Page 8 of Lake
Right now, my focus and time and energy went to keeping this place going. For my dad. For Art. For myself. Yeah, maybe I already had a lot on my plate and I didn’t see that lightening anytime soon.
“There’s nothing going on today,” Art said just as the clock hit five. “Just go on home.”
It was almost like I hadn’t already been there all day. It didn’t matter that I tried hard to find things to do. Like scrub down the bathroom, or clean out the coffee maker, or check all of our files and make sure everything was where it should be— and it was, in case you were wondering. For the most part, I stayed on top of that shit, even if Art sometimes tended to forget about paperwork. And by forget, I mean he hated to do it, so he would leave it until it piled up to the point that I would get frustrated and take matters into my own hands.
I liked things organized. I wasn’t a neat freak but I believed that chaos did not belong in the office. Cluttered desks, takeout containers sitting out, a million dirty coffee mugs, those were all things a client could walk in and see. And since we were pretty much dying for business, I didn’t need anyone running from here with their head shaking in disappointment or disgust. Plus, if I needed to go back to a case for some reason, I wanted to know that I could find it in a blink. It was more professional not to have to stumble around or leave a client on hold for a million years until I got it together.
I took this shit seriously, even if life was making it pointless for me to right now.
I had faith that things would turn around. Just had to keep chipping away and turning out satisfied customers. Word of mouth was the best kind of advertisement. Okay, that was usually true but sometimes you didn’t always want people to know that you hired a PI because then you would have to talk about why you did so.
“Yeah, okay,” I finally said with a sigh and looked around to make sure everything was in its place before I scooped up my bag.
Luckily, my jacket was dry by now, only as I looked out at the darkening street beyond the door, I knew it wouldn’t matter because the rain had decided to come back. Figured. It was just my kind of luck.
I should have taken the bus but by the time I waited for it at the stop, I would have been just as wet as if I had jogged my ass all the way back to my apartment.
As soon as I walked into my place, I stripped right there behind the door. I was shivering to the point that my teeth were chattering so hard I was worried they were going to crack. My hands had gone numb and I was pretty sure that if I looked in the mirror, my lips would be blue.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t that bad because it wasn’t even cold here. It never got cold here. But when you lived in Florida and the temperature dropped below seventy-five degrees, it was fucking cold. We weren’t used to it. I feared the day that I would have to deal with snow. Just the thought made me grimace. I didn’t like to be wet or cold, and that was what fucking snow was. Wet and damn cold. No thank you.
I didn’t think as I rushed to the bathroom and hopped into the shower, thankful that the water warmed up quickly.
I dressed in sweats and a long sleeved shirt because it was cheaper than turning on the heat. As I slipped under my comforter, I reached for the unsalted topped saltines I kept beside my bed. This was my dinner and I was too exhausted from freezing my ass off to even go into the kitchen to get a can of tuna to spread on it. Yep, I didn’t make bank but I made due. I learned a long time ago how to eat on a dime. A can of tuna and a half a sleeve of crackers would fill my belly.
The next day, I walked into the office to find an antsy Art. It seemed that he’d finished his research and was ready to get moving. I’d been around him long enough that I could read him like a book.
“You all set?” I asked, moving to my desk to set down my bag before going to the coffee pot and getting two cups ready without even asking.
“Yeah. This one is a traveler.”
Not the client. The job.
Yeah, I got what he was saying.
It meant not in this city.
Which made me cringe because that meant travel expenses. Food on the road. Hotel room. Extra gas. And so fucking on.
I turned on my heel, looking at him with sharp eyes. No, we could not afford for him to take the trip. While he knew how to do things on the cheaper scale, I knew how to do it better. Plus, that little part of my heart kicked in. Art was old and well, wasn’t in the best of health. I didn’t want him going anywhere, especially if it was a long distance and carried him into cooler temperatures.
I really needed to change the payment policy. We really needed to start taking in half as a down payment but it was easier to get cases when they could pay after you had something to show them.
“Do you think it’s a good time for you to take off?” I asked making it seem like the office needed him.
Okay, it may have looked like he ran things around here and being older, I knew people assumed it was his business. I tried hard not to get aggravated at it. But it worked well for me in moments like this. I just had to play it right.
“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll call her back and tell her we aren’t able to help them out at this time.”
“No,” I rushed to say and then tried to pull back and seem causal. “I can do it.”
He nodded his head and I could have sworn that there was a flicker of something in his eyes.
Was he playing me while I was trying to play him?
Hmmm.
I shook my head because I didn’t want to believe that. It didn’t matter which one of us took the case. I couldn’t imagine that it was that bad. But it was clear that he didn’t really want to go and I wouldn’t mind getting away for a bit.
