Chapter Three

SAGE

AMANDA was too busy talking to the person on the other end of the call to talk to Sage, which he was grateful for.

He followed her as they made their way down the hall.

He tries not to get frustrated with her pace when all he wants to do is get out of the building.

His outfit drives him crazy.

He wants to wear normal clothes and go back to his normal life.

He suppressed a sigh as Amanda pushed open the glass door.

His normal life is gone. Everything has changed.

It didn't help that Miss. Derrick made fun of him, and in many ways.

Her bright eyes and dusty freckles seemed to be etched in his mind, no matter how far he tried to push them away.

Desperately distracted, he glanced around, spotted Titan, and whistled.

This Newfoundland dog is the only saving grace he has had in his crazy life.

"Come on, boy," he said, patting his leg.

Titan turned his head towards him and quickly stood up. The marble floors are not for dogs and cause their paws to slide down.

When he finally sat up, he lunged towards Sage, who patted him on the head.

Amanda shot him a sharp look as she pressed the elevator button down. She did not hesitate to show disdain for his insistence on taking Titan anywhere.

Sage just smiled at him.

Titan has been with Kennedy Outdoors since he was a boy.

His biological mother died when he was three years old, and after his father's divorce from his fifth wife, Sage no longer relied on a wife to stay.

Amanda is the only person in her life that hasn't changed. Well, after his father.

But Sergio Kennedy is dead.

All the newspapers seemed determined to remind him of this fact.

The elevator doors opened, and they entered.

"Wait," cried Irena's voice.

The sage raised his hand to push the door. He didn't even notice that she had entered the hall.

"Lower?" he asked, kicking himself for looking so stupid.

She looked at Titan and shook her head.

"I'll find the next one."

The sage looked around.

"Only one."

Her cheeks flushed red.

"I mean, I'll catch this. . . You know . . ."

"Just say it," Amanda said, removing the phone from her lips.

Irena stared at her and then at Titan.

Sage wrapped his fingers around his dog's neck.

“This help?” He asks. He knows that Titan doesn't care about Irena. He fell asleep sitting next to Sage's feet.

The hum of the elevator filled the air.

"Come on, we won't bite," he said.

Irena gave the Titan a careful last look, then stepped on it.

Sage dropped his hand and the elevator buzzed.

Irena's face paled as the door closed. She wrapped her arms around her chest and leaned against the corner.

"I'm going to lose you," Amanda yelled. "Hello?" She groaned as she slipped her phone into her purse. "Well, that's annoying."

The sage looked at her.

"Relax, Amanda. Anyway, you can't fix everything now."

She stared at him.

"Sage Kennedy, do you know what nightmare is about to come upon us?"

He shook his head as he glanced at Irena and lowered her voice.

"Your father left us a huge mess to clean up."

Her tone makes him feel like he's in college, being scolded by his prep schoolteacher.

He sat up.

"I know."

She glanced at him, her expression softening.

"Why is he doing this to us? Why didn't he warn me? Now all you must do is pick up the pieces. "

She shook her head.

"Measurement is not true."

Then Sage reached out and stroked the dog’s head. His stomach was so tight that he couldn't speak. When it comes to his father, he doesn't want to try to figure out why he did what he did. It's always better to leave. That's exactly what Sage did until Amanda called him three months ago to tell him that his father had been in a car accident and that he had not survived.

Suddenly, Sage went from a carefree life, moving from country to country without responsibility and without letting anyone down, to becoming the CEO of a billion-dollar company. Who - as Amanda would say - is about to witness the wrath of the Eternal World that rules over them.

Not equal to the test of fire.

"Did you know an escalator is more dangerous than an elevator?"

Sage turned to Irena, whose eyes were closed.

"What?"

"You're 10 times more likely to get injured riding an escalator than riding an elevator, which is silly because there are 10 times more elevators than escalators."

Sage glanced at Amanda shrugging.

"Really, Miss Derrick?" Sage asked.

Irena opened her eyes and nodded. Then she grimaced as if realizing she had spoken.

"I'm sorry. I say useless bullshit when I was nervous."

A smile appeared on Sage's lips. She's worried. Apparently, her cold attitude towards him could be melted away.

This made him curious.

Before he could push any further, the door opened, and Irena rushed to the door.

Sage watched her frame recede as she slipped through the front door and disappeared into the crowd.

"Wow, that's interesting," Amanda mumbled as she stepped out of the elevator.

Sage hissed and waved at the dog as he followed Amanda.

He found Miss. Derrick very attractive, even though she had just insulted him a few minutes ago. They exited the building and onto the sidewalk where Joseph, her driver, was leaning against their limo, studying his phone.

"Joseph White, hang up the phone right before I fire you," Amanda said as she walked to the door of the limo.

Joseph's face heated up as he put down the phone and looked around. When his gaze fell on Sage, Sage shook his head and smiled at him. Joseph looked relieved as he slipped his phone into his pocket and headed for the door.

"He won't save you," Amanda said.

Typical Amanda. Although she didn't watch their interaction, she knew exactly what Sage was doing.

She turned and gave him a sharp look before getting into the limo.

Sage gave Joseph another smile, which seemed to help him up, then he and Titan followed Amanda. Once they were located, Joseph closed the door.

"He worked for me," Sage said, leaning back in the butter-colored leather chair.

Amanda raised her eyebrows.

The sage's resolve weakens.

"We. He works for us." Amanda is the second largest shareholder.

He nodded.

Joseph entered the road and they drove for a few seconds before being forced to stop. Car horns blared as traffic pounded around them. Sage felt suffocated sitting in his limo in his suit. He tugged at his collar again, wishing he could climb the Mountains or surf in the beach.

"You’re nervous," Amanda said, nodding toward his fingers as he tried to untangle her neck from her tight shirt.

"What? I'm not." He dropped his hand on the chair next to him.

Amanda's ability to identify emotions annoyed him.

Trying to calm down, he sighed and looked out the window. Previous life has ended. Living in an overcrowded city is now his future.

"Yes, that's right," she said, reaching into her pocket, then triumphantly pulling out her ringing phone. After a few hits, she lowered it.

"I have good news."

The sage looked at her.

"What?"

"Everything is ready for tomorrow. We'll fly to Greenland; you'll hold a press conference - I pray that Miss. Derrick will not betray Mr. Patterson's trust - and then we will depart. Hopefully all that hard work will drown out the words illegal poaching and endangered animals."

Sage sat up as the words flashed through his mind. Leave it to his father to ruin something Sage thought they shared together. Since he was seven, his father took him hunting. He showed her how important it is to respect animals. How to kill it and clean it.

"You only kill an animal for food. Respect animals, Sage."

That memory now left a bitter feeling in his heart. It's a lie.

Well, how do you respect the endangered black rhino or South China tiger? He clenched his hand.

If my father were alive today. . . He shook his head.

If his father were still alive today, he would just live his life, not caring who he hurt.

Sage glanced at Amanda watching him.

She sighed and took off her glasses.

"He let us all down," she said.

Her voice lowered.

This was the first time in a long time that Sage saw her expression.

He runs his hand through his hair.

"It's dad." The sage forced a smile.

"Let's talk about other things."