One Night Only

Part 6

Lindsey lifted his eyes up, when he heard a knock on his office door. "Come in." He said and locked his computer.

"Good morning." An older man, with his hair greying at the temples, his face void of emotion, stepped in. 

"Good morning to you, Jeffrey." Lindsey sat back in his leather chair and showed Jeffrey to take a seat. 

"I came to check, get an update on how things are going." Jeffrey unbuttoned his blue blazer and sat down. 

"It's going okay." Lindsey shrugged, knowing that wasn't going to please his boss.

"The progress is slow." Jeffrey noted very calmly. "You're going to have to meet the parents soon, Lindsey. You need to get acquainted with Mr. Lynwood. You need learn his schedule, to find out where he goes, who he spends his time with, where he spends his money."

"I know, but I'm trying to gain his daughter's trust."

"She doesn't trust you?" Jeffrey raised his eyebrow. "You have been going out for what, two or so months now?"

"A bit less, but that's correct." Lindsey leaned forward and clasped his hands on the desk top. "You see, there are certain circumstances in this case, which are preventing me from moving forward as fast and efficiently as I would like."

Judging by the look on Jeffrey's face, he didn't like the sound of that. "What circumstances? Seducing a beautiful woman has never been a problem as far as I remember."

"It's... not that." Lindsey sighed. He got up to his feet and over to the window. "I could pay more affection to Lauren, I could be a bit more attentive, but all in all, I have her right, where I want."

"Then what the hell is the problem?" Jeffrey was slowly losing his patience. He was a very straightforward man, he wanted a straight answer.

Turning away from the window, Lindsey faced his boss again. "I've met someone."

"Oh, no. No, Lindsey." Jeffrey shook his head. "You cannot lose focus. Ms. Lynwood must believe that she's the one, that you're ready to walk down the aisle tomorrow. Otherwise, you won't gain access to her father. Besides, since when are you interested in someone for longer than one night?"

"I didn't expect that to happen. I didn't look for anyone."

"Okay, well, can't you get the woman in your bed, have some fun and move on?"

"First of all, I don't want to." Lindsey shrugged, replying honestly. "Second of all, there's a problem."

"You're giving me a headache." Jeffrey sighed, shaking his head. "What's that?"

"She and Lauren are friends. Best friends." Lindsey explained, reaching for his unfinished cup of morning coffee. "We all had dinner together last week."

"This is a trainwreck. You must avoid that woman at all cost. She's going to ruin this investigation."

"Not necessarily. She pretends not to know me, she doesn't even want to talk to me." Lindsey had found Stevie's number in Lauren's phone, while she was taking a shower, but when he called, there was no answer.

"Smart woman." Jeffrey felt slightly more at ease, hearing that. He then frowned. "Have you already slept with her?"

"I... might have." Lindsey nodded, looking away. "She's all I can think about and because of that, I can't bring myself to be all over Lauren."

"Well, you'll have to be. You don't have a choice. This is your job, Lindsey. I understand that the longer we continue on with our investigation, the more we get paid, but we can't get greedy either. You're moving too slow this time." Jeffrey repeated to Lindsey, who gritted his teeth. 

"I won't be able to avoid her completely." Lindsey referred to Stevie. "I'll try to stay away, but I can't make any promises."

"Fine, try your best." It came as a warning from Jeffrey, before he left Lindsey's office.

Clenching his fist, Lindsey shut his eyes for a minute and took a few deep breaths. The ringing of his phone made him even more irritated, until he saw that the number was saved as Stevie's.

"Hello?" He picked up, his voice sounding a bit shaky.

"L-Lindsey, is that you?" He could hear the surprise in her voice. "I found a missed call from this number and it's yours?"

"I, uh... yeah. I called you last night." Lindsey admitted. "Please, don't hang up."