Page 102 of Searching for Sadie
"Tricia, this is Lucas."
"It's nice to meet you," she said with an easy smile.
Now everyone was here and surface level nice, it would be an enjoyable dinner. Only Sadie found herself not wanting to keep it surface level, but that just wasn't the way things worked in her family. They all just smiled and nodded at each other and went about their lives never addressing any hurt or discomfort. Sadie was just over it.
"How is work?" Sadie asked her.
"It's going well. We were finishing up a studio session, that's why I'm late."
Sadie just nodded.
"Sadie, tell us about the show. How are things going?"
"It sucks. It was the worst mistake I ever made. But at least something good came out of it," she said looking up at Lucas who just squeezed her hand and smiled back adoringly.
"So, when are you moving back?" her father asked. "We've missed you, and now that the show is over, we’re excited to have you home."
"Oh ummm... I think I might stay in Mystic Falls."
Lucas's brows creased as he watched her squirm in her seat.
"Why button? We miss you."
Thankfully the waiter came and took their order and gave Sadie a moment to catch her breath. She had been all set to say what she meant when it came to her sister, but her parentswere another story completely. They loved her. She knew that. But they never understood her. Truly understanding someone is messy and full of contradictions and they just couldn't abide mess and contradiction.
After the waiter left Sadie tried to steer the topics back to more neutral territory.
"How's work dad? Any fun new clients?” Her dad was a financial advisor and in Nashville he'd had a few famous singers on his roster.
A deep chuckle rumbled from deep inside of him, "You know I can't tell you that. But I will say it's been a Rodeo," he said with a wink.
"Denver Green? Really?" Sadie perked up. He was a hot new rising country star.
"Dad, where is your client loyalty?" Tricia said.
"Oh, it's fine. It's just family."
"Well, I would never break the trust of our clients," she said. "And it's not just family," she said, shooting Lucas a glare.
Sadie was fuming. Her sister had taken her job when she was at her lowest and now that she was actually happy, she was still trying to keep her down. Well, fuck that.
"Don't act all holier than thou. You stole my job in a field you know nothing about. I know you’re not an assistant producer. You are an assistant period. You get coffee, you don't make music."
"Sadie, I didn't raise you to think that workers were beneath you," her mother warned.
Sadie huffed and turned to her mother. "There is nothing wrong with being an assistant and getting coffee. But I'm not going to sit here and listen to her tell me about ethics in my dream field that she took away from me."
"You took it away from yourself by embarrassing us all on that awful show."
"Embarrassing myself?! Screw you, Tricia."
She gasped, and something about it spurred Sadie on. "Oh stop. You did this. Well, it doesn't matter. I'm going to make music anyway."
"Oh yeah, I'm sure Mystic Falls is just full of music opportunities."
"You have no idea. At least I have talent," Sadie shot back.
"That's enough," her father stated.
