Sam’s Journal of Survival

The PI Called

020326 This journal is fiction. The voice you’re reading is a character, not the author.

Tuesday

The PI called today.

We’re meeting Friday at lunch, the same place as before. He said he’s bringing his report and wants to walk me through it in person. Explain what it means. Explain what comes next. I appreciated that more than I let on.

I’m glad I hired him. From the beginning, he’s been calm, steady, and patient in a way that doesn’t feel forced. He listens without rushing me. He explains things without talking down to me. And he hasn’t treated my fear like an inconvenience or a weakness.

He’s already helped me make changes to the house. Better locks. Slight adjustments I wouldn’t have thought of on my own. Things that make the space feel a little less exposed. A little more mine again.

I don’t know what the report will say, and I’m trying not to spin worst-case scenarios in my head. That part is still hard. Waiting always is. But for the first time in a long while, I don’t feel like I’m facing this completely alone.

Friday feels close enough to matter.