Chapter 3 - Ki

 

“You color-coded my calendar.”

I slowly turned in my chair, so I’d have time to give myself a quick pep talk. I didn’t think he’d track me down, but at the same time, I wanted him to.

I caught his eyes and pulled the sucker out of my mouth. “Did you like the colors?”

He stepped around the chair in front of my desk and then sat down. His massive size might break my chair, but he gave no indication he was uncomfortable. His sleeves were rolled up— this time a bit more, showing a little more color and design of his tattoos. His perfect black hair wasn’t so perfect anymore either. The five o’clock shadow from the previous day was gone, leaving smooth slightly tanned skin behind. I wasn’t sure which look I liked better . . . rugged, slightly scruffy Mr. Bale, or clean-cut Mr. Bale.

“You could sit in Alexa’s chair.”

He glanced at the desk next to mine. They both faced the front door and behind us was a door to the bathroom. That was it for this side of the room. The other side was blocked off for my photography studio and also had the door that led upstairs to our apartment. My studio was constantly a work in progress, as I haven’t had as much time to dedicate to my photography. I had a website with my portfolio, and I did sporadic advertising, but our business was always my first priority.

“Private investigator,” he stated.

I set my sucker down. “Yep.”

“And a process server?”

“Both of us.”

“The camera.” He jerked his chin to my camera bag that was on Alexa’s desk. Our desks were similar but didn’t match, which I felt made us look a bit quirky. We didn’t spend very much money on them, but they did their job, and we weren’t in the office that much. “Some kind of photographer?”

“I try.”

“This isn’t a bad spot,” he commented, looking around the space.

“We like it.”

I still wasn’t sure why he was here, but the small talk was kind of nice considering most days I only talk to Alexa.

“So, the colors,” I started. “You like them?”

“You scheduled my lunch breaks in yellow.”

“Everyone has to eat.”

“I eat when I can,” he replied, leaning forward. “I’m more curious as to how you did it.”

“Did what?”

He paused and chewed on the bottom of his lip. My eyes zeroed in on his lip, imagining nibbling on his lip myself. “My calendar. It’s organized, it’s color-coded, and there are numbers next to the appointments with the best person to contact.”

“Sometimes my OCD kicks in.”

He chuckled, and I noticed a small dimple on the right side of his mouth.

He was quiet for a while, and I felt awkward just staring at him. He closed his eyes before he softly spoke, “You left without your check.”

“No, you left without giving me my check.”

He flashed me a smile again, and I felt a faint flutter hit my chest. “It was on my desk. I suppose you didn’t see it when you dropped the messages on it.”

“You were serious?”

“I just asked for a few moments of your time, and you gave me hours. You did more for me in those hours than most receptionists have ever done. That’s why I keep firing them.”

“Executive assistants.”

Another great chuckle.

Another dimple.

He fought off the chair as he stood and pulled his wallet out. He set the check on my desk and pushed it forward. “Thank you.”

I sat up and looked at it.

One thousand dollars.

Made out to me.

My full name.

“How did you find me?”

“Come on, Ki; you’re a PI,” his rough, playful voice said my name like he knew me for years, “figure it out.”

He slipped the wallet into his pocket and pulled his phone out when it started to ring. “I gotta go.” He answered his phone all business-like and headed out the front door like he was never here. I put the check in the top drawer of my desk and went to lock up. I glanced around outside, but the sun had set, making it hard to see where he disappeared to. I wanted the chance to see him walk away.

I locked up, turned the lights off, and grabbed my sucker off my desk. I meandered up the stairs, my thoughts swimming with what one thousand dollars would mean for Alexa and me. I found something to eat, had a glass of wine, and changed into my PJs by the time Alexa got back.

After she had changed into her PJs, she joined me on the couch. “I heard the phone when I came in.”

“It’ll have to wait.”

We turn the volume down on the office phone at night and let our old fashion machine pick up any messages. She curled up on the other end with a red throw blanket and closed her eyes. “I’m so tired.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“Not tonight.”

“Your neck will kink if you lay like that.”

She slid down onto the pillow, and I went back to flipping through the channels.

The next morning, I found Alexa sitting at my desk when I got downstairs. She had her feet up on the edge of my desk and was waiting for me. She lifted her hand up, holding what I assumed was a check.

“Is there something you want to tell me?”

“Look at the date, Alexa; I got it yesterday.”

She looked it over and then put it back inside my desk. “I wouldn’t keep it from you, Lex, but you were tired last night, and I let you rest.”

“It’s a lot of money.”

“It is.” I tapped on her feet; she dropped them, and let me have my black chair back. We both sat down, facing each other.

“I did that job on my own yesterday.”

“I know; I’m so proud of you.”

“I served a lawyer.”

She smiled. “Which one? Was it the one we saw in the courtroom a few weeks back? The really tall one, pretty dreamy.”

“No, but he was tall.”

“So, tell me.”

“Prescot Bale.”

“No shit!”

“No shit.”

We’ve heard of him in passing but never had the chance to meet him or see him in court.

“So spill. How did you serve Prescot Bale?” A giggle sounded from Alexa’s lips as she spun in her chair.

“I served him after I played secretary.”

Alexa stopped mid-rotation and quickly moved so she was right in front of me. “Wait. What? Start at the beginning, Ki, . . . and don’t leave anything out!”

For the next twenty minutes, I explained to Alexa how I stumbled on a job at Bale’s office, how his wife threatened to have me fired, and how I flipped him off after I served him. Then, I explained how he offered me five hundred dollars to organize his life, with the promise of a bonus if I did a good job. Which I apparently did. I did not, however, let her know how cute his dimples were or the fact that he can rock a white button-down shirt like no one’s business. After she was satisfied she was completely caught up, I checked our voicemails.

“Josh called. He said he has a few envelopes he’ll hold for us to pick up, but we need to get there quick before our competition shows up to try and steal them from us,” I told her as I hung the phone up.

“He’s a great guy.”

“I never said he wasn’t.”

Alexa looked up at me and smiled. “You know he holds the envelopes for us because he’s got the hots for you. You should give him a shot.”

I sighed. Not this again. “I told you, and him, that we’re friends. I don’t have time in my life for a man; my hands are full enough with you.”

“He’s cute in his own way, but I know why you won’t date.”

I ignored the last part of her message because I wasn’t in the mood to hash out the reason why I don’t like to date. Brayden. The man dreams are made of and the love of my life. It’s been longer than I’m willing to admit since the last time I had his touch, or anyone’s for that matter. I know my heart hadn’t healed from the devastation he left in his wake when he left me and that’s why I don’t date.

“Then you date him.”

She knew I didn’t want to talk about my reason for not dating, so she stayed on the current subject. “I’m two inches taller than him, it’s weird.”

“Well, he and I are the same height, so it’s weird.”

She threw a pen at me. “That’s a stupid excuse.”

“So is yours. Look, I don’t want to deal with Josh, so you go collect as many envelopes as you can,” I said shaking my chest. “And I’ll return these calls.”

She laughed at me and said, “You look stupid when you do that.”

“That’s why I leave the hard work to you.”

 “Sounds good.” She stood, grabbed her oversized white purse, and pushed her chair in. “I’ll be back.”

Our business was located in Manhattan, and she’d be back within the hour because she’ll take a cab since she’s by herself. Most of the time Josh calls us with jobs, but we take any job we can get because we aren’t the only servers in town looking for their next envelope. Because there are two of us, we split everything, so we need more jobs than normal. We started serving people while still in college when we became best friends.

Alexa and I were paired up as roommates in our dorm, and the first few weeks it was like we didn’t know each other existed. One look at each other and we knew we were complete opposites and didn’t try to be friends. A few weeks into our first semester, I had come back from a study group and found some guy on top of Alexa, who was struggling under him. He had an arm against her throat and the other one up her skirt. I dropped my books, pulled my rape whistle out, and jumped on his back with my arms around his neck. He stood, and I kept blowing the rape whistle in his ear and hung on while he swatted at me. Alexa jumped off the bed and kicked him in the balls, and he fell to his knees, and I pushed him over as I climbed off his back. She was shaken up pretty badly that night, and we stayed up all night talking. After the incident, Alexa felt comfortable opening up to me, which she doesn't often do. She told me about her shitty excuse for a parent while it took a little longer for me to open up about mine.

After that, we were inseparable.

We decided to keep serving envelopes after college and took a few online classes to become private investigators since we were good at tracking people down. Over the years, we’ve become friends with some lawyers, judges, police officers, and clerks, which helped us with our investigative services.

Most of our messages were from current clients who wanted to know if their significant others were cheating, but we also had one new client message. I called the current clients, filled them in on the newest details on their cases, and then called the new client back.

“Is Miss Hills there?”

“Mrs. Hills; is this the investigator?”

“Yes, how can I help you?”

Ten minutes later I hung up the phone. This was a different kind of case and could bring in a lot of money for us. She wanted us to find her son. We’ve never had a case like this. She doesn’t know what to think, but the things she tossed out were not good: illegal activities and drugs. She wanted to know where he’s been the last six months. I didn’t like the sound of ‘illegal activities,’ but she approved twenty hours and was going to have a courier drop a check off to our office in two hours, and we needed the money.

I checked our email, nothing going on there, and then made a to-do list for today. I slowly pulled the top drawer open and saw the check sitting there, just waiting to be cashed. I did the math in my head and figured I was paid two hundred and fifty dollars an hour. I didn’t even charge that for our investigative services, but maybe we should. Mr. Bale went out of his way to find me and hand delivered the check while raving about my calendar skills.

I thought about his smile.

The dimple.

Those black rimmed glasses he wore so well.

The tattoos.

I smiled to myself and shut the drawer.

Don’t forget about his bat-shit crazy wife.

“Your boyfriend is in trouble.”

“Alexa, don’t start with me about Josh.”

“Not Josh,” she tossed the envelopes on my desk, “Mr. Bale,” she said using her sultry voice. “Poor Mr. Bale is getting served, again.” She leaned over my desk, showing me her cleavage. “Are you going to serve Mr. Bale. Again?”

“Jesus, Alexa.” I shuffled through the envelopes until I found his and ran my hand over his name.

“You better go service him, Ki.”

“Stop talking like that.” I would see him again, but not right this minute. “I want to do it at the end of the day. Alone.”

“You’re getting braver with the world, Ki; I love it.”

I laughed. “Whatever.”

We went over the list; I filled her in on the new client and then locked up after the courier brought us the check from Mrs. Hills. It was boring for the most part, but we served all the envelopes first, and then went to see if this Lucas Hills was at the coffee shop his mother said he liked to frequently visit.

“Go charm the barista,” I told Alexa, “I’ll snoop around.”

She smirked and swiped some glossy lipstick on her lips, stood tall, and went to chat up the barista.

I walked around the tables while trying to listen in on the conversations and slowly made my way toward the bathroom, where the office door was located. The best thing about me is that I don’t stand out. Most of the time I’m invisible. Everyone’s always paying attention to the pretty girl and forgets about the ugly one. I made sure no one was watching, and I turned the handle.

It was unlocked.

I slipped in, saw a computer with a screensaver, but it was password protected so I ditched that idea. I wasn’t sure if I’d find anything in the office, but it couldn’t hurt. Maybe he was dating someone who worked here and they had a picture of him in the office. It was a long shot and probably a dead end, but my thoughts wander toward all kinds of ideas and I liked to follow them. I went to the gray filing cabinet and pulled the top one open. Nothing with his name on it. No pictures, or hidden money or drugs.

I checked the second drawer.

Nothing.

That would be fun. To find drugs or a bunch of money lying around. How crazy would that be; I mean it’s New York City. Crazy shit happens all the time.

I slid it shut and shuffled through the papers on the desk, but there was nothing with his name on it.

I left, shutting the door behind me, and found Alexa talking to a different barista who was bussing a table by the front door. I shook my head at her, and she wiggled her coffee cup at me, as I made my way through the lobby.

 “Nothing,” I said as the door closed.

“Nothing but free coffee.” She pushed it toward me. “Want a drink?”

“No, thanks.”

I pulled out my notes, and we came up with a new plan to find Lucas Hills. He can’t hide forever.