His eyes lit up. “Nice!” He hissed in my direction, took my hand and spun me around as if he was shopping. “I thought you’d never ask! To be honest, I figured you’d be a little more work than that.”
“Not for me!” I pulled my hand back abruptly.
“Easy, honey, it’s alright, your girlfriends will never have to know that you paid ‘ol Tad here a little something for the best night of your life.”
Was this guy for real? I pondered poking his eyes out, but instead I purred back. “No really, it’s for my aunt. She is my very favorite and her birthday is coming and she had mentioned how cute you were a few times so I was thinking that as a secret gift, I could give her you. Who knows, maybe I’ll try you myself sometime.”
“It can be arranged. What kind of money are we talking?”
“How about five hundred? But I want it to be a secret. I want her to think you approached her just because you think she is hot. She’s having a bit of a crisis and I am sure you are just what she needs.”
“Wow! Five hundred, huh? That seems like a lot for a single encounter. Is she a beast? I do have my limits you know.”
“No! Do you know DeDe Whitney?”
“Oh yeah, the one with the dark hair and the new boob job. Drives a Lexus 460?”
He caught me off guard. Did anyone really pay her that much attention? “Yes, that’s her. What do you think?”
“I could get behind that.”
“Oh, um, well you keep the details to yourself. I mean, you don’t have to ‘get behind’ that so to speak. Just sweeten her up, that’s all I am asking. And whatever happens after that is between the two of you.”
“I’ll tell you what will be between the two of us…”
“No!” I cut him off. “Really, um, save the surprises for her. Do we have a deal?”
“Absolutely. I assume she is coming for tomorrow’s events?”
“Yes and her husband isn’t; might be a good time to work your magic.”
“And the cash?”
“I have it right here, but there is one condition. I’m going to give you half now and the balance when you provide some sort of proof that the job was done completely at your discretion. I don’t want verbal details and I’m not defining what ‘complete’ might mean to you, I just want to know that her self confidence is returned. Mail whatever you retain back to the address I’ve attached to the top of the cash. “ I dug in my bag and produced a simple white sealed envelope and placed it into his open hand.
“You got it, honey. I’ll give her the Tad special.”
“Just remember, it’s a secret. We never had this conversation.”
“I’ll forget that, but I’m not sure I can forget you. It’s kind of slow today. You want to take a walk through the storage room with me?”
“Um, definitely not. I appreciate the offer, though. Can Mr. Pimple go get my car now?” I handed him the ticket.
“No lunch?”
“Nah, my appetite has somehow escaped me. I’ll just take the car.”
He whistled to the meek one and within minutes Alice’s still-warm Saab pulled up in front of me.
“Don’t forget to come by again, sweet cheeks!” Tad called over the top of the wagon as I leaned down to get in.
“You got it, baby.” I winked back.
Good luck to Aunt DeDe with that one, but he was exactly what she needed. Unfortunately, I was destined to hear all about it, whether I wanted to or not.
-16-
Later that night after dinner, I retreated to my rosebud bedroom and flipped through last weekend’s classifieds looking for office space rentals. Good thing Alice still got the Sunday paper or I would literally be cut off from the outside world, especially now that my phone was so basic and boring. I had put in some hard time trying to convince her to buy a computer or laptop, but so far she was holding strong with a familiar and firm ‘no’. She just wasn’t ready to advance along with most of the rest of the world. I circled a few options and lay back, feeling content. It was the first time in months that I had genuinely looked forward to something. Finally, fate was rooting for my team.
Alice knocked softly on my door and stepped in cautiously. I noticed how much more she respected my privacy since the naked money incident.
“Hi, dear. I have a little something for you.” She handed me a folded piece of paper and kissed my forehead. “Sleep tight.”
Before I could ask what it was, she left, closing the door as if she was never there. I opened it and read aloud.
“Are you curious? Are you good with details? Do your friends call on you when they need someone followed? Did you answer yes to all of these questions? Then start getting paid for what you love to do! Now offering Private Investigator courses. Call 966-450-2314 and don’t wait! Classes start soon!”
My grin was unstoppable. If Alice had faith in me then I should too.
I spoke toward the closed door. “Thanks, Mom.”
-17-
Alice fussed over the curtains in the large one room office that overlooked the harbor.
“Aren’t you glad you chose this one? What self respecting nosey person would hire someone with an office in a back alley?”
“Yes, Mom, as usual you were right.”
“Don’t worry about the rent. In no time you’ll be rolling in the dirt and you won’t give it a second thought.”
“You mean the dough.”
“What?”
“Never mind.”
I hoped she was right. I had put everything I had to my name, although it wasn’t much, into this business. But to be safe, I decided it was best to keep my meter maid job until things got moving. I had finished my course last month and Mitexi was in the middle of hers. So we decided she would manage the phones while I wrote tickets and once we picked up a clientele of some sort, I would give my notice. I could only hope that would be sooner rather than later.
Actually, the past few months had moved along quickly, but I was really looking forward to the future. Aunt DeDe scored her lot attendant and told us over and over again how the boy was smitten with her. She was convinced there could not possibly be any other explanation for it, but ultimately, she chose to stay with Uncle Gordie. He finally called her bluff on the pending divorce and said he’d rather split their so called empire than deal with her indecisive diva ways any longer. Luckily, she finally realized that no one would ever kiss her ass the way he did, so between that revelation and her new and improved ego, she chose not to rock the boat. Secretly, no one was more pleased than me and Alice. Okay, maybe Alice was the most grateful. After all, she accepted the overnight delivery package containing DeDe’s underpants as genuine proof of Tad’s successful job done. Oddly, my aunt was the only person I have ever known to have her full name sewn into the lining of her lingerie. I dropped his money off to him in person the next day in an attempt to erase that horrifying vision right out of our memories as quickly as possible. More importantly, DeDe agreed to give a satisfied customer testimony on the brochures I had made up to pass out to potential clients, using a fake name, of course.
In the end, we decided to name ourselves PMS Private Investigators. The P and M came from mine and Mitexi’s first names respectively, but we couldn’t make a decision on whether we should have Services or Stone or Scarborough at the end. Not wanting to fight about it, we just left it as an S without an explanation. Anyhow, we figured since PMS is a standard girl trait, potential clients might just leave the explanation of the acronym alone.
In a room full of my favorite people, we toasted to new beginnings and cut a large red ribbon that had been fastened across the front entrance to our new office suite. PMS Private Investigators was now officially in business.
As we chatted away about how close spring was and fussed over Istas, a handsome man with buzzed strawberry blonde hair and stunning green eyes pushed open the office door.
“Hello?”
Everyone stopped and stared at him. I walked across the room and nerv
ously contemplated the right time to reach out and shake his hand.
“Hi, I’m Paula Stone. Can I help you?”
“Are you the one who owns this Investigator service?”
“Yes, and this is my partner, Mitexi.” I pointed in her direction. “We were just celebrating our official start of business get together. I hope we weren’t too loud.”
“No, not at all. Actually, I wasn’t sure if you had begun taking new clients yet?” He stepped back. “I’m sorry, my name is Dr. Kirby, but you can call me Tom.” Finally, he extended a strong hand and I gratefully returned the gesture. “I run the pediatric office down the hall. I’m sorry to interrupt, but maybe you could call me within the next few days after you get settled in?”
He produced a business card from his wallet and I noticed that he wasn’t wearing a wedding ring.
“Absolutely Dr. Kirby, I mean Tom.”
I looked back over my shoulder and winked at Alice. A potentially single, new client and a doctor to boot. Now that was the way to get to business!
A Family Affair Page 8