Lisa looked down at the business card for about the 5
th
time in as many minutes. She had brought it with her for the address and was now parked in front of a small brownstone on Main St. Setting the card aside, she reached into her purse and pulled the overused tissues. Drying her eyes from another bout of tears, she took a deep breath and stepped out of her car. The business shared the building with three other businesses and was the smallest of the three. It had a single door and a single window facing with the words "True Lies Investigations." The firm had come highly recommended to her by a friend that used their services last year to help her catch her husband cheating.
Opening, the door, Lisa walked into what appeared to be the reception area. It was nicely decorated with two desks on each side of the room. The seating area housed only a couch with an end table that had scented candles burning on it. Beyond the two desks was another door, which Lisa assumed was a private office. She was about fifteen minutes early for her appointment with the owners, so she chose to sit in the couch while she waited for the owners. Looking around, she could tell the firm did well for itself by the decorations, but it was not overly done. A few minutes had passed since she entered and it was just now that she could hear faint moans coming from the other room.
She had heard the business was owned by a married couple and Lisa couldn't help but smile to herself at the thought of them having a moment to themselves between clients. The moaning subsided and after a few minutes, the office door opened. A young female in her thirties came out and closed the door behind her. The woman ran her hands down her skirt to flatten it out and smiled at Lisa as she approached.
"Hi, I'm Michelle, you must be Lisa." Michelle extended her hand and offered a captivating smile.
"Um, hi, yes, sorry, I got here a little early."
Lisa was envious of the woman in front of her. Michelle appeared to be about 5'4" and weighed maybe 130 pounds. She had long blonde hair that came down past her shoulders. She wore a shade of deep pink lipstick that accentuated her soft full lips and the makeup around her eyes brought out the steel blue irises behind a pair of black rimmed glasses. Lisa couldn't help but let her eyes trail down the woman's body. Michelle was wearing a white blouse with the top few buttons undone to show off the ample cleavage of her breasts. If Lisa had to speculate, she would have guessed a D cup easy. A black bra could be seen through the shirt, but it went well with the black skirt that came halfway down her thighs. The black heels Michelle paired with the entire outfit showed off her toned legs. It was obvious she took care of herself. Lisa was self-conscious of her own body and the effects ten years of marriage and kids had done to it.
"It's okay, my husband, Chris, and I were just finishing up with a client. He will be out shortly." Michelle made her way over to her desk and sat down behind it, shuffling through some papers.
Lisa sat quietly for a moment, processing the comment Michelle had just made about being with a client and the sounds that she had heard earlier. Breaking her thoughts, the office door opened, and a female walked out. She was attractive in a homely kind of way. Very different from the beauty of Michelle. The woman glanced at Lisa blushed as she lowered her head and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Michelle stood from the desk and walked over to the woman. They exchanged hugs and each smiled at the other before the woman exited the business.
No sooner had the door closed, Michelle's husband, Chris, walked out from the office. Lisa couldn't help herself but to take a deep breath and swallow the excess moisture in her mouth. Chris stood just over 6 feet tall and was 200 pounds of cut muscle. His hair was dark brown and kept in a crew cut. He leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed as he now looked directly at Lisa with a smile. Lisa knew it was genuine as it reached all the way to his deep blue eyes. His fashion sense was very minimalistic, Lisa noticed as she returned the smile. She could see the cotton of his white t-shirt stretch across his broad shoulders. Simple blue jeans hung from his hips just right, but not right enough to hide the excitement beneath them. Cowboy boots finished off the everyman look.
Chris crossed the room toward her and extended his hand to greet Lisa.
"Hi there. I'm Chris."
"Hi." Lisa barely managed to squeak out.
With a slight chuckle, Chris moved away and sat down behind his desk, opposite Michelle.
"So, what brings you to the office today?" Chris and Michelle were fully aware of the purpose of Lisa's visit, but they found if the client was willing to openly discuss the matter at hand, they were more likely to follow through with the investigation.
Lisa found the casualness of Chris' tone putting her at ease from the nerves building up inside of her. She looked down at her hands for a moment as she searched for the words.
"I think my husband is cheating on me." As the words came to the surface they were shortly followed by tears. Pulling out the wad of tissues, she brought it to her eyes, as she tried to slow her breathing back down.
Michelle stood from her desk and grabbed a box of tissues as she did. Sitting down beside Lisa, she offered them to her and placed her hand on Lisa's knee.
"How long have you been married, Lisa?" Michelle asked.
"Ten years, we also have 2 young children." Sniffling, Lisa clutched the new tissues as she wiped more tears away.
"What makes you think that he's cheating?" Chris asked as he also stood and walked around to the front of his desk, leaning on it.
"He always says he's working late. And when he comes home, he smells like beer and perfume. I always pretend to be asleep as he takes a shower to wash off the shame." Pausing, Lisa takes a few more tissues, trying to push back the stream of tears that she could no longer contain. "Just a few days ago, I found a napkin with a phone number and woman's name on it. Last night, I caught him talking to someone at 3 am on the phone."
"It's going to be okay, Lisa." Michelle offered as she turned her body more towards Lisa. Michelle's hand was now further up on Lisa's leg, gently massaging her thigh. "If this is really what you want, Chris and I are fully prepared to do what is necessary to catch him in the act and bring you what you need to get closure."
At this point, all Lisa could do was nod her head in a yes motion. Moments went by as silence hung in the air. Looking down, for the first time, Lisa realized Michelle's hand on her thigh, and found it comforting. The tears slowly stopped and her breathing evened out. She could feel a warmth in her core and she shifted on the couch to look directly at Michelle.
"Yes. I want that bastard to be caught red handed."
"Okay then." Chris stood and walked over to in front of Lisa, holding out his hand to help her stand from the couch. Lisa found herself uncomfortably close to Chris, but found herself smiling, just as he stepped back. "We'll get started on it right away."
* * *
It had been a few days since Chris and Michelle had met with Lisa. Their time had been spent following Lisa's husband, Richard, and learning his habits and routine. It was now Friday night and Chris was behind their targets car, following him to his favorite bar, The Storm Cellar. It was a clever play on words being in Tornado Alley. As Richard parked his car and got out, Chris reached for his cell phone and dialed Michelle's number.
On the third ring, she answered, "Hello, lover."
"Hi beautiful." Chris smiled, even though Michelle couldn't see it. "Richard just pulled up, he's making his way in now."
* * *
"I've got eyes on him. I'll let you know how things go." Michelle turned toward the front door and watched as Richard made his way to the bar.
Richard wasn't a bad looking guy. He was in his early forties, Lisa had snagged herself an older man. Standing at about 5'6", he was shorter than average, but carried himself with confidence. He was dressed for a night out, wearing a pair of black slacks and a red button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He looked to have kept himself in pretty good shape even with the slight pouch of a belly he had inherited over the years. Michelle tucked her cell phone back into the clutch she was carrying and called the bartender over.
