Page 46 of Right Where You Left Me
The two of them exchange more polite small talk while we grab a table by the front window of the diner and I watch warily, hoping that this all goes smoothly. I’m such an idiot, of course she’s upset. I cut her off so easily for akissand here I am parading my ex-husband in front of her.Shit shit shit.I’ll apologize as soon as we get back to her apartment. I’ll show her that she has nothing to worry about.
Our waiter comes by, smiling with familiarity at Sage and me, to grab our order. I get my usual breakfast plate, Liam a burger, and Sage orders a salad that she just stares at while pushing the lettuce around with her fork.
“How’s the patisserie doing?” I ask Liam, gently bumping my knee into Sage’s. She gives me a weak smile, but pushes her knee harder against mine.
“Good, good.” He says around a mouthful of food. “Oh!” He says, snapping his fingers in my direction. “I forgot to tell you. The other day Harris burned an entire tray of madeleines.” He gives me a smug smile and I groan into my hands.
“Did he have to make more?” Sage asks blandly. “Sucks for him, I guess.”
Liam waves a hand, “Sure, but I told him it was because Emma left behind her curse.”
“Liam.” I snap, my cheeks growing hot.
He cackles, his eyes sparkling with mirth. “Emma has never successfully made madeleines. Ever. Burns them to a crisp every single time.”
“Noteverytime.” I grumble under my breath.
“I find it hard to believe you’re bad at baking something.” Sage says quietly, just to me, and it warms me up.
“Thanks, babe.” I murmur, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.
“Well, how did poor Harris handle your stupid joke?” I ask Liam.
“I watched him order a bunch of incense online, tocleanseyour negative madeleine aura out of the space.”
“Oh, lord.” I laugh. “He sounds like my mother.”
Liam smiles. “No one is like your mother. She’s one of a kind.”
“Isn’t that the truth.” I say, clinking my glass of water against his.
“I’m excited to see her, it’s been a while.” He says, his eyes warm as he reaches across to pat my hand. Sage stiffens beside me and I try to reassure her by pressing into her side more, but she doesn’t seem to pick up on it. It’s fine, I’ll just make sure she’s okay when we leave and we can talk just the two of us.
Liam and I fall into our comfortable banter, our inside jokes that I try to include Sage in, the vibe we naturally fall into after having been together for so long. And through it all I can see Sage forcing a smile and faking laughs when appropriate. She’s tense and I hate it. I feel so fucking bad.
“I’m so glad I could come see you.” Liam says, wiping his mouth with a napkin. Our lunch having long since been eaten, the easy conversation having us lose track of time.
“Me too.” I say softly. “If you’re ready we’ll lead you to my mom’s house and then I’ll come back for you to bring you to Sage’s place for dinner. Let you get some alone time, I know how you need to prep for social gatherings.”
“Don’t know why he can’t just use his phone’s GPS.” Sage mutters to herself, but Liam doesn’t seem to hear her.
“Sounds perfect, Em.”
“Perfect.” Sage echoes.
Liam follows behind my car for the short drive to my mom’s house. I park and tell Sage I’ll be quick. She dips her head in response. My chest feels tight, but I can’t let Liam just go inalone to face my mother. I sigh and show him in. My mom gushes over him and tells me not to worry, she has the guest room all set up for him and that she’ll keep him company until I come back to get him. He stares at me wide eyed and I grimace. He’ll be fine though. “Alright, see you in a few hours!” I call out, walking out the front door and book it back to my car.
The drive to Sage’s apartment is uncomfortably silent. I try and fail a few times to say anything to her, but words get stuck in my throat. It can wait until we’re tucked into her room anyway.
She unlocks her front door when we get there and drops her keys on the coffee table. The silence around us is deafening. The tension grows each second she’s staring ahead and not at me.
“Sage?” I ask softly.
“You guys are really cute.” She says stiffly, robotically. “I can see why you got married.”
“Stop it.” I say. “Don’t start this right now, please.”
She shrugs. “I’m just saying, it makes sense. Ya know? You guys have chemistry. I felt like I was crashing a date.”
