The Road Trip [Stark's Daughter]

Part 4- Martha's Cafe

Sage woke up to her alarm. She turned it off and King rested his head on her chest, it was his way of saying good morning. She scratched his ears and said, "Did you sleep okay King?"

He shifted his head and looked at her with big dark eyes.

"Come on King, I've got to get ready."

She got up, took King to the bathroom, got breakfast, fed King and took a shower. She got dressed in a dark green crop top, grey and black joggers with a black hat and gold watch. Then she took King for a walk. When they got back to the apartment she put King's service dog vest on and she got her things ready. They both got in the car and prepared for traffic as they backed onto the street.

It took almost half an hour with Saturday morning traffic to get to Martha's cafe. She parked her car and grabbed King's leash before going inside. King was welcome in most establishments, most people loved seeing him, they wanted to pet him and talk to him which Sage usually didn't mind.

The cafe was a cross between modern and vintage. There were metal bistro tables, hanging lights, and vintage music posters.

A family was exiting the cafe and a little boy stopped to stare at King. It made Sage smile because King was as tall as the little boy. His mother apologized and started to pull him away but Sage said, "It's okay, you can pet him if you want."

The kid smiled from ear to ear and hugged King.

King looked at Sage as if to say 'What is this small thing doing?'

The boy pulled away, thanked Sage and left with his family.

Sage turned around to see Peter sitting at a nearby table. He had seen the whole interaction and thought it was adorable. She straightened up and made her way to Peter's table. She sat down and so did King but Peter could still see King's head over the table. "That's a big dog." Peter said.

"His name is King."

Peter shifted his eyes from King to Sage, "Where did you get him?"

Sage started to absently pet King, "He was a gift."

That seemed to be the end of that conversation. "So," Peter said, changing the subject. "Where do you want to start?"

"How about with some coffee?" Sage said.

"Oh, okay." Peter said.

A waitress came over and took their order. Sage got a coconut milk and cream coffee while Peter got a banana split mocha.

They each pulled out a notebook and started brainstorming demonstrations to do for the class. Together they came up with roughly twenty ideas before the waitress returned with their drinks. She also brought King a puppuccino with a dog biscuit. Sage took a sip of her coffee when the tv behind the counter caught her eye. "Would you turn that up?" She asked the waitress.

"Oh sure." She said with a smile.

The girl went behind the counter and picked up a remote to turn up the volume. "This morning, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man went into cardiac arrest."

Peter turned around to listen and didn't notice Sage leave the table. When he turned around he caught a glimpse of King's tail as they left the cafe. He quickly grabbed their drinks and ran after her. "Sage!" He called.

She didn't stop.

He continued after her until King turned around and began to growl at him. They both stopped but Sage didn't turn around. "Sage," Peter said. "Please stop running away."

"Why?" She said, her voice slightly intimidating. It was the best way she knew to hide her emotions.

Peter was caught off guard by the question, "Because you can talk to me."

"No I can't," she said, her voice started to waver. "I can't talk to anyone."

"Why not?"

Sage thought for a moment, this was too close for comfort but she was over the edge now. She turned around and a tear slid down her cheek. "Sage?" Peter asked.

She stepped forward and hugged him. He didn't expect it but didn't reject it. "My dad is in the hospital and I can't go see him."

Peter hugged her tighter, he knew what it was like to not see your parents. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," she said as she let go of him and wiped the tear from her face. "I haven't seen him in years."

Peter was suddenly very confused. He handed Sage her drink and said, "I don't understand."

Sage found herself wanting to tell Peter everything and she couldn't figure out why. There was something about him that just made her feel safe. "I wish I could tell you," she said.

"Why don't you just go see your dad? What's stopping you?"

Sage looked at King. "My mom told me that I wasn't allowed to go alone and she won't take me." Which was true, her adoptive mom said exactly that. The subtext of that was, you're not going, period.

"Where is he?" Peter asked.

"Upstate New York."

He thought for a moment, "What if I went with you?"

Sage suddenly looked up, "What?"

"What if I went with you?" Peter repeated.

"I- we're strangers Parker, why would you drop everything to go visit a man you don't know?"

Peter shrugged, "If I help you, will you finally focus on the project?" He smiled.

Sage couldn't help but laugh, "You really want an A don't you?"

Peter sipped his mocha. "I want to help you."

She stared into his chocolate brown eyes and saw flecks of gold. There was hope in them, some kind of peace that Sage hadn't experienced before. "Get in the car."

"Wait, what?" Peter said.

Sage ignored the question and unlocked her car. She put King in the back seat and got in. 

"This is your car?" Peter stammered. It was a brand new, black Camaro. 

She ignored the question because clearly it was her car. Sage didn't drive it a lot for the sole purpose of avoiding reactions like Peter's.

He quickly followed her lead and got in the passenger seat. She didn't say anything until they were out of the parking lot. "Where do you live?" Sage asked. "I'll take you to your apartment." He gave her an address and she plugged it into her GPS.

"Okay, so now what?"

"How do I know your family will even let you go on a roadtrip like this?" Sage said.

"Well, actually it's just my aunt and she doesn't really keep tabs on me like that." Incase Mr. Stark needs me, Peter thought.

Sage looked over at him, still wondering if she could trust him. King leaned forward and licked Peter's cheek. For now that was enough evidence that he was a good person. "My parents are famous." Sage said. "So the woman I live with, the woman who raised me isn't actually my mother. My real parents decided life with them was too dangerous." She turned the corner. "I haven't seen them since, not even when my dad gave me King."

Peter was stunned to silence, he felt sorry for Sage. "I don't know what to say." He looked over at Sage, "We can leave as soon as you want."

"Tonight?" She asked hesitantly.

"Tonight." Peter confirmed.