Finding Sage (Young Adult)

Twenty-Seven: Gossip Rags

Adam and Gillian leave for their honeymoon today, but the rest of the wedding party is staying in the hotel for one more night. Some of Adam's family is staying for a few more days to take advantage of the area and have a mini vacation.

Kellan and I are strolling through town, enjoying the fine weather and each other. It feels so good to walk down the street with his finger linked in mine. Both of us carry a permanent smile.

After spending some time checking out the local shops, we stop in to a café to grab a bite to eat. We look over our menu's and wait for a server to discover our presence. The person at the table next to me laughs out loud, looks at me, then at the paper she is reading and laughs again.

I look at Kellan bewildered. When the lady looks at me again, I shrug a little and give her a questioning look.

She holds the paper up and says, "You look exactly like this girl."

I look at the photo and grab it out of her hands. "Oh my god! That is me." I say gawking at the gossip rag, "Kellan!"

He moves next to me and says, "You, Finley and Paris Hilton? When was this taken?"

"I couple weeks ago. Finley and I went to lunch at Kismet. It was the day I went to your house..." I say and then realization hits me." Oh God, Kellan, this is bad. What if Donovan..."

"Shh, he's..." he looks at the lady next to us listening intently, "indisposed, remember?"

"Yeah, okay. Okay," I say.

I feel something hard on my arm and the lady says, "Can I get your autograph?" She pushes a pen into my arm.

"What? No!" I say, pulling away from her as if she's diseased.

Kellan laughs, and takes the pen from her hand. "Sage, you know nothing about fans. Write your name on the lady's paper and lets get out of here. It seems we are invisible to service anyhow."

I look at him for a moment before grabbing the pen and signing the paper. "Come on," I say, feeling a little sick.

We walk in silence and look for a new place to have lunch. So many things are going on in my head and they all break the bubble that Kellan and I have been in. We settle on a little Greek restaurant. I excuse myself for the bathroom, slipping my phone in my pocket.

When I am alone in the bathroom, I call Gretchen.

"Hi Sage. How was the wedding?" she asks.

"It was perfect! Best wedding I've ever been to. Hey, I was wondering what is going on with the bomb evidence and if Donovan's still in jail, " I ask.

"Oh, you have not seen the news, huh?" she says.

"Um, no we've been in wedding world."

"I know, and that is why I did not want to call you. I wanted you to just enjoy yourself," she says and I hear office chatter in the background.

"But?" I say, wondering what news she has for me.

"Well, Franky's is no longer in business. Maria Portocinni and Angela Violeta were arrested for trafficking drugs out the back of the place. Plus, this morning we picked up two others, a Giovanni and Mario for suspicion of the bombings. We found a snitch that folded on them."

I cannot believe my ears. "What about Gianna and Vincent?"

"Nothing on them, but the two men that married into the family are going down. They'll be arrested today or tomorrow, getting the paperwork now. Vincent has been in the hospital with a heart condition for weeks and we can't get anything on him. Honestly, Gianna was pretty shocked about everything. We don't have anything on her." I hear papers shuffling. We might have some things on her sister Marina, though. We know they were running guns too. It's only a matter of time before one of the spills to beans to get a deal. They will all hang themselves. We're working with the detectives pretty closely."

"So they all got arrested because of their own stupidity," I say.

"Yes, but the evidence you gave us against Donovan helped us figure some things out. You can take full credit. If you want," she laughs.

"Okay, now I do have a little bad news," she says and I knew there would be something.

"What?" I say, quickly.

"Donovan posted bail yesterday," she says and my heart drops.

"I thought he couldn't get bail?" My free arm snakes around my stomach, to help hold my body in place.

"He's the snitch that folded on his cousins and he gave the D.A. some info they needed to get the warrant on his brother-in-laws. In return, he was allowed to post bail. But Sage, he's nothing without his family, and I think he's in too much of a world of hurt to mess with you. Of course, you need to be careful... you know."

My feet go numb, I have to sit to catch my breath. "Gretchen, that is very bad news."

"Look, don't let it ruin your trip. Donovan's being watched pretty close," she says, and I hear someone talking to her in the background. "Listen, I've got to go. Call me as soon as you're back in the city. Okay?"

"Okay," I say hanging up. I feel sick.

I hear a knock on the door. "Sage, are you alright?"

Kellan. Do I tell him all of this? Yes, I have to tell him.

Back at the table, I tell Kellan everything Gretchen told me, and like Gretchen he's really happy. Even the part of Donovan posting bail does not get a rise out of him.

"You need to warn Finley. That article made it seem like he and I were dating," I say.

"Finley is trained in like four different martial arts. Don't worry about Fin," he says, very unconcerned.

"Please call him Kellan. Please."

Kellan looks at me and smiles. "I will call him after lunch Now, let's try and enjoy our meal." He stops and looks at me, "Thanks for telling me all this and not trying to bare it all on your own, Sage." He grabs my hand and reaches across the table to give me a sweet kiss.

A revelation comes to me that seems so simple, I can't believe it has not come up in therapy or in my mind until now. I have been worried about weather or not I can live alone and not rely on another person, but I have been alone for six years. I could never count on Donovan to for financial support, moral support or any kind of life choice support. He has not supported me on anything that was for me, not college, my career, making friends, nothing. I've been alone in all of it and his presence through said events made it much harder than if I had truly been alone.

I'm not alone now. I have a real partner. A partner that does not make my huge issues seem like a burden, a partner that wants to share in my experiences and help me make decisions that are good for me.

I feel so blessed to be sitting in this seat and loving the wonderful man across from me. "I love you Kellan."

"I am quite sure I will never get tired of hearing you say that." He smiles.