0 March Secret Agent #49

TITLE: Veering Straight
GENRE: Women's Fiction

“Woof!”

Mocha’s nails tip-tapped on the hardwood floor, and Diana twisted her desk chair away from the bay window overlooking the neighborhood.

“Hey, girl. Whatcha doing?” Diana scratched Mocha under her graying chin and rubbed her hand up and down the wavy brown fur on the dog’s backside, then slid her gaze back toward the front window.

In the distance, the peak of the pyramid-shaped Transamerica building pointed toward a sky as blue as the bay surrounding the edges of San Francisco. Critiquing manuscripts was less of a job and more a joyful experience with this view. But the niggling worry crouched in the corner of her mind. Living in Piedmont wasn’t worth it.

“Want to go for a walk, Mocha? You’re getting heavy. Dr. Applegate said a hundred pounds is too much.” Mocha laid her head on Diana’s lap, her soulful golden eyes tipped upward. “You’ll be eight years old soon. We want you to reach at least twelve.”

Diana stood up and grabbed the leash. “Come on, girl.”

The doorbell rang. She loved the sound of the deep bong vibrating through the house. Whether she was in the basement, kitchen, or second floor, the tune wended its way through every room like the organ music at the basilica where she attended mass as a young girl.

She leaned over her desk and peeked through the paned-glass windows to the porch. Her sister Taryn, chewing gum like she was getting ready to enter a Bazooka contest.