Alak's Lucky Garage always made Thorne feel giddy. He loved bringing The Rampion there and being able to shower her with the special attention only they knew how to provide. Though she wasn't the fanciest thing imaginable, he was proud that she was probably one of the most well maintained cars around. As the name of the garage suggested, he'd been quite lucky to meet Alak early in his ownership of The Rampion. Now there was no one else he'd trust to spoil his baby.

Alak, a portly middle-aged man who was beginning to bald, looked up from his paper when he saw Thorne waltz in. "Coffee, Thorne? You shouldn't have."

Thorne handed him one of the drinks from his coffee carrier. It was important to manage relationships, and often a little goodwill was all it took to win someone over. Generous tipping helped too, obviously. Thorne lifted his own cup and tipped it respectfully towards Alak before taking a sip, and then leaned against the counter. "Afternoon, Alak."

"Who's the third drink for?"

"Ah, that one there is for a special lady friend. Maybe you've seen her around—brown hair, brown eyes, fixes cars?"

Alak nodded knowingly. "She's in the back. You're not thinking about breaking the heart of my most popular new employee now, are you?"

"Not today. Need a favor for a friend. What do you know about her?"

Alak folded his newspaper and considered him. "Not too much. Always punctual, and probably works more overtime than she should. Seems like she might need the extra cash. She mostly keeps to herself, though she definitely holds her own with the other guys in the back."

"She got a boyfriend?"

"Don't you think you should have found that out before you asked her out the other week?"

Thorne sipped his coffee thoughtfully. "Interesting that she told you that."

"She didn't. One of the guys heard you flirting with her. You're not very discrete when you're trying to make a move, you know."

"Ha. He must have misheard. Cinder and I are just friends."

"Well, if you're friends, why don't you just ask her yourself?"

"Indeed. Any chance you could give her a break for a few minutes?"

Alak pursed his lips for a minute, but then went to open the door to the back. "Cinder!" he hollered. "Get out here!"

Cinder appeared after a bit, wrench in hand. "Yes, Sir?"

"You've got a visitor." Alak pointed to Thorne, who smiled at her.

Cinder scratched the glove of her hand with her wrench. "I've got a lot to finish up."

"Thorne's a preferred customer. Take a break."

Cinder set the wrench on the counter as Alak returned to his newspaper. "Okay," she said, putting her hands in her back pockets. "What's up, Thorne?"

"Just wanted to talk to my favorite mechanic. I brought you some coffee too." He gestured at the remaining cup in his carrier.

"Oh." She looked down at her feet. "I thought we both made it clear that we'd just be friends."

Thorne heard Alak cover up a laugh with an abrupt cough behind his newspaper.

"Haven't changed my mind about that," said Thorne. "Can you join me in my car for a few minutes? I wanted to talk you about something and it feels a little crowded in here."

"Uhh…I guess."

They exited the shop and climbed into the Rampion. She sat a bit uncertainly, her legs crossed away from him. He was a little worried she would get grease on his leather interior, but decided for the sake of this conversation not to bring it up. She took the coffee gratefully, though, and he let her sip it a minute before getting right down to business.

"You have fun at the Masquerade?"

She shrugged. "It was interesting."

"I had an interesting night myself. But I'm not really here to make small talk, so I'm going to cut right to the chase. You like Kai, don't you?"

She looked startled at the question, but her face flushed almost immediately. He gave her credit for trying to maintain eye contact. "No."

"Aw, honey, a blush like that is gonna give you away every time."

"Thorne…I barely know Kai. I barely know you. This isn't really something I want to talk to you about."

"Humor me for a few minutes. I'm not here to embarrass you."

She opened her mouth to protest again, but he held up his hand to silence her. "So what's your deal? You one of those girls who likes to play hard to get? 'Cuz I can respect that. The chase can be fun."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Please, I saw you two making googly eyes at each other in my kitchen."

Cinder begin fiddling with her gloves.

"Cinder, Kai's a great guy. I saw the way he lit up when he was around you, even if it was only briefly. And whether you're going to admit it or not, you've obviously got a little crush on him, too. But he's had a rough go at it the last few years. So don't jerk him around. If you like him at all, then call him. The last thing he needs is someone messing around with his emotions."

Thorne had strategically decided that it wasn't worth his time to try to push the whole Cinderella-Selene Masquerade mystery. If it was her on Saturday, he figured that his little speech would cover that aspect of leading Kai on too. Cinder was still sitting there quietly, not meeting his gaze. He'd said what he needed to say, so he reached across her to push open the door for her.

"You should probably get back before Alak removes me from preferred customer status."

"Right."

Cinder got out of the car and shut the door behind her without saying goodbye. He switched on the engine and put the car in reverse. He was about to drive back when he heard a quick rasp on his window. Thorne braked and rolled down the window for Cinder, who was leaning into the opening.

"Hey Thorne?"

"Yeah?"

"Did Kai really light up?"

Thorne grinned broadly. "Like a full moon."

When Thorne got an unknown call on his cell phone that Thursday, he hoped that it was Cress finally getting in touch. He was getting antsy about not having his favorite coat and was considering stopping by her department to bug her about it if she didn't call in the near future.

"Hello?"

"Is, um, Thorne there?"

"This is Thorne."

"Hi. This is Cress. The girl…from the elevator?"

"Oh I remember who you are."

"Right."

"You finally gonna give me my coat back?"

"Yes—of course," she said quickly. "About that—I wanted to apologize. I've been thinking about our conversation in the elevator and what happened at the Masquerade, and I feel really bad about it."

"Don't feel bad. Life is too short to feel bad."

"I never got the chance to thank you either."

"For what, my great dance skills?"

She remained serious. "No, for helping me when I passed out and for making sure I got home safely. That was…extremely kind of you."

"Don't worry about it."

"Well, I do, and I want to repay you."

Oh? "Yeah?"

"You probably think I'm crazy by now, so I'm not offended if you say no, but would you want to come over for dinner sometime? I could cook something for you as a thank you. It's not much, but I think guys like food right?"

"We always like food."

"Oh, great."

Her voice sounded relieved and Thorne wanted to laugh. Dinner with Cress as a 'thank you'? She wasn't very good at being subtle. Apparently she hadn't forgotten how good of a kisser he was. He couldn't blame her; he'd gotten many compliments over the years.

"When would be good for you?" she asked.

He thought about it for a moment. "How about tonight?"

"Tonight?"

"I really want my coat."

She laughed nervously. "Well, I guess that would be okay. I don't have any plans."

"Great. What time?"

"Maybe around 6:30? It takes me a little while to get home on the bus."

"Alright, where do you live?"

He punched the address she gave him into google maps. "I have to pass Rikan Corp anyway to get there. Want me to pick you up so you don't have to take the bus?"

"Really?"

"Sure."