A Husband's Scorn

Anthony drove through the sub urban parts of the country and sighed at least a thousand times.

'It can't be' he muttered.

'I followed her, up till the hotel, how did i lose her? Did she notice i was tailing her? How come i didn't see the man?' He rubbed his temples in fraustration.

'Call Gloria' he instructed his car audio, after two rings, his secretary picked up.

'Good morning sir, How was your trip?'

'Good morning Gloria. Is my visitor there yet?'

She informed him that the man he was expecting was waiting patiently for him, he promised to be there in a little while and stepped on the brakes.

'Are you sure you want to know? 

I ask all my clients this question before I proceed.

 Are you absolutely sure you want to know?'

It was eleven now. A Monday morning. Anthony , seated was now seated behind the desk in his small executive office, the visitor he was expecting had just spoken. He didn't expect such a response from the man after he had told him what he wanted him to do.

There were piles of papers his secretary was supposed to sort out before his meeting, they were still littered on the table, a disgusted Tony made a mental note to tongue lash her after now.

He picked up, looked into and dropped his mug of coffee, he still didn't have an appetite for anything.

 Rubbing his racing, distured head,he looked up at the man who'd just talked,and replied. 

'That is why you're here. Isn't it?

Uhm...?'

'George'. The man replied. 'Call me George. 

Tony raised his right eye brow. 

'And I don't suppose you have a last name?'. 

'Just call me George. The man insisted.

Tony merely shrugged.

Tony, as his friends called him ,had never met a private investigator before,and George, seated in one of the chairs normally occupied by his clients didn't quite fit his mental model, at all.

Maybe the movies had given him a wrong impression ,of bad ass men, with bodies of bouncers, expensive sunshades and cooperate clothing, following his wife in porshe cars with tinted glasses.

Taking pictures of her formidable relationship with that frycook.

He shuddered. 'A frycook. My wife is cheating on me with a bloody frycook'

George, on the other hand was a thin, soulful looking man, probably in his early thirties, too much beards,extremely light skinned, looked almost delicate. 

He had bulgy eyes , that looked anxious.

No dark suit, no spectacular body stature, no dark shades or expensive clothing either. 

He wore a white polo, with the words DON'T LOOK DOWN written boldly in red, faded jeans and cheap snickers. 

Nothing badass to see here.

He had an accent too, it was African, and thick too. So thick it disgusted the lawyer who'd hired him. 

He had more the appearance of a wanna-be rockstar than a detective. 

But he had been highly recommended by one of his divorce-law partners of his firm.

'Was Mrs Flora mad?' He thought. 

The accent I spoke of was very Anambra. 

The 'led for red, and rand for land' kind of Anambra accent of the people of Eastern Nigeria in West Africa (No offence to my Anambra people).

 His voice was soft, yet insistent.

'I'll tell you this, Mr Anthony. 

Some people like the idea of finding out if their partner is cheating.

 But when they do, that's when the real problem surfaces, the problem of facing reality. 

I think it's only fair to warn my clients of the pain they might face if their suspicions prove true.

Anthony stiffened.

'Look, if I'd wanted a shrink, I'd have gotten one. I want my wife followed; I didn't ask for a bloody sermon'. 

George stood up. 

'Then I'm afraid I'm not your man. Clients hire me, Barrister Anthony, because they have a problem. 

You want some sleazy gunshots with long lens to follow your wife around, get some thugs. We sure have a lot of them here in the garden city .

What you're asking me to do is to turn your life upside down, your wife's life too, and if she does have a lover, her lover's life as well .

That's three lives sir, and that's alot of lives '

He turned to walk away.

'Look, wait a second'. Anthony called back. 'I'm a little confused'.

'I don't think a man of your intelligence needs to be confused,sir' George said.

'We all have to get along on this planet, that's my philosophy. I like everybody to be civilized. 

If you don't want to be civilized, then I don't wish to work for you. 

It's a fine morning, I'd rather take the day off, take my girlfriend to see a movie and make love to her afterwards. 

I'll be happy. She'll be happy. And who knows? Maybe you'll be happy too'. 

Anthony honestly didn't want this cocky little shit of a man working for him.

But if he let him go, that would mean getting new recommendation, finding another agency, starting over again, losing valuable time. He took a deep breath and said,

'Please sit down, I'm listening' 

The private investigator did as he was told.

Pulled his laptop out of the bag that'd been hanging over his left shoulder, and placing it on his thighs, opened the lid.

'Mr Anthony , i want you to think about the implications very carefully all the time I'm working for you.

 Anytime you want out, just call the number on the card I'd given to you'.

'You seem to have a problem with your conscience '. The lawyer said.

'I like to sleep at night.

'I'd like to sleep well at night too; knowing who my wife has been screwing' 

The man busied himself on his computer. 

'Address that you'd like me to use in communication with you, Please.

Anthony gave him his email address. 

'What's your success rate in cases like this?'

George was still typing without stress.

'If your wife is having an affair, i will find that out for you.

Is it T-O- N-E-R-O? The Tonero in your address'

Anthony nodded and asked again. 

'How long will it take?'

George raised his hand in the air.

'Depends on how careful she is. Could be a week or less if I'm lucky. 

Could be a month or a couple of months if she's being clever. And it depends on how much you're willing to pay.

Do you want just one person? Or a full, round-the-clock surveillance, nine men; three shifts of three each?

Are you happy to pay for phone taps? Audio bugging? Video surveillance? Satellite tracking? Car trackers?

There's a whole package of options I could offer you, depending on your budget, and urgency '

'When can you start?'

'As soon as i have details of both parties, then I can start as quickly as you want.

 I can start having your wife watched fron this afternoon, if you like '

'I want photographs ' Anthony said. 

'I want clear photographs of her and her lover doing whatever it is they do to each other'

'You're my client, Sir, You can have as many photographs as you want'

The lawyer reached down and pulled his chequebook out of his drawer.

'Money isn't a problem' he said. 

I want the best you've got'.