Going out to eat with a client where Sage had to intensely pretend to be Rowan's husband proved to Sage that Rowan was frankly a horrible actor and that everything else before were amateur acts that anyone could pull off. Still, handling anything or anyone was better in Sage's mind than dealing with Rowan's client.
There were some people who had a strange air around them. Darren Rudo was one of those people. Sage watched his mannerisms when he spoke with Rowan, too, and noted that he acted overly familiar with him. Something in his head told him to be angry about it, and he had no idea what. They took a seat down at a populated diner during lunch hour.
It was a little slammed. A waitress in their area was jumping around and already dealing with a difficult table of eight, so even though the three of them were ready to take their orders, they did not rush her. She was clearly already overwhelmed.
Darren Rudo was not unattractive, but Sage would not use attractive to describe him. It was difficult. To Sage, Rowan was attractive, but he was not attracted to him. Darren wasn't unattractive, but Sage did not think he was attractive and most certainly was not attracted to him. He had no idea what to think. His presence was a bit uncomforting, and his eyes were a little mean-looking; sinister.
Ever since Liwayway had gotten into Sage's head, he began accessing people based on 'attracted to' and 'attractive.' He desperately needed to get away from the strange mindset. It was turning him a bit crazy.
"Rowan, I noticed you were on a nice trip," Darren commented. "How has it been?"
"Good." Rowan's answer was stiff. Even his movements were a little robotic. As much as Sage wanted to make fun of him, he had agreed to help him, so that option was off the table. Instead, he turned to Rowan and playfully fixed his hair. He even added a soft smile.
"It was bothering me, Rowan," he included in a dropped and gentle tone.
Rowan had not been expecting a move to be made on Sage's end. He was startled for a moment, his lips dropping open slightly. Sage already stuck out a leg to do something so boldly, so he was a bit irritated seeing that Rowan could not even act. He sighed and wiped a thumb on his bottom lip, adding, "Close your mouth in public."
"Ah," Rowan said quietly. "Sorry."
Sage smiled at him and went back to quietly drinking the iced water through the tight straw. His eyes drifted across the table where Darren sat offering him a scary look. Sage had two options: he could feign being frightened by the look or he could own up to the possessive trait he had adopted while pretending to be Rowan's husband. After some thought, he picked the former, as the latter gave Sage a weak and scared character that he cringed when he thought about playing.
So, Sage further claimed Rowan as his own as he said, "My mother warned me about men like you, but I fear messy is my type. How unfortunate to be married to you. Looks like I'm stuck here. You're lucky you're a good lay." and picked up his phone nonchalantly with an exaggerated sigh to mindlessly scroll through social media.
Rowan was still startled and accidentally said, "Sage." in a shocked tone. If Sage was not a doctor, he surely would have been an actor. He turned to Rowan innocently.
"What? I think people ought to know that when it comes to business that you're the most organized character on the field, but when you're home, you're a filthy pig. For instance, you can take your socks off at night, but at least kick them to the floor. It's very uncomfortable to bump my feet into them when they come onto my side of the bed."
"I," Rowan stammered, but he finally got through his thick skull what was going on. He swallowed with a dry throat and said a quiet "Sorry." as he reached for his own drink.
"At least you acknowledge your faults," Sage hummed, and he went quiet after that. Darren also had no more further comments about Rowan's trip, feeling as if it would set Sage off to talk about intimate points of their relationship. The waitress came and got their order quickly after that.
After they ordered their food, Rowan suddenly said something. Sage sat up, curious.
"What was that?" he asked, leaning toward him.
"I said you have faults too."
Sage almost laughed out loud. What a late reply. It took him how long to come up with something to say? The doctor resorted to it being a chuckled scoff instead of outright laughing and asked, "Oh, yeah? What then?"
"You're stubborn as shit." It was clearly not a made up evaluation for an act; it was what Rowan honestly thought of Sage, so Sage did laugh.
"Whatever. You're still with me, so you must clearly like it," Sage spoke without thinking. It was more of the general idea of Rowan bringing Sage along with, so he must have had some sort of tolerance for Sage's attitude. While it gave off the insinuation to others that Rowan had not divorced Sage yet, the reality was completely different. Despite acting, Rowan's answer still made Sage pause.
"I really do like it."
Sage froze and turned to Rowan, staring at him. He stared back! His deep black eyes stared at Sage, and the doctor felt himself begin to sweat. He took back what he thought before on Rowan's acting ability. Yes, they were acting, but must Rowan look so serious saying something intimate? Even Sage had a limit. Ah, how hypocritical. Didn't Sage use his thumb to wipe Rowan's lip?
Then Rowan picked up Sage's hand and brought it to his lips, dragging his mouth on the back of it. He laid a soft, butterfly-like kiss on his hand. Sage twitched, but he knew if he snapped his hand back, it would look strange, so he curled his lip and bit down on it.
Had it turned into a competition of who could say the more intimate or do the more intimate thing and make the other break?! Sage was not playing! No way! Not if a hand kiss was already done. What was next!? Sage kicked Rowan under the table and took it a step further by pinching his leg. So, Rowan took his attacks as a win that he won and hummed quietly, turning his head to sip his drink.
What a bastard…
There was no more small talk about Rowan's life at all. Darren jumped straight into business. Hah! Sage felt accomplished. He grinned to himself, sunk down in his spot at the table, and put his attention on his phone, finding no point in listening to the conversation if he didn't understand the business talk anyhow. Time passed by.
Suddenly, something hit him in the forehead. Beyond his phone Sage spotted the rolled up wrapper from a plastic straw. He looked up. Rowan was gone, and Darren was across from him staring at him with a cold gaze. Like a child he had crumpled up the paper sleeve on the straw and threw it at Sage to get his attention.
"You're not even the same person he brought last time. He brought his wife before. I've met her. So, who are you?"
Sage had no liking toward this Darren character at all, so he scowled and asked, "Where is Rowan?"
"Who are you?" Darren repeated.
"Well, he's well aware I'm not the same person you saw him with last time, so you can quit accusing me of manipulating him or identity theft or whatever it is going through your dense skull," Sage muttered. He hesitated and added, "He's happy with me, so you can also quit whatever flirting game you have going on by requesting his services. You're wasting your own time, and most importantly, ours."
"Prove it then."
"Prove what?" Sage asked with a laugh. Was this guy serious?
"When he gets back, prove that you're together and happy. He brings a woman the first time and then a guy the next. Are you even together?"
"What kind of denial is this? Being married to him is not enough for you?" Sage questioned. He took offense for his fake relationship. How dare he? He and Rowan were falsely a great couple. Sage even flashed the fake ring.
"I've been pursuing him for months, and I'm a successful business owner. I see no reason why he should be with you," Darren hissed again.
"'Successful business owner' is too much," Sage commented harshly. "Considering that you met Rowan through business consultation." His phone was still in his hands, so as Sage glared at Darren from across the table, he texted Rowan.
'I'm going to kiss you when you get back, so be prepared for that.' He was unsure why kissing was the first proof that came to his head. Faking marriage was one thing since they were simply words, but really kissing someone was another thing. He figured if he kissed Rowan in front of Darren, the other would get jealous or angry enough that he backed off.
The response of 'What' was fairly quick.
'He's pissing me off. Are you fine with this?' It was hard for Sage to text and stare at Darren, finding him unnerving to deal with him.
The three dots danced at the bottom of the screen a few times. It disappeared. It popped up again. Then an 'Ok.'
So, Sage lifted his head and said, "Okay. Fine then. You're only embarrassing yourself though." To add a punch to the gut, Sage said, "When we get home, we tell each other everything. After I hear about why he's taking so long in the bathroom, I'll be sure to explain this antagonizing conversation."
After a minute, Rowan returned. Sage immediately frowned at him as he sat down.
"You didn't tell me you were leaving."
"Sorry. Bathroom. I thought it would only be a minute, but there was a wait," Rowan replied.
And he stared at Sage. Waiting. Just waiting for him to make the move he said he would. Out of the corner of Sage's eye, he could feel Darren staring as well. He suddenly felt like someone was sitting on his lungs. A heat began to crawl up the back of Sage's neck, and his stomach swirled with nerves.
To move so close to Rowan to kiss him—Sage's head felt dizzy. Rowan was attractive. Really attractive. After Sage forced some product onto his face, he kept doing it, and his face seemed to radiate a little more. He had always been handsome, and his lips were pink, plump and a little glossy the more he looked. They were probably soft too, and there was no way Rowan was a bad kisser with the sweet words that spilled off from his tongue. The dots in his cheeks across the corners of his lips when he smiled. Next to him, Sage knew his body was warm and firm and…
Ah, he chickened out. Sage bit his lip and turned his head, shamefully sinking into his seat. "Okay."
Their food arrived. Sage was brought to silence after his failure. Darren had no idea that his plan to 'prove his love' for Rowan had been kissing him, so he had never known he failed at all. Only Rowan did. So, Darren continued with subtle moves, but every time Sage looked at him from across the table, he would back down a bit. He waited for Sage's move.
"Sage."
"Mm?" Toward the end of the meal, Rowan called out to him, so he raised his head and turned to look. Before he could completely turn his head, a soft touch was on his face. Rowan kissed his cheek.
"I'm going to pay the bill. I'll be back in a second."
"Ah." Sage was speechless for a moment. His entire mouth dried. He picked up his drink and nodded as he quickly sipped some of the iced water down. Rowan left with a smile.
"So?" Darren spoke when he had gone.
Sage felt like flipping what remained on his plate into Darren's face. What was this guy's issue! Sage cleared his throat and set down the cup, gaining a bit of confidence without Rowan next to him.
"I realized that I don't need to prove myself to you. Why would I?" Sage said, coming up with a fake reasoning. "I'm the one married to him. You're not. Actually, I'm the one Rowan looked to for help to keep you away from him, so not only do I know I'm better, I know I'm the best. Why do I need to stoop to your level? It doesn't make sense.
"So, keep calling for him. I'll keep coming, and I'll keep doing flirty things with him in front of you until you learn your lesson."
"You—"
"All done. Love a company card," a voice suddenly cut Darren off. Rowan walked over and offered a hand to Sage. "Ready? Hey, think I can get a massage again tonight?" Way to kick the guy when he was already down! Sage held back a laugh.
"Okay." and Sage accepted his hand.
On the way back inside to their inn room, Rowan was way too happy. He laughed as he closed the door behind them. "Did you see his face?" he asked with another laugh. He pulled on the sleeves to his jacket and tugged it off. "He couldn't even speak!" Rowan began undressing without thinking too much of it. Unbuttoning his shirt then his pants. All until he was stripped down to his underwear, but he was still too focused on talking. "I don't think he's ever going to bother me again. Oh, my fuck."
"Rowan."
"Like, he usually tries to hand me a business card with his personal number written on the back—"
"Rowan!" Sage grabbed Rowan's wrist and pinched. Hard. Anything to stop him from pulling down his underwear. "Pay attention to what you're doing before you flash me."
Rowan glanced down. He saw Sage's hand gripping his wrist, and his own thumb slipped into the flexible waistband of his underwear ready to pull them down. Even though he had been so mindless and almost embarrassed himself, he glanced up and teased, "Don't you want to see, husband?"
Sage cringed, let go of Rowan, and said, "I will go find him and tell him you're available."
"You always jump the gun," Rowan muttered, tugging up instead of down. "Come on. We're a good team."
Rowan had been so ecstatic that night that he willingly took the sofa. He sat chatting on his phone while Sage went to wash up for the night.
As the doctor leaned toward the mirror and did his nightly routine Mira had gotten him stuck with, he could hear Rowan having a conversation.
"It's only been four weeks, sweetie… I know. There's only eight more weeks left… … … Yes, yes. Of course… Yup, I've been keeping my eyes peeled for things. I've gotten one for every week I'm in a new city."
One of every what? Sage frowned to himself in thought as he screwed the face cream top back onto the cylinder container. He had not seen anything new that Rowan had bought.
"Twelve in total. I've even bought you a new bag to put all of it in so I know it's safe… …No, you can't talk to him… He's not a talker… uhm, yes. Every day… No, don't take it out against him. He's nice, Pen, I swear. He's just— … No. Yes. Okay, I'll ask him eventually, but not tonight. He's tired… Okay. Yes. I love you, goodnight."
For some reason, it sounded as if Rowan's ex-wife wanted to talk to Sage, and Rowan fought against it. Thank Heavens! Why did she want to talk with him!? With how controlling and obsessive she seemed to be to call so much after they were getting divorced, Sage felt a bit scared of her. He could only mentally thank Rowan that he came up with excuses for Sage not getting on the phone with her. Crappy excuses but excuses nonetheless. He owed him some advice, like, stop talking to your ex-wife.
At the same time, it was none of Sage's business. He ignored it and finished his nightly routine.