Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 124

"He likes to be early," Chloe said.

"Fuck," I said under my breath.

"He's on your time," Chloe said. "If you want, can take him to the office and talk war stories while you finish here."

It was tempting, but I shook my head. "No. I have a meeting with Chandler right after. Go ahead and take him to your office. I'll be right there."

I extracted myself from Erin and stood up. She was right behind me while Helen was left on the couch, straightening her bra and getting her blouse back into place. I glanced at Erin; she looked like a mess. Her entire face, from nose to chin, was slick with saliva and Helen's juices, and she had a severe case of sex hair.

"You two should get cleaned up," I said, "then meet us in Chloe's office."

Chloe cast me an unreadable expression and then closed the door as she left to fetch the investigator. Erin reached into her bag and pulled out a pack of wet wipes, handing me a couple while she pulled some out for herself.

"Sorry" Helen said. "I assumed we had a little more time. Since you're leaving in the moming, I thought we could sneak in another quick one."

"It's fine," I said, frustrated that I hadn't gotten a chance to get off. "Maybe we can pick this up later."

After making myself presentable, I left my office and found Chloe standing just outside my door, waiting for me.

"He's in my office," she said

I started to turn to head that way, but she placed a hand on my shoulder. "Look, it's your choice how you want to conduct yourself, but when you have important meetings like this, I recommend practicing a little more professionalism. I don't know Chan Grayson. He seems easygoing, so he might be fine with it, but Psalter doesn't have a lot of patience for foolishness. He can be an asset, but he won't have anything to do with you if he thinks you don't have any self-discipline. In his line of work, he requires people he can depend on. It doesn't matter how much money you have."

I stared back at her, not quite sure what to say. She was probably right, of course, but I was surprised she was being this frank. Maybe I shouldn't have been, considering our talk last night.

"This is just advice," she said. "I'm not telling you what to do, but you're in some pretty deep waters, and there's a lot of things out there that can smell the smallest bit of weakness. Maybe learn to keep it in your pants from time to time."

"You're right," I said. "I'll work on it."

She stared at me with that unreadable expression of hers and then glanced over her shoulder at my closed office door. I can see Erin getting carried away," she sighed, "but I would have thought Helen would be more responsible."

"I think she was just a little overexcited to be back with us." I admitted.

"Mm," she grunted and looked back at me. "I can't smell them on you. Whatever you did, good job. You ready?"

"Lead the way," I said, following her.

As soon as we entered Chloe's office, Henry Psalter stood up and looked at me with an intense, piercing gaze that was almost off- putting, but at the same time, his eyes seemed to have a dead quality to then. He was a lot different than I expected. I imagined him as some sort of Bob Hoskins character from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, wearing a brown fedora and a trench coat. I'd never met a private investigator before today, so I only had Hollywood to go off of

Psalter stood nearly six feet tall, with deep brown skin and salt- and-pepper hair cut close to the scalp. He was clean-shaven, with deep lines under his eyes and at the corners of his mouth. He looked like he was pushing sixty, but it was hard to be sure. He wore a mustard yellow button-down shirt with a grey knit sweater vest over it, dark slacks, and black dress shoes. He looked like a nerd from South America.

He smiled as he stuck out his hand, but that smile never reached those vacant eyes of his.

"Mr. Upton?"

"Mr. Psalter?" shook his hand; his grip had just the right amount of firmness, which surprised me because I almost expected it to feel more like a dead fish.

"Please, have a seat," I said as I took another chair. Chloe leaned against the wall behind her desk, crossing her ankles and folding her arms.