kenji ordered some noodles and a water tribe ale that wasn't horrible as he heard her question and said " He's a paparazzi for one of the local rags but he does some moonlighting on the side if you've got the cash. He's stupid enough to not ask too many questions and smart enough to keep his mouth shut. Makes him ideal for the job I have in mind."

The waitress came with their drinks and Kenji continued " You'll know him, when he get's here he's not exactly the most timid of.." he was cut off by a loud booming voice cutting through the din of the eatery

"Satish is that you? I thought you were dead?"

Kenji grimaced and then took a swig from the bottle of ale, and then his whole demeanor shifted as he smiled and gave a loud laugh and then stood up  to face the person who yelled out. It was a older heavy set guy in shabby but clean suit. Keni then retorted " And I thought you were giving up drinking Mizu? Guess we're both liars then eh?" The older one gave a booming laugh and swept Kenji up in a bear hug as they had some more laughs before coming back to the table

"And whose this?" Mizu asked pointing to Zula

"Just a friends sister, she's new in town, I'd told her I'd show her around."

"I bet you did you old..."

Kenji cut him off before he could continue and said " Be a pervert on your own time, I got some business to discuss, if your interested."

Mizu paused and said " Sure, let me just ge a drink and I'll be right back." he then turned and made a beeline to a waitress.

Kenji sat back down and his demeanor shifted again as he turned back to Zula and said " Like I said he's not the most timid of people, but he'll get the job done, shouldn't take too long, just try to keep the princess shenanigans to minimum and we'll be fine."

[Neva]

Zula couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing. Rather, that it was even possible. The change in his demeanor was nearly startling, and Zula had to resist her jaw dropping at the transition. As she watched their encounter she schooled her features to hide the majority of her surprise, but she could still sense her eyes a little wider than usual. When Mizu addressed her Zula forced a polite smile onto her face, which wasn’t too hard to manage--until it began to falter at his comment. Zula forced it to stay though until he turned and walked away and she dropped the tight smile.

She didn’t really get the chance to process the whole exchange either. Thankfully Mizu didn’t pay her that close of attention, and so he didn’t catch the uncomfortable look that crossed her face. Zula turned back to her companion in time to watch him return to the guy that she recognized, happening so easily that it was eerie. And she thought some political figures she talked to played a role; he just blew them all out of the water.

As he explained she blinked, forcing herself to move past the show he just put on. Then she took a deep breath. “Right. I can manage that.”

The clothes helped, but she knew that if she kept up the way she normally acted it wouldn’t fool anyone. Zula didn’t like to think she was snobby...but he made that very hard to ignore. Which, she figured, was probably for the best. But she could do this. If she could put on a show and present herself a certain way during her day job, she could figure out how to do that in this setting, too.

This was not a place for prim and proper. She just needed to...let loose a little, as Zuka would say. Zula forced herself to relax her usual stiff posture, leaning her arms on the table and crossing her ankles underneath. It was a small change but better than nothing. All she had to do was try to blend in and hopefully she could get through this without a mishap.

[Kenji]

Kenji saw that she was trying to at least pretend to be a little less composed, so he supposed he should give her some points for effort, but that was another story. Eventually Mizu came back with his drink and the waitress came back with their food as well as Kenji lapsed back into his persona. Kenji kept the conversation focused on him, to hopefully avoid Zula going off, and he spun several fake yarns to keep Mizu focused. Eventually the food had been eaten and drinks had been drunk and now it was time to get to business.

Kenji pulled out the piece of paper and handed it to Mizu " I'm throwing a few friends a party in the next couple of days and could use some pictures, I thought of you."

Mizu looked at the piece of paper and his eyes widened for a minute as he said " These friends know your throwing them a party."

"I'd like it to be a surprise."

"Yeah I'm sure....." Mizu said trailing off and saying " I can get the pictures, let's say 500 yuans."

"500?" Kenji gave a scoff " Your joking."

"Hey for anyone else it'd be a 1000."

"Yeah and you'd be patting your self on the back for a scam well pulled." Kenji said as he then pulled out one of the envelopes  that he had gotten from the Water Tribe attaches the night before " Let's say 50 yuans and this, you can't buy that kind of acess, and as long as you take the pictures I need, you can keep whatever else you take."

Mizu paused and made as if he was deep in thought as he said " 50 yuans, the invitation, and I can keep the negatives."

Kenji countered again " 75 yuans and the invitation, and I keep the negatives." he paused and then said " Tell you what I'll bump it to 100 yuans even for rush delivery, but you get paid  on delivery not before"

Mizu stuck out his hand and said " Deal." 

They shook hands and then gave a laugh as they both relaxed a little. Kenji however had one more stop to make before the chores were done for today so he got up and said " Alright, ring the number on the paper when I can pick up the pictures, now if you'll excuse me I did promise my friend that I'd show her sister the sights, so I should probably keep my word." he said standing up and tossing a few yuans on the table for the waitress.

"Oh I bet you will." Mizu said with an exaggerated wink " Just be careful with those Fire Nation girls, they bur the hottest am I right?"

Kenji turned around and started walking, praying to whatever spirits were available that Zula could manage to at least hold her tongue until they got back to the car. Things had been going so well, be a shame for a scene to be caused when this part was so close to being over.

[Neva]

The arrival of the food and drinks saved her in a way, as it gave her even more of a reason to stay quiet. Luckily, she didn’t have to do much talking. She paid little mind to the actual value of the conversation that went on between the two men, but instead focused on the fact that her companion was clearly stringing Mizu along, and well. As she watched him work, she had to admit: she was impressed. A master con artist, for sure. Zula was glad that she wasn’t on the receiving end of it. If she didn’t know him, he’d have had her fooled easily. Then again, she really didn’t know him that well. He could be fooling her right now, she wouldn’t have any idea it was even happening.

Best not to put too much thought into that.

Instead she worked on not looking uncomfortable in a place very out of her element--literally and metaphorically. She told herself it was just like being at one of her mother’s parties, where she had to make sure she maintained the role of the perfect daughter. How she navigated conversation based upon the personalities of the people around her, especially the ones she wasn’t all that fond to entertain. This was almost like that, except for the fact that she needed to decompress rather than act stiff.

When the conversation turned to a negotiation, Zula’s attention pulled back to it, her gaze shifting between the two of them. Zula kept her features schooled as she watched the information be handed over. She could only wonder just what he was planning, but whatever it was, he got his way. Considering how easy he manipulated the whole meeting, she expected nonetheless.

As he stood she did as well, glad to finally be getting out of there so she could finally relax, if only for a moment. Though, she thought she did decent for being unprepared. Zula turned to go, but not before she heard Mizu’s comment. She could feel herself tense, every fiber of her being wanting to shoot a retort. But Zula held herself together, barely. Instead of responding she gave a tight smile, hoping it masked the daggers in her eyes. Then she turned, following after companion and out of the restaurant.

“Pleasant company you keep,” she said when they finally reached the car. And really, that was all she had to say about it without sounding pretentious. Just because she was trying to curb her attitude didn’t mean it went away so easily. Nor did it mean comments like that didn’t crawl right under her skin. She glanced back from where they came and shook her head--the place itself hadn’t been that bad, but she could have done without Mizu. Oh well, if he was testing her self control, she liked to think that she passed. She took her seat in the Satomobile and turned to him, “Though, as unsettling as that was, I think I am more concerned about whatever this next part entails.”

She cast him a curious glance, “Do I get to find out, or should the suspense drag on?”

[Kenji]

At her remarks Kenji gave a causal smirk and said " You'd be surprised at  the company I keep, as for where we're going next, well that's easy enough. We're headed to a... what's the polite word for it? A gentleman's club, The Jade Blossom, to be specific." 

As much as Kenji wanted to see  whatever look was now coming over Zula's face, he decided to just ignore it and instead just drove. He remained fairly quiet as they drove for a bit, until finally they arrived at a fairly nondescript  building with a green flower on the front of the building. They parked by an alley opening of the building and Kenji then finally turned to Zula as he said

"Oh and in case your wondering yes, today has a point and a lesson, and it's a two parter," he paused as he stopped and from his inside pocket pulled out a carefully folded tie, which he then gingerly unfolded, it was black and made from silk. He then buttoned the top button of his shirt and  slid the tie around his neck and adjusted it until it was tight. 

"The first part, is that contacts from many walks of life can be useful as they help you keep your hands clean when you need them the most," He paused and then pulled out a handful of coins and then with a practiced motion put two of the coins to his sleeves and bent them into very nice looking cuff links. Then he took the remaining coins and closed his hand and shit his eyes for a minute, until he opened them and opened his hand and the was now a very  convincing looking signet ring the symbol from a prominent Earth Kingdom Family.

He then slid the ring on the proper finger and then paused for a minute, when he spoke again,his voice came out in a clipped and cultured manner, similar to Zula's own " The second is that not all masks have to be worn over your face." He was sure that Zula might be surprised at this shift , however he had learned the rich nobility patter from her sister a long time ago and it had only gotten better with practice 

"Now you can remain here, if you wish," he said " You already risked some by going into the restaurant, heaven forbid if someone caught you now." he said in a slightly condescending tone to match hers from earlier " I'm only going into the alley so you'll still get a good view." With that he stepped out and made his way down the alley.

[Neva]

If there was one word to describe Zula’s expression, it would be mortified. Her head turned sharply, disbelief flickering over her features, until the words settled in. She hoped that he was joking and just saying this to get under her skin, but there was no sign of amusement from him. He was absolutely serious. Normally she’d have something to say, but she was lost for words this time. It wasn’t like she could argue since she was following his lead, and so if that was their next stop she couldn’t object.

Who could he possibly be meeting there? Zula could deal with a little change of scenery, but she hadn’t expected to go that far out. Still, no sense in sitting there feeling the burn of scandal. She needed to get past it if she was going to properly learn anything. The drive allowed her the chance to recover from his announcement, and once they were there she watched curiously as he pulled out the tie, crafted the ring, and explained the lesson for the day.

At his change in tone Zula’s eyebrows rose. Eerie how he could change so suddenly, especially to sound...well, like a noble. It was such a smooth transition that she understood why people believed him so easily. She’d seen him take on a different role earlier, but he could even switch to something of this degree within moments.

“Now you can remain here, if you wish. You already risked some by going into the restaurant, heaven forbid if someone caught you now."

Zula narrowed her eyes at that. It wasn’t her fault that she had a public reputation to uphold. But she wasn’t going to sit there and cower because of it. If anything, she had to take risks, and this was quite a large one. But there was no way she was going to sit there because she was worried about getting caught. She’d deal with it if that came to be.

As soon as he stepped out of the car Zula did the same, shutting the door and fixing a pointed look at him. “I’m not hiding. We’ll do it your way.”

She didn’t like that she didn’t know what she was in for, but she’d just have to face it. With that she followed him down the alley.