She takes another sip from her bourbon, and I reach for my water, emptying half of it in one gulp. This interview has taken a weird turn, an interesting turn, I've got to admit.
"Who is he?" I inquire.
Miss Barry smiles at me. "You know I can't tell you any personal details about our clients."
"So he is a client?"
She nods, biting her tongue for revealing too much to me already.
"Let's assume I was interested in going through your application process," I say, holding up my hands in mock defense, as if to debate her hopes. "For research purposes, that is."
Miss Barry casts me a condescending smile. "Of course."
"What would that look like?"
She cocks her head to the side, the smile on her face softening. "If you have some time, we could go through some of it right now."
Our eyes meet again, locking onto each other longer than the time before, almost resembling a silent staring contest. She's challenging me, I can tell. Miss Barry sees me as someone who's all talk, displaying a toughness that is nothing more than a facade. She doesn't think I'd go through with this. She expects me to chicken out.
She's not the first one to make that mistake.
I smile at her, mirroring the way she looked at me before. "Okay, let's do it."