A Million Kisses (Wish 1)

9 - Princess

Sage survived the dinner party. It was fun, except the puppy's date kept staring at her like she was a threat. She wouldn't put her mouth on his, if he alone could provide oxygen for her to breathe after the apocalypse.

She enjoyed Lili and Aidan more. Yes, she remembered his name. Sage thought they made a cute couple and would have to encourage it. Oddly, she disregarded the fact she wouldn't be receptive if someone encouraged her and Teddy.

Lili told the table Aidan cheated at games which he adamantly denied. Marissa announced they should have a game night and roped Sage in.

She had only seen Geoffrey three times in the past week and had committed to another Saturday night. It was disappointing when Geoffrey just shrugged it off. Maybe his mature hormones didn't control him with the same intensity. Hers were in overdrive at just the thought of him.

Marissa insisted it was casual, so Sage arrived wearing jeans and a sweater. The others were also in jeans, except Aidan who had on sweatpants.

"I see you dressed for your date." She teased him.

"No date for me. I'm lounging at home."

She had forgotten he was Jed's roommate. "Are you going to play?"

"Wouldn't miss it. Boyfriend's not into games?" He smirked.

She wanted to be angry, but the pun was his wit. She ignored his question and asked, "Are you ready to cheat?"

"I don't cheat. Lili is just jealous, because I always win."

"When you play together on The Cape?"

He eyed her. "We did as kids, but lately we hang out and play with my Godmother. She's fond of gin."

"Oh, she's a drinker. Does gin go with brie and chocolate?"

He sighed, as if annoyed. "Gin rummy."

Marissa interrupted their banter. "Come on, you two stop fighting. Aidan, we're not playing gin. Let's start with Hearts."

At Columbia, Hearts was their game. Sage smiled, she always did well at Hearts. After two hands, she discovered green eyes was lucky. In the first two hands Jed scored the most unwanted points. The third hand was Aidan's deal. He shuffled the cards like a Las Vegas dealer with his long fingers.

"Did you work summers on the Vegas strip?" She teased.

His laughter was contagious. "No, I told you, not quite The Cape."

She stuck him with the thirteen point queen of spades. He was a better sport than Marissa when she ended up with most of the twenty-six points.

They moved on to other games and it was clear he had logic skills to go along with his luck. She understood why they accused him of cheating. Sage loved a fair competition — win or lose. She'd prefer an evening rolling in the sheets with Geoffrey, but game night came in second.

On Monday morning, she had an appointment with her advisor at the University. Dr. Brownstein asked how her work at the museum was.

"It's amazing. Challenging," she replied, enthusiastically.

"And Dr. Sutton? Have you worked with him?"

"Not officially, but he's been helpful with my own research." She reviewed her words and decided they didn't give anything away. He had helped her long before he appeared on her doorstep.

"Geoff, um Dr. Sutton is a good friend. I mentioned you were my student when I saw him."

"When was that?" Her curiosity peaked.

"Just Saturday night, we had dinner. Now let's talk about your research."

So while she was playing cards with her friends, he was dining with his. She had a million questions, but couldn't ask a single one.

She arrived at the museum just before ten. Geoffrey was approaching and sternly said, "You're late."

"It was approved. I had a meeting with Dr. Brownstein. Seems he just had dinner with Geoff." Her voice was light and teasing.

"Did you mention me?" he asked, through clenched teeth.

Feeling annoyed. She quickly replied, "No, he did."

But they had entered the building, so his only response was for her to have a nice day.

At lunch, she sat on the bench longer than usual as she googled Geoffrey Sutton. He was a historian, not a movie star, so he didn't have a Wikipedia page or Imbd to list his personal background. She really knew so little about him, but then she remembered his lips and hands and felt lucky he chose her.

One evening, she came home later than usual. Geoffrey left the museum early for a meeting, so she had some extra research time. When she approached the door to her building, Jimmy smiled.

"You work too hard. Any guest?" He winked. If she had said yes, he would let Geoffrey upstairs without buzzing her first.

Disappointed, she said, "Not tonight."

Approaching the door to exit was green eyes' date. Jimmy said, "Good evening, Miss. Farias."

"Good..." She said but stopped when she noticed Sage.

Sage asked, "Do you live here?"

"No, my Aunt Rachel does. Do you?"

Sage nodded and blurted. "Mrs. Farias is your aunt?"

"Yes, you know her? Of course, you do. She's so friendly."

Sage nodded again and mumbled. "Very kind."

"Well, I'm off. Weird, isn't it? You live here and we met at Aidan's place."

Before Sage could respond Lili was down the block with a bounce in each step. Turning to Jimmy, she said, "I met her through a friend. She's a sweet girl."

Jimmy smiled. His job didn't allow him to respond.

Another week had passed and Geoffrey only spent two evenings with her. She wanted to pout and plead for more time, but it was not mature. She needed to be mature.

On Saturday, she stayed home to organize her vast research notes. She didn't go to the museum as her private rebellion to Geoffrey for not making time for her.

She jumped at the sound of knocking at her door. Maybe he came to see her. She rushed to the door and opened it with her best smile. Her smile vanished into a confused frown. Green eyes appeared at her door.

"Don't look so disappointed to see me." He pushed by her. She watched as he took in the piles of paper surrounding her laptop on her kitchen counter.

"Why? How do you know where I live? How did you get past the doorman?"

Why did she think Geoff would get past Roberto? Jimmy only let him up when she asked.

"I'm visiting my Godmother and came to see if you're free for dinner and cards."

"Your Godmother?" She knew he visited her and brought her chocolate, but how had that brought him to her door?

"Lili told me she saw you when she was leaving Aunt Rachel's. She's not my blood aunt like Lili, but I'm her Godson."

Bingo! Sage was never a daft person, but she hadn't put it together.

"Unless you have a date tonight."

She looked down at her leggings and oversized shirt and shook her head. She may have taken a moment to connect the dots between Lili, Aidan and Mrs. Farias, but she knew Geoff wasn't coming.

She shook her head. "Give me a few minutes to finish up and change."

"Take your time. We'll be warming up on a few hands of gin." He winked and left, but turned back. "Nice place, princess."

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