“Elizabeth! Where the hell are you? Why aren’t you answering my texts or calls?!” Cecilia stood under the awning of a dilapidated building, practically yelling into her phone at Elizabeth’s voicemail. “Look, I’m outside his office and I’m going in there and you better be right behind that door when I go in! I don’t wanna feel awkward standing there like, oh! --” her purse fell off her shoulder and onto the grimy tiled floor after having been bumped into. Really, really nice. The people here were as rude as the building was crumbling. She hated New York. She hated the city, any city, in general and much preferred hills and trees and a big open sky and flowers and nothing but the sound of birds, not the headache of car horns and people shouting at each other and apparently bumping into each other without even a single look of remorse, at least.
“Jeez! Some guy just slammed into me and didn’t even look back, what the hell! Anyway, I don’t want to look awkward just standing there like an idiot in front of this guy for something I think is so stupid. - her heels clanked against the stone stairs as she made her way up - I told you I could just follow him myself. I mean, that’s what this guy is gonna do anyway. Except he’s gonna charge you for it. I know you and Tommy are like, made of money, but why waste it on a detective for something you can just do yourself, I mean, what a waste of money and time -- god, this place doesn’t have an elevator??” She heaved a sigh, finally reaching a frosted window door with the words Diego Lombard; Private Investigator; 508 etched across it.
“Okay,” she whispered breathlessly into the phone, “I’m right outside his door, you be -” a beeping sound rang through the speaker and looking exasperated, Cecilia pulled the phone away from her ear, glaring hard at the black screen before stuffing it into the pocket of her pencil skirt (thank god they made them with pockets now - a woman’s life was hard enough as it was). “508…” she muttered, finding it unnecessary that his office was five floors up. Five! And the building didn’t have an elevator. She sighed, knocked once, then made her way in slowly. “Hello? Detective Lombard? I’m Cecilia. I’m with Elizabeth, here for the meeting about her husband…”