Page 14 of Penny For Your Thoughts
“Yeah, D. What we have is perfect. You believe me, don’t you?”
“Yeah.”
And I did.
Mostly.
3
Diem
Iarrived late at the office on Monday morning. Tallus’s car was in the shop for scheduled maintenance, so I went with him to drop it off and took him to work after. It meant I was late for my appointment with Benaiah Scarrow.
Although I wanted to be annoyed with the nursing home for giving out my personal number, it was refreshing to be asked to take on a case that didn’t involve a cheating spouse for once. Infidelity accounted for more than seventy-five percent of our workload, and it grew wearisome after a while.
I had invited Ben to meet me at eight thirty to sign paperwork and go over the finer details of his situation. Tallus was bummed he was missing out, so I expected a string of texts from him today despite my promise to keep him updated.
Benaiah stood in the hallway outside the office, admiring the clunky sign on the wall, when Echo and I exited the stairwell. He was awiry man in his late fifties, with a slight paunch, thinning hair, and the lingering scent of cigarettes and aftershave wafting from his clothes.
He turned at the sound of the door banging shut, and his unnaturally blue eyes brightened as he stood taller, shoulders rolling back, eliminating the stoop often seen in the ageing. “Mr. Krause?” His voice carried a longtime smoker’s rasp.
My palms itched with a craving, but I’d not allowed myself a smoke since the previous night, choosing a pack of Trident instead. A poor substitute, but I was trying.
I nodded, fishing keys from a pocket and locating the correct one. “Diem’s fine. Sorry I’m late. Boyfriend’s car is in the shop. I had to drive him to work.”
I eyed the man as I unlocked the door, getting a read on his reaction. Not everyone responded well to blatant declarations of homosexuality, and if he was going to take issue, I would rather he leave now. I was not in the mood for bigotry on a Monday morning.
No reaction. Good.
Benaiah stuffed his hands into his coat pockets. “I’ve nowhere to be today. I appreciate you seeing me.”
The door opened inward. I felt around for the light switch and let Echo off her leash. She aimed for the water dish by the window, but not before checking the bowl beside it to see if Tallus had left treats. He often did, and when she found a few, she gobbled them up.
“Have a seat.” I indicated a visitor’s chair as I hung my trench coat and fedora on a nearby hook. “Do you want coffee? I can make some.”
Tallus insisted that offering coffee to potential clients was the polite thing to do, so I’d made it a habit, improving my social skills one shitty cup at a time. I was getting better at the peopling side of the business, and our ratings had improved.
“Sure. That would be great.”
“Cream or sugar?”
“Black is good.”
With the Keurig on, I spun the caddy of pods, locating one of the regular brews—Tallus also insisted I stop giving away his fancy lattes and flavored pods because they were expensive. I popped a medium roast into the machine and set a large mug underneath.
While it brewed, I opened the blinds, letting the dreary March day into the stuffy office. It was too cold to open a window.
A few birds flittered about, landing on the sill. I had seeds for them in my desk drawer, but they would have to wait.
The coffee finished, and I brought it to Benaiah, who thanked me. Good deed done, I settled in Tallus’s desk chair, getting oriented. He was meticulously organized with paperwork, and I was not.
I preferred meeting with clients in the reception area rather than bringing them to my overcrowded office down the hall. On days Tallus worked with me, the task of intake forms and interviews landed on him. On days he worked at the police department, it was up to me.
Digging through a drawer, I located a pad of paper, removing the top sheet where Tallus had doodled, so I had a crisp, lined page to make notes. In another drawer, I found a client agreement form and handed it to Benaiah with a pen.
“You’ll need to fill that out. The twenty-five percent upfront is not negotiable.”
The man skimmed the form and nodded. “I brought a down payment like you asked.”
