Welcome to the story. It's story time with Skye. You can fall in love and laugh until you cry. It's story time with Skye. It's story time with Skye. Welcome to story time with Skye. I'm your host, New York Times bestselling author Skye Warren. Every week I tell a brand new story based on the heroes, heroines, and meet cutes that you want to get to know. I'm your host, New York Times bestselling author Skye Warren. To help me craft a hilarious, steamy, and ultimately romantic story with a guaranteed happily ever after. So pour a glass of something fun. Welcome to the story. Hi everyone, I'm Skye Warren, host of Storytime with Skye, and I'm here with my very cool guest today, Claire Contreras. Hi Claire. Hi, how are you? I'm good, how are you doing today? Doing great. Oh my god, I didn't even notice you have a typewriter next to you. Yeah. Is it like, is it for show? Do you use it? It's absolutely for show. I haven't even tried to use it, but I doubt it has ink. I don't know. It's very cute. It's like very old style, like old style. I mean, not that I guess. There are really that many recent typewriters, but still. Okay, so if readers don't know, Claire Contreras is a New York Times bestselling author. Her books range from romantic suspense to contemporary romance, and are currently translated into over 15 languages. She's a breast cancer survivor, mother, and wife. Claire was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Miami, but she currently resides in Charlotte, North Carolina. When she's not writing, she's usually lost in a book. Are you in North Carolina right now? I am. Yeah. Okay. I, for some reason, I thought you still lived in Florida. No, I go back often. People are always confused. They're like, Oh, you're in Miami again. And I'm like, yeah, our family's there. So I'm there a lot. That makes sense. That's good. Okay. So today we're going to tell a story. And we have these three prompts for the hero, the heroine, and like the meet cute, or setup, or some element, story element, basically. And I'm gonna give you each one, and you can give me like, if you have any initial thoughts, like, Yay, I've done that, or I don't know about that, but, or whatever. Okay, first one, hero. We're actually gonna go super traditional here, billionaire. Okay. I love billionaires. That's perfect. I love billionaires. I know. I feel like for Storytime with Skyle, oftentimes we'll do ones that are like a little just bit more like tropey like, Oh, he's a rancher or something. And then at some point I'm like, I've done three ranchers and I never ran. So I'm like, you know what? He's a billionaire and he can be any kind. We can just do whatever makes sense for us. Heroine violinist. Oh, okay. I like this. Yes. Which I have actually written a violinist. Yeah, you did. I remember that book. Yes. But, it can be, any background, whatever. And then the sort of meet cue or setup is Secret Society. Okay. And I know you've written Secret Society. Yeah. And I love Secret Society. I love anything that's secretive. So Secret Society is like my jam. Yes. I feel like it's a good, these are good ingredients to put into the pot. For sure. I feel like I would read that, but instead we have to come up with it. Exactly. Okay. So what do we think violinists? Okay. Secret society. What kind of secret society do you think it should be? It's got to have a violinist and a billionaire involved somehow. It could be a secret society, like in college, like a university, and it could be like a music type of secret society, like the arts, there's I'm sure secret society like for the arts people or the arts. It's true. It does make total sense that there would be. And not just like for the arts in general, but like specifically for music, I think. Yeah, probably there's has to be a secret site at Berkeley. There's a secret society there. Everybody at Berkeley. No. Okay. So they've got the secret or I do like that. And I just, the other option would be a secret society with the billionaires and she's like playing there. She's been hired to play. Okay. No, I'm fine with either way, though. I was just like, That could work. That could work. Yeah, that works, obviously. Anything with billionaires works. I feel like that's why it's so popular. You can do anything with a billionaire. I feel like you and I have both done secret societies in university. Yeah. In a way, it makes more sense for us, but it also might be like, We've already done that. And I don't want to go too close to it or whatever. Yeah. In particular, I'm still like in the middle of a series about it. Okay. So then, yeah. So then, yeah. I don't know. I think the one that I did, it was like, you join and once you're in, they give you like 50, 000 or something. Or they just, they give you money once you're in. You have to pass all their challenges. Yeah. And then you're in. And then they give you the money. So I feel like billionaires can do that. Billionaires can do anything. But yeah, I like the idea that they are meeting and they hired her to go entertain them, like off to the side though. Cause you know right. And really, the thing is he's a billionaire, but he can be like, he could still, it still could have been a secret society. He joined in college. In fact, he could actually be in college and just be like an heir to a fortune. So it's not He has to be a certain age. Yeah. What if like she's there and then something happens, like somebody kills somebody or something and then she's there and she witnesses it and then he has to kidnap her basically. Oh. To keep her mouth shut. Okay. I like that. What if, I like, what if he's a little bit her savior and her kidnapper? What if something starts going down? It's bad. They're getting attacked by other dark secret society, yeah. Not they're already dark, but they're not like that dark, they just have, they do stunts and they do, what do they do gambling? They do orgies, but they don't hurt anyone, whatever. So the bad secret society is or not even the bad secret society. It could be somebody they like kicked out. Yeah. Because we were bad. So like they, he starts getting revenge on them, it was like all their secret layer stuff. So maybe it's these are, they're like either shooting or even like a fire or something breaks out and he first like dives into protector, like maybe, while she's playing the regular thing is happening. He's like notices her likes her maybe even like chats her up when she's having a break. And she might be like, I'm doing this for the money but I'm not interested in the society. I think she's got to be like intrigued, but not actually Oh, I don't want to join. I don't want to be part of this. Like I'm focused on my music. Right. Musicians are really, they have to be focused on the music. Otherwise, it's just not going to work. I feel like. Yeah, for sure. For sure. And and also it's not like they just started getting focused, like that's the thing. If you want to be an engineer, like you can start being interested when you're like a freshman. Whereas like when, if you're a musician, you had to start when you were like eight and then just live that, exactly. It's like a lifelong thing. Yeah. So she's absolutely not. I'm not interested. He's going to just he, so he's like looking at her, interested in her. So then something scary breaks out. He like, His first instinct is grab her, make sure she's safe. I like that. And I I feel like it, it cuts you down to that primal place. Yeah. In danger and you're like, Oh, he's, I don't even know what he's wearing. Is he like in a suit or is he in just like nice clothes, whatever. And she's like probably wearing, like a white collared shirt and like black pants, like very professional type of thing. Or maybe they made them dress up in like Greek goddess wear or something. And she's I hate this. This is so embarrassing, but I need the money. Okay. But it's very like costumey. Yeah. Yeah. And then they have this moment, maybe he like hides her underneath the stage or something and it's very primal and my costumes fall away. Yeah. Yeah. I like that. And okay. And so then, but maybe in the aftermath actually, as they're picking it up, they're like, we've got to, we've got to strike back. We've got to get rid of this guy. Like he's obviously not going to leave us alone. And he's going to also like, be Threaten our secrets, that's I think a really, I feel like that's got to be a scary part like of being a secret society and sharing your secrets with everyone like you vet them before they come in. But. You don't know what's going to, what they're going to change and become, exactly, yeah. What if they already met, right? At somewhere, they met. And he hires her because, she she, she just brushed them off because she was so focused on this. He's the one who hires her to be there. Yes, I love that. I love that. So she's, He could already have the connection. So like when he takes her under the stage or whatever, it's already for sure. I feel like, what about, what if he's a graduate student? He's like middle between, so he's not like all the way undergrad, but he's not whatever. He's like a graduate student. He does care about school, but he obviously is pretty devoted to this secret society as well. Right. And he sees her chats her up. Maybe he can tell she's broke. Maybe she's like looking through, Oh, Maybe she's like pulling, the little tabs off like the thing, the job board, like looking at the jobs and maybe she even puts up one about like a violinist for hire. And he like chats her up. She shuts him down. And then like when she's gone he just takes the whole paper off he doesn't want. Yes, exactly. I was going to say too, like he has to take the whole paper. Yeah. No one can be calling her. Absolutely not. So he hires her. I do think he would like, almost. I do think he would try to make her wear something she would not want to wear, right? Like she'd be like, I'm going to wear my very boring professional outfit and he's going to have to either be like evening wear or he's going to have to be like costume. Exactly. Yeah. Cause maybe when he meets her, she's wearing like a sweater and like sweats or something. Yeah. It's his way of teasing her a little bit, get out of your comfort zone. Yep. I like it. Okay. So then In the aftermath, they're picking up and being like, we've got to get back with this guy. And they look over and they realize, oh, she knows too much. Yeah. And then he's I'll handle this. Yeah, and maybe like they're normally not the sort of super evil, they're not like they're not always going around hurting people but like they feel very threatened right now. Yes. Oh, it brings out like the most intense impulses in them. Exactly. So they're like, freaking out. He, yeah, he's probably no, don't worry. I'll handle it. Maybe they just want to pay her off and just whatever, be done with it, but yeah, Which like the bad part about that is that she'd probably take it. And then it like ruins the, yeah, exactly. It has to be something that she's I wasn't going to tell anyone anyway, and I need money. Exactly. Oh yeah, no, you're Okay. What if they do this? What if they're like, we've got to discredit her? Like she's here on a scholarship or something like that. Hold on. How the heck does this happen? Mind you, I turned off my thing from, I put my phone on airplane. How do I do this again? Okay, here we go. No. Okay. Okay. Okay. Totally fine. Okay. So she, where did we leave it? Oh, I think what I was going to say is what if they are just like, we're not going to physically harm her per se, cause that's a little far plus than it. I don't know. Maybe they could do that, but they could also say they could suggest someone could suggest it, which would definitely freak her out. Of course. Yeah. Maybe there was a fire and they could be like, who's to know if we just say she was lost in the fire and they like in front of her and in front of him and she, and he's thinking to himself I'm not going to let it happen, but she doesn't know that he doesn't just come out and say that. Exactly. Yeah. He's like playing along with it. Yeah. And then he's cause he's also, he knows them. And so maybe someone else suggests like maybe we just ruin her so that way she's no one will believe her. And so it's all very bad sounding to her. And he's yeah, and he like you said he's like I'll take care of it and then takes her back to his place and she's just terrified she doesn't know if she's about to get murdered. She doesn't know what's going to happen, but either way going to his place is definitely not what she had in mind. Exactly. Yeah. And then she's and then he takes her right. And then she's I don't know. She's like trying to fight him the whole way because she's you're not who I thought you were. And she just like automatically hates him now, not hates him, but is automatically scared of him a little bit because she doesn't know what he's going to do. Then he can't be like super nice when he gets, when they get, I don't know. I think he's got the whole like rich boy vibe and she has learned not to trust that. So she didn't even trust him when she first met him. Yeah, exactly. And so now it's just worse. She he's so far fulfilled everything she believed about like rich boys, okay, perfect. Yeah. I also wonder if it was like spring break or something. I like, cause I don't know if we want them to just like still have to go to class or something. So what if it was, she was putting it up right before spring break to get some work because she like now has time between classes. And so then he can actually take her up to like his family's estate or something like that's in a state that's not being used, just like one of their many houses and it's like, two hours away. Exactly. It's far enough out of the way that she can't just walk away, even if she would get out. But he also keeps her on the edge of like being a little bit sinister, a little bit dark, not reassuring her, but also not hurting her. So she's yeah, Are you good? Are you bad? What are you going to do? It almost feels like it would be strange at some point, like to physically fight like someone who is I'm actually not hurting you. I'm, you actually, this food is delicious. You're in the most comfortable bed. All of your needs are being taken care of. And it's and then he's got to have to, Oh she already has her violin with her, right? Because she was playing it. She has her violin. She's this is all I need. I know I shouldn't be okay with being held this way, right? But I can make music here. So I know, but it's in a way they might even have an actual room that's either like a ballroom or a music room or just something where like she really loves it and she can play there and like it has like maybe skylights or something like that and she can look at the stars. That would be nice. That sounds really nice. I mean I would want to get kidnapped like that for sure. I would. I'd sign. It'd be like the, it would be like the version of Beauty and the Beast, like the library, but for like musicians, exactly. Exactly. I love it. I think that's great. But what is his endgame here? Like he obviously likes her, he's into her. They might have some like mildly threatening, but still hot, sexy moments. But what is he thinking he's going to do with her long term or that's where I get stuck. I don't know because why what's going to happen that she's going to want to leave because she's going to have to want to leave. She's definitely going to be fighting him. But I wonder if part of his end game is I wanted to, first of all, I want it to be personal between him and the guy they kicked out. Like he got the guy kicked out. Like maybe they were best friends. Okay. And he caught the guy doing something like, just he knew he was a little bit dark and had a vibe, but he was like, he caught him doing something like in his opinion, horrific. So he's he had to get him kicked out. And so the friend doesn't just have a vendetta against the society. He has it against him specifically. Okay. Yeah. And so what if they're like, we're only under threat because of this guy who knows all our secrets and who's out there. This girl is a problem, but, not a huge problem. The guy's the bigger problem. We just don't want any loose threads right now. And so what if the hero thinks to himself, okay, if I can neutralize the guy, the evil guy, the threat, Then everyone will calm down and she'll be able to go back to college, which ultimately is my goal. And he's thinking to himself as your heroes do and by then I will have gotten her out of my system. Exactly. Of course. Of course. I'm going to commit in any way, shape, or form, just going to have a little fling while I keep her away, hidden away. And also while I'm like on the backend working to neutralize the threat. I like this, but then I feel like that guy has to be a threat to her. You know what I mean? Like something has to happen where he is a threat to her. I think if they were friends, then they know each other really well. And he's the friend is going to be able to tell that okay, supposedly you just have this girl for the purposes of, keeping her silent while this is happening or whatever, but I know that you would not do this for any other girl and that the way you were acting is a sign that you care about her. So if I can mess with her, then I'm messing with you. Exactly. I also think they need it to be where someone in the secret society is a spy for him. Yeah, because otherwise, oh, maybe they go to his house, right? And then he tells the guy, right so like actual society members go to his house and are just updating him. We have looked for him. This is what we found. And he's allows this because Maybe he suspects there is a spy, but you can't distrust everyone right now, maybe. And, or maybe he's not sure there's a spy, I don't know but they, or maybe he figures it out once. These guys come and they're like, okay, Kiro, here's the updates. And then they leave, and then suddenly there's a threat to her. And he's okay, that had to have happened because one of those guys. Told him. Exactly. Maybe the guy shows up at his house. But the thing, I think what if she, like it's, one of those like properties that's got grounds, right? And so what if she's taking a walk, which like he still allows her to do. And she comes across this guy who looks just like he fits in with all the rest of them. And he just talks to her casually. She thinks he's just visiting like the other guys who visit it. Of course. And he talks to her and he can even be charming. So he charms her maybe those twisted things where she almost trusts him more than she trusts the hero. Yeah. And he's I can get you away or something. I know that he's holding you hostage and I can get you to safety because I'm not okay with his bad behavior. And maybe she's tempted. Maybe she agrees. But maybe something he does something that finally she finds suspicious and she pulls back and then he starts to force her and then she starts to fight. And then that sound draws the hero who like fights him, and then kicks him off the property. But at that point, he's gonna. The hero is going to be like losing a shit, right? And so he's going to, it's going to be tough because now he knows he can't trust anyone. And also he is going to like literally lock her in the house because how can you let her roam around now? Exactly. It's for her own good. But she's going to she was like barely dealing with it before and now she's going to really rebel. She's this is, This is really kidnapping and I've got to get loose. So she's going to really be trying harder than I think she even was before to get out. Maybe she's actually trying to go right. She tried a little, but she's Oh, it's so nice here. I don't know. And when, whenever she would play the game, I feel like it's a little cat and mouse, where he'd push her to be nervous. And then when he'd see that she's too nervous, he'd roll her back and stuff. Exactly. You're safe. He's a what? You're safe. Oh, exactly. You're safe enough that you don't want to fight. But by this time, she's no, obviously I can't trust any of you guys and I have to just leave. That's what I've got to do. And so she could be like trying to get to his phone when he's not looking or just in general like literally trying to escape through a window she's going to just start being more aggressive with trying to get out but he's going to be thwarting her also. Maybe he takes her phone and that's like why she's you are kidnapping me because if you weren't, or like you're holding me hostage because if you weren't I would have my phone at least. Yeah, he's No, but I can't give it to you because. obvious romance reasons, I guess. You'll get trapped and you're not safe and I think it's hard because like at this point I feel like we're in the second half and like he's turned a corner where he really does care about her. He still may not ready to be like oh I'm committing to her or whatever but he does genuinely care about her way more than just like I want to have sex with you and so he really is concerned for her safety now in a way that like he wasn't before. And she actually is in danger, like he's right about that, even though it's hard for her to understand that or really, believe it or trust him. The fact that he does know that like right now if she were to go back to school and just live in her dorm that this guy would definitely use him. He was right. So maybe there's someone he trusts. Maybe it's just like one other guy or it could be like a literal brother or something like that. Yeah. Maybe his brother visits and he's what the hell are you doing? Yeah. And then that conversation happens and he's mind your own business. And then she's in trouble. And then she's the brother to be like an ex member of the secret society? Like he was in it when he was younger, but then he just aged out. Or do we want him to be like, dramatically opposed to the secret society from the moment he heard about it. I think he's probably opposed to it. I feel like opposed to it would be better because I think once you're in a secret society, you're always in it. So I think he's probably he hates the secret society. He hates that. Okay. Yeah. And he's I've always hated it. And this is like the worst. This is, they've turned you into this person who is holding this girl hostage. Exactly. My brother, this is not you. Okay. So what if the brother. Matt like actually does sneak her out. I know I'm torn on that. Like I like him, it makes sense that he would want to sneak her out, but I also like him having enough loyalty to his brother. To his brother, that's a thing. Yeah. That's tough. But I think he could still maybe convince himself that almost that he's doing it for his brother's own good. Yeah. And he could even tell him that like, whenever he can, the brother confronts him, he's, he can be like, you're, this is not you. I'm trying to help you. This is not you. Totally. And then the girl gets attacked while she's he's going to be like, you don't know, she's really not safe. And he was like, I had, I took basic precautions, but basic precautions are not good enough. Yeah. Maybe the guy was waiting for her already at her place. So when she walks in, he's already there. Yes. And the brother doesn't know because he didn't go in with her, or he didn't like, stay there, he just he can't just be with her the whole time, really. There's just okay, he like Okay, here's what he's gonna do. He's not gonna just hurt her right at the dorm. That doesn't really He could, but it's a little bit It's not what he wants. He wants a showdown. Yeah. He's going to maybe Go back to the lair, but like the secret society is not there right now and maybe he even like locks them out like he's like it's mine now, maybe he was like sort of part of this plan to take over and make it be what he wanted it to be like whenever they would pull back from doing something that was like too evil he'd be like you guys are wimps. This is, you should write bigger and stronger than this. So he's that's almost part of his plan like to take it over like he maybe he feels like he could have taken it over. Right. Okay. Your dog is so cute. He like popped his head up. Oh, hi, Bronte. Hey, baby. Pay attention to me. So cute. Acting like I, tortured her, obviously just the worst possible thing that could have happened to her. Oh, Yeah, so he's over there in the lair, just acting like he owns the place. And maybe he like sends a video or something. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you have to find out. I'm like a picturing remember In Aladdin, when Jafar had taken over and Yes! Ooh, yeah. It is his clothes turned black and red, and he had like her in chains. Yes! Oh my gosh that's hilarious. That was a great, honestly, that was a great scene. I know. Talk about scenes that would not ever get made right now. I know. Yeah, that would never happen. That's hilarious. So that's that's what's happening right now, basically, just exactly like that. And exactly like that. So he's got to come save the day. He's got to, he's got to, I think he's gonna, he, I think he knows he needs help. Right? Because if he just, because he's probably been instructed come in and you'll have to take out any weapons you have and he's that's just, she would get hurt. So that's going to work, but I have to look like I'm complying, but I can't actually be complying. So I think I was like, trying to think to myself should he involve the brother or the secret society? I, the brother would obviously help in that, at that point, the brother would be like, I'll help you. And maybe he just 100 percent I'll help you and maybe both to see maybe the secret society and the brother or maybe the brother wants to help. And then he has to end up calling somebody in the secret society because of whatever reason like to get in there quietly or something. Yeah, I think that even though the bad guy is going to Jafar, if you will, even if he's going to want to insist that the hero come and be. unarmed and alone and everything. He's going to assume that the secret society is going to be helping them. Yeah. Because he just knows that, they're a society, they like stick together. That's what they do. But what he's not going to be expecting is the brother. Exactly. So maybe it is both. But he, the, I think the brother is the one who like ultimately saves the day. So maybe the secret society comes in maybe he's dealing with them. Whoever comes and the guy and he's already like totally focused on them. So he's not expecting the brother to come from the air vent or wherever he comes from. Exactly. This is the one like secret tunnel that, that, only the hero knew about and no one else and had never even told his like very best friend. Exactly. Also, I think, But even before the saving, like when he comes in, you know how there's like a monologue that the villain has to like monologue. Yeah, he has to. Yes. Otherwise, how will everyone know what his motives. I think I want her to monologue like how. actually betrayed. He felt that like they could have taken over the world basically with this society together. That's what he had planned for them to do. And he felt really betrayed when the hero turned his back on him and the hero was like you did X, Y, Z horrific things. So yeah, I did. And maybe he never explained that fully to the hero. And so she understands now how evil he was. Like, I want it to be the thing where the hero is like dark and looks very. Just like dark, just he has a countenance that you would be like, he could do something evil and the villain is, has this true big, like blonde curls thing. And so it just shocked her that he could do such a thing, oh my gosh, that's hilarious. Yes. But yes, definitely. So she's looking at, now she's looking at the hero Oh, you really are the hero. Yes. Yes. And I also want him to say even before he, the hero walks in, I want her to be like, you, I don't know why you're doing this. He doesn't care about me. He's not even going to come probably. Exactly. And obviously he does come, but that still doesn't convince her. I think like it has to come out when they're doing, when he's doing the monologue, like the villain has to be like, of course I picture I could tell the way you were acting. You just don't do, act like that. And the hero, I don't know what he tried to. Would he try to refuse it right then or would he just like actually complain about his feelings right there in this moment? Not like to her, I don't think he would turn to her and be like, I love you, but I just mean would he admit, yeah, like you saw me, you saw right, that was, you do know me well enough for that. I guess it depends. I mean it could, if he does, then he can be like, now you know how much she means to me, and you know what I'm willing to do to keep her safe. He also could go along with that because of stalling purposes. Or he can just refuse it. But then, I don't know, that could go both ways. And I feel I like it when the guy's no, she doesn't mean anything to me, and the girl thinks that, and then it's At the end, you know what, we can do that. I think that can be earlier. What if, remember when those guys from the society visit him, the update, they can be in the library and she can go listen, cause she's what's going on. And they can be like, you should bring her back. We should let us handle her. You're obviously getting a little too wrapped up in her and he can be like no, it's just sex. And that's gonna really hurt her and also make her want to run. Exactly. But I think at this point, I think it'd be hard to deny it just because Yeah. He came. Yeah, exactly. That's true. Yeah, I guess he could say it. He could say it without saying it. Yes, I also think he needs to, like when the guy's bussed in, He's going to do his heroics of the moment he's not gonna wait till they come in and get him He's gonna the moment. He's like distracted and his head turns. He's gonna launch himself at him, right? And there's gonna be mayhem Maybe it's worse because one of the guy who was his secret spy all along turns on them in that moment Does have an ally or two that he that they didn't know about. But then I think like he has to really like, I wanted to mirror the first scene, where he covers her own body with his exactly. Yeah, so obviously every may, like mayhem breaks out and it's this, the bad guy Jafar and I guess, the other guy who's like in in with him. They start like doing stuff there. There's literally be probably one more secret society guy though for it to like work, or maybe two. Yeah, he could have been like working on. Yeah. a faction especially if he's trying to take over, right. And there also could be a lot of people who, there could be multiple people who are like, listen, if you manage to take over, I will back you, but I'm not willing to betray them right now. Yeah. Yeah. So maybe it's while they're doing all that, somebody gets a gun or something. And then that's when the hero goes to cover her? Yes. Does he get shot? I think he should, right? You know what I mean? Just it's an appropriate response to him kidnapping her. You know what I mean? That's not why he's getting shot, but it's, it also. Yeah. Cause then he gets shot. And then obviously I don't even know how this whole scene is going to end because are they going to kill these guys or are they going to Wait until the cops get there type of thing. Either way, the hero has to get to the hospital and so he leaves to the hospital and she's they're apart completely. And then she's technically free of him, but she like needs to go see him because she's not, she doesn't wanna be free of them. What if the she, the brothers role he's I'm gonna help you, but also I'm not gonna let this secret society just like murder everyone. While the hero is busy being shot and focused on the heroine when he's not being shot the brother is hey, guys. The police are on their way. I suggest like you can scramble if you want, but I suggest you just like fess up and not like fess up about your entire society. But I think yeah, these guys were evil and just turn them over, yeah, exactly. Yeah. I think that works better versus massacre. That's it's just a dark way to end. It is for sure. It is for sure. Yeah. So they hand them over to the police. While this is happening, the hero is taken to the hospital, the hero's brother tells her like, that's it, go home forget about him, I'm sorry this happened, I'll give you money, whatever, just that's it. And then she does, because she's still freaking out scared, but then she's home or whatever, and she's I miss him. I can't just go home. Yeah, exactly. Like in the chaos, she doesn't know what to do. He's, airlifted away from her. They're not in any way, they're not even really dating, by the, by that kind of standard. So she is okay, I guess I'll go back to my dorm. I guess I'm safe now. Okay, but now they're apart, and it's, they're both sad. Yeah, and the hero's there maybe she doesn't go right away, because that wouldn't, they have to There's a practical element of her finding he can't be found unless his He or his family wants him to be found. You know what I mean? Oh, true. Okay. Okay. Yeah. So then, We could make it where she does find him. I'm just saying we could also make it where she can't find him. Exactly. Yeah, and then she goes to the brother and she's Please I need to see him. And he's no, you're you brought out like the worst in him you're part of that whole thing. He just, he needs to, yeah, he can't do this anymore. Yeah. And then she like, I don't know what she, I guess you'd have to like, beg him or because she can't really prove anything at that point because. So the thing is, she can go back to school, but I think he doesn't even though he's a graduate student he doesn't return that semester because he's been shot, it's just tell the school, Hey, he's recovering. He's gone for the semester. He'll be back later. Yeah. And so what if the way they get back together is like through the bulletin board? Oh, that would be cute. Yeah. Either she puts up another note And maybe also the brother or his own morality has convinced him to leave her alone. Yeah. He's okay, yeah, I probably was wrong to kidnap her. Yeah. And, at the end of the day, she's probably better off without me. She like, never really chose me, right? So I want so she has to choose him that she has to exactly so she has to put up like the bullets and like everywhere. And it has to be very clearly it's it can't just be like violinist for hire it has to be very clearly like for him. Exactly. Yeah, maybe they have like by then I would assume they have some type of inside joke that only they know about. And then, it could even involve like how he hired her or whatever any something like that. And then she just writes it there and she like puts it everywhere. So he has to see it. Yeah, what if it's what if he has her dress up in like the Greek toga or whatever it is, because he's like, Oh, you're like, my muse or something like that. And then whatever it is that he has her dress up as she's there's like a little clip art of this Greek lady playing an instrument. And it's this is. One use for hire, call this number or whatever, just to make it, other people might call just because they're curious, but that is not the point. Exactly. I think that's a good one. I think that's a good one. I think she, yeah, cause she hated that in the beginning, the way he made her dress up and all that. Exactly. But, and then he like explained to her about the muse thing or said it. And then she's Oh, or what if it's even Like a goddess or something, which means it's still pretty great, but goddess, it would be like, it feels like when she, when he says it at the beginning, it feels like he's mocking her. Yes. Because she doesn't feel like a goddess, but always the truth. Yeah. It could also be a little bit like never been kissed, where instead of just being like, call this number, it's meet me here at this time and place. And it's like public a little. That'd be cute. Except If he doesn't see it in time. He's actually got a really blanket. Oh my gosh this is why I take so long to write anything because I overthink every little dumb, like the dumbest things I'll be like, yeah, but they can't meet there because or that he can't write that because if she writes that she's going to be waiting forever. I know that's what I'm saying. So she's got a blanket and so she's got to be sure he has seen it, but then I also want him to not have seen it because he's so depressed that he like doesn't even go out anymore, but it's so unlike him. So she's he's obvious, he's obviously seen it. So I think one of his friends. Like maybe his brother or his other probably his society friends because he's still in it. He still cares about them because obviously community is important to him. Yeah. And so they show him they're like, man, you are missing with us. And they like, he's Oh my God, I might be too late. And then they have to like, run across campus. You know what I mean? It's like slow motion. Yeah, that would be cool. And then she's like leaving, she's going somewhere or maybe she's not in her dorm. When he goes and she's gone and like her door maybe is like empty. Maybe it's she's moving dorms or something. So he's that's it. I miss her a hundred percent. And then she like goes back to get something and then they see each other. And then he's yeah, it's gotta be like a special, I think it's gotta be a special place like on campus, but not even her dorm. Cause she would be at her dorm for a long, like more, I think it's gotta be like, meet me at noon on this day at that place, at the place where we met or something. And so she's there and and then she's giving up on him. He's not coming. And to her, it doesn't mean he didn't see it to her it means he's choosing not to be with you. Exactly, yeah. He doesn't want to. And it wasn't a real thing, exactly. Yeah, so she's yeah, he's not coming, that's it. And then he actually shows up. Yeah. Finally. Because she's been going every single day since she put that up, at that time, just in case. And he has to do like a grand declaration. Exactly. Even though it was clear that he liked her, like we really have to hear it, I think, all the way. Of course, yeah, at that point it's like Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Okay, he's just he's I know you thought I was mocking you, but actually I have been obsessed with you ever since I saw you. And I was still, but he will acknowledge I was still too just cocky and whatever to really even approach her normally, right? Because he didn't approach her normally. He wasn't like, hey, I really I'm really interested. He had to approach in this cocky manner that turned her off. Of course, yeah. And she was like, who are you? And all that. She didn't, she just, she was turned off by, from the beginning. And then obviously the kidnapping, I think it's good. I think it's good. I think it's good too. Okay. So that's like the last chapter. What would be like the epilogue? It would have to be something with her and her violin, but also, I don't know how he's going to be involved. What I mean? I don't. Yeah. The question is is she going to be inducted into the secret society or? She could be, she could be, or maybe the whole time when she's kidnapped they're talking about her goals and her dream is to play at whatever place, right? Yeah. And in the epilogue, That's what she's doing. Yeah, but I still want all the society people to be there and clapping for her, cause They could! They could go and support her. Or maybe by then she is part of the secret society. And then they go and support her because, and it's somehow made it's known that, like, when she sees them in the audience or something, she sees all her People. And she's like that's, those are her people now. Yeah, these are, this is like like my family.'cause we didn't talk about any of her family, so I think like she doesn't really have a big one. Exactly. Yeah. No, she wants a family. Like she wants to be accepted by like people. Yeah. And almost like the music was a replacement for that. Exactly. But it also was a cold replacement. Exactly. Yeah. And she's used to being alone and she, that's why she like, went full on with the music. Cause she's this can't disappoint me. Yeah. I like it. Music cannot walk out on you, but it's so much better when people she loves are in the audience. Exactly. Okay. What would it be called? Ooh. Oh, God. This is bad because I am terrible with my titles. Like I come up with, I don't even know how I come up with my titles, but I know I rarely come up with them before or even when I know, I guess when I write it I don't know. It would have to be something billionaire ish though. Yeah. Something music ish. But I, my brain was just like playing for a live and I'm like, no, that sounds like sports. What about secret notes? That would be nice, secret notes. With stuff on the cover, yeah. I like that. Secret notes. But it has to be clear on the cover that it's like, notes like music. Because you know how then it's like, people think they're writing notes to each other. Which they are not doing. The the thing on the board is a little bit notes like. It's not the same. Oh, that's true. Yeah that's true. That's true. In secret. Now it's a secret society. I think that's a good one. Okay. We'll go with that. And so my final question for you is, if listeners enjoyed Secret Notes, what is the first book of yours that they should read? I guess Half Truths. Yes. Because that's secret society and yeah, the girl is the billionaire in that one, but it's all like he's, it's, yeah, she's, it's like the mystery is there to be trail is there for sure. The suspense the drama. Yes, I love it. Okay, so we will put the. links to Half Truths in the show notes. So if you're listening, you can just click down onto your phone or wherever you're listening and read it. So thank you so much for joining us there. I had a good time. I like this story. I know me too. I love this. This is great. This is great because it, makes me actually be a little bit creative so I can actually write my own things now. It is so funny. It does get the juices flowing for me, which is really important because I always wanted a podcast, but even though I enjoy interviews because I like talking to people and just like finding out about them, I feel like drained and tired after. Whereas when I do these, I'm like it's the wheels are turning, right? Like I can just do something right after this, yeah. I think that it's really good for that for sure. I think this will be, this will be great for me for sure. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for listening to story time with Skye. I hope you enjoyed the story we crafted this week. Please subscribe so you don't miss a new episode and leave a review so that other listeners can find our show. We always put links for any books we discuss as well as books by the guest author in the show notes, so you can definitely find something new to read. And if you want to help choose our romance adventure, be sure to join our Facebook group Storytime with Skye. That's where we gather suggestions and poll our readers just like you to find out what our next story will be. Thank you for being part of the story. Welcome to the Story. It's Story Time With Skye. You can fall in cry. It's it's story time.