The private eye

"I can't wait to see where he's going to take me tonight! Why can't it be time already??", I complained with a pout. It was still only 2p.m, my sole class for the day was done and I was back at home impatiently waiting for the evening to come.

"Whining about it won't make time go quicker", Jina sighed as she took a sip of tea.

Since we were going on a date tonight, and we had done more studying than expected the previous night, Liam and I decided not to meet for the day so as to make the evening more special for the both of us. But I was already bored, so instead of waiting alone, I invited Jina at my place for lunch.

"What else can I do? I've already told you everything about our lovemaking sessions, and it's way too early to start getting ready... ", I protested like a bored child who couldn't find anything interesting to do.

Jina took another sip of tea as she thought for a moment, and then suddenly demanded, "Olivia, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure", I looked at her inquisitively, my interest piqued. That wasn't something I'd hear often from her, so it must have been rather important.

"Remember the first time we met?", she asked.

"Of course I do, it was at the shop where you work", I replied, unaware of where she was going with that.

"That time, you bought a blindfold and four handcuffs", she summarized. "You told me then that you were still a virgin, which was fairly obvious from your demeanor", she continued.

"Yeah?", I answered, still confused.

"Nearly two weeks later, you come to me and ask me to help you find a decent guy, which results in you meeting Liam and eventually doing the deed, as you've told me yourself. And you seem to have both developed feelings for each other, and are even going out tonight. But... may I ask what the handcuffs and blindfold were for? You said that you lost a bet to a guy, but never mentioned him again or what he made you do with those items."

I was torn. On one hand, I didn't want to keep any secrets between us. Jina had quickly become one of my, if not my best friend in the short time that I met her. But on the other hand, I didn't want her to know, firstly because I didn't want to involve her in this whole mess, and secondly, I was afraid that her opinion of me would be stained as she'd find out I cheated my way through school.

"Oh, it was just a silly bet, the guy needed those for something else but didn't want to be caught in a sex shop", I lied, trying to sound as natural as possible.

She nodded, "I've never told you the degree I'm pursuing at school, have I?"

I shook my head, realizing that I had never even bothered to ask her this simple question before.

"I'm doing a degree in criminology. And you know what one of my prof taught us in our first class? To detect liars."

"What do you mean?", I asked, failing to contain a nervous laugh.

Jina sighed, "You are clearly not a good liar, Olivia. Your story's way too vague, and you can't even put on a poker face when I call you out. If you don't want to tell me about it, just say it straight away. My opinion on our friendship would take a hit, but at least I know you're being honest."

There was not a hint of anger or disappointment in her voice, just the usual, plain and stoic Jina that I knew and loved. I bit my lower lip from the shame of having been caught. "You're right, it was a lie... "

I took a few more seconds to decide whether to tell her everything or not. "I know you won't tell anyone, but still, can you promise me to keep a secret?"

Jina simply nodded.

"The handcuffs and blindfold were indeed used on me. I... I am currently being blackmailed... ", I confessed. I spent the next few minutes recounting everything to Jina, from the moment it started to the upcoming meeting I had with my blackmailer.

As expected, Jina listened silently, clinging to my every word, without letting an ounce of expression show through. Was that a skill she developed for her degree as well, I wondered. As much as it was nice sometimes, it was just plain unnerving at that moment. It was almost like telling my biggest secret to a mannequin.

As I came to the end of my story, she closed her eyes, taking some time to grasp everything and reflect on what she had just heard. Finally she re-opened her eyes. "You're in quite the predicament... ", she stated nonchalantly.

I sneered, "You don't say."

"But I think I can help you", Jina continued.

"Really?", I exclaimed. "How? The culprit could be anyone, I don't even know where to start."

"Well, not anyone, he must be a student at our university if they managed to snap those photos of you, like you've correctly guessed yourself. Moreover, I'd even say that you've talked to him before, or at least share a class with him", Jina reasoned.

"How do you know that?", I asked, surprised.

"There must be a reason why he distorted his voice when he **** your ass the first time. If he was someone you'd never come in contact with, why would he bother changing his voice?"

Her logic made sense.

"Another reason why I believe he's in your class is that he knew that you were cheating. Do you still have the answer sheets? Can I have a look at them?", she asked.

As requested, I brought my laptop and showed her the particular document. "See, let's say it was me who caught you looking at this pdf. I have no idea what all of this means, it's just some random words and codes thrown together for me. But your blackmailer knew exactly that it was a piece of information that you weren't supposed to have access to, which could only mean that he is a student in that class as well."

"Wow", I muttered, genuinely impressed by Jina's deductive skills.

"Can you show me your chat with the blackmailer?", she suddenly asked.

I hesitated. Could I? It wasn't that I didn't trust her. It was just...

"Um, it contains quite a lot of... raunchy pictures and videos of me... "

"I work in an adult store, Olivia. Do you think I've never seen a girl naked or a cock in my life before?", she justified.

"Still, it's photos of me and Liam, not some random stranger who you will probably never ever see again in your life!", I protested.

Jina placed her hand on mine, squeezing it tightly. "Olivia, I don't think you fully realize the gravity of your situation. You are being taken advantage of and sending nudes to a random stranger who could easily ruin your whole life in the next minute if he wanted to. But I can hopefully help you find the culprit and prevent all of that from happening. I don't want my best friend's life to be ruined by a sleazy bastard who believes he can take advantage of you whenever he fucking wants. So let me help you on this, please", she pleaded, tightening her grip on my hand even more.