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I smile at her response and drop my phone on my bed to finish getting dressed before walking over to Good Eats.
I couldn’t get rid of this smile if I wanted to. I have a great feeling about this plan. I’m finally going to be able to accomplish my dream. Starting this organization will provide more than just a career for me. I’m not doing it for the money.
I walk into the diner and grab a table while I wait for Sage to arrive.
“Hey, man.”
I look up at the person who’s standing by my table and smile as I get up to greet Derek, a friend from high school I haven’t seen for years.
“You’re back from traveling the world?” He smiles.
“Yeah, for a little while.”
“That’s great. Matt mentioned he saw you over the holidays, but I hadn’t realized you were back for good. We should get together some time.”
“Sounds great.” It would be nice to reconnect with my friends.
My eyes find Sage as she enters the diner, and I smile. Derek notices and checks behind him, and then he looks back at me with raised eyebrows.
“Date?”
“Yup,” I chuckle.
Sage approaches us with a tentative smile. “Hey.”
“Hey,” I wrap an arm around her, playing the part. She tenses briefly, but I shake it off and focus on Derek.
“This is Derek, a friend from high school.”
“Hi, I’m Sage.” She smiles at him.
“Nice to meet you. I’ll let you two enjoy breakfast. I’m glad we ran into each other.” He shakes my hand and smiles at Sage.
I pull out a chair for her and then take my own seat.
“How are you?” I keep my eyes on her. I’m sure some people are looking at us, curious about our connection.
“Good, and you?” She unwraps her utensils from the napkin and places them on the paper placemat.
“Good. My dad wrote to me like I mentioned last night. I was surprised, to be honest.” I shake my head.
“That’s good, though, right?”
“It’s excellent. The only bad thing is we’ll have to endure dinner with them.” I frown.
“It won’t be that bad. They seem like okay people.” Her face morphs with confusion.
I lean back and laugh. Running a hand through my hair, I quiet myself and look at her.
“They’re . . . okay.”
How do I explain them to her without sounding like a jerk?
“My parents are . . . special. We’ll call them that for now.”
“I guess I can see that with the way they’re manipulating you.” She leans forward on her elbows.
“They care too much about what others think, about maintaining their place in the social hierarchy. It’s a lifestyle that I detest. It makes them think of people as things that can be manipulated for their purposes like they’re doing to me. It’s been hard for Hudson and Lex. They don’t like her, still think she isn’t good enough.”
