Patterns - An Academy Story

Part 40 - Beyond Lucky

You guys!!!!! 150,000 reads???? You absolutely amaze me. Thank you so much for joining me on this journey that I began a couple of years ago. I know the updates have been scarce the last couple of years, and I both apologize and say thank you for sticking with me. Believe it or not, I am slowly catching up in the timeline to chapters that I wrote WAY back when. Some chapters are difficult to write. Other chapters wake me up in the middle of the night to be written. Either way, thank you so much for reading, commenting, and voting.

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Sang's POV

I had just finished pulling off my casual black Daphne outfit when my phone buzzed. I wasn't sure who would be texting me, unless it was whoever Luke had contacted to meet me out front. I picked up my phone to see who it was.

Owen: Miss Sorenson, I was wondering if you had dinner plans. I'm downstairs in the lobby, near the entrance to The Grill.

Well that solved the mystery of who was babysitting next.

Sang: No, I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to even think about dinner.

Owen: Would you care to join me or would you prefer to head straight home?

Dinner. With Owen. I took a deep breath. Daphne clothes and the clothes I wore to the office today were definitely too casual, but maybe combined with some of Harper's clothes would work. I shuffled through the wardrobe rack and pulled a couple of pieces out that I thought would be appropriate for the Charleston Grill. A combination of what I wore to the office, a dash of Daphne, and a bit of Harper would look dressy, but stylish. Thankfully I had various kinds of outfits stored in the room here.

Sang: Dinner would be lovely. Can I meet you there in 10 minutes?

Owen: That's perfect. I'll secure a table for us. Unless there's somewhere else you'd rather go?

Sang: No, The Grill sounds good. I'll see you in a few minutes.

With the exception of movie night at Victor's, every time I saw Owen, he was impeccably dressed in suit and tie. I wanted to look nice and not embarrass him, but I didn't want to be dressed too much like Harper. She always took great pains to look society appropriate in all occasions. Very Junior League. I quickly changed into the pieces I had selected. I pulled back on the pair of ankle length slim black pants that I'd worn that morning, and a white scoop neck shirt. I turned up the sleeves of a charcoal grey blazer, put it on, and looped a colorful grey, black, and purple silk scarf from Harper's side of the wardrobe rack around my neck. I brushed my hair out and fastened back it in its clip. I looked in the mirror. Daphne's lipstick was too bold, so I wiped it off and smoothed on a more neutral berry shade. I also wiped off most of the dark eyeshadow. A little bit smoky was okay, I decided, but not over-the-top art student smoky. I looked at the clock. I only had two minutes to catch the elevator downstairs, so I slipped on black flats and grabbed my bag. I glanced around the room, making note of where everything was. The camera gear was back in place and locked up, and the SD card containing the pictures I took this afternoon was safely tucked into a hidden pocket in my pants. I switched off the light and closed the door. The snick of the automatic lock confirmed that no one could get in, but I tested the handle to double check for myself.

As I headed to the elevator that would take me to Owen, I wondered if he would consider this a date like Luke had considered this afternoon to be. If I was being honest with myself, the thought didn't displease me.

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Owen's POV

I watched the steady flow of people traversing the corridors leading to and from the grand lobby of The Belmond because I didn't know which direction Miss Sorenson might be coming from. There was a mixture of locals wearing professional attire and tourists wearing more casual wear. I craned my head to see if I could spot Miss Sorenson amongst the crowd of people.