Martoons

Today: Cleaning Lady unintentionally does some spying.

Cast of characters

Cleaning Lady

Mrs Won

A mystery foreigner

Scene: Mrs Won’s apartment

*

One month earlier.

It had been a normal morning for Cleaning Lady – up at her usual time of 2:00 a.m.

She had her own housework to do and then headed over to Mrs Won’s, timing it to arrive just after the ajumma and Hot Sauce had left for the day at 7 a.m.

She nodded to the security guard who usually went off duty around this time.

Frightened of elevators ever since being trapped in one as a kid, Cleaning Lady trudged up the stairs (26 flights, two per floor) and exited at 13^th floor.

That, she chuckled, was her 10 minutes exercise for the day.

Apartment 1313 was a mess and Cleaning Lady decided to do that little extra that endeared her to Mrs Won – she mopped the floor instead of just wiping it down.

Problem was it left so much water on the surface that it would take hours to dry.

So, she opened all the doors of the apartment and slid all the windows wide to get a good air flow going.

She even set up Won’s living room fan and angled it downward to help with the drying.

She was pleased as the sheath of wetness slowly shrank before her eyes, like an oasis as you got closer to it.

She scampered into Hot Sauce’s room and stepped out on the balcony to get a breath of fresh air.

Inadvertently gazing down into the parking lot, she was shocked at what she saw:

Hot Sauce’s little dog Ouija was scurrying down the sidewalk toward the exit of the parking lot.

“That little mutt has escaped!” she exclaimed, cursing herself for being so dumb as to forget about the dog and leave the door open.

* Will Cleaning Lady be able to catch up and retrieve the dog? *

Cleaning Lady took the elevator down this time and within moments had caught up to the little terrier.

She scooped it up and was walking back to the building with the thing cradled in her arms when she saw Mrs Won up ahead apparently entering the building.

“Huh? Oh!” Cleaning Lady waved erratically in the hope that ajumma would happenstance turn around and see her, but no such luck.

But wait.

Someone was with her.

Cleaning Lady presumed it was the husband Mr Kim but took a second look with strained eyes and a hand at her brow to shield the sunlight.

Whoever it was had dirty blonde hair, white, anemic skin and a big nose.

Mrs Won was with a foreigner!

He looked German.

Or Swedish.

And he looked so-o-o good, even to the crusty old Cleaning Lady.

* Are we familiar with this foreigner?*

Cleaning Lady eagerly wanted to meet the mystery waygook but as she got closer and further observed the body language of the two individuals, a red light illuminated.

Something wasn’t right here.

Best hold back and check it out.

She was able to reach the now-vacant security guard’s booth undetected and stand behind the corner of it with the little dog in her arms.

She peaked around the corner and saw that the foreigner was apparently waiting for Won just inside the building out of the hot sun.

Won had obviously gone up to the apartment.

Had she forgotten something and come back to retrieve it?

“I’ve been on this planet 66 frickin’ years,” Cleaning Lady muttered to herself. “Mrs Won is up to something. I’m just going to wait it out here until this whole thing blows over.”

* What could Mrs Won and the foreigner have been up to? *

Sure enough, a couple of minutes later Won returned to the ground floor and Cleaning Lady expected her and the foreigner to leave.

But she didn’t. She urgently – almost frantically – hand-gestured that the waygook approach.

“Hurry, hurry,” she was beckoning and shushing him to not say anything.

Cleaning Lady got a sense that whatever Mrs Won and the foreigner had planned, it would be quick.

Obviously, Won had checked the apartment to see if Cleaning Lady was on duty, and seeing that she wasn’t, proceeded with her secret scheme.

Moments later with the coast clear, Cleaning Lady cautiously entered the lobby and, carrying the little dog, began ascending the stairs.

Out of breath as she got to the 13^th floor landing, she sat on the top stair and held the dog, which had now fallen asleep.

After catching her breath, the curious and crusty custodian tip-toed out on to the main floor and stopped at Won’s now-closed apartment door.

She gently tried turning the handle to see if the door was unsecured.

Won would no doubt be expecting her back any moment anyway.

But the door was locked.

Cleaning Lady deftly slid her key in but could only crack the door open – it was also dead-bolted.

She was irked – why would Mrs Won want to keep her out?

She quietly clicked the door closed again and put her ear up to it.

 Squeak! Squeak!

The sound got louder and faster and then suddenly there was a crash followed by the sound of two people laughing.

Cleaning Lady figured it was time to retreat to the stairwell, where she hid for about 5 more minutes then could hear Mrs Won and her foreigner friend leaving.

* Was Mrs Won one of those having an affair with Thomas? *

*

Tomorrow: Fred meets a familiar stranger.