↠ Open Novella Contest Long List finalist.
Private Investigator, Alexander Hart has it all, he oozes confidence and charm.
Women want him and men want to be him.
But life wasn't always so perfect, was it Alex?
You can change your name and your lo...
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We sit in silence as we wait for our drinks to be brought in. And when I say silence, I mean silence, you can actually hear the dust particles cutting through the air it's that quiet.
Mother walks in carrying the two glasses of water and takes a seat on the chair opposite of Summer and me, gently placing the cups in front of us. We both politely thank her.
"Mrs Landon, the-"
"Summer, what do I owe the pleasure?" Mum cuts me off, leaning forward in her seat and focusing completely on Summer and ignoring me.
"Well," Summer replies sheepishly, scratching the back of her neck. "I've employed Mr Hart here to help me with something. He needed to speak to you as part of our... case," she trails off. "I thought I'd tag along and see how Sandy is doing?"
Sandy. I forgot about that bloody nickname. There are countless nicknames for Alexander- Alex, Sander, Lex, Zander, Xander. But nooooo, Summer has to call me Sandy. But I'm not going to lie, there's no hiding the somersault my heart does when I hear that nickname come from Summer's lips.
"He's doing really well, Summer." My mother's eyes flick to me for a moment, sadness washing over them briefly before looking back at Summer.
Summer smile, "I'm glad." It quickly turns into a sad smile, "I miss him, you know?" she adds.
"He misses you too, I'm sure of it." Mother's voice is reassuring, but I definitely don't miss the 'we'll talk about this later' look that she gives me.
"Please give this to him the next time you see him." Summer pulls a card out from her pocket and slides it across the table to my mother. "Tell him to call me, please," she adds.
Picking up the card and inserting it into her pocket Mum says with a smile, "will do, sweetie."
"Now," I exclaimed, clapping my hands together, "the reason we're here Mrs Lan-"
"Please, call me Violet."
"Violet. We're here to get a copy of the guest list from your masquerade ball." I have to mentally scold myself to not roll my eyes at my mother's ridiculous interruption.
"Oh?" She cocks her head to the side. "And why would that be?" A questioning eyebrow raised.
"I need to find someone that was there."
"Why?" her eyebrow rising higher.
"It's what I've hired him for," Summer cuts in. "Please, Violet. You'd be really helping me out."
"Fine," Mum says, dragging her eyes from me and fixing her gaze on Summer. "Only for you, Summer." She flashes her a warm smile before standing and heading out of the room.
"I'll be back in a tick," she calls over her shoulder.
Again we fall into silence and I take the opportunity to peek over at summer sitting on my right and see her looking down at the floor with a sad frown on her face.
