Chapter Eighteen
As Diane is driving to her next destination a few blocks away she's still under the influence of their conversation with Will. It felt good to finally break the ice and talk to him again, if there's one thing she needs right now it's a friend and Will more than proved himself in the past. They shouldn't have let some unconsidered words ruin the friendship on the first place, but time has taught them that even though they don't share the responsibility for their firm anymore they still need each other.
She parks her car and sees the familiar figure standing close by right away. She considers blowing the horn, but the younger woman notices her sooner and starts walking in her direction. Diane opens the door at the passenger seat so she can get in next to her.
"Hi," Diane turns to her former employee after unbuckling her seatbelt. She hasn't seen Kalinda since she left Lockhart/Gardner more than a year ago, but she was the first person she thought of calling after this sort of wrong idea entered her head and didn't want to leave.
"Hey."
Diane knows that small talk with Kalinda is not an option, not even after such a long time, so she decides to get on the subject right away.
"I'd like to hire you," she says and Kalinda takes her orange notebook out of her inner pocket and opens it right away; "I need you to unobtrusively follow my husband to a meeting tomorrow, observe what's going on, maybe take some pictures and report back to me."
Kalinda keeps looking at her without any reaction on her face. That's why Diane had no doubt about who to turn to, she knew Kalinda is the only right decision. And she has been a freelance investigator since she got fired from Nyholm Associates, which also works to Diane's advantage.
"He's going to meet a woman and a kid in a park, so it won't be a problem to keep an eye on them unnoticed."
She could have just gone there with Kurt and met Miranda and the kid, but she doesn't feel ready for that step yet. Besides she wants to know the truth, how Miranda is behaving with Kurt when she is not around. She doesn't want to be jealous of her, but she wants to be prepared in any case. She is aware Kurt might get angry at her if he finds out, but that's why she trusts Kalinda with this delicate task.
"Which park?"
"I'm not sure, but maybe you can follow him from home? He's meeting them at 3 pm."
"Sure. What should I focus on?"
"I want to know how she is behaving towards him, if she shows any special interest in him. The kid is Kurt's son," she adds, to avoid any confusion. She is sure Kalinda would find out anyway, or maybe she already suspected when she first mentioned them.
"All right," Kalinda nods and for a split second Diane claims to see a sympathetic expression on her face that fades away just as quickly.
"It's just a one time thing for now, but I may need your services again later."
"Anytime," Kalinda replies and her promise reassures Diane that she is making the right decision. She just wants to be cautious, to make sure Miranda knows that even though she has Kurt's son, Diane is his wife. It's not about not trusting Kurt, it's about not trusting the other woman and her influence combined with the charms of a one-year-old Kurt is already mesmerized by.
Diane is happy for him, she wants him to have a relationship with his son, but she wishes to do it under her terms, not Miranda's. She doesn't like the idea of Miranda spending time with Kurt as well, even though she understands that she wouldn't let the boy alone with him just yet. But that is exactly why she wants to make sure Miranda knows where her place is.
"I just met Will," Diane changes the subject, suspecting Kalinda might have lost touch with Will, just like she has after being fired by his new boss.
"How is he?" Kalinda asks and the concern is now clearly visible on her face. Diane knows Kalinda and him were close as well, but there are some things even the strongest of friendships can't survive.
"Not so good," Diane admits with a sigh.
"I'm glad you two are talking again," Kalinda says with a half smile, "I'll be at your house at 2 tomorrow," she adds, putting the notebook she hasn't used back in her pocket.
"Thank you."
After Kalinda gets out of the car guilt takes over Diane thinking of what she's about to do. She's going to send someone spy on her own husband, it sounds so immature and still Kalinda never seemed to doubt her for a second. She tries to shake the guilt away as she starts the engine and forget about this meeting for now.
She has to go home to her husband and pretend none of this ever happened. She wants to be supportive of him, because she doesn't want to put him in a position to have to choose between her and his son, but she also wants to make sure no one else has a place in this equation and she won't take his word for it.