38. A Gala Fit for the Stars

Sage

S tassi looked breathtaking as she walked down the hall and straight for her. When Stassi first tried on the dress, she was beautiful, but now, with her hair and makeup, it seemed to add to the exquisiteness that Stassi brought.

“How do I look?” Stassi asked, giving a twirl in front of Stage. Stage nodded, speechless. “Cat got your tongue?” she teased.

“Something like that,” Sage whispered. She moved in and Stassi kissed her, despite her makeup being freshly applied.

“You look beautiful,” Stassi said, parting.

Sage snickered. “I look like a dog, compared to you.”

Stassi quickly shook her head. “That’s not true. I am lucky to have you on my arm.” Stassi offered up her arm, and Sage willingly grabbed it.

She had been dreading the gala. She knew how excited Stassi would be, but they would be whisked in their two different worlds again and Sage wasn’t even sure how she was supposed to act. What food and drinks would be offered? Should they dance or would that not be proper etiquette? This was such a different place than what Sage was used to, and it was hard not to be intimidated.

They arrived at the hotel, where the gala was in a large ballroom. The parking lot was already packed full of people. Crowds were milling into the hotel from the parking lot, in large groups, making it easy to stand within the group.

Stassi and Sage’s arms never once swayed away from each other as they walked into the ballroom with the others. Sage produced their tickets to get in, and they were scanned right at the door and discarded into a box.

“Where do you want to sit?” Sage asked. The tables were already starting to fill, and Sage couldn’t see Lena or Marcus anywhere. At least not yet. She knew Lena’s date had to work late, and they would be arriving later, but Marcus said he couldn’t wait to get there and planned on picking up his boyfriend an hour earlier. Sage was confused because Marcus didn’t seem like the person who would be too engrossed in galas and black-tie affairs. But people could handle situations differently. But neither of them seemed to be around.

“At this table’s fine.” Sage held out the chair so Stassi could take her seat and then joined her in the seat beside her. “Do you see anyone we know?” Stassi asked, reflecting Sage’s thoughts. An orchestra played on the stage in the background as guests milled around and greeted one another.

“I see a few I know, but none that I am that close with. I know Lena and Marcus will want to sit with us. They mentioned it last week.”

Stassi nodded and looked around the ballroom. Then she pointed. “There’s Marcus.” She waved him over. He was dressed in a black suit with a white pinstripe, but he was alone.

Sage arched an eyebrow. “Where’s Trent?” she asked.

He rolled his eyes. “You mean the traitor? We won’t talk about him.” He slumped down in his chair. His cheeks were rosy, and when Sage stared at him, he eventually made eye contact. “He said he ‘wasn’t really in the mood for coming to this party.’” He did quotation marks and shrugged. “His sister is in town or some shit like that. I said, ‘whatever if that’s how he feels.’ I’ll just have a good time.”

“But you two are okay, right?” Sage asked. Marcus’ eyes diverted to the table, and he shrugged. “You can’t end things on a silly argument like that. There’s way too much importance to let something like that break you.”

He sighed. “It’s not even just that. We’re drifting apart. Our lives are too separate.” He sighed and looked between Stassi and Sage. “You two spend way more time together than I spend with Trent.”

Sage looked over to Stassi, and her cheeks were bright red. Sage reached across and took her hand, squeezing it lightly.

“It’s what you want to do when you’re in love,” Stassi commented.

He smirked and nodded. “At least you finally said it. Not that it’s a surprise to any one of us.” He motioned with his hand between the two of them. “But you both clearly want to be together, whereas I got the feeling that a relationship with Trent was more like a burden. It’s not worth it, in my opinion.” He put on a smile. “So, we ended things.” He shrugged. “But it is what it is. Life goes on.” Sage looked over to Stassi, who seemed to share the same questioning look. Marcus continued as he scanned the room, “I need a drink. Anything for you?”

“I’ll get something later,” Sage said.

“Same,” Stassi replied.

When Marcus walked away, Sage turned to Stassi. “So, what do you think?”

Stassi scrunched up her face. “I think he’s on a dangerous road full of bumps and curves. Ending things is one thing, but acting like it’s no big deal right after it happened is something else completely. I just hope he doesn’t do anything stupid.”

Sage had to agree. That was her biggest fear. Sage ran her fingers over Stassi’s. “On a brighter side, I was glad to hear you say ‘love.’ Out loud. In public.”

Stassi grinned. “I think tonight it would be impossible to hide it.”

As they continued to sit there, waiting for the rest of the group to arrive, the stage grew quiet, and there was a tap on the microphone. A woman in an evening gown and white fur draped over her shoulders stood at the microphone with some speech cards. “I want to welcome everyone to the first-ever fundraising gala for LA County Hospital.” There was a spattering of applause as people continued to come into the ballroom. “This turnout far exceeds what we considered possible. We sold a total of two thousand and twenty-two tickets, which sold us out, and for that, we are all grateful.” The woman paused. “And it just hit me that I didn’t introduce myself. My name is Bethany Gleason. I work at the headquarters for the four different hospitals. So, on behalf of myself and Martin Hewitt owner and CEO, we welcome you. The food will be out soon, and the open bar is available for all.”

Another round of applause sounded, and Sage glanced over to Stassi. “Mr. Hewitt couldn’t have come himself? Typical.” She rolled her eyes, and Stassi just simply nodded. Sage stood up, pushing herself away from the table. “I guess we should have gotten our drinks when Marcus took off. I can imagine the line is long. “What would you like?”

“I’ll take a champagne.” Sage took off and went to get in line. She was there for only ten minutes when she spotted Marcus headed in the opposite direction, drink in hand. He walked over and leaned in.

“Expect to give a tip for the bartender.” He smirked. “There isn’t one person leaving without tossing something in the cup up there.” He rolled his eyes. “So much for the free open bar.” He walked past her, and Sage reached for her wallet in her pocket. She opened it and found a one-dollar bill and then a few twenties.” She sighed and pulled out a twenty. Maybe that would be enough for the night.

It took her nearly thirty minutes to get to the front of the line, where she ordered two champagnes. She tossed in the twenty and waited for their drinks to be handed to them. She thanked him and turned away, heading back to the table. When she got back there, the food had already arrived.

“You better eat up,” Sage replied. “Your food will get cold.”

The situation was awkward to start with, and Sage wanted to think that things would ease themselves out throughout the night. Little did she know, it could only get worse.

Lena and Maya came rushing in an hour later after Sage and Stassi had just finished their meals. “It's good of you both to show up,” Sage teased.

Maya rolled her eyes. “If you knew the day I had, you would never tease. I worked late, then was just about to get here when we got a flat tire.” Maya made a face. “I thought we might have to walk so we could get some use out of our $70 tickets.”

“That’s stinks,” Sage remarked.

“I’ll go grab us a couple of drinks,” Maya said, looking to Lena. “I know we could both use them.”

Lena sat down and stared aimlessly across the table. “Exhausted,” she said. “I had to work this morning, and then the outfit I planned on wearing had a hole in it, so I had to find something else, and then, like Maya said, the rest of the day didn’t go quite as planned.

“But you’re here now,” Sage replied. “That’s what matters.”

Lena looked over to Marcus and frowned. “Where’s Trent.”

Marcus groaned. “Don’t ask. I’ve been through the story at least half a dozen times. I’m over it.”

Lena looked across the table. I’ll tell you later, Sage mouthed. Lena nodded and closed her eyes. “I could have slept the day away.”

Stassi slowly pulled her hand away from Sage’s. “I’m going to run and do a few things, talk to a few people, just mingle some. I’ll see you all in a bit.”

Sage watched as Stassi went out onto the floor and walked straight up to a man. She shook his hand, then started talking to him, laughing and exuberantly stating something. Sage couldn’t hear her, but there was either a connection there, or Stassi was just back in her element.

“What was that about?” Lena asked, turning her attention to Stassi.

Sage shrugged. She expected that the two of them would just spend the evening together, not allowing space to get between them. But when Stassi took off, it took Sage to a dark place. What was it that excited Stassi so much about socializing with people she barely knew? Sage recognized a couple of faces in the crowd as board members, but Stassi wouldn’t have known them. Or had any reason to converse with them.

Maya came back to the table, and both Lena and Maya quickly drank from their glasses of wine. “Hold up,” Marcus replied. “You’re going to get drunk before you’ve had the food.”

Lena laughed. “Wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Drown out this day, anyway.”

Sage smiled before turning back to watch Stassi. Stassi had wandered up to two more people. Sage frowned. Where was this coming from, and why was Stassi so eager to talk to everyone? She leaned back in her seat and just watched her. Maybe she didn’t know Stassi as well as she thought she did.

“Hey, Marcus.” Sage turned to the sound of the voice. Wyatt from HR was grinning from ear to ear as he looked at Marcus. As Marcus mentioned, he clearly had a crush. Now that Marcus had broken up with Trent, it seemed like Marcus was open to it.

“Hey, Wyatt. You look nice.” Wyatt’s cheeks flushed as he looked over Marcus and gave him an approving smile.

“Wanna dance?” Wyatt asked.

Sage stared between the two of them as Marcus got up and was escorted out to the floor by Wyatt. They began slow dancing, and Sage turned to Lena. “So, what the hell?” Lena asked.

Sage shook her head. “A minor disagreement, from what I can tell. Marcus says it’s over that they’ve drifted apart. Trent didn’t really want to be here. Blah blah blah.” Sage shrugged. “Who knows? It just seems like Marcus is jumping. He’s probably hurt, but he shouldn’t be doing something as drastic as dancing with another guy. Makes no sense.”

Sage turned to Stassi as those words looped around her mind. Nothing really made any sense, though. If Stassi preferred to socialize with the people that the union would fight against, then she wasn’t certain she knew who Stassi was. She sipped on her champagne, until the glass was empty, then pushed it to the side and continued to watch.

Two hours passed, and Stassi continued to mingle on the floor, like she was escaping Sage. Lena and Maya joined the dancers, and Wyatt showed Marcus his moves. Sage got up from the table and went over to the bar when the line had dwindled. “I’ll take a champagne,” she said.

“Coming right up.” The bartender turned and poured her a glass, then slid it in her direction. “Tips are always welcome,” he said, before moving on to the next customer.

Sage rolled her eyes and turned from him. She’d already given a tip and wasn’t going to give in to that peer pressure. She got back to the table and continued drinking her champagne. Stassi turned to her and gave a slight wave, then glanced back at the man Sage didn’t even know. She shook her head. If this was the real Stassi, then maybe she’d been fooled. After another thirty minutes of spending time alone, she got up from the table and stomped over to her. Stassi had just finished talking to a man, and it looked like she was on a quest to speak with someone else.

“Excuse me.” Sage tapped her on the shoulder, and Stassi twirled around and grinned. “So, thinking that maybe it’d be nice to get a dance or two in. Before this place is closed down, and you’ve spent the night with everybody else.”

Stassi stared. “I’m merely trying to help. The more networking, the more donations.”

Sage sighed. “Stassi, I know that’s what you’re used to, but this is all new to me and I was kind of hoping that we would get a chance to be a couple together, if you know what I mean.”

“I do, but the night will end before we know it, and we every chance to get the money into the hospital system that it so desperately needs.”

Sage shook her head and threw up her hands. “As you wish.” She turned and stomped back to her table. She sunk down in her chair and stared at the table. So much for a romantic evening. When she was stuck at a table in the middle of a crowded room, where no one much cared that she was alone, she couldn’t expect that it would go well.

“Would you care to dance?” She looked up, and Stassi held out her hand.

Sage quirked up an eyebrow. “Are you sure? Wouldn’t want to ruin your night of socializing.”

“I’m sorry,” Stassi replied. “I should have been more mindful, but I’m here now. Please, will you dance with me?”

Sage grinned and reached for Stassi’s hand. “I thought you’d never ask.”

They went out into the middle of the floor and began to sway to the slow song. The night quickly faded away, and Sage felt like nothing would hinder her present mood.

“I really do want to help the cause. I don’t feel like I can do nearly enough, and this is something that I can do.”

Sage nodded. “Let’s not talk.” She moved in and kissed Stassi. The world stopped, and they were the only two left in the room. The kiss deepened and a shadow fell over the two of them. Sage could forget, as long as there was a greater purpose and they were there together, in love, and not allowing the rest of the world to interfere.

“What’s the meaning of this?” The words came out and Sage quickly pulled from the kiss. Every eye in the ballroom went to Marcus and Wyatt. Sage’s jaw dropped as Trent stood there in front of the other two men in a full tuxedo. “Why are you dancing with my boyfriend?” Trent bellowed.

“Well, I thought so, too. But when you chose something over going out with me, I realized that maybe I was only kidding myself.” Marcus shrugged.

“Oh really? So you’re choosing someone else? I hope you two are very happy.” Trent spun on his heel and started to stomp off the dance floor.

“Trent!” Marcus called. He ran to him. It was practically in slow motion, as you would see in the movies. “This meant nothing.” He hesitated and looked over at Wyatt, all dressed up in his black suit and tie. “What are you doing here?”

Trent shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “I suppose I felt bad not coming. Thought I’d surprise you. Turns out, it’s me that got the surprise.” Trent scoffed.

“This meant nothing,” Marcus insisted for the second time. “I was missing you and wishing that you were here. It was only a dance. You have to believe that.”

Trent nodded and looked past him. Wyatt had already removed himself from the situation, grabbing a seat in a far corner. Trent turned back to Marcus, “I love you, Marcus. I don’t want us to fight.”

“Neither do I.” Marcus quickly shook his head. “I love you, too.”

They embraced, kissing one another in front of everyone in that room. When they parted, Trent’s eyes narrowed. He then got down on one knee. “I can’t spend another day without you, Marcus. Will you marry me?” He surprised everyone by pulling out a ring and producing it. Marcus’ eyes widened, and he eagerly nodded.

“I’ll marry you, Trent. Yes!”

Trent slipped the ring on his finger, and the crowd erupted. Marcus turned, his face absolutely glowing. He then turned back to Trent, and they embraced. While everyone cheered them on, they kissed passionately, nothing able to tear them apart.

Sage touched her chest, tears stinging the backs of her eyes. That was what love was all about, and she loved that they all got to witness it.