He glances over his shoulder. “The longer the fruit is left on the bud, the sweeter the treat, don’t you think?”
I groan and slump back.
He’s right.
But if I don’t get my results soon, I’m going to go insane.
14
SNOW
“Mrs. Rye?” The woman I suspect to be Xander’s lawyer friend sits in the corner of the cafe with elegant silver spectacles balanced on the end of her button nose.
Blonde hair, tightly curled, is gathered at the top of her head with a few stray strands framing her face.
She’s busy with something on her phone but upon hearing my voice, she glances up and adjusts her waistcoat.
“Noelle?”
“Snow.” I offer out my hand. “Everyone calls me Snow.”
“Oh, how adorable.” Mrs. Rye smiles and shakes my hand. “Is that a family thing?”
“Sort of. Noelle is after a single my parents love by this Indie band they’ve been obsessed with for years. I could never say it as a child and things sort of just morphed into Snow.”
“My name isn’t as interesting. Please, have a seat. Can I get you anything?”
“I’ve ordered some coffee.” Sitting across from her, a nervous flutter rises through my chest. Having never dealt with lawyers before, I’ve no idea what to expect. “Thank you, though.”
“Of course. Now, we spoke on the phone a few days ago and I’ve been looking into your case just in my spare time, as a favor to Xander.”
I nod along, smiling. My debt to Xander is stacking up at this point. “I can’t pay you, I just want you to know that. I’m far too poor.”
“Don’t worry. I owe Xander a few favors so he called this in. You were saying the other day that your ex, Caleb, cleared out your joint account?”
“Yes. There was about eight grand in there.”
“And you were the primary depositor of that account?”
“Mhm. Not to start. In the beginning, it was equal, but Caleb lost his job maybe a month after we signed the lease and it was just my money going in there.”
“Were you saving for something?”
“No, it was all for rent. I’ve always been a little paranoid about stuff like that so it was an advancement just in case the worst happened.”
Mrs. Rye scribbles something down on the small notepad she pulls from her purse. “So that money was around the next six months’ worth of rent for you?”
“Mhm.”
“I spoke to the bank and they insisted that Caleb had all the correct paperwork and identification. Naturally, they wouldn’t show me anything of the sort, but you saw it, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, the ID was wrong. It was a picture of me, but it wasn’t the picture I have on my ID, and the signature wasn’t right either.”
Mrs. Rye continues to write while nodding along.
As I fall silent, my coffee is dropped off and I smile thankfully at the waiter, then wrap my hands around the mug.
The heat is scalding but it’s pleasant enough that I soak it up.
