A Billion Reasons (Wish 8)

20 - Perfect

Sofia should have left after Gray had returned the night before and assured her Alan wouldn't threaten her again.

Rosa had called to nag her about not being at home. She told Rosa she was with Jace, not a friend of her employer who she had no business staying with. She trusted Monty and Gray and had very few friends. Their community was filled with people she knew, but she had no best friend to talk to. She kept her thing with Jace private because she had no one to tell until she told Monty and Rosa. Her sister disapproved, but Sofia never lived up to Rosa's standards.

Oddly, her parents put less pressure on her. They worked hard at jobs which didn't put anything extra in the bank. Her father drove a transit bus in the city and her mother was a gate agent at Logan airport. They trusted her, although both encouraged her to settle into an actual job. After one more dinner with her friends, she would return to her boring life.

As Monty had predicted, Gray slept most of the day. If he was surprised she hadn't left, he didn't show it. After they had discussed triste Monty, the large man let down his guard with her. It was obvious his protection of his friend/employer went beyond physical threats.

She was reading one of Trista's restaurant reviews in Beantown magazine, while Gray was busy on his laptop. They had a comfortable silence after Gray told her about the Thai restaurant near Harvard Square they had planned for dinner.

When her phone buzzed, Gray looked toward her. It was a text from Jace, asking her to hang out.

"It's Jace."

Gray nodded. "He's clean, but it doesn't mean he wasn't involved."

She replied to the text.

S: Alan blackmailed me. I'm done with him and you.

Her phone rang immediately, and she answered. Gray didn't hide he was listening.

"What do you mean blackmail?"

"He altered pictures of you from our last shoot to make it look like I was with someone's husband. He recorded us fooling around. It was a setup."

"I didn't know."

"I know, but I will never be a model and you are. It was fun, but it could never go beyond that." She looked up and met Monty's eyes. She couldn't read his expression. She cut Jace off. "I have to go."

She ended the call. He had been associated with a humiliating part of her life.

"You okay?"

She nodded. He looked tired. "Are you?"

"Been better, been worse."

Gray joined in. "What'd the old man want?"

"Aside from keeping me waiting, Scranton and others."

"You expected it. What else?"

"My powers are gone. I gave them to Kryptonite."

Sofia didn't understand their code.

Gray asked if he still wanted to go out. Monty shrugged. "Why not? Sofia, do you want to accompany the two of us?"

She asked, "Why wouldn't I?"

Monty frowned. "It didn't sound good with your boyfriend."

"He was never my boyfriend."

Gray said, "And you were okay with that?"

"Yeah. I liked him, but we didn't have much in common."

Gray smiled. "I think I could learn a few things about women from you."