"What makes you think I'm right for the job?" Heinrich leaned in, placing his elbows on the desk. The woman slid the file to him.
"You've built up a formidable reputation." She grinned and tilted her head, allowing her long black hair to fall onto her shoulders. Heinrich snatched up the folder and skimmed through it.
"You've followed my cases?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the newspaper clippings and secret photos.
"I like the way you work."
Heinrich snickered and slammed the folder back on the desk. "I require that I know my client's identities."
"That's easily remedied," she said, pulling her mask down to her chin. "Recognize me?"
"How could I not? Dominic Cellar's wife." But the moment the words left Heinrich's mouth, he felt conflicted. That was probably not the right way of saying it. And her eyes glazed over with indignation.
"Five years ago, I would be recognized as Celine Fishar."
"The actor."
She nodded her head, clearly unimpressed by his rude behavior. But at the same time, she found his loose mouth a comforting feature that was unfamiliar with her own husband.
"How can I soothe your worries?" he asked.
"I think my husband is cheating on me."
"Think? You don't have any stronger things to make you suspect him."
She shrugged. "He stays out late and says he's visiting friends. And-" He shoulders slumped as she pulled out an envelope from her fancy branded black purse. "I found hair in the shower."
"I suspect it's neither of yours?"
She smiled sneakily. But at the same time her eyes expressed heartbreak and sorrow. Heinrich couldn't tell which side to believe.
"It's blonde," she said, lifting up a clump of her hair. "And we both have black hair."
"So what exactly is it that you desire I do?"
"Follow him. And periodically inspect my apartment. Those are the services I request until I rack up enough evidence to divorce him."
Heinrich scoffed and held up his hand stopping Celine's request in its tracks. "This is far below my paygrade." His voice got deeper as he didn't hate hiding his animosity even to potential clients. "I'm not hurting for money or clients. A low grade P.I. could take this case for you."
"I want you."
Her foxy eyes stared into Heinrich. She noted that he seemed oddly innocent for a man of his profession. And he continued to stare into her eyes, noting the slight fear that she had managed to tuck away for a moment. But he could not match the level of fear in her eyes to her cheating. His gut told him there was something more.
Despite his head telling him to dismiss her case, his gut overthrew his brain. And he determined stare shattered his resolve, making him override his logic.
"I'll pay you twice the going rate."
"Twice?" He thought about how many zeros that was. And now his brain joined his instinct's side. But he suspected there was something she was keeping from him.
She nodded and pulled her check book out of her purse. "I'm willing to overlook the way you treated me and pay you more than anyone would for a simple job."
"Your offer is very tempting, but..."
"But?" She hung her head low. And her hands trembled while they rested in her lap. Soon her hunched shoulder shuddered and tears slid down her face. "I want the best of the best to tell me what my husband is doing."
She cried into her sleeves while trying to wipe away the never ending flow of tears. "Then I will know if he really is cheating on me." Her body convulsed a little. Even the cold Heinrich stood up and comforted her by patting her on the back.
"I'll take the case," he said, putting his hesitations about the case to the back of his mind. Was she acting by putting on a brave face from the beginning? This isn't acting, right?
He watched her walk to her car. Her flawless disguise as a college student could've fooled him. Her baggy sweater and jeans were paired with flip flops. But her presence in the room had felt significant, as if she had sucked up all the air for herself.
Heinrich mused to himself as he watched her drive away in her compact car. Why had she quit when she was such a versatile and talented actress? For Dominic Cellar? But they hadn't begun their family yet. He couldn't out his finger on why such a woman would settle for five years.
Her ambitious nature was clear to a stranger who talked with her for thirty minutes. Yet, for five years...
Heinrich shrugged and sat back down at his desk. He pulled out his laptop and began to do some preliminary research on his target to find public places he frequented. He might have reluctantly accepted the job but he was not going to do a poor job of it. And with huge payday on the line, how could he mess up such a job?