From: Sage
What time can you get out today?
I glance at the clock. Three-thirty. Jim’s out of town. The office has that sleepy, half-checked-out Thursday energy.
I email her back.
Probably 3. Why?
Her reply comes fast.
Sage:
Good. Don’t make plans tonight.
I smile, already suspicious.
I’m packing up my desk when she calls—not my BlackBerry, my flip phone. Jim said Hr is starting to notice all the roaming and after hour calls and charges. And that I needed to start using my personal cell more.
“You’re not going to poker tonight,” she says, not asking.
I laugh. “That so?”
“Yes. Because instead, we’re going to the Cape.”
I stop mid-step. “The Cape. Like… now?”
“Like in two hours,” she says, pleased with herself. “Tony’s already in. Melissa too. Couple’s night on the boat.”
My brain scrambles to catch up. “Sage?—”
“I know,” she cuts in gently. “I know how much you miss it. The ocean. The salt. You get that look when you talk about summer like it’s oxygen.”
I lean against my desk, suddenly quiet.
“I talked to Beth,” she continues. “She said you could leave early today. She’s covering tomorrow and Friday. Don’t worry—I checked.”
I exhale, stunned. “You— planned all this?”
She softens. “I’ve been selfish lately. I know that. And I know summer is… your thing. Your fuel.”
I smile despite myself. “It’s like blood in my veins,” I admit.
“That,” she says quietly. “Exactly that.”
By the time we’re driving south, the windows are down and the air smells like salt again. Sage hums along to the radio, sunglasses perched on her nose, hair whipping in the wind like she belongs to this version of me.
“You’re ridiculous,” I tell her. “You know that?”
She grins. “You love it.”
We meet Tony and his girl at the marina. She’s sharp, funny, confident in a way that matches him perfectly. Tony gives me a look like I approve before clapping me on the shoulder.
“Five-star dinner in Sandwich,” he announces. “My card and Ethan’s are taking the hit.”
“I didn’t agree to that,” I say.
Tony grins. “You will.”
