“Anytime,” Julian says with a half-smile before he puts the rest of his sandwich in his mouth.
The kids finish eating and immediately ask to watch more cartoons and I am happy to oblige. Having left Lake, Lucian attaches himself to Julian’s side. He sits between the two kids, his arms wrapped around both of them as they watch some show about kid mermaids and a huge talking fish that is apparently their teacher.
“See,” I whisper and elbow Lake in the side. “He’s not so bad.”
Lake gives me a smirk and wraps an arm around my shoulders. “Fine, I’ll admit it. He seems okay. He may look like a bad boy with all that ink, but he’s obviously a huge nerd.”
I wrap my arms around his torso and give him a tight squeeze. “I wish you weren’t going on another tour. I’ve missed you.”
“I miss you too, sister,” he says, kissing the top of my head.
The front door suddenly opens and in come Mom and Dad.
“Hello, hello!” Mom singsongs loudly. Lake and I both turn to see them come in and wipe their shoes on the rug which is more for looks that practicality considering the three hundred dollar price tag. “We got over here as soon as we could get clothes for the kids and all their stuff. Aw, you two will melt a mother’s heart.” Mom smiles when she sees Lake and I hugging.
I make up a look of mock disgust and step away from Lake, who folds his arms over his chest and turns away from me.
“Stop it you two,” Mom says as she puts the bags down on the table. “I saw you.” She winks at us.
“I see you wrangled up some extra help to keep the hooligans under control,” Dad says when he spots Julian on the couch with the kids. “And it looks like he’s pretty good at it too.”
Julian unwraps himself from the kids and stands to shake Dad’s hand.
“Julian Dohring,” he says with a wide smile.
“Robert McCain,” Dad says, smiling as well. Until he notices the extensive tattoos that cover Julian’s arms. “Nice to meet you.”
“Robin McCain,” Mom says, forgoing Julian’s extended hand for a full-fledged hug. He looks over her shoulder at me with a slightly surprised expression, but a smile none the less.
“It’s nice to meet all of Sage’s family today. Well, nearly,” Julian corrects himself. “I’m happy to hear that Kaylee is okay. And the twins.”
“Oh,” Mom says with a wave of her hand as she turns back to the bags on the counter. “It’s no surprise at all with those twins. Did Sage tell you that I was a midwife before I married Robert? I can’t tell you the drama that comes with twins.”
“I didn’t know,” Julian says as he drops his voice when Paisley shushes him. “I can imagine that would be some very intense work.”
“It was,” she says with a smile. “But not quite as intense as my work to come as a mother would be.”
“I’m sure,” he responds. Lucian starts demanding that Julian watch the show. Julian settles on the arm of the couch, looking between the TV and the adults.
“Sage, honey,” Mom says as she produces two sets of clean clothes from the bags. “Have the kids had a bath yet?”
“Uh,” I stammer. “I hadn’t even thought of that?” I say with a sheepish shrug of my shoulders.
“I didn’t think so since you’re still in pajamas yourself and I don’t think I’ve seen you in those since your senior year of high school,” she chuckles. “You did at least put some food in their stomachs, right?”
“Yes ma’am,” I say.
“Paisley, Lucian, come on, we’re going for a swim in Auntie Sage’s bathtub!” Mom says enthusiastically as she extends a hand toward them. They grumble and complain for a minute, but when she fixes them with her “look”, they jump up immediately. She heads off in the direction of my room with them in tow.
Julian clicks the TV off and I see him eying the clock.
“You need to get going, don’t you?” I say. I try to keep the disappointment from my voice, but I don’t succeed.
“I’m afraid so,” Julian says as he stands. “I’ve got a huge project I’m on a deadline for,” he explains for my father. “I’m in computers.” He gives the explanation to the question he knows will be asked.
“Well, it was nice to meet you,” Dad says, once again shaking Julian’s hand.
Julian meets my eyes and I can see it there. He wants to give me a kiss goodbye. Moment number five. But now is not the time with my dad standing right there and no detailed explanation for who he is and why he is here given.
“I’ll call you later,” he simply says.
“Bye,” I say quietly and watch as he heads for the front door.
Once again, I wonder how he got here and where he might have a car stashed. Maybe he walked.
“Sage!” Mom yells from the bathroom. I can hear the water gushing into the oversized tub. “How do you turn these fancy jets on?”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Mr. Maxwell wants to talk to you,” Gretch says over the speaker phone. I look up and see Gideon in his office looking at paperwork on his desk.
I drop everything I’m working on immediately and head across the hall. Mr. Maxwell always has classical music playing in his office, usually nearly as loud as his speakers can go. When he sees me enter the room, he graciously turns it down and tells me to have a seat.
“So, my assistant tells me the Canadian bank deal totally wrapped up Friday,” he says as he laces his fingers together and rests his hands on the desk.
“Yes, sir,” I say with a nod. “I got confirmation that their first deposits were made into our account this morning.”
“That’s fantastic,” he says with a nod as his eyes drift back down to the paperwork on his desk. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to resell them on a new product in about a year though.”
“Excuse me?” I ask, my brow furrowing.
“I have to apologize for the way I treated you the night of the banquet,” Mr. Maxwell says, his blue eyes meeting mine. The word ‘apologize’ came from his lips, but there is no genuine feelings of sorryness behind them. “I was harsh on you that night. Word started getting around about a new product we are procuring and I get a little panicky. No one is supposed to know about it yet.”
“So we do have a new product that is coming out?” I ask to clarify.
“We’re about to beta test it,” he continues. “For the last year, hackers have been going after the Blue Wall with fervor. We knew it was starting to be a dated technology. About three months ago, the inventor of the Blue Wall informed us that something to replace it was almost ready. Something hackers wouldn’t be able to touch, at least not for another five years.”
“Wow,” I say with a breath. “That’s…frankly, it’s hard to imagine working with anything else. The Blue Wall is what made this company.”
“And this new product is going to make us the only name in the account security world,” his eyes grow dark and excited at the same time. “Which is why I am sending you to China to meet with one of the largest companies in the world to pitch it for beta testing.”
“Sir, while this is an amazing opportunity, and I appreciate it, I don’t know anything about this new technology. How am I supposed to sell it?”
“You will only be in charge of getting them to sign the contract. I will have someone meet you there that will explain how the product works, and all its benefits and security measures.” Mr. Maxwell leans back in his chair and stretches to reach the volume knob for his speakers. He turns the music up. Loud.
He then leans forward, indicating for me to come closer. I lean in.
“I want to impress upon you the significance of this deal. If you close this, we are talking billions, very quickly. If you can close this deal Sage, it will mean big things for your career.”
For a moment, my well-practiced exterior slips and my eyes widen.
Is he offering me the job I’ve been eying since I stepped foot in Digit Securities’ building for the first time?
?
??Yes sir,” I say as I settle back into my chair and he turns the music down. “When do you need me to leave?”
“A week from tomorrow,” he says.
Over the next three days, Gretchen and I do research. The company we are trying to sign is Ling Enterprises. They are an umbrella company that owns many operations, everything from retail, to real estate, to manufacturing. Their profits are in the trillions every year and they are one of the richest companies in the world.
I will be meeting with their COO and CEO. Both of them speak English quite well, but there will also be a translator there to communicate with their board members who do not.
Often before a big sales meeting, I get nervous. Every time I sign a new client it means millions of dollars. Every time I don’t sign a client, not that it has happened more than half a dozen times, it means we don’t get millions of dollars.
But this is a whole different ball game.
And I am trying to pitch a technology I know nothing about. And the company isn’t telling me anything about it yet.
I’ve never had to rely on anyone else to sell a client. And I don’t like this.
I imagine who this person is that’s going to be explaining the tech to the client and I keep picturing two different people. A girl with greasy hair and grungy geek clothes, or an older man who wears huge, square glasses and carries a calculator in his front breast pocket.
It’s terrible and I’m stereotyping, but I can’t help it.
Part of the reason I am so successful is the way I present myself. I am generally pretty, I’m level headed enough to admit that. I dress for success. I make myself look nice, but not too intimidating. I know how to sound confident and put people at ease when I want to.
I have no control over someone else in this type of situation.
So no matter how much preparation Gretchen and I put into this, it will never be enough to cover every circumstance.
Some of the mystery that has been going in the last few weeks starts to clear up. Mr. Maxwell must have been talking to the shareholders at that secret meeting about the new tech. Maybe Gideon suspected it was Corbin who said too much about it too early. He had ripped him a new one after the meeting.
I didn’t know, and it didn’t really matter.
I skip ballroom and text messages between Julian and I are few and far between. By the time it is Thursday evening I am so stressed out, I only want to rent a mindless movie and let my brain transform into mush.
I’ve just changed into pajamas and popped the DVD into the player in my room when my cell rings. I grab it from the nightstand and see a name I haven’t read in quite some time.
“Becky?” I answer excitedly. “I haven’t heard from you in forever!”
“I know!” she says and I can hear the smile on her face through the phone. “Life tends to get in the way, right?”
I’m about to say something affirmative back when she rushes on.
“So, I have this little surprise this weekend if you’re up for it. Since we’re both still single, I thought maybe we could both wrangle up some guys and go on a double this weekend?”
“What kind of surprise?” I ask warily. Becky is one of my best friends from high school. She talks too much, wears too much makeup and tends to wear cheap clothes that she thinks look nice, but she’s still a sweet person. She was one of the few people who tried to understand why I changed so much when I did.
“I promise it will be fun,” she says. “What kind of surprise would it be if I told you what it was?”
“I can’t be out late that night though, I have to fly out Sunday morning,” I clarify.
“Is midnight too late?” she asks.
I contemplate it for a moment. Yes, midnight will be too late, considering my flight leaves at ten and I don’t want to have to rush things in the morning. But after the nightmare this week has been, a little fun could be good for me.
“You said bring a date, right?”
“Don’t show up without one!”
I ask her what to wear and get a time from her. We say our goodbye’s and hang up. I click into my messages and text Julian.
Feel like going on an awkward double with an old friend of mine from high school Saturday? I type.
Wouldn’t miss it, he replies. Attire?
She said dress to impress.
My favorite. I’ll meet you at your place.
Can’t wait.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I don’t have time to go shopping for a new dress, so I end up choosing one I wore for a charity auction Digit attended last year. It is sleek and simple black with a plunging line in the back that exposes almost my entire spine. I curl my hair and secure it to one side, letting the waves cascade over my left shoulder. A set of violet pumps completes the outfit.
Just as I finish getting ready, there’s a knock at the door and I can’t prevent the smile that spreads on my face. I walk to the door and open it.
Julian is wearing a suit that had to have been tailored to fit him specifically. I heard once that a tailored suit is to women what lingerie is to men, and only now do I realize the truth behind that statement.
I’m having trouble remembering why exactly it is that I haven’t seen this man naked yet.
“Are you going to invite me in or are you just going to stand there stripping me down with your eyes all night?” Julian says with a coy smile.
“I think you’re perfectly fine just where you are right now,” I say, no shame as my eyes run up and down him.
Moment number six doesn’t get much of a chance to develop.
Because just then, I see Becky pull up in a Ford Explorer. She honks twice and waves enthusiastically. Some guy is sitting in the passenger seat, texting on a cell phone.
“This is probably going to be horrid,” I warn him in a low voice as we walk out the front door and I set the security system. “And I still have no idea what she has planned tonight.”
“Gosh,” Julian says as he adjusts his tie. I recognize it as one he bought in Toronto. “I feel like I’m headed off to the prom or something.”
I chuckle and Julian holds a door open for me. Holding up my dress, I slide in.
“Sage, as always, you look amazing and I feel like a schlub,” Becky says, her voice ever excited.
“Nonsense, you look fantastic,” I say with a smile. And she does. Her deep brunette hair is twisted up elegantly and compliments her deep burgundy dress.
“This is Trent, by the way. We go to the same coffee shop, we went out last week, and I asked him to come with me tonight,” she says as she starts down the road.
“Hey,” he says with a small smile and a wave from the front seat. The expression on his face makes me think he’s not exactly thrilled to be here tonight. But Becky and her enthusiasm and good looks are hard to deny.
“This is Julian,” I say. I feel as if I am constantly introducing him lately. “He’s my…” Which becomes uncomfortable when I’m not exactly sure what to call him.
“I’m hoping to be called boyfriend someday, but for now I’m okay with the awkward dot, dot, dot,” Julian says, and he sounds completely unbothered by what might normally be a tense situation.
“Oh gosh,” I say, covering my face so no one can see the blush.
“Sage McCain!” Becky squeals, looking over her shoulder at me. “A gorgeous man like that and you haven’t claimed him yet? What is wrong with you?!”
“Well,” I struggle to come up with something witty and defensive so no one knows how flustered I feel. “I’ve had to run him past the seven gates of family and friend hell first. We’re nearly through it, so I’ll update you on the status when the test is finished.”
Becky laughs and shakes her head. “That’s Sage for you.”
She then launches into some story that really doesn’t require anyone’s full attention. Instead I look down at my hand and smile when Julian slides his fingers through mine.
I’m totally confused by the time we get off the
freeway in Woodinville. Both our parents still live in the city, but considering how we’re dressed, I know it isn’t either of our childhood homes we are headed to.
But it suddenly becomes very clear when we pull into the parking lot of our old high school.
I swear and Julian gets a concerned look on his face. “Becky, what are we doing here?”
She gives me a look like she knows she’s been caught and fully expected how unhappy I would be. “Look, I know the last semester of high school was not the greatest for you, but all our friends have been asking about you. Everyone really wants to see you. It’s been ten years, Sage. Just look at you now. You’ve moved on.”
My body has locked up and my hands have broken into a cold sweat. My eyes are frozen on Becky’s face.
“You okay?” Julian says in a low voice.
Finally, I blink. I take a small breath, and then another normal one. “Yeah,” I say. I will not show this side of myself to Julian. Get a grip on yourself, Sage. “Yeah. Fine. Let’s go in.”
Becky still looks like a child who’s been caught getting into her mother’s makeup, but she gives an enthusiastic nod and we all climb out of the car. This time I reach for Julian’s hand and hold it so tight I have to be hurting him.
There’s a gigantic banner hanging above the door welcoming us all to our ten year high school reunion.
“I thought you didn’t turn twenty-eight until the fall?” Julian asks as we walk through the doors. “Shouldn’t your ten year be next year?”
“I skipped fourth grade,” I say, trying to make it appear like I’m taking normal breaths and not hyperventilating.
“Smart and beautiful,” he says. I don’t realize I’ve stopped to one side of the hall until Julian is standing in front of me. He brushes his fingers over my cheeks and studies my eyes. “You can tell me right now: do you want to show these people how strong and amazing you are, or do you want to forget about them and leave? There is no shame in going.”
For that moment, all the things I’d rather not be facing right now fade into the background and all there is is Julian standing in front of me. He’s seen those cracks in my great wall of Sage and knows those walls are made of painted Styrofoam in places instead of concrete, but has still called me strong.