As I passed Hallease’s desk I told her to hold my calls for the next thirty minutes. Randy and I headed toward my office.
“Please have a seat.” I gestured with my hand for him to take the chair across from my desk. “Randy, in our initial conversation, you stated that you didn’t want to go into details over the phone, but you have a relationship issue?”
I pulled up the notes from our brief conversation onto my computer screen.
“Mm-hmm.” Randy glanced down at the floor. When he lifted his gaze again, there was a solemn look on his face. “This is kind of embarrassing, but I think my boyfriend’s cheating on me.”
Pursing my lips, I held out my hands. “Nothing embarrassing about it. I work with lots of clients who, unfortunately, come to discover that their significant other isn’t being faithful.”
Randy gave me a bashful expression. “That’s what your website said.”
“Though I have to admit the majority of my clientele is female.” My mission when I’d started Stephens Investigations had been to work with and for women who were being manipulated and lied to by the men they loved since that was what I knew firsthand.
“Well, I promise not to take offense to that.”
We both laughed.
“Randy, do you want to go into why you have these suspicions?”
There was a long pause as his gaze skittered around the room. I’d seen the look many times from clients who were uncertain of where to begin. Many of them were doubtful as to whether they should even be speaking with me.
Sitting back in my chair, I practiced the patience I’d garnered in this job over the years.
“Maybe, I shouldn’t be here,” he admitted, moving as if he were about to stand up.
“How about you start by telling me about your boyfriend? What’s your relationship like? How long have you two been together?”
He considered me for a minute before settling back down. “Well, we’ve been dating almost four years now. He asked me out after our first philosophy class senior year.”
“College sweethearts?” I gave him a practiced smile. “That’s nice.”
“It was. Did you date anyone in college that you fell in love with right away?”
I uncrossed and recrossed my legs, shifting in my seat. “Not in college, no. Do you two live together now?”
“We don’t, but we spend a lot of time together,” he quickly responded. “Mike travels a lot for work.”
“Do you mind if I take a few notes?” I pointed at my computer screen. “It’s so that I can remember everything. If you become a client of mine, I’ll use them to refer back to when gathering intel on your boyfriend.”
“Sure,” he agreed, before proceeding to tell me about his four-year relationship. Mike was a consultant with a marketing firm that required travel to different locations across his district in the Southern part of the U.S.
“But even when he’s with me, he feels distant.”
“When did this start?” I asked, pausing my fingers over the keyboard.
“About a year ago when I lost my job. I’ve been looking for work ever since. I work part-time at a local gym as a personal trainer, but I think the loss of my job turned him off for some reason. We were on the verge of moving in together, and he changed his mind.”
Randy’s face fell, and I felt sorry for him.
“Financial challenges can place a strain on any relationship,” I offered.
“But I want this to work. He’s my one. I was thinking of proposing before my job let me go.”
“I’m sorry, Randy.”
“Do you think you can help me?”
Sighing, I scanned the notes I’d taken before turning to face him. “From what you’ve shared with me, thereissomething here to suspect that he’s not entirely truthful. I’m not a relationship fixer. The only service I can provide is to help you get to the truth. After that, the decision is yours to make with the information I give you. Have you tried asking him about it?”
