“What’s happening?” Sal, my receptionist, hisses at me. “Why are they here?”
“I don’t know.” I shrug helplessly. “Apparently they think there are drugs here.”
“Why would they think that? You aren’t that sort of person at all!”
“I know, but they have ‘had a report’.”
“From who? It can’t even be a disgruntled client because you always win.”
I cock one eyebrow. “Maybe that’s the issue. Maybe it’s someone I’ve beaten.”
“Why would you think that?”
I decide to let Sal in just a little bit. “Well, I had a threatening letter the other day. Dan reckons it was someone that I beat so I chose to ignore it at the time, but maybe now I’m wondering if this is all linked.”
“You should definitely tell the police that. It’s obviously linked…”
“I think it might be too late now. They’ll assume that I’m making excuses.”
“But it might be relevant…” She’s getting too excited about this. I should have kept my mouth shut. “You should at least give them the information, so they know.”
“Yeah, or this could be a rival or something. Maybe it’s even a mistake. They aren’t going to find any drugs in there, nor will they get any evidence that I’m involved in some drug ring. Maybe I shouldn’t make a big unnecessary drama out of this and just let them do their thing and leave them to it.”
Sal opens her mouth but seems to think better of it and snaps it back closed again. We both stare defiantly at the wall, just waiting for it to end. My mind starts to wonder if this is some sort of punishment for the last few days of sheer happiness that I’ve had. Ever since Nova walked into my house, I’ve been flying higher than air, basking in our joy. We’ve become a little like a real couple, eating meals together, enjoying one another’s company, sliding into the bed together at the end of the day… it’s been wonderful.
Sure, there are times when she seems a little closed off and secretive. Sometimes I see her eyeing her phone with fear, but I guess there will still be times that she’s afraid something is going to happen. I do too, a bit, but nothing has happened, so I recently came to the conclusion that Jeremy would rather keep this quiet than go on a mad manhunt for his missing wife. He must be so afraid of people finding out the truth about him.
But I guess that’s a happiness that shouldn’t be mine. Not really. She’s still a client, still married to someone else, still unattainable even though we’ve both been acting otherwise, so this might be a comeuppance.
I guess I deserve it too.
Hours pass. At least, it feels like hours, before the officer exits my office without anything. Of course, he won’t have anything… although a tiny bit of me feared that something would have been planted.
“Thank you for your time, Mr. Black, our search is completed…”
“So, what now? You obviously didn’t find anything.”
“We didn’t, no.”
“So… what now?” I repeat. “What happens now?”
“If something needs to happen then someone will be in touch.”
“Do I not get an apology or something? You were mistaken.”
“We are following orders and tracing tip-offs.”
“So, that’s it. Do I just have to take that you tore my office apart today? That I lost work time?”
The officer seems to sense that I’m about to explode, so he makes a hasty retreat, leaving me with millions of unanswered questions.
“Unbelievable.” Sal looks as pissed off as I feel. “What do we do now?”
I blink a couple of times, trying to bring myself back to reality. “I guess… we just carry on. We get back to work and hope that nothing like that ever happens again.”
* * *
“Sal, where is my two o’clock appointment?” I can’t stop the harassment from filling my tone.