Page 60 of Just One Silver Fox

Nate blinked. It was Wednesday night. They would have had the weekly meeting at F5F, probably held virtually now. He had to guess that Sonia and Cassie had pitched her podcast. “Well, of course they did,” he said. “Cassie asked you at the outset.”

“I know, but I was worried about it.”

“Didn’t you do a kick-ass proposal?” he asked, his tone teasing.

“The best I could, and Cassie asked extra questions ahead of time.” She made a little excited sound that more than held Nate’s interest. “But I can’t believe it. We’re going to map out all the moves, and start filming on Monday. Shannyn is going to set it all up, and we’ll splice in special guests for each episode. The idea is to show that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes, that it’s comfort in your own skin that matters. Meesha will be there first, then Rachel is going to participate from F5FWest with split screens.” She took a shaking breath. “Sorry. I’m really excited.”

“I would never have guessed.” Nate found himself smiling at Sonia’s evident pleasure.

“You,” she said, then laughed. “What did I interrupt?”

“Homework.”

“Doing what?”

“I’m taking a course on locks.”

“Making them?” She sounded confused.

“Opening them. It’s all part of theMission Impossiblething.”

“Does everyone take the course who works for Pierce?”

“No, it’s going to be my thing, which is appropriate although I have no idea how he found out about that.”

“Your mis-spent youth,” she said and he was surprised she remembered. “What did you do?”

Nate leaned back and put his feet up. He liked that Sonia had called to share her news. It wasn’t a sign of expectations, just that they were friends. He was good with that. “When my dad died, I fell in with the wrong crowd. I guess a therapist would say I was acting out.”

“That’s exactly what I would say,” she said, and he heard the smile in her voice.

“I always liked locks. They fascinate me. And I especially like opening them when I’m not supposed to.”

“I’ll guess that started with something of Diane’s.”

Nate laughed. “Got it in one. I used to open her diary and leave things inside.”

“Like?”

“Dead bugs, notes, candy wrappers. Anything that showed I’d been there.”

“Devil inside,” Sonia teased and he grinned. “I’ll bet that infuriated her.”

“It drove her nuts. She kept upping her game, improving the locks, so I kept learning more. When I was in ninth grade, she was in twelfth. I opened her locker and took her lunch. She went bananas, even though I gave it back to her. By the time Dad died, I was pretty good.”

“Useful for the wrong crowd?”

“Yes, it was my ticket in. They liked to break into houses and steal cash or booze, but they didn’t understand locks at all. They were window-breakers.”

“No class,” Sonia scoffed.

“No subtlety. I never participated in the thefts, but I opened doors for them.”

“What happened?”

“We got caught, of course, and they outed me. The cop was pretty shrewd though. He saw what was really happening. He gave me a second chance and told me not to waste it. I was almost done with high school by that point and I knew that bunch weren’t going anywhere good. If I was going to keep myself from getting drawn into things I didn’t want to do, I had to leave.”

“Doesn’t that sound familiar,” Sonia said, no question in her tone. Nate realized then that they’d chosen very similar paths. “I’ll guess you enlisted then.”

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