Sara’s Strange Case of Quiet Unfriending

It was another rainy day, sitting in my office wondering what’s the point of this work? If I go another day without a case, I’ll have to quit. Join the forces of workers that earn their daily bread or gluten free alternatives, with regular nine to five jobs. The world of private eyes and detectives is crumbling. The rise of social media, GPS tracking on phones and personal devices, and the general vibe of never being ‘offline’ or out of sight from one camera or another today. It all seriously hit the private eye business model. People just don’t need us anymore, they can discover proof of a spouse’s infidelity with the help of an Uber driver now. It’d been a few weeks since any decent paying work, things were getting tight. I wouldn’t be able to be picky with clients anymore. I decided I would take whatever job next walked through my door, regardless of taste or pay, whatever came next I would do it … I had to do it.

That’s when she walked in. My career and life were never the same after that.

She opened the door and stepped through, her red dress soaked and dripping from the rain. I waved her to the desk as I stood, retrieving a towel from my office cupboards, that I was basically living out of at this stage. I handed her the towel, and she patted herself, drying the wettest parts of her body and bright red hair.

Gesturing to the chair in front of my desk, she sat as I made her a cup of tea to warm up … the last tea bag to my name. Once I handed her the tea and sat down in front of her.

‘It all started a few months ago … but maybe I need to go back further to begin …' she began her story.

'You see, I grew up in a fairly conservative family and attended a private religious school. I figured pretty early on that I was different, but could never figure out why. Then in year eight it finally clicked for me. After sports, in the change room, all the other girls were talking about the boys, which ones were cute, who they wanted to date, all that stuff. But I just stared at my best friend thinking how beautiful she was and what they were all saying about the boys is how I felt about girls, and particularly at the time, her. You’ve probably guessed, Miss Mapleberry, that I’m a lesbian ...'

She stopped, looked up from her tea and met my eyes with hers. She gave a small blush. I nodded for her to continue.

'Um, oh, yes ... it was actually only a few months ago I built up the courage to share that with everyone I know. I made a public social media post coming out. Two weeks ago, I realised my friends list had dropped by two … I can’t help but think it's because I came out, but don’t know who it was or why they deleted me.’

‘Quiet unfriending,’ I said, staring into her emerald eyes.

Pardon?’

‘That’s the term for when someone unfriends you without warning or reason, at least a valid reason. Usually it comes after an announcement or something they don’t agree with.’

‘It’s that common it needs a name?’ she asked.

‘Well, that’s what I call it,’ I said with a slight blush.

‘Oh? You’ve been on the receiving end?’

‘Yeah.’

A moment of static silence fell in the room as we both just looked at each other with an understanding and sympathy for the other. She broke eye contact and sipped her tea, after giving the cup a quick blow with her pink lips. I cleared my throat and continued.

‘I’m sorry that’s happened to you, miss …’

‘McGee.’ she smiled. ‘But please, call me Sara.’

‘Sara,’ I repeated, enjoying the sound of her name.

‘So as I was saying, Sara. I’m sorry that’s happened, people suck sometimes. But I’m still not quite sure what you want me to do for you-’

‘I want you to figure out who it was,’ she interrupted gently.

Slightly shocked, this is not where I thought this was going. I thought maybe it was going to be a divorce case, or maybe unfair dismissal, harassment, stalking, anonymous threats, all the usual suspects of private investigation work … but this, this was totally new.

‘Why?’ I asked.

I was meant to take any job that came in, right?

‘Uhh, it’s not that I don’t sympathise. Whoever it was did something I think is unkind and cowardly. But it’s not illegal or anything like that. You can’t get anything from them, even if it could be proven. While I agree that the timing suggests their motive is clear, there are still so many reasons someone might delete you on social media. Do you want to confront them?’

‘No … It’s just … I want to know. I’ve tried and tried to let it go and move on, but I can’t, and I can’t figure out who it was, I can’t remember every name that was on my friend list before. But I know it’s dropped by two. I need to know so it stops bothering me. I wouldn’t have thought anyone on there would delete me for coming out, but I just don’t see another reason.’

‘So, do you want to see them if you find out? Ask them directly?’

I don’t want to be responsible for property damage if Sara seeks revenge. Or worse, a hate crime if the people she confronts are violent.

‘Nothing like that,’ she said before pausing. ‘Well, depending who it is I might want to know for sure. But it’s more just the not knowing, I was so nervous the day I did my coming out post, and when there was no immediate backlash I thought things were fine. But to have people just quiet unfriend me, as you say. I just need to know who. I can’t explain why … this is silly isn’t it?’

She shifted on the chair, placing the tea cup down on the coaster waiting on the desk. Looking like she was about to leave after realising what she was saying.

I wanted to say ‘yes, this is silly’ but more in the sense that I didn’t think she deserved to be worried about what these people had done. Also in comparison to the rest of the world’s problems … yeah, it was a bit silly. For some reason I thought of when you break an egg while frying it, it’s upsetting in that moment, yes - but likely not something that will keep you up after too long.

‘That’s for you to decide Sara,’ I said, gesturing to not leave. I don’t think I wanted her to leave.

‘If you want me to investigate this for you, I’m happy to take the case. I’ll even start today.’

If I don’t there won’t be a tomorrow for my business anyway.

‘Really? Thank you!’

She reached out, placing her hand over my own in thanks. There was a sensation of time standing still. I felt a small surge of heat rising in me as I met her eyes with my own. She took her hand away with a small blush. I could feel the redness in my cheeks.

‘Um … well,’ I said, trying to compose myself. ‘I guess in that case we should go over how we’ll proceed and your expectations from me and the investigation … and the awkward subject of my fee.’

Not too much later, we had discussed everything we needed for me to move forward with her case. We talked through and agreed on a fee we both thought was fair, electing for a flat rate rather than my normal by the hour. I didn’t feel it was right to charge per hour for something like this, as it could take twenty hours, or it could take twenty minutes.

‘Are you sure it will be enough?’ she asked. ‘ The money isn’t really an issue for me and I don’t want you losing other business for this without being remunerated properly.’

Other business, that’s cute.

‘No, the agreed amount is more than fair. I’m hoping I will have the names for you by the close of play tomorrow.’

She smiled, her lips glistened in the room's light. It was almost upsetting that this case wouldn’t likely drag out. Some clients you get tired of fast, I don’t think that will be the case here, if anything I felt as if my time with her would go painfully quick. She paid half of the fee and made to leave, when I realised I’d nearly forgotten a vital step.

‘Sara.’ she turned around. ‘If you don’t mind signing in for me? Promise not to peek at your password.’

The plan was for her to sign in to her account on my laptop, so she could still use her own devices as needed. I then could investigate friend lists, posts, and account engagement and data to try and track down the quiet unfrienders.

‘Oh, I nearly forgot,’ she said with a soft laugh. Stepping back towards my desk.

‘I don’t think I’ll need to look through DM’s and conversations, maybe just who the conversations are with for names?’ I said as she rounded the edge of my desk.

‘If I do, I’ll check first … in case there’s anything you don’t want me seeing,’ I said smiling.

She blushed slightly before nodding. She was standing next to me for a beat before she leaned down to sign into the account. Her side rubbed slightly against my own. Her hands brushed my arm as she reached to type. Now it was my turn to blush.

Two hours later …

I set down my glass of wine next to my laptop. I may be out of tea, but I will never let myself run out of Shiraz. I’d been so wrapped up in scrolling through Sara’s wall and posts I’d forgotten to eat, not that there was much left in the cupboards.

‘Liquid dinner for me,’ I said to myself, taking a sip of wine.

Cross-referencing the lists of friends against older posts seemed to be the most logical way to find the names I searched for. I would check each of Sara’s posts, looking for who commented, who liked or reacted, seeing if those names were on her friend list. Targeting posts mostly before her coming out post, as it was more likely to find a match on those. My logic being they wouldn’t have reacted or commented to posts after the fact.

Her posts made me smile, laugh, and even become emotional at times. Learning about her in a condensed and intimate way few others would have gotten the chance to do. Her coming out post brought me to tears. Beautiful, funny, heartwarming, and sad, all at once. It reminded me a little of my own similar post, when I announced my authentic self to my social media. Comparing comments, it seems hers went better, only support and encouragement, praise for being herself. No hateful backlash or abuse, I guess it is a bit different, she was never at risk of the “you’ll never be a real woman” comments I received when I came out.

‘Well, well.’

The thought came out of my mouth as I glanced at a name in a list of reactions to a post, the post was about a trivial thing roughly a month before the coming out post.

“Going to buy a lotto ticket today … just cracked three double yolker eggs in a row! I AM THE CHOSEN ONE!”

I smiled broadly reading it and imagining the sheer delight on Sara’s face when that happened for her.

Still, it was such an innocuous and nothing post, just one of those random fun moments of life shared - but within it was the gold I seeked, at least one piece anyway. A name within the list of people that liked the post, well this person “loved” it. Yet that name was not in Sara’s current friend list, and she hasn’t deleted anyone. Logic dictates that this person removed themselves from her list of friends, after this post, most likely after the post. Feeling inspired by this first find, I delved back into her feed, eager to find the other quiet unfriending perpetrator.

Hours passed without further discovery, yet I did not feel at all as if my time was wasted, taking this opportunity to get to know Sara more and more with each mouse scroll. One particular photo she posted captured my attention for some time, I lost track of how long I gazed at those beautiful emerald eyes …

‘Uh! Wha-?’

I awoke with a start, my face felt red as I lifted it off my hand. An ache in my neck told me I had been asleep in this awkward position for some time, the line of drool on my hand confirmed it. I looked up to the glowing screen.

‘What now?’ I said angrily to the screen that now read:

-SESSION TIME OUT - SIGN INTO YOUR ACCOUNT-

‘Bugger.’ I huffed.

I was about to lose my temper, targeted at myself as usual, for falling asleep. When I thought of something, I couldn’t stop myself smiling as the thought occurred to me.

I’l have to see Sara again, she’ll have to come back and sign in for me.

Smiling still, I thought how I would get to see her at least one more time before closing the case. The thought of seeing her again filled me with an odd warmth, not the normal internal anxiety of seeing clients … something else.

‘What’s the time?’ I asked myself.

‘THE TIME IS SEVEN-FIFTY-ONE.’

‘What the hell!’ I exclaimed with a small scream of panic.

My heart raced for a few seconds until I realised it was my phone responding to my question. Another technology I did not fully trust, and was making my job more obsolete by the day.

Always watching, always listening … we’ve doomed ourselves.

Deciding it wasn’t an obscenely early time and appropriate to message Sara, I typed and shot off a quick text to her, thankfully having gotten her number earlier when going over the case.

“Hey!

Got one name, but got logged out of your account.

Any chance of swinging by my office this morning to sign back in,

so I can track down the other name?

– Miss Mapleberry (Private Investigator)”

My heart raced as I waited for a response. Three little dots popped up at the bottom of the screen. My mouth went dry. She was typing back, I smiled, that was quick.

Sure thing 😀 How about the coffee shop down the street from your office? 8:30? My treat 😉

One rushed shower and a change of clothes later, I was walking into the cafe. The small bell on the glass door chiming as it opened and closed.

There she is … with those eyes …

She smiled. The room felt brighter, I was sure my cheeks were glowing. Doing my best to move through the building with the warmth of embarrassment I walked towards the table.

‘Morning,’ she said, as I sat down. ‘I wasn’t sure what you wanted, so I haven't ordered yet.’

An immediate answer of what I wanted surged into my mind. Stop that.

‘Normally when I’m working I go a long-black, it stays hot the longest,’ I said with a chuckle. ‘But I’d love a flat white please, the more full cream the milk, the better.’

‘Coming up.’ she got up, moved gracefully to the counter to order.

Come on! Get this out of your head. First of all, she’s a client! It’s not on. Even if it could be … would she ever-

‘Shouldn't be long.’

Her soft voice broke me from my thoughts as she sat back down. She smiled as she shuffled on her chair, settling in a position.

Was it just me, or is she closer now?

‘So it logged you out, uh?’ she asked. ‘That’s my bad I think. Pretty sure I have the settings so it logs out after too long being inactive except on my own device. For security when using public computers and stuff.’

‘No, I should have checked. That’s a smart thing to do. I just shouldn’t have let it go inactive until I was done.’

‘Well, you do have to sleep sometime … you do sleep, right?’

Her question came with a slight wink, both in the way she said it and also from one of her captivating eyes. The playful nature was almost painful, be careful. I let out a small laugh.

‘Yeah, of course. I had just hoped to have it all done sooner is all, rather than all this trouble.’

‘It’s no trouble for me, I see it as a happy accident and a chance to get coffee together- but hey! You already found one name right? That’s amazing!’

‘Oh, yes, I found it by looking at the "Double-Yolker post. They liked that, but are no longer on your friend list.’

‘And the next post after that one, was … my coming out post?’

‘Yeah.’

‘So … who was it?’ she asked with the nervous energy of someone unsure if they wanted to know the answer.

‘It was someone named H-’

‘Here you go, ladies! One large flat white, full cream. One large Mocha, full cream.’

The waiter placed the drinks on the table, his arms covered in detailed and stunning tattoo work.

‘Enjoy,’ he said, ending his unplanned interruption to our conversation.

I told Sara the name of the person, the first quiet unfriending was revealed. Reexplaining that it was only the best guess based on the available data. There was no definitive way to prove the reason for their unfriending, but said I believed from the timing, that it was clear. She was silent for a few moments.

‘That’s disappointing … not a massive surprise when I think about it. But I had thought better of them. At the very least that they would speak to me first. We worked together for some time.’

‘Do you still see them?’

‘Not really.’ she looked down into her coffee with a sigh. ‘Maybe at a party or event, but not much anymore. I guess I know why now.’

This hit her harder than she expected.

‘Do you want me to stop looking?’ I asked, hesitantly reaching out to her hand with mine. Pulling away as her head lifted back up.

‘If it’s too painful and you don’t want to continue, the case can stop here.’ Is that what I want?

‘No … No, I want to know the other name. I need to know.’

We sat and talked for another hour, almost forgetting the case at times. Her life and mine shared many milestones, both good and bad. I found talking to her and opening up easier than I did with most people. She seemed genuinely interested to know as much about me as I did her. Soon it came time that she had to get going. I pulled my laptop out of my bag for her to sign into again.

‘Don’t worry about that, here,’ she said, sliding me a piece of paper. ‘My login name and password, it’ll be easier for you in case it logs out again and I’m not free.’ she passed the note then began to gather her things.

I stared at the paper, lost in time. The trust she’s just given me … An instinct arose in me, a new drive and passion, I must find the people that hurt her!

‘One for the road, extra hot long black.’ the waiter held out the to-go cup. I looked at Sara, confused.

‘I ordered it for you earlier, and told them to make it when we were leaving. Thought you might enjoy it while you work and continue to scroll through every aspect of my life.’ she gave a small, awkward laugh. ‘You said you like them when you work.’

That laugh.

Taking the cup from the waiter I thanked him too before turning back to Sara.

‘Thank you. That’s so kind.’ Can’t believe she did that.

Those eyes … no matter how this ends, at least I’ll always have the memory of those eyes.

Returning to the office, I sat down at my desk and logged in with Sara’s information, and got back to work. Scrolling down to where I was before I fell asleep, at least where I think I was. I passed a photo from a work event that Sara was tagged in.

That’s a thought.

Bringing up the function to filter posts, I set it to only show photo posts by others where Sara was tagged.

Am I just doing this as an excuse to look at photos of her?

But I felt it was worth exploring, at least for a little while. She could have been tagged in a photo with the second quiet unfriender … work snaps, vacations shots, party group selfies, wedding photos. All sorts of group photos, including those awkward ones where Sara was tagged but only a stray shoulder was visible in the corner of the photo, Why tag that?

Every time I thought I stumbled on a name or someone I didn’t recognise from Sara’s photos and posts, it ended up being a big goose egg and leading to nothing. Whoever this second person was, they hid themselves well. A true case of quiet unfriending …

This line of thought wasn’t going anywhere. I decided to shoot Sara a text, now that I’d been at it a solid hour or so- hang on?

How is that the time! It was late afternoon.

I sipped the last of the ice cold black coffee out of the cardboard cup, ‘Miss M’ scrawled on the side with a smiley face.

I don’t recall that cafe putting smiley faces on cups before.

Pulling out my phone, I tapped the keys and pressed send.

“Hey Sara,

Thanks again for the coffee. Just wanted to let you know, still no progress on name #2 - despite now feeling like I know everything about you.”

. . .

“That’s okay 🙂 I thought it might be tricky! Hope the coffee helped 😉”

A question has plagued me for a while now. Just ask it.

“Sorry if this is painful to bring up, but did just want to check, is there any chance it could be a family member? How did they react when you came out? I realise you’re more likely to know if they weren’t on the list. But felt it worth asking, do you know all the family you should have on socials?”

Instantly I felt red from embarrassment and like it was the most insensitive thing ever to ask. Stupid! Why ask that? If family was likely, she would have said, surely! I started to type out an apology when her message dinged through.

“Tbh - there could be a chance …

. . .

I’ve never had ALL my family on there, but if you check who is in the ‘Family Chat’ group chat, it should have all the family I have on socials. Some of them might have more personal reservations, but no one said anything to me at the last family birthday. Mum and especially Dad have been really supportive right from the off 💗 love them”

. . .

“Btw … it’s okay to check and read through that group chat if you need to 😀”

“Okay, thanks for all that Sara. Should be helpful just to see the names in the group, but thanks for the permission.”

. . .

“Anything you want Miss Mapleberry! 💗 ”

I blushed at the thought that pulsed through my mind at that text.

. . .

“*need, whatever you need… autofill! 😊”

I didn’t know how to respond … I thought for a few minutes before settling on a simple:

“Will be in touch with any progress.”

I actually hoped my hunch was wrong, but I have a theory; families tend to be the ones who react and comment the least on social media posts of their family. Be it avoiding perceived favouritism, probably seeing them more frequently and therefore being up to date with their life, and not needing the socials for connection.

I opened the ‘family chat’ thread, clicked on the ‘people in this chat’ list and read the names. Along with Sara’s there were six others, all sharing the same family name, except two. My guess based on their appearance and likely age was one was the aunt or uncle of Sara, the sibling of Sara’s mother, based on the different family name. No members in the group showed the button to ‘add friend’ for Sara’s account … another goose egg.

Then something caught my eye … not the chat itself. The small text between one message and another regarding an upcoming family lunch. “Barry changed the theme to birthday” It gave me a thought to look … between the lines as it were. I scrolled up, grateful for Sara’s permission, scrolling backwards in time and family chats to around the date of her big post, There it is. A message from Sara to her family.

“Hi everyone. I’m not sure how to say this, already told mum and dad, but I need you to know something … please read my latest post on my wall. Xxx”

Followed soon by a message from her dad, Barry. Sent within a few minutes of her message.

“So proud of you, Wombat. My brave girl! 💗 Love, dad.”

Just below that message, in that small hard to read font, read; “Barry changed the theme to pride.” Immediately followed by another message from him:

“Sorry, spoilers 😉”

I laughed out loud at the playful love Sara’s dad showed, and could see where she got her sense of humour. A few other messages of support followed, a few with some questions, nothing too intrusive. Overall, a supportive and affirming response from her family.

No dice I guess.

Scanning and scrolling down the rest of the chat since that point in the hope of catching a clue, I soon caught the next theme change. Dated about two weeks after Sara’s announcement. A change to sailing theme, and a discussion growing in the chat about Sara’s parents leaving on a cruise holiday. In the mix was a lovely message from Sara, wishing them a safe and fun trip, also expressing regret that she couldn’t join. It was followed by a playful response by her dad. Followed quickly but a message from Sara's mum.

“We’ll miss you on the cruise too, Wombat. Want me to find you a buxom wench to pillage and plunder?”

“Barry! Oh my gosh! DON”T!”

Then a GIF appeared in the chat, sent by Sara. It was Big-Fat-Ugly-Bug-Faced-Baby-Eating O'Brien from The Muppet Treasure Island. A character with an awful name, played as a cameo by an attractive woman. The GIF showed her saying ‘Aye’, followed by Sara’s message.

“Sure thing dad! 😜”

“You too are awful!”

Replied her mum.

A few more messages back and forth, including other members of the family wishing them a safe trip. The next thing in the chat was a stream of photos, looking at them, all from Sara’s parent’s trip on the cruise. A few shots of menus and itineraries too for day trips off the ship, lots of likes on the photos. Until I found it …

Hidden amongst all that family joy, was the smoking gun … well the silent mouse click I searched for at any rate.

My heart dropped seeing evidence pointing to a family member. Tucked between some cruise meal photos and a message from Barry saying he found Sara “the perfect girlfriend” and showing a photo of a still fully clothed burlesque performer dressed as a pirate, complete with parrot on her shoulder.

“Is it okay if she has a peg leg though?”

Said a message from Barry, a laugh emoji pinned to its bottom corner showing appreciation for the joke.

But in between those photos, those messages of joy and love .. there it was in small font, easily missed.

“David has left the chat.”

A slow build perhaps? Seeing how welcoming and loving the family were - maybe after the comment about the ‘perfect girlfriend’, that snapped.

Clicking on the name and opening the profile, I could see they shared a last name with Sara’s aunt and uncle. David looked close to Sara’s age, a cousin?. Information on their profile suggested they lived overseas, in the UK and had done so for some time. Easy to forget about the cousin abroad, I guess. They were not friends with Sara, but being logged in as Sara revealed that all the family from the group chat were mutual friends, plus a few other names present in both their friend lists. But Sara had said that if they were in that group chat, they should be on her list. I was sure I had found the second unfriender ...

‘Damn,’ I said out loud.

I didn’t want to tell her it was a family member over text, I should tell her in person and close the case. Or am I just saying that to see her? My job was done, I had the names she wanted, what she did with them next was up to her … though I know what I want to do with the names.

“Hey … found the second name. Want to meet later to discuss/debrief the case?”

A few hours later we met outside a burger truck that was parked up in a nearby street. I’d been wanting to try it out before they moved to a different area, this felt like a good excuse.

Having some greasy comfort food on standby might just be the ticket for Sara … I could ask her to have dinner with me, I guess … After the case is officially over of course.

‘My cousin, David?’ she said. The pain and betrayal clear in her voice, momentarily stolen of its lyrical quality.

‘To be honest, I had forgotten we were friends online, we were never that close. Are you sure?’

‘As sure as I can be. The timing works, it was soon after your announcement that they left the chat, and didn’t look to be another reason. Whether they did that first, or unfriended you first, I can’t tell. To hazard a guess, the unfriending was first, likely quite soon after your announcement. Then when the subject kept coming up, even indirectly, but being discussed openly and in a positive light in the group chat I suspect they left. It didn’t look as if they were an active member of the chat, so likely no one would notice them leaving.’

She sighed with an air of relief, mixed with sadness. She shook herself loose and returned to her natural bright smile.

‘Well, Miss Mapleberry,’ she said as she glanced at the burger truck's neon menu. ‘Thank you for your work. I know it wasn’t an important thing or a real mystery to solve .. but it helps to know.’

‘You’re welcome. The way I see it, if the client thinks it's worth solving, so do I. Might even need to advertise that I specialise in this sort of “trivial mystery” to get more work.’ I added air quotes to “trivial” as I wanted it to be clear. I did not think it was a trivial thing for her.

She smiled .. with those lips. Quick! Look at the menu.Just in time I turned, so when I licked my own lips with an instinctual movement, I was at least looking at the burgers.

‘I must admit …’ she said, pausing for a breath. ‘I was beginning to hope you might take longer to solve it all.’

She brushed the hair away from her face.

‘But I have to say, I’m glad it’s over. I think it'll be better to not be a client, it’s too hard.’

Wait … what?

‘Why, didn’t I do a good-’

The penny started to drop for me as she looked at me with those eyes, smiling at me with those lips …

All together images of our text conversations, little moments we’d had throughout the last few days flashed into my mind.

That small blush when she placed her hand on mine that first day in my office …

Turning her return to my office into a morning coffee date …

I think she did sit closer to me in the cafe after placing the order …

The coffee shop conversation, she really did want to know all about me …

Ordering me the second coffee to take back to the office, without prompting … and the smiley face on the cup ...

Those subtle hints of playfulness in the texts back and forth, maybe that wasn’t in my head …

I had been so preoccupied with the case, trying to stay professional myself, and not wanting to do anything stupid. I had overlooked evidence.

The penny finally dropped for me when I thought about one of the most illogical parts of this whole case.

That was it! The question that’s been rattling around in my head, ever since … since coffee!

‘Wait, if you were happy to give me your login information and password. Why did we have to meet for coffee? You could have texted it, emailed it, called!’

‘Well …’ she said, her blushing cheeks now matching my own. ‘I couldn’t think of another believable reason to see you before the case was over.’

It became clear now, the case I was really working on all this time. Yes, Sara’s case of quiet unfriending was important to her and needed solving. But ever since that first meeting in my office … There was another case, one I didn’t realise I needed to solve until now.

Right there, in front of those eyes, I solved it, the case. The most important case of my life …

The case of her answer.

In my mind I knew the answer, I was beyond confident of the response. I had the evidence to back up my conviction. Sure if I just asked the question I had wanted to ask for two days now … the question that surged to the surface when I saw her here before the glowing neon of a burger truck in the dusk. If I just asked, I was sure it would be yes … if I just asked. Yet I still found myself stalling, afraid, my mouth dry. The case was done, nothing was stopping me now, I was free to ask … I would ask, I solved that case too. Here we go-

As I shifted and my mouth began to make movement to speak, she pressed a finger gently over my mouth, stopping me. Her emerald eyes darted to the burger truck and its impressive glowing menu. I think sensing me about to speak, she placed her finger gently over my mouth.

‘Before you ask what I … hope you’re about to ask. Can you answer two questions of mine?’

She took her finger away, my lips felt cold without it.

‘Uh … yes, of course. What is it?’

‘Well, now that I’m not your client … Could you tell me your name?’

She smiled warmly, after a moment I laughed out loud, realising it had not come up as I forgot I hadn’t told her.

‘Of course, I’m so sorry, I thought I must have told you when you used it in a text to me.’

She stared blankly, those shining eyes darting around my face for signs of what I meant.

‘My name is Melissa,’ I said softly. ‘I often go by “Missy” and shortened that to-’

‘Miss,’ she said with a small giggle.

‘So … what was your other question? I would … I would still like to ask mine.’

My cheeks glowed as I said the last part, which she saw. Sara took my hand in her own.

‘Well,’ she said, gently caressing the top of my hand with her thumb.

‘May I buy you dinner … Miss Mapleberry?’

I gave my answer with a kiss.

Case Solved 🩷

===============================================

Miss Mapleberry will return on the next case ...