Episode 4

...Valentina...

At 4 p.m., I approached Olivia's desk.

"Friend, do you have any private investigators' contacts?" I asked, entering with my phone in hand.

Olivia - I only know of one, here take this - She said, handing me a business card.

Valentina - Thanks, I'm leaving in 10 minutes - I said, heading out.

I dialed the number and made the call.

📞 Good afternoon, you've reached T Investigations, how may I assist you? - A woman asked.

"📞 Good afternoon, this is Valentina Roth, I'd like to hire your services. When can we meet?" - I asked pleasantly.

📞 Give me a moment to check with my boss.

Valentina 📞 Of course.

She had me wait about 5 minutes on the line, but it was all to ensure my safety.

📞 Miss, my boss is at Dream Coffee; he can meet you there if you'd like, or you could visit his office tomorrow.

Valentina 📞 Please tell him I'm on my way. Thank you very much.

📞 You're welcome.

Clearly, I hung up, grabbed my belongings, and headed out. It wasn't far, just about three blocks, which I decided to walk to save time since driving would have taken longer.

Before entering the cafe, I checked on Google what the investigator looked like since I didn't know him personally.

After spotting the man at a table on my phone, I approached him.

Valentina - Good afternoon, sorry for the delay, I'm Valentina Roth.

Tito - Good afternoon, Ms. Roth, no worries, I'm already aware of who you are. How may I be of service?

Valentina - I'm going to be straightforward. I'm engaged to Fabian Harris, but there are many rumors about his infidelity. I want to know if they're true, with whom and for how long. I'll pay you double your rate; I've read somewhere you charge around $250,000, so half a million must be quite appealing, isn't it?

Tito - That's the usual rate for celebrities. It will take me a week to gather the information as I have pending work. Is that acceptable?

Valentina - Absolutely, thank you.

We shook hands, and I left there with a huge smile on my face.

I headed back to the fashion house where I had left my car and found my friend waiting for me.

Olivia - Where did you go? You said it’d take 10 minutes; I went to your office and you weren't there, looked for you among the models and didn’t find you, called you and got no answer, so I decided to wait here.

Valentina - I'm sorry, I forgot to mention I was meeting with the investigator; he was at our favorite cafe, so I went to talk to him.

Olivia - Well, what did he say?

Valentina - He'll have what I need in a week.

Olivia - Did you only ask about Fabian, or about your ‘husband’ too? - She asked, raising her eyebrows teasingly.

Valentina - Just about Fabian, I'm even paying him double. I'll look into my Husband later. For now, keep our marriage under wraps, we wouldn't want him finding out about our little mistake if he goes to the courthouse with his girlfriend.

Olivia - I'll send a message to keep the information safe. I’m saying, if he wanted to get married, he'd have found out he's already married to you. Maybe he even knows who you are and just lets things be.

Valentina - Let's assume that's true, but you're forgetting something; our engagements, both mine and his, are public. Why would he stay married to someone who's engaged to another man? Or why hasn’t he gone public about it?

Olivia - Maybe he fell in love with you or doesn’t want scandals.

Valentina - Oh my God, stop watching so many romantic movies. If that were the case, he would’ve approached me by now. - I said, laughing.

Olivia - Mmmmh, I think it would be ideal, maybe we could even see him from a distance and you can decide if you want a divorce.

Valentina - You're the worst. - I said, rolling my eyes.

Olivia - Say whatever you want, but you can't deny your husband is more handsome than Fabian.

Valentina - Hey! Remember he's MY husband, and you're MY friend. Even though I don't know him, don't get involved.

Olivia - Calm down, tiger, no need to show your jealousy. - She teased.

"God, give me patience because if you give me strength, I might kill her," I muttered, looking upwards.

I got into the car and she followed; then I drove to my apartment where we prepared food together.

Once a week, we did this - a sleepover, food, and movie marathon. We chatted into the late hours, often without sleeping; tonight, for instance, the main topic was my Husband.

"Girl, you can't deny it, your hubby is way hotter than Fabian," Olivia remarked.

Valentina - Oh, come on, stop it already, at the rate you’re going, you’ll fall for Danilo.

Olivia - DAMN! - She suddenly exclaimed.

Valentina - What happened?

Olivia - He has a super-sexy friend. Can we go meet them? - She said, looking at her phone.

Valentina - Once I have the information on Fabian, we'll visit his company.

Olivia - So can I call to schedule an appointment? - She asked, clapping her hands.

Valentina - No haha, we'll just drop in unexpectedly.

Olivia - What if they don't let us in?

Valentina - By showing someone there the marriage certificate, it’ll cause such a stir they'll want to see us.

Olivia - You’d really do that? - She asked with a huge smile.

Valentina - Of course not, I just wanted to see your reaction. They'll meet with us because we’re going with the investigator.