UNDERCOVER The Secret of Luck by James Kipling Page B

known her boss, he had not gifted her anything. Normally, that would upset anybody, but she figured out John pretty quickly. She knew that here was a man who was dedicated to his work and would not let anything else distract him from that. So, when he forgot to wish her well on her birthday, both years she had known him, she did not worry too much about it. Today though, she was surprised. Her boss was changing, and that could only mean one thing. Something major must have happened. She guessed that the apology was not the main topic that John wanted to speak of today. She decided to check out all the features of her new tablet some other time and put it aside. Then she resumed facing her boss, and John took that as a hint that she was done appreciating the gift.
    “You are my assistant, Sheila, and you have obviously noticed that I have not been myself lately. I would like to believe that you may have a rough idea why I might be acting that way. So, why do you think I am acting this way?” asked John, wanting to get her thoughts before expressing his own.
    “You want me to comment on your behavior, Boss? I won’t lose my job if I am too critical of you, right?” asked Sheila, in her usual style of not taking things too seriously.
    “Come on, Sheila, you know I would never fire you for speaking your mind!” said John.
    “Of course, I know, Boss. You are too much of a gentleman to do something like that.” said Sheila. “Okay, this is what I think of your latest behavior, Boss.” said Sheila.
    John listened patiently.
    “I think that something is bothering you, Boss. This morning, right before you snapped at me, you were asking me about some statistics. Statistics that relate to the number of cases we have handled and how much of them fell squarely under the investigation of marital problems. Given that you never asked about the money we made or anything else, I think you have an issue with the type of cases you are taking on. I think, when you started this business you had different ideas. Now those ideas or dreams aren’t coming true. Am I correct, so far?” asked Sheila.
    “Go on,” said John.
    “The weird part is, an outsider would consider you a very successful private detective. You have no shortage in terms of work. In a short period of time, you have managed to become among the most sought after private detectives in the world. Clearly, you are good at it. It is just that, you are not able to use these skills in the areas of detection that you always wanted to use them. Now, eighteen months after you have done everything right, nothing seems to be right. You are doing a great job, Boss. It is just that you are doing something right, but the end result or final destination seems to be going in the wrong direction.” said Sheila, finishing her long speech.
    John had kept quiet while she said what she had to say. In many ways, he was surprised that a woman, who was more than a year younger than him, had figured out so much about him. John had heard something similar in his head for the last few weeks. That was why he was getting all those headaches. That was what the janitor said. The same thing was said by the cab driver. Then, his father seemed to say the same thing.
    If it was just one person whose opinion seemed to veer in that direction, John would not have taken that seriously. What he was seeing was different people voicing the same concerns. Now John was even more certain that he had made the right decision. The decision that he made, thanks to that eventful discussion with his father. Earlier this afternoon, when he walked out of his father’s diner, he had a little doubt that was lingering in his brain cells. The lingering continued when he was riding in the cab, going to his office, and while he was shopping for a gift for his assistant. Now, after hearing what she said, John was now completely sure. He had to get out of this business. He had to try. If he was going to fail, he was going to