Unexpected 4: Digital Purge

Chapter 3: Spread the word!

26 hrs before, Luca's place

Man, what a mess! How in the world are we going to get this done? Luca didn't even know where to start. Truthfully he was beyond excited, but as he looked at the piles and piles of stuff Terry continued to bring in, he was now fearing the worse. The mounds had already taken half of the living room! Not to mention the garage, part of the front porch and a big part of the kitchen counter. This is gonna be a monster project, for sure!

Now that Street had moved out, following judges orders to provide a home with two supervising adults for Rubio, Luca now had an empty room in his house. Since Terry was looking for a studio for his video editing and social media marketing business, he thought it'd be a great idea to spend more time with his brother while helping him out with his own space. So, he offered his brother the room to work on and part of the garage for staging and office. It seemed like a great idea at first, but he had no clue his brother had so much stuff and junk.

Terry couldn't believe it at first, that his older brother was being so nice. However, his business was booming and he finally felt like he had discovered his true calling. Photography, design, marketing and others have always called his name, and now that he could use it to make big bucks, it would be great. He could bunk with his bro for a while as he made some more money and eventually rent out a complete office space. He really believed Terr Vision Inc was going to be a great hit.

"So, I think that's about it." Terry said as he came in with yet more bags

"Thank God, dude! One more truck load and this place is gonna burst!" Luca joked

"Hey! I need a lot of stuff to produce great products." he said as he dumped the last two big plastic bags on the floor of the living room, "And thanks by the way, big bro. I know you might think this is a stretch, but trust me, I'll hit it huge and when I do," Luca was already rolling his eye,"I'll make you part of my team. You'll be an important part of this. I know so, bro!"

"Ok, ok. Just don't say I never supported your crazy ideas, lil bro." he said, followed by a smirk.

Both brothers got to it, as they took out everything in the bags and boxes. Terry decided to turn the garage into his studio for photography, videos and such, and the room for an office. He figured everything related to art and setup he would do outside, and then bring it in to his office inside. He also thought of turning part of the garage into a small photographic studio for simple sessions and maybe some multimedia products for small occasions. He figure he'd start small and work his way up! Best part was, since the kitchen side door led to the garage space, there was easy access back and forth.

"Wow, bro! This is amazing...you know how to work all these stuff?" Luca asked standing in front of the transformed garage space

"Yeah! I took classes here and there, even got certified as mass media producer."

"I'm impressed. You already know what you wanna do?"

"Yeah. Terr Vision Inc is up and running."

"Yeah, bro" they fist pumped as the admired the space

After a few seconds, Luca decided to head in, but stopped midway as he noticed his brother staring perplexed towards something in the brand new set up.

"Something wrong, bro?" he asked trying to follow his brother's gaze

"No, I mean...", Terry kept staring, until he took a couple of steps towards one of his most priced possessions, his Canon EOS R5 camera. The thing was valued over $3k, he was just lucky a pal of his changed careers and sold him his for $2,300. "I could've sworn I didn't turn this on, yet it's being dead on at us since we got here."

"Must've been some kind of sensor or something."

"These things don't come with that, Dom!" Terry said annoyed

"Well, then how do you explain it being fixated on us this whole time?" Luca snapped back

As the two brothers tried to figure things out, Bonnie and Tan were enjoying a nice cold ice scream sundae, walking along the beach deck, about 10 miles away.

"Man, I'm beyond excited Bonnie! This will be a huge step for us." Tan said as he ate a big scoop of ice scream. Rocky road with marshmallow syrup, whipped cream and tons of peanuts, his favorite!

Bonnie walked side by side, as she took a more moderate scoop, "I still can't believe it! You think you're ready?"

"Oh, yeah, absolutely! Can't wait to see the look of my mom! We gotta tell her first."

Bonnie stopped cold, and turned to look at him, "Hey! My mom and dad go first!" she complained jokingly

Tan shot a big smile  as he smirked, "Alright, fine. They'll get the news first." he said as he gave up on the argument, after all he wasn't about to fuss about the most important news in his life.

 "You think we should start looking for catalogs and stuff?" Tan asked excited. He immediately let go of her hand and went for his cellphone. He was already on Amazon!

"Baby, relax. We have time." she said softly, as she tucked away the cellphone and came closer. They both shared a long kiss, as neither cared for the melting dairy running down their arms.

After some minutes, they realized the mess they were making and giggled their way to the nearest trash can. Then, they headed towards the sandy beach shore, facing the ocean, letting the water softly braze their toes. They spent sometime soaking it all in, as they were about to begin a new stage in their lives, and neither could believe it yet.

"Hey!" Tan said breaking the silence, "What do you say we go for a swim? Water seems nice!" She looked at him, then turned her back to the water and took some steps into the sandy shore. She removed her cover shirt and short jeans, making sure her cellphone was placed in between, not visible to any other guests.

"Race you!" she said as she turned towards the water. Tan ran after to leave his stuff, then to get her, and grabbed her with both arms. They dove into the water head on, forgetting about all the problems and the set backs they had face together, ready for a new adventure.

They spent some minutes soaking in the warm water, perfect for the temperature. It was a gorgeous day in southern LA, sun was shinning, hardly any clouds, no humidity, and no chance for precipitation.

After 45 minutes, both swimmers decided it was time to head home. Tan suggested eating out but Bonnie preferred grabbing dinner and going home for a night of Netflix and chill. She complained about a lousy upcoming week at work and needed to relax as much as possible before that train wreck started.

"Hum" she said as Tan was putting on his shirt, and gathering his flip flops.

"What's up?" he asked trying to locate one of his missing shoes

"This is weird." she said as she moved her cellphone towards him. "Three more days til next check up." she read the small message in the screen. Tan smiled as he looked on, but was struck to see his wife with a terrified face expression.

"What?" he asked confused

"Gu gu Tracker? I haven't downloaded that. " she was panicking, Tan could sense it

"Wait, what do you mean? Didn't you download that app?"

"No! I just got the call a couple of minutes before you picked me up for ice scream. You're the only one that knows."

Now Tan was very confused. How did the cellphone know? Was somebody...listening?