Secrets

Connie arrives early at Whit's End hoping to discuss Mitch with Whit, but Mitch is already upstairs showing him a new Novacom program. Connie admits to Nick that the mysteries around Mitch's employer have made her question whether she should continue seeing him. She is considering ending the relationship before its difficulties become even more painful.

Mitch comes downstairs and asks to speak with her. He recognizes that his unexplained work and their troubled bowling date have created serious doubts, but he does not think difficulty is a reason to abandon something valuable. He considers their relationship worth the effort and asks Connie to choose to trust him until he can explain what is happening. Though still confused, she agrees to try one day at a time.

After Mitch leaves, Nick accidentally knocks over a briefcase he has forgotten. Among the scattered antacid tablets, papers, and scripts, they find a photograph of an attractive red-haired young woman sitting in a restaurant. A man's hand appears at the edge of the picture, and the photograph came in an envelope postmarked Chicago.

Connie tries not to snoop but immediately wonders why Mitch keeps the picture. Nick suggests it might show a former girlfriend who wants him back. The possibility changes Connie's attitude completely. Moments earlier she doubted whether Mitch was worth the trouble; now the thought that someone else may want him reminds her of his humor, kindness, leadership, pancakes, Scrabble skill, and green eyes. She decides that his secrets do not erase all the good she knows about him.

The unanswered photograph still troubles her. Since neither she nor Nick can identify the woman, they study the man's visible hand and consider whether it belongs to Mitch. Connie attempts a clumsy examination of his knuckles but learns nothing. Nick sensibly advises her to ask directly, yet she does not want Mitch to know they searched his briefcase.

Instead, Connie casually asks whether he dated anyone in Boston. Mitch mentions Justine, a sweet and compassionate red-haired woman who enjoyed tennis. Connie presses for details while pretending to make ordinary conversation. When Mitch describes the fun they had playing together, she becomes jealous despite repeatedly denying it.

Connie dyes her hair a color she calls raspberry chestnut and dresses for tennis, although her only experience is a fourth-grade table-tennis championship. Whit and Nick immediately recognize that she is trying to compete with the mystery woman. Connie insists that regular tennis cannot be very different and arranges to play with Mitch.

Her performance quickly reveals the truth. She struggles to hold the racket, send a ball over the net, or follow Mitch's instructions. When he tries to adjust her grip, she swings backward and strikes him in the face. A frozen pizza becomes the only available ice pack for his swollen nose.

Mitch asks why she has changed her hair and taken up a sport she does not enjoy. Connie finally admits that Justine inspired the effort. She believes the former girlfriend may be prettier, more compassionate, a better listener, and better at tennis, and she wants to prove that she can offer those qualities too.

Mitch assures her that he is not comparing them. Connie is his favorite person to spend time with, and he likes her as she is - especially when she is not swinging a tennis racket near his face. His sadness about Justine belongs to a past he is not ready to discuss, but he says Connie has no reason to be jealous.

When Connie mentions the photograph, Mitch assumes she means a group picture displayed on his refrigerator. He points out Justine among several old friends, and Connie realizes she is not the woman from the briefcase. The explanation resolves the imagined romantic rivalry but makes the original picture even more mysterious.

Back at Whit's End, Nick remarks that the unknown woman resembles a former neighbor's daughter who later went to jail. His comment triggers Connie's memory. She is certain the photograph shows the supposed telephone-company worker who secretly installed a modem in Whit's office. Whit knows the same woman participated in the intrusion and cannot explain why Mitch possesses her picture.

Connie has no time to confront Mitch privately because he is about to appear on her radio program, *Candid Conversations with Connie*. Their interview about Novacom's new shows becomes a tense debate about secrecy and trust. Mitch argues that some secrets protect people or give them time to reveal a difficult truth. Connie responds that being kept in the dark can itself cause pain and asks how she can trust someone she is no longer sure she knows.

Mitch asks her to judge the goodness of his heart even when the surrounding evidence looks troubling. Connie refuses to offer blind trust and demands one clear reason to keep risking her heart. Mitch finally reveals what he has not said before: “I think I'm falling in love with you, Connie.” Startled, Connie immediately ends the broadcast. Whether his confession changes her decision - or what other truths still stand behind it - remains unanswered.