Chapter One

Here is Chapter One of my untitled story. Give me feedback...let me know if I have truly captured the over-the-top style indicative of this period.

Chapter One

Sitting in the rather ornate and yet undersized space known as Dragon Investigative Services, Inc., I had come to realize it was the perfect fit for a recovering alcoholic, ex-lawyer turned private eye fresh off a bitter divorce and an all the more bitter marriage of seven unbearable years who’s fallen off the wagon so many times that there is permanent damage. Finding my way here more by accident and a bad case of the shakes than any real sense of purpose, I had lucked out.

“So what’ll it be?” inquired the lanky gentleman positioned behind the marble counter, sliding a clipboard across the smooth surface.

“Martini-neat,” I replied, more out of instinct than any desire to quench that insatiable beast within me.

He gave me a quizzical look, perhaps considering whether honoring a man’s drink request at 9 a.m. was proper social etiquette. Apparently deciding against playing bartender, he tossed a pen embossed with the DIS, Inc. logo, a beautifully elegant Chinese dragon, onto the clipboard. “I was referring to your business here, Mr….?”

I had not yet considered why I was here, which left me in a rather unusual state of confusion and contemplation. I certainly did not want to tip my hand too early, but playing blind had never worked to my advantage. Gambling, I offered the first name I could conjure up in the haze of my conscious mind, “Johnny Walker.” I extended my hand expecting an introduction, but instead was met with a small chuckle and a slight headshake. Apparently I had a one-track mind this morning.

“Okay, Mr….Walker. Just sign-in and the boss will be with you soon.” There was humor in his voice, but it sounded almost like pity. He left the room with little sound, leaving me in silence, except for the scratching of the pen as I searched the recesses of my mind for a reason to be here.