27. Learn That Lesson

They'd made good time and were checking into their hotel on Staten Island a little after four.

They got their keycard and went to their room and dropped their bags on the bed.

"This is nice," he said. "I didn't think they'd have a little kitchen area."

"It wasn't planned," she said. "I just picked a hotel and booked it from what was available. But at least we can get coffee in the morning without leaving the room. They do have a continental breakfast downstairs if we want it."

"I'm more interested in dinner," he said.

He wasn't sure how he'd feel coming back to Staten Island after so many years.

That first year while he visited had been rough. He hadn't contacted any of his friends knowing they'd moved on. They probably wouldn't even remember him. It's not like he was close to anyone.

He just sat in his old childhood bedroom and watched TV or played video games. His father hadn't offered for them to go out and do much even though his father had the same holiday break off.

The following summer his father had moved to New Haven and Knox didn't spend as much time there due to the move and getting settled. That summer had been torture staying with his mother and all the fighting that went on with Zach.

"I know a couple of places. It's early enough that I don't think it'd be that busy," she said.

"Let's go," he said. "I remember the way to streets but not places."

"Having any horrible flashbacks?" she asked. "I should have thought of that and sorry I didn't."

"First off," he said, squinting one eye at her, "it's life. And second of all, I'm not going to say I'll never go somewhere again because there were bad memories. It's not Staten Island's problem that my parents had a shitty marriage."

"Good point," she said, laughing.

"What about you? Do you miss this?"

"No," she said. "Is that horrible of me to say?"

"Not at all," he said.

"I miss my family, but even when I lived here I didn't see them much. I was in the City half the time or spending time in the car and traveling back and forth. I can't tell you how nice it is to get to work in ten minutes rather than over an hour, on a good day."

"Did you drive over the bridge and get the subway in the rest of the way?"

"Yes. Parking was an issue where I worked so even if I wanted to drive, I'd be parking far enough away I'd have to get a lift there one way or another. Might as well take the subway in and walk the rest of the way."

He did a little shiver. "I don't miss any of that either."

It's not as if they'd gone into the City often when he lived here. His father had been a professor at Wagner right on the island. His mother had worked for a business not that far away. He couldn't even remember what she did back then or did now. She worked in an office and might be some office manager or something.

He didn't care. She supported herself or found men to help out.

"I have to admit it's nice driving in calmer areas with less traffic. There isn't as much around to do, but I don't miss that either," she said.

They climbed into her SUV and she told him where to go.

It wasn't long to get to the restaurant and park.

"At least it's not going to snow for the next several days," he said. "I'm glad a lot of the snow is gone too."

"Let's hope we don't get another one of those storms for a long time. It's only every few years, but this was the year of it."

He held the door open. "I've only had my generator switch on a few times since I've lived there. Or if it does it during the day I have no idea. But I'm glad I thought to put it in."

It was something his father talked about but never did. Not that Knox cared if he was inconvenienced by no power, but the older he got the more comfortable he wanted to be.

Going twelve hours with no power would have made the house cold and much more boring with two twenty-year-olds there. If it was just he and Sage they could have cuddled up in bed during that time, but no way they'd do that with houseguests.

"Sage, is that you?"

Sage turned her head from where she'd been looking at him. "Brit? No way. What are you doing here?"

He knew the name. The one who said shitty words so he'd hear and think poorly of Sage.

"My parents bought this restaurant two years ago. I manage it now," Brit said. "And who is this?"

Sage grinned and winked at him. "Remember Knox Bradford back in eighth grade?"

Brit frowned and then laughed. "Oh yeah, that short nerdy kid that had a crush on you. What a dork."

"Well, now I'm the one who has a crush on Knox," Sage said, then turned to him. "Knox, do you remember Brit?"

Brit's mouth opened and closed. "No way. You're not Knox."

"He is," Sage said. "I moved to Mystic back in the spring for work. He's got his own business there and we just ran into each other."

Brit was looking back and forth between them. "Wow. What do you know? You turned out better than I thought you would."

"Gee," he said sarcastically. "Thanks for that."

"I'm just kidding," Brit said. "We were all at an awkward age back then. You know what it's like."

"Yeah," he said. "It's what kids do. Talk crap about each other. Can we get a table?"

"Sure," Brit said, getting quiet. "Sorry about back then. I guess maybe I was more at fault than others."

He shrugged. No reason to agree or disagree.

All he wanted to do was get his dinner and put this petty shit behind him.

When they were seated, he said, "Did you know her family owned this restaurant?"

"God no," she said. "This is the last place I would have gone if I'd known that. I remember her father was a chef or something back then. I haven't talked to her or had any contact since graduation. I had no clue she was back in the area. I'm sure if we didn't run into each other, I'd never know. Are you okay with the way I introduced you? I mean I don't know if I just said your name if she would have caught on and now I'm wondering why I even care."

"She would have at some point," he said. "It's fine. There is a part of me that found it funny."

"And part that maybe it was embarrassing. I don't normally do things like that, but I guess I wanted her to see that the crappy things she said back then didn't mean it was the truth today. We all should learn that lesson."

"It's all good. She apologized in her way."

"But didn't mean it and you know that," Sage said. "I'm thinking I shouldn't have done what I did."

"Don't worry about it."

He didn't want her to feel bad.

Deep down he knew her intentions weren't mean.

"I still feel bad. This is horrible, but I wanted her to see that I got this hot successful guy and then when she found out who it was, it'd be this double twist of the knife for her. That is petty on my part."

He smiled. "You did get me. Not sure hot is the word anyone would use."

"Please," she said, waving her hand. "I've told you enough."

"If that is how you see me, that is all I care about."

"Good," she said. "It is how I see you." Her eyes were moving up and down his chest and to his face. "But that isn't all I see either. I see this awesome guy who is finally letting others see it too. Sometimes I wonder if this is all real or not."

"You're not alone there. I got the hot popular chick."

"I wasn't that hot or popular back then. I just hung out with the right people, but that doesn't mean they were my friends. As you witnessed. I always thought most of my life I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. For once, I was in the right place at the right time when you knocked on Poppy's door."

"That is a good way to think about it," he said. "But why did you feel that way before?"

He wondered if he'd get a bit more background on her. More than bits and pieces.

He even had some hope that spending two days with her family would knock some of those cobwebs loose about her ex or her job.

She always said just enough about things.

"Just things like that back in the day. Someone would say something and I'd be caught in the crossfire. It happened more than once. Even in my job, I'd be in the room when shit was happening and then my name would get dragged down with it. Most times I was only sitting in a meeting listening like other people."

"Did that happen when you got your promotion?" he asked.

She sighed. "Yeah. I told you about the one mistake. It was nothing. I sent out an ad with a typo in it. Right before they started printing, I caught it and called to get it stopped. It resulted in a one-day delay for the setup to be fixed, but we got everything in time. I always gave myself time as a buffer. I hadn't even told anyone about it. Why? Nothing came about it."

"Then how did they find out?" he asked.

"Because someone else who was having things printed at the same place was chatting with the same rep I used and that rep jokingly asked if things were set and explained what happened with me."

"Which was wrong of that person to do," he said. He was feeling angry for her.

"Yeah. It's not like I'm the only one that ever did that. The only business either. I wanted to call that rep and blast her. Or even her boss. But I didn't. It would make me no better of a person. We all make mistakes."

He could understand that. "That person had no way of knowing how it'd turn out."

"That's right. And nothing should have been a big deal. But everyone there is petty. So my coworker told another and then another. It turned into I wasn't qualified for the job and should have never gotten it. The funny part is, that was the kind of work I was doing before the promotion. It's not like it was a new responsibility I couldn't handle. It was a typo."

"You're better off where you are now," he said.

"I am. The sisters wouldn't be that way if I made that mistake. Unless the typo was a price issue, but trust me when I tell you that I go over everything multiple times. I never send out any newsletter or flier or print a thing now until I'm positive it's fine. I even have Ivy look it over. At first I hated to ask her, but she loved I included her. Sometimes she has really good ideas and I love that she tells me she is learning from me."

"That's great," he said. "It's how you approach it."

"It is. I learn from her too. She has a good eye for things and we work well together. We just do different jobs, but when it comes down to it, it's teamwork and wanting the same results in the end. Just like a relationship."

"How is that?" he asked.

"If we want the same thing then when one of us makes a mistake the other is understanding and maybe forgiving. Like me saying what I did to Brit earlier. I hope you forgive me."

He smiled. "I do. But there is nothing to forgive. You had no ill intent."

"Maybe I did," she said. "A little of the mean girl thing. Not that I was a mean girl, or didn't think I was. But it was about redemption. For you and a little for me. That's wrong on my part. That's where the ill intent was."

"We are all entitled to feel those things, Sage. Don't beat yourself up over it. I'm reminding myself that life can change at any moment that is beyond our control. I'm not going to sweat the small stuff."

"I don't deserve you," she said quietly.

"Maybe we deserve each other and should think of it that way more."

She smiled and nodded her head.