27. Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Sage

" I love you." I grab my phone and smile down at Mel.

"What did you do?"

She breaks into a laugh, and when she looks over at me, she still smiles innocently. "I didn't do anything." She looks up as she goes back to fixing something in her room. "I feel like we haven't hung out in a while, and I miss you."

I smile at her, although she isn't looking at me, and finish getting dressed. "I see you every day at work, Mel, but I get what you mean. I miss you too, we need to hang out, out of work."

While I see Mel almost every day, she isn't a Core Eight, who I spend most of my days with, but I'm going to try to get more photo shoots and other gigs with her.

I walk back to my phone when I'm dressed and check my calendar before I leave. I won't be back all day, so I need to take everything I need for the day. I'm on a time crunch since I wasted a bit of time coming back home after staying at Liam's place, so I grab my things a bit quicker.

When I put my watch on, all of my messages come through, but I notice one from Liam that I missed.

Lee

I had to fly out this morning for my game but a coffee is waiting for you in that weird shop you like.

Please make sure you try to eat something, beloved.

I like both messages before wishing him good luck at his game and grabbing my bag. I was a bit confused when he was gone this morning, but I'm glad he texted me instead of just disappearing, especially after whatever last night was.

When I let out a sigh, I notice Mel glance down at the screen. "I know that sigh. Don't tell me it's the very new boyfriend. How did he fuck up so fast?"

I laugh at her, but I love how well she knows me. "Ugh, I don't know, it's stupid." I head for the elevator, and she immediately tells me it's not stupid if I'm sighing and to just tell her, so I, of course, do.

"He said you were exhausting !"

"No! No, he didn't mean me . He was just tired and–"

"Wait, back up, why was he being so rude about you wanting to know about his damn life? Is he hiding a kid?"

I let out a laugh as I start my car. "A kid? Of all things, he's hiding a kid?" I glance down at my phone, and she shrugs.

"Matt had a kid." She brings up her ex she was just telling me about as if that proves anything.

"Matt was a pathological liar and is now in prison."

"Maybe this Liam guy will go to prison." She teases. "And are you sure that girl calling him was who he said she was?"

I roll my eyes at her because now she's just fishing.

"Why lie about her being his mom's nurse? That's insane." I also fully believe Liam wouldn't lie to me since he hates it so much.

"Whatever you say." Mel sounds like she believes otherwise, but I'm glad she doesn't voice her thoughts. "I still think he should be making the effort to open up to you, especially since you clearly care and rightfully want to know more about him."

"Yeah, I hate how distant he is sometimes." I chew my lip in thought as I pull up in front of the coffee shop. I ask Mel if she wants me to get her a drink before letting her go. When I walk into the shop, Rob and Cee Cee are watching me with matching smiles.

"Hello, stranger!"

I laugh softly as I close the distance between us and pull them both in for a hug. I was just in here a few days ago, but I haven't been coming in every day, and I can tell Cee Cee is offended that I might be getting my drinks from somewhere else.

"How's your guys' morning going?"

"It was great until I walked in on this one," Rob nods towards Cee Cee, "making out with some girl in the storage closet," he whispers, and my eyes widen as I slowly turn to Cee Cee and she rolls her eyes at Rob.

"You're just mad because you don't have a girlfriend," she teases.

Rob's cheeks slightly blush, but before he can reply, Cee Cee turns back to me. "Speaking of, your boyfriend paid for your drink."

"Really? What'd he get me?"

"He said to let you pick." She walks around the counter.

I smile at the cute gesture, although Cee Cee and Rob rarely let me pay anyway.

"Well, in that case, I'll take anything with pumpkin." I also add Mel's order and smile as she starts making my drink. Pumpkin isn't in season, but they keep some for me since it's one of my favorites. As Cee Cee is making my drink, she reminds Rob of a note Liam made him write.

"Oh, he just wanted us to make you buy something to eat." He shrugs. "I told him I'd remember to tell you, but he didn't believe me."

I shake my head and get a croissant for the road.

"The note also says, ‘Do not let her just get a damn croissant' so…"

I laugh as I imagine Liam's grumpy tone and get a bagel instead. When I get my drink I bring it to my lips and let my eyes fall shut at the perfect taste.

"Hmm, you're the best barista, Cee Cee."

She flips her pink hair proudly, and I drop two hundred bills into their tip jar. They both start telling me to take it back, but that's ridiculous, and I tell them so.

"Sorry, I have a delivery for Sage Loana?"

I turn on my heels and my eyes immediately land on a huge basket of pink dahlias two men are struggling to carry. I tell them that's me, and they put down the basket of flowers before having me sign.

I thank him with a smile, and when I look back down at the flowers, I notice an envelope with a cat paw print wax seal, and I gently break it open.

Thank you for being my break last night.

You're far from exhausting, Dory. You're my sanctuary.

I look back over at the basket, and I'm honestly surprised he even remembered what flowers I said I liked since he was half asleep.

"He pays for your breakfast and buys you flowers?"

I turn to Cee Cee, and she shakes her head with her arms crossed.

"Am I sensing some bare minimum groveling? Ugh, straight men." She shakes her head, and I laugh at how disappointed she sounds.

"It's cute, and this huge basket of flowers is barely the bare minimum."

She shrugs before going back around the counter. "They're flowers," she says as if that proves her point.

I chew my lip as I look back at the flowers but don't say anything. I take my bagel to go and, with Rob's help, take my flowers back up to my apartment before heading to work.

I find Mel in Quinn's room. After hugging both girls, I hand Mel her coffee.

"Did Jordan text you?"

She nods with a smile, and I feel myself getting excited. It's barely been a day, so I don't badger her for details and tell them I'll see them later.

When I walk into my room, I freeze at the giant basket of hydrangeas near my desk. "What the heck?" I bite back my smile as I walk over to them. They're freaking gorgeous. I touch them softly before leaning down to smell them, and they smell even better than I remember. When I see another envelope with the same wax seal, I quickly open it.

You were right. I never had a real girlfriend, but I'm glad you're my first shoot me,

I don't care.

Babies are weird to me. They should know how to walk at birth like every other mammal, grow up.

I have never been to Jamaica or Haiti, but we should go together.

I laugh at how random these facts about him are.

"My mom must really love you."

I turn at Ebony's muffled voice, and she has a muffin in her mouth. I glance at my muffin basket and laugh at her. I'm sure her mom sent this one, but when I see the envelope and the cat paw, I glance back at the muffins and realize they're from the bakery I like to get them from.

Good luck on your show, beloved.

Please make sure you try to eat something.

I smile to myself and grab a muffin at his reminder because I only had half of my bagel earlier. I eat two of them before Annet and Cara walk in to do my hair and makeup for the show.

When I get on stage, the crowd applauds, but the girl in front of me trips and everyone lets out a gasp. There's more flash now, and I keep my smile in place but walk faster to help her.

I think her heel broke, but I don't look down. I grab a hold of her hand as we walk down the stage together. I let her walk in front of me when we reach the end of the stage and wave at her dress before clapping.

The crowd follows my lead and gives her a standing ovation. When she turns around, I see the gratitude on her face, and I only nod before reaching my hand out to her.

I help her back down the stage, and the second we're behind the curtain, she pulls me in for a hug. "Thank you so much!"

"It's not a problem at all, babe." I try to reassure her, but she starts tearing up

"That was so embarrassing." She shakes her head before covering her face in her hands.

"Babe, it's fine. I promise you, everyone is going to think that was on purpose."

She blinks away her tears, and I wipe the corner of her eye.

"Designers do stuff like that all the time, and girls actually fall for it. You only tripped a little. I promise it's okay."

I pull her in for another hug, and I stay with her for the rest of the show. Neither of us needs to go back on stage, and I think she feels better at the end of it because she stops shaking.

I remember the first time I tripped on stage, and I actually wanted to die. Like I thought my life couldn't get any worse, but when I cried to August about it, he told me I could've literally fallen on my face on live TV, and slightly tripping wasn't a big deal. I was still upset about it, but he made me laugh, and she's laughing at the end of my story, so that's a win.

When Elaine makes it backstage, I thank her again for having me, and she surprisingly thanks me. When I look over at her daughter, who's standing behind her, she kisses her hand before pressing it to her butt, and I have to act like I'm clearing my throat when I laugh in front of her mom, who she keeps calling a kiss ass.

I ask someone to help me with the flowers and muffins, and both baskets of flowers almost don't fit in my back seat, but after a lot of shoving and moving both seats up, I can close my door.

"Thank you again!"

Security tells me it's not a problem, and I drive back to MM Headquarters for one last meeting.

I glance around the table at the girls, and Stel and Macey are the only ones missing. We all meet with Florence once a month to go over our schedule and fit in things for group events and pictures.

Florence barely glances at me as she talks to the other girls, and I try not to let it get to me, but I really don't want her to be like this once I officially sign with Vincent next week. I already told him I'd take his offer, and it's practically set in stone, but he wants to meet in person, and since he had to be in Italy this week, we had to wait.

When the door opens, Stel and Mace walk in.

"Sorry, we're late." Stel keeps her eyes down, but her flushed cheeks and both of their swollen lips give them away way too quickly. I glance over at Florence, and she shakes her head at the two of them before they take a seat.

My phone goes off, and when I hear everyone else's buzz quietly, I know it's our group chat.

The Eight 3

Coral

no fucking way ya just fucked before walking in here! BOLD ASF

I bite my cheek, and the girls all stifle their laugh. When I look over at Mace, she has a smirk on her face, but Stel's entire face flushes when our phones buzz again.

Royal

That was you two I heard on the way here???

Mace

you're full of shit. she was quiet… mostly

No one could hold their laugh anymore, and I think Stel kicked Macey from under the table.

"We can start this meeting whenever you girls are ready."

We all turn our phones off before placing them face-down on the table and turning to Florence.

"As you all know, we lost a model, and The Core Eight is down to seven."

I feel everyone glance at me, but I only keep my face neutral as she goes on.

"I was fine with leaving it at seven, but rumors about a replacement have been circling the media, so we may as well use the publicity now that eyes are on us. I wanted to come to you guys first since–"

"I vote Mel!" I blurt.

Florence bites back a smile, clearly at my excitement, before turning to the rest of the group. "She's a baby model and doesn't have the two years here to qualify. She–"

"Come on, Florence. That rule is kinda dumb, and while she's only been here a few months, she's getting us a lot of attention," Quinn voices, and I smile to myself.

"She's also getting into physical altercations with her peers." Florence counters as she reminds us that Mel fought Helena. It was apparently very messy, but I can't feel bad for Helena.

"She's also not sabotaging her best friend," Coral voices, and the room falls quiet.

"True," I voice, and Coral nods with a smirk.

While I haven't spoken to Helena, I'm glad Florence pulled her contract, and she isn't allowed on the property because, at this rate, I'm sure she'll pop up and force me to speak to her, but I refuse.

Florence says she'll think about making Mel one of The Eight and goes on about a few things she wants us to do as a group, but when she gets to scheduling them, I glance at when I have my meeting with Vincent, and I don't want to speak up, but I need to.

"Um, I can't do Tuesday."

She opens my shared calendar, but on the big screen, and I feel everyone's eyes on me.

"You're meeting with Vincent, as in Moore ?" Nin's face lights up, but when she looks over at Florence's glare, her face drops.

"What is your meeting with him about?" Florence glances back at her laptop, and she asks casually, but we all know this is far from casual, and after this morning, I can tell she's upset with me.

"I'm taking his offer and meeting to sign the contracts." A few of the girls gasp, and when I look around the table, they look like they're signing with him.

"Oh my goodness! Congrats!" Nin starts before pulling me in for a hug.

"We need to throw a party. I call dibs on planning this one!" Royal grabs her phone and starts typing something. The rest of the girls congratulate me, and I thank them all before looking back at Florence, but she doesn't look at me.

"Alright, well, this is the only day that everyone else can do the photo shoot, so move your meeting or–"

"I can't." I laugh softly at how ridiculous that even sounds because she knows no one just moves their meetings with Vincent.

"So you won't be in it. Problem solved."

I open my mouth, but she shuts her laptop.

"Meeting's over. Have a good weekend, girls." She stands from her seat, and when she walks out, I'm still stuck in place.

"What's up her ass?" Coral looks around the room for an answer, but I don't try to think of one as I rush out of the room.

"Florence." I follow after her, and she doesn't slow down for me, and I know she's my boss and the freaking CEO, but she's never like this with us, especially not me. "I think that was very unfair. I can't–"

"Life's unfair, Sage. Don't be a brat about this."

"I don't think I'm being a brat . You–"

"Royal wasn't in the last group pictures, and she didn't throw a fit." She walks into the kitchen, and I follow her closely.

"Royal was on probation for missing the runway show!" I don't add how that wasn't her fault because she was stuck across the country. There was a storm, so she couldn't fly back on time, yet Florence still punished her.

"I'm being punished for no reason, and you said you wouldn't hold us back from opportunities. This is not very ‘I'm so proud of you, Sage. You're my favorite girl' of you." I uncross my arms because I start to feel like maybe I am being a brat, but when she looks at me, I hold my ground.

"We both know this isn't fair and why you're being like this." I keep my tone soft and wish her pride would stop making her so mean. If I really can't be in the photo shoot with the girls next week, then fine, I'm not going to cry about it, but I might cry if this is how she's going to treat me every time I have to do something as a Moore Girl. I don't want to be in that kind of work environment.

"The photo shoot is happening on Tuesday, if your meeting ends early you can be there. If not, then you'll miss it, and it won't be the end of the world."

I bite my tongue and keep it between my teeth as we study each other.

"Am I clear?"

And her tone alone is what makes my tongue slip.

"Well, if I can't make it, I hope you still get the views you want without the face of the company." I don't walk away from her because that'd be rude, but her glare almost makes me run off to find Angie to fight this battle for me.

"I'm sure it will, and if it doesn't, we'll just find a new face for the company." She smiles tightly, and when I feel the back of my eyes stinging, I return the smile.

"Have a great weekend, Florence." I turn on my heels and rush into my room. I blink my tears away and don't let myself cry until I'm in my car. Stel and Mace put the basket of flowers I left here in Macey's car since it doesn't fit in mine, and while we drive to my apartment, I can't stop the tears. I tell myself I'm going to call Angie to deal with Florence, and I don't care if they argue; a part of me hopes Angie yells at her just a bit.

My phone dings, and the message pops up on my car screen.

Cee Cee

You have another delivery from the straight man!

I laugh at what she calls Liam because while he's a straight man, I'm sure she means it as an insult. I love the message and text the girls before turning around. I was already planning on stopping by the coffee shop but changed my mind because of the mood Florence put me in. I have no clue how Liam knew I'd go there after work, but I have Mace follow me since the next basket will have to go in her car.

When I walk in, my eyes immediately fall on the purple dahlias.

"Two giant lavish baskets of flowers?" Cee Cee starts. "Maybe–"

"Five." I correct her as I grab the note. "And a muffin basket with my favorite muffins."

Cee Cee nods like she approves, and I'm not sure why, but I'm glad she does.

"Okay… maybe the groveling is like, two bars above the bare minimum."

I break into a laugh at how hard she is on him when she has no clue what he did, and I'm sure if a girl got her one huge basket of flowers, she'd be through the roof.

I do not have a middle name, but I like when you

call me Leslie. ONLY because you laugh so damn pretty after saying it.

I prefer sunsets to the sunrise because

I hate the mornings.

I don't like animals, and the cats are cool, but I think octopuses are cooler.

I put the note in my bag along with the others, and Cee Cee hands me a drink Liam also paid for. Stel takes one side of the basket, and I take the other. We drag it into Macey's car and squeeze it next to the other one.

When I get home, my doorman helps us fill the elevator with the baskets of flowers, and I hug the girls before thanking them. My doorman helps me drag the heavy flowers into my apartment, and when I lean against the door, one last basket of dahlias sits on my counter. I let out a soft chuckle as I walk over to read the note.

My flight lands at 9 pm.

Be ready for our date by 10:30 pm & you can ask all your questions to get to know me.