It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for law, so much as a respect for right.

~ Henry David Thoreau

What I am actually saying is that we need to be willing to let our intuition guide us,
and then be willing to follow that guidance directly and fearlessly.

~ Shakti Gawain

Are you ready, dear reader? You won't believe the synchronicity that followed to wrap up the "Case of the Underground...?" (Okay, one of these days, I'll check out the video and get the name of the show.) Yes, you will believe it. After all, I have titled this story "A True Tale..." and everything in it is true. Promise.

Simultaneous with my mission to teach Rhonda a lesson in responsibility, I knew that there was an issue to be resolved with the building. I wasn't sure what to do about it. I decided to compose a very detailed letter describing what happened that night and I sent it to the corporate office of the building. The building took no responsibility and said I would have to take it up with the garage parking company who was contracted by the building. I sent a letter to the parking company and they ignored me.

My landlord in the building at the time was an attorney who held the master lease with the building for our executive suites. Paul was very well known in the city and in fact had originated the idea of executive suites for attorneys in Los Angeles many years before. His suites were on the 6th, 11th, and 12th floors of the building. He happened to be my neighbor in the 12th floor suite, which consisted of about 50% attorney tenants and the rest businesses.

I asked him for an opinion. He explained that the building had a fiduciary duty to protect me as a tenant and that I should definitely pursue it legally. He said because he was a lessee of the building, he was not in a position to represent me, but that I should find an attorney to take legal action. He gave me a couple of attorneys' names.

Well, I must have spoken to more than a dozen attorneys and no one wanted to handle this case because it was just too small for them. There wasn't enough damage to warrant their time and effort. I understood this from a practical standpoint, but still, my intuition kept prompting me and telling me that Paul was right, that the building had a responsibility here. I especially didn't like the fact that they ignored the matter. As I said, I had been a tenant for several years. Where was the security staff that night? They were always roaming the building. Every floor had a security kiosk and they were all on radio. Why weren't they called and why did they arrive long after the incident?

But I could not find an attorney who would give me the time of day.

Fast forward to a short time later. I don't recall how much time - maybe a couple of weeks...

An Arresting Scene

I am driving down Olympic Boulevard to my office one day and suddenly I am startled at a scene on the side of the road. A white Rolls Royce was parked on the right hand side and a matronly looking well-dressed woman was hunched over the trunk of the car being handcuffed by a policeman. I was in moving traffic, but was able to view the scene clearly. There was something so striking and interesting about the scene that I couldn't get it out of my mind. The woman looked out toward traffic appearing very helpless and frightened. She was older, obviously wealthy and I couldn't compute in my mind why she would be treated like that. Something didn't click.

Later that evening when I got home, I told Ron what I saw. I asked him what he thought an older wealthy woman could have done to deserve to be treated like that. I asked him if he thought she had drugs in the car or something. Of course, Ron was clueless.

And then, that same night, a few hours later, Ron came running into the kitchen, yelling, "That was Zsa Zsa! That was Zsa Zsa!" He said it was all over the news and that they were looking for witnesses. Zsa Zsa Gabor had slapped a Beverly Hills cop and was arrested, in what was to become a very famous case involving a very famous woman who was famous for...being famous. :-)

And I happened to be driving down Olympic Boulevard at that exact moment when Zsa Zsa was being forcefully handcuffed by the policeman who had caught up with her several blocks from where she had slapped him. Oy Vey!

The news stations gave a telephone number to call, asking anyone who might have witnessed the altercation to please come forward. I called and they said someone would be contacting me. A day or so later I received a call from Zsa Zsa's defense attorney. And guess who he was? He was another neighboring tenant in my suite - I had seen Bill around for several years. Small world...really small world. Bill interviewed me and I told him what I saw. He said that the prosecution was claiming that Zsa Zsa had resisted arrest and that's why the policeman had to use such force to handcuff her. Well, I told him that she was NOT resisting arrest. She looked like a scared puppy. He asked if I would come to court as a defense witness and just tell what I saw. I agreed.

I ending up sitting in what's called the "green room" at the Beverly Hills Courthouse for several days. The green room is where witnesses are held until they are called to testify. There were several of us, for both sides, I think. We were isolated from the trial and had nothing to do but sit around and chat with each other. Well, on one of these days, a conversation started in which we all spoke about personal legal matters that we had been involved in or were experiencing. We were just passing time. At my turn, I told what had happened at my office parking garage. A young man was listening very intently and then started asking me questions. He seemed enthralled with my story...

Steven Lopez had just graduated from UCLA Law School and had just passed the Bar. He was just setting up his practice. He told me that he would like to represent me and my case.

I found my attorney! Brand new green attorney, right in the green room. :-) I couldn't have asked for a more passionate attorney who was ready for a challenge and intent on victory. His first meaty case.

Before moving on to the details of that victory, I want to share a couple of special highlights of this Zsa Zsa episode...

During one of the days in the green room, Zsa Zsa came in and sat across from me. She started complaining to everyone about the trial and the prosecution lawyers and describing them as Nazis - and right in the middle of a sentence, she looked over at me and asked, "What color hose do you have on , dahling?" It was all I could do to keep from cracking up. She was such a character.

I recall another moment when my friend Louise found out that I was a defense witness. She asked me how I could defend a woman like that. A woman like what? Louise told me that Zsa Zsa had a reputation - that she got herself in all kinds of trouble just for the publicity and that I shouldn't be supporting someone like her. Well, I was never one to follow the antics of celebrities and stars and I really didn't know anything about her reputation, except that she had lots of husbands and was the sister of Ava Gabor - I mean, didn't everyone know that?

The fact was that I was SUPPOSED to be a defense witness so that I would end up in that green room and meet Steven. The Universe in its exquisite orchestration knew exactly how to bring us together. It knew exactly who and where the attorney was who would go after the parking company and sink his teeth in like a pit bull, and not let go. And get a good launch to his new career.

Yes, I was supposed to be on Olympic Boulevard at that exact moment. And I was grateful to Zsa Zsa Gabor for being a channel, Hollywood style, to what was soon to become my prosperity manifestation and legal satisfaction...and all that it required was that I tell the truth on her behalf.

Oh, and I didn't remember the color of the hose I was wearing...

To be continued...

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