Blue Satin

Classic Cars, Classic Men

I spent the afternoon reading books in Sage's library just to avoid too much conversation. He was in and out, at his desk or somewhere else in the house, and on the phone. I felt like asking him what his profession was but I was afraid it would trigger the conversation. He wasn't a very chatty man and I didn't really feel like talking to him. Mostly because I was still under the shock of what had happened and it was something out of my comfort zone. I got to know that my mother gave him both mine and her phone number in case there was some emergency. That's when I decided to phone her and tell her how I would spend the day sketching Sage's garden, and if she needed anything to call there as I had forgotten my phone at home. As for my brother, I wasn't sure what to tell him. Perhaps that I locked myself out once again...

"Let's go out for dinner." Sage broke the silence while he grabbed a pile of papers and hit them against the table a couple of times in order to line them up.

I smiled with irony' "This is a small town, what will people say when they see us together?" It was more of a rhetorical question. I was laying on that same sofa where I slept earlier.

"I thought you were different than rest of the people in this town, including your family." He remarked with a dose of disappointment in his voice.

"What do you mean?" Since we started talking I didn't shift my eyes from the book, but I felt his eyes on me.

"Everyone here is obsessed with what's right and proper, and everyone here puts their noses in everyone's business. But you gave me the impression that you didn't care about any of those things." I stopped reading for a second and held my glance slightly above my book. What he said made sense. I never cared about what people gossiped about or what they gossiped about me, if they did. My family thinks well of Sage and if they found out we went somewhere for a dinner, they would probably think we did it because I spent the day painting and he wanted to reward me, or they would think something else, but surely not that it was for some inappropriate reason.

"You're right. Let's go." I said calmly and he leaned back.

"What could we eat?" Usually I didn't like the idea of people paying things for me, but since he messed with my brain since last night and forced me to stay here, I wanted the food that I felt like eating, so I thought about it.

"Chinese." It was more of an answer than a suggestion.

"Okay, let's go." He replied and got off his chair. My outfit was nice but having no underwear made me very uncomfortable. Sage wore casual clothes too, black jeans and a white t-shirt.

-

"I love classic cars." We were in Sage's garage and I said it as I approached his car, stroking it with my fingers. It was 1969 Ferrari dino 246 gt in black. He stood near the door and looked at me smiling.

"And classic men." He added amused. I rolled my eyes with a tiny smile on my face.

He walked up to me and opened the passenger door so I would go in. I like those little gestures, I always notice them. He sat next to me and started the engine. As we drove through the little streets in our town, I opened the window placing my arms on it and leaning my chin. I enjoyed the landscape adorned with colourful houses of which the yards were filled with newborn flowers. I loved how spring brought life with it.

We entered a very casual Chinese restaurant and sat at a table which was in the corner. The restaurant wasn't particularly fancy, it had some traditional Chinese ornaments here and there. The waiter gave us each a menu and asked if we wanted any drinks. I got cola and he got sparkling water. We went through the menu and decided to order a meal for two which consisted out of different Chinese food. I leaned back on my chair while Sage removed his black coat. The waiter returned with our drinks almost immediately and I started stirring my coke with the straw. I stared at it in silence while waiting for Sage to start a conversation. As I expected, he did.

"So how are you and your little boyfriend doing?" I shifted my glance from the glass to his face and raised an eyebrow.

"How's that any of your business?" I asked coldly, not liking being reminded of Stefan. To be honest, I didn't give much thought to the whole situation because I was distracted by Sage, but at the same time I didn't want to think about it.

"I'd like to know whether I'm dealing with a cheating girl or a single girl." He said calmly. I looked him in the eye and replied immediately because the idea of cheating on someone disgusted me. I wanted to make it clear that I didn't have a boyfriend I was cheating on.

"A single girl." He was clearly pleased with my answer. He took a sip of his sparkling water and I drank some of my coke.

"So you broke up last night, huh?" He continued.

"I don't want to talk about it." I answered.

"Why, he got your feeling hurt?" He insisted.

"There were no feelings." I said calmly. He stared at me with curiosity for about a minute but then our food arrived and stopped him, thankfully.

We didn't talk much while we ate and we left right after we finished. He opened the door for me once again, and I sat in while my stomach wanted to explode. He turned on the car and began driving in silence, passing through the same streets through which we passed when we were coming. I got to admire the landscape on the opposite side. None of us said a word but Sage placed his right hand on my thigh. At first I hesitated and thought of removing it but his grip felt good, so I decided to relax and leave it there. It was probably a wrong decision but that little gesture made me feel safe and desired. For a second it made me imagine how it would be if we were together, however I thought it impossible so I stopped myself from thinking about it.

When we arrived to Sage's house, the light in my living room was on and I assumed Lorenzo came back home. My assumptions were confirmed once I spotted his black bike leaning against the house and scratching the facade. Grandpa always complained about it... Sage seemed to have realised it himself and I saw annoyance cross his face.

"Well I guess I'm sleeping at home after all." I said smilingly. Sage groaned and I was slightly surprised that he allowed me to see how irritated he was that I wasn't staying over.

"Thanks for everything and goodnight." I said as I reached for the door handle. When I was about to exit he pulled my arm.

"Pet..." He called me.

"Yes?" I turned to face him again.

"I want you in bed by 10." I was annoyed that he wanted to control my sleeping schedule, but I just nodded and said, "Okay sir." With that I left.

My brother opened the door. I was more than lucky that he started a conversation right away instead of realising that I didn't have my house keys with me. I didn't feel like lying. We spent some time in the living room and he was eating ice cream. I told him about my day at Sage's obviously leaving out all the dirty bits. I didn't mention Stefan. Eventually the conversation came to an end and I went upstairs.

I painted for a while and completely ignored what Sage commanded me. It was probably around 11pm already when my phone rang. I saw an unknown number and thought it was someone from school or my parents calling from someone else's phone, but when I picked up the cold voice on the other side made me shiver.

"Young lady..." Sage growled from the other side.

"Yes?" I murmured, almost whispering.

"Switch off the light in that pretty little attic, and go to bed... Now!" He raised his tone while saying the last word and I panicked. I cut the call and immediately switched off the light then headed for my bedroom. It's only when I was calm in bed that I realised that I've obeyed him once again...

I've already written so many chapters and feel very inspired for this story! I let a week pass till I updated this chapter so that there would be more readers. I would love to interact more with you rather than just publish the whole story. For this reason I will be updating every five instead of every three days. Please vote, comment, share with friends! Xo