Page 47 of Just the Wrong Twin

Instead, he’d seize the moment and get out of town.

Sonia murmured when he eased away from her but didn’t wake up. The wooden floor creaked as Nate made his way to the washroom, but her breathing didn’t change. In five minutes, he was washed and dressed, standing at the door with his shoes. He took one last survey of her, appreciated the night they’d had together, then headed out. He put on his shoes outside the door, then took the stairs three at a time to the lobby.

He blew the nosy neighbor a kiss on his way past her door, those two shadows revealing that she was on patrol.

Nate’s car started with a roar and he revved the engine, loving the sound of it. He peeled out of that parking spot and headed for Boston and his bright shiny future.

* * *

Sonia knewshe shouldn’t have been surprised when she woke up alone in her apartment. Nate had left while she was sleeping and there was no sign that he’d ever been there. She told herself not to be disappointed—they’d had a great night and had agreed from the outset that there wouldn’t be more.

He’d forgotten the leftovers, which were still in the fridge.

But he’d given her such a great idea about the podcast, and encouraged her to take a chance. He’d shown her how fabulous making love could be and given her a new perspective on the future. Clearly, Nate was an over-achiever to have managed all that in less than twenty-four hours. Sonia smiled and sent him a text, thanking him for their night, then got started on her day.

Once she was showered and dressed, she opened the blinds, letting sunlight stream into the apartment. She made a pot of coffee and got out her laptop. She wanted to have a pitch ready when she talked to Cassie.

Ever since Cassie had first suggested she do a podcast, Sonia had thought about what she could bring to a yoga class that was distinctive. She hadn’t had an answer until now, after talking to Nate. Having her class focus on transformation, on each person becoming his or her best self, was a perfect idea. She knew Cassie would want an analysis of the market before making a decision, so she dug into that.

Sonia researched the yoga classes already being hosted by F5F and created a chart, assigning each a position in terms of kind of yoga and level of difficulty. She added a column for tone and one for other facets to the class. Some were keyed to overall fitness. Some were keyed to mindfulness. Some focused on flexibility, others on sculpting the body. Some were hot and fast, while others were gentle, then there were all the different styles of yoga. Once that chart was done, Sonia searched online for other popular podcasts and filled them in, too. She couldn’t tell immediately with a lot of them as to what they offered, so she had to watch episodes to be sure.

To her satisfaction, the niche she wanted was wide open. She made the chart pretty, then started to work on some scripts.

* * *

Sonia called Cassie after lunch,as planned.

“I’m sorry to be diving into this on a weekend. You must want to spend Sunday with Reid and Marty,” she began but her boss laughed.

“Who even knows what day it is anymore? I can’t wait to get back to some kind of routine again. Well, a routine other than when it’s time for Marty to eat.” Sonia heard the baby give a howl in the background, then Reid’s low tones as he tried to soothe their son. “That would be now,” Cassie said.

“Then it’s not a good time?”

“It’s fine. We’ve shifted to bottles and Reid is all over it. I’m glad you called. I’ve been thinking about finding you a market niche for you to own. There’s a lot of yoga instruction out there...”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

“Mini-me,” Cassie said with satisfaction.

“I’ve thought of one and I’ve made a chart.”

“Whoa. Better than mini-me. Tell me about it.”

“I want to focus on a yoga practice as part of a journey, of healing and development, of changing your whole life. That’s what it was for me, and I think that there might be a lot of people who would find the idea of a transformative process appealing.”

“Oh, that’s good,” Cassie said. “So, the podcast would be sequential, starting off very soft and easy, then progressing to a more challenging class.”

“Yes. I’ll email you my chart of existing podcasts, highlighting where I think this would fit in the marketplace.” She did that on her laptop.

“This is good work,” Cassie said, clearly having received it. “I like that you showed the continuum of difficulty. Maybe you should look at what’s out there skewed to self-help or transformation with exercise. I think there could be overlap there.”

“Look at Column H.”

Cassie laughed. “You’re way ahead of me. Excellent. I hadn’t scrolled that far to the right.” Cassie paused for a moment. “Are you planning to share your own journey?”

Sonia felt that familiar stab that accompanied any potential of her hiding place being breached. “Yes,” she said firmly. “I think that’s key to making it work. That I’m sharing my experience in the hope of helping others.”

“An emotional evolution, growing of confidence and poise, balance and coordination, transformation through exercise.” Cassie was brainstorming and probably doodling, but Sonia knew she didn’t completely get it.

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