Page 6 of The Man I Hate

I chewed on my response as I maneuvered through the early morning traffic. After wedging the vehicle between a Prius and a Tesla, I gave her a response that I hoped she’d find satisfactory.

“When people with financial means do something that they later regret, I make the evidence of their regretful act disappear.”

She gave me a blank look. “Have you practiced that response?”

“No.”

“It sounded canned.”

“It wasn’t.”

Traffic went from eighty miles an hour to a near stop in an instant. Curious, she gawked at the freeway ahead. While she was distracted, I looked her over.

The left side of her dress was caught in the waistline of her emerald green laced panties. I took a few admiring glances at her well-toned legs before shifting my attention to the road. “How’s the traffic where you live?”

“Not like this, I can tell you that much,” she complained. “In Tulsa, I can drive fifteen miles in ten minutes. Here, fifteen miles takes two hours.”

“How long are you staying?” I asked.

“I’m leaving on Tuesday.” She gazed through the side window, watching the traffic inch past. “I’ll decide before then what I’m doing with the house. Right now, I’m afraid I’ll probably sell it. Carjacking might be uncommon in that neighborhood, but it happened. The more I think about it the more it bothers me.”

“It’s definitely a more common occurrence here than it is in Oklahoma,” I admitted. “There’s over four million people here. We’re bound to have some criminals in the mix.”

“Back to what we were talking about.” She shifted her attention from the traffic to me. “What types of people have the financial means to hire you for your services?”

“All kinds.”

“Anyone famous?”

“I suppose.”

“Name one.”

“I’d rather not,” I said. “It’s best if I keep the extent of my work confidential.”

“Okay. Work-related or not work-related, I don’t care. Have you met…” She rocked her head back and forth. “Oh, I don’t know. Tom Cruise?”

“No.”

“Brad Pitt?”

“No.”

“Britney Spears?”

“Yes.”

“Lady Gaga?”

“Yes.”

“Holy crap.” She gasped. “Really?”

“Yes, really.”

Her eyes lit up. “Was she nice?”

“Extremely.”