Samantha squatted before the bathroom door, holding the mangled coat hanger steady in her hand. She inserted the flattened spoke of metal into the lock and worked it around, waiting for the click that would open the door. Nothing happened. She tried again with a similar result.
She glanced over at the bed, where Joseph still slept. She imagined the look on his face when he awoke to discover she could get them into the bank without any complicated drilling or breaking a window. She would show him the popped lock and then he would embrace her and tell her how much he loved her again.
She inserted the deformed hanger into the lock and tried again. The stupid lock still wouldn't open. She threw down the hanger in disgust. She knew she could do this; she knew once upon a time she had done this. Where and when she couldn't be sure, but she remembered the nerve-wracking anticipation in waiting for the lock to give, the vulnerable exposed feeling that someone would come by any second to stop her. Then came the giddy thrill of victory when the lock popped open and the door swung aside, defeated.
What am I doing wrong? she wondered. She held up her sleek, delicate fingers. These were not the long, knobby fingers that had opened those locks. Never before had she considered that in taking Joseph's potion to become beautiful she might have lost something important.
"Fingers are fingers," she said. It didn't matter if her hands were pretty or ugly, they could still open the lock. She needed only to concentrate harder, to see the door opening in her mind. I can do this, she told herself.
She took the hanger in her delicate fingers and then closed the eyes. She felt rather than saw the hanger as she guided it into the lock. The inner workings of the lock revealed themselves to her, whispering their secrets.
Then she heard the familiar click. The door creaked open at her touch. She opened her eyes to make certain. I did it! she thought. She ran towards the bed, leaping onto Joseph. He groaned, but she smothered any other sounds with her kiss. "Guess what?" she said when she pulled away from him. "I did it. I did it all by myself without any help at all."
"That's great, baby," he said. He sat up and looked around the room. "Did what?"
"I picked the bathroom door lock."
"You did? Why?"
"Because, silly, I wanted to practice for tonight." She took Joseph's hand and squeezed it. "I can get us into the bank. I know I can now."