The Love Of Money - Episode 124
28-07-25 (14:47)
"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. Don't forget to leave a Comment 
