Page 20 of Lorenzo

I carry it into the back room and put it beside the coffeemaker. I make a mental note to get some normal mugs to offer to clients.

Mocha follows, but the space is too small for both of us, so his shoulder bumps into my leg.

“You know this is technically a place of business.”

His nails click over the floorboards.

“You’re going to have to start acting more professionally.”

He walks past me and shoves his nose into the open box near the wall.

“Excellent start.”

I kneel beside him and pull out a folded blanket before he can decide it belongs to him. He sits back and watches me place it on the back of a small chair in the corner. To make it more homey, I guess.

At the moment, the office smells like fresh paint. The landlord had the walls done before I moved in, though he missed a strip near the baseboard and got paint on the window latch. I have already decided to put a chair in front of the missed strip and ignore the window latch.

There are more important things to fix.

Like the fact that the desk drawer sticks.

And the fact that I own exactly one lamp, and I'm going to need at least one more.

And the fact that my name is printed on a temporary paper sign taped to the glass because the real lettering will not be installed until next week.

DONNA COSTAPRIVATE INVESTIGATIONS

I step into the front room and look at it from inside.

The sign is slightly crooked.

I leave it that way.

A woman passing on the sidewalk glances through the window. Our eyes meet for half a second before she keeps walking.

I resist the urge to wave.

Mocha comes up beside me and looks outside.

“There she goes,” I say. “Our first almost-client.”

His tail moves once.

“I agree. She seemed shifty.”

I turn back to the room.

The filing cabinet is against the wrong wall. I know it is against the wrong wall because every time I look at it, I want to move it. I also know moving it again will require more effort than I currently possess.

I put both hands on my hips.

Mocha looks at the cabinet, then at me.

“No.”

His ears tilt forward.

“We are leaving it there.”