Sage

~*ONE WEEK LATER*~

DEEP BREATHES

Have you ever been in a situation where you're so nervous you feel like you're about to faint? Like every muscle you have grows weaker by the second and your heads spinning? Well at this very moment I am in this situation.

"Ah!" I hear a warm voice say behind me. "Isabella made a fantastic choice with this gown."

Turning around I am greeted by a smile, one that I've grown accustomed too over the past year. One that I'm sure my Mother loved to see whenever it was shown to her. Grandfather stands proudly wearing an expensive black suit.

Isabella chose the gown I would wear this evening. She scolded me for even shopping for a dress by myself in the first place for an event as important as this. Obviously, I was irritated because I spent hours trying on dresses to see which one Greyson would like. But I knew when I saw the rack—imported from Paris of course—my dress had no chance.

The gown I am wearing for tonight is a gorgeous hand-sewn red dress. Each stitching as incredible and remarkable as the rest. It was long and fell all the way down to my feet but thanks to a pair of heels I was able to add a little height.

I had several choices to make but since Greyson's favorite color is red I chose it for him. I'm such a girl.

"Grandfather." I smile back.

"We're waiting for you downstairs." He informs me. "I wanted your father to fetch you but he insisted that he be surprised as the rest to see his daughter walk into the ballroom."

My Dad is such a goofball.

Grandfather had me get ready in one the private suites of the hotel before he took me downstairs to show me off and announce my engagement. Greyson was also placed in a suite but I'm sure he left long before me since he doesn't have to do much to look good.

I exhale. "I'm...I'm ready."

"You sound a little nervous." Grandfather notices.

I rub my hands. "It's just...I don't know overwhelming that this is the night we've waited for. After this there's no going back at least, there's no going back without shame."

"No need to worry, darling." He comforts me. "I know Greyson can be a handful but I didn't chose him just because he was the son of a close friend of mine."

I stare at him, confused.

"When I was informed I had a Granddaughter I cringed." He frowned. "My daughter had a child with a man who was not of my choosing. But it came to my attention that the man I chose for my daughter was no good. He was scum, actually. And because I hadn't noticed I led a man like him to drive my own child away from me...my own family."

Silence

He continued. "So yes, you can say I'm repeating the same mistakes as last time. Perhaps I am. But Greyson has a perfect reputation among everyone, he's well-liked and envied by many for his charismatic charm. And one thing that I realized from that is I've never heard him treat any woman with disrespect." Grandfather's eyes fall to the ground, sadness clouding his gaze. "However, that boy has been through a lot of misfortune and unfortunately it's corrupted his view on monogamy. On love."

What did that mean?

"He loved his mother very dearly, probably more than the rest. So losing her ruined him but didn't destroy him." His eyes meet mine. "It wasn't until a poisonous woman showed up where he got totally corrupted. These things don't justify his actions but I'm sure if you can prove to him that this is for sure you can return that same boy from before."

A poisonous woman?

Who?

There's so much backstory that I don't know about Greyson it bothers me. He's a walking mystery. I have absolutely no knowledge of him other than what the public knows. I'm not even sure how his mother died, the media pretty much kept quiet about that.

Now I'm hearing there's someone else to blame for his behavior? A woman? Could he possibly have loved someone before? Admittedly, I am a little jealous that someone got him to actually calm his playboy ways to be in a legit relationship. But what I don't get, is who was it? I've seen a lot of his "girlfriends" but never anyone permanent looking.

"Anyways," Grandfathers waves it off. "no need to stress over the past. We now must think of the future. And the future is waiting for you downstairs probably grumpy from waiting more than an hour for his fiance to show up."

This was true, I've been up here for a painstaking amount of time. So I took a deep breath and nodded, forgetting the conversation—at least for now.

→←

Walking into the ballroom eyes were immediately on me, I was the center of attention without even trying. I had my arm wrapped around my Grandfather as he escorted me towards the hordes of wealthy and well-known people.

Greyson was nowhere to be seen, neither was his father, or siblings (unfortunately Hamilton was invited). I looked up at Grandfather to see if he was as concerned as I was only to find a searching gaze in his eyes as well.

Where are they?

My stomach sank. Greyson wouldn't back out right? After all of this and finally getting somewhere between us he can't possibly be pulling a disappearance act with me. The worst part about feeling this way is how much I feel justified thinking this way.

I hid my fear through a painted smile as I was escorted to friends of Grandfather.

"Emerson! This must be your Granddaughter!" One of the ladies say.

"Sage." Grandfather introduces me with a smile. "This is Andrea."

"Nice to meet you Andrea." I look at the lady.

"And this is Sandra." He introduces me to her friend.

"Nice to meet you as well Sandra." I say to the friend.

"Likewise Sage." She smiles back to me.

Suddenly I felt Grandfather stiffen next to me and when I looked up I saw a woman approaching us holding a glass of red wine. It was clear as day that she had to be one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen in person.

The lady had short dark hair that suited her facial structure, styled to the side. Her eyes were a pale green but still bright enough to see from a distance. She had on a ruby colored lipstick and makeup that looked almost natural on her skin.

She wore a long black dress that hugged every curve that she had on her body. Needless to say, she was hot.

What bothered me about her was the look she and Grandfather shared as she approached her. I never seen him look at anyone with nothing but warmth but with her it was almost like being next to a glacier.

The two ladies notice her as well and smile wider.

"Bianca come over here and meet Emerson's granddaughter!" Andrea says excitedly.

The lady—Bianca walks into the group with a brilliant smile. "Well, Emerson, it has been quiet long hasn't it. Last time I saw you there was no granddaughter in the picture."

"Bianca," Grandfather clears his throat. "I never expected to see you here. Actually I never expected to see you again."

Bianca looked at the two ladies. "Can you two do me a favor and give me a minute to catch up?"

The two ladies nod with smiles and vanish into the crowd.

"Listen here geezer," Suddenly Bianca's tone went vile. "it's none of your business why I'm here. Just show off your pretty little Emerson granddaughter." She eyes me judgmentally. "Guess your daughter couldn't birth a child with looks superior to her own. Such a shame to waste that beauty when you can't even produce it."

I frown. "What?"

"Don't." Grandfather stops me. "If you excuse me, my Granddaughter and I must leave. We've got many to attend too. However, don't hesitate to enjoy the party."

"If you even call this a party." She scoffs.

Then why are you here?

Grandfather exhaled. "Enjoy."

Without hesitation Grandfather pulled me away from her. Even though I had plenty to say I didn't want to embarrass him when he and Richard worked so hard to make this engagement announcement.

Besides she's the least of my worries, right now my fiance and his family are M.I.A.

Grandfather distracts me subtly by introducing me to more people but it only worsens my anxiety. Greyson would be out here, he would be the talk of the party surely. With his impeccable looks and swoon-worthy ways someone would have spoken about him.

After speaking to several groups of people the lights begin to dim. I look at Grandfather to see if this was planned but clearly from the suspicious look on his face it wasn't. That's when I became more apprehensive than before, something isn't right.

Then I heard the sound of a mic.

"Some of you may know me."

Suddenly a weight was lifted and a breath of relief escaped me.

"Actually, who am I kidding, all of you know me." He says humorously and the crowd laughs. "Anyways, back to the point. You all know me and you all know that I'm kind of a serious bachelor. This has probably concerned you all and most-likely 90% of the world since I am approaching the age of twenty-eight. These are settling years as most of you know."

I look around for his whereabouts until I feel a hand place itself on the small of my back. Freaked out I almost screamed until I saw a familiar and friendly face. Grandfather was chuckling and shaking his head as Dawn pushed against my back to lead me somewhere.

Before leaving Grandfather I looked at him to see if he was coming but he just watched. Dawn wore a grin as we walked through the people.

"Well I'd like to settle your worries tonight because I have a special person to introduce everyone too. And their name is..."

I walk and begin to see the large charming smile I've grown to cherish since it's such a rare jewel to see.

"...John Cena!" Someone yells in the crowd and everyone begins to laugh—at least the people who got the joke. I couldn't help but laugh hysterically, especially when the voice sounded like it came from a grown man.

When I looked back up, fighting tears of laughter, I saw Greyson chuckling. A sight that was even more rare than his smile, something I thought that was near extinction with the way he's lived life. And my heart began to burst for joy.

"Sorry guys, John Cena couldn't come tonight, he's to busy not caring who I am." Greyson says into the mic. "But I've got an even more special guest, Sage Slade..."

Nervously I approach Greyson who wraps his arm around my shoulders, stroking my upper right arm.

"...My fiance." He finishes.

Something about hearing out loud in a public place where others can witness it left a numb feeling inside of me. It felt almost surreal that I'm standing here next to Greyson and the engagement we've waited so long for has finally been announced.

I expected the crowd to give me judgmental stares and stay in awkward silence. However, five seconds later I saw hordes of smiles and the loud and beautiful sound of an applause. I placed my hands on my face, shocked.

"Finally!" The same guy yells and everyone laughs.

When I look up to Greyson and see him smiling down at me I can't imagine a better way to start our public affair with one another.

Ignoring everyone else, Greyson grins. "Did I freak you out?"

"Yeah!" I slap his arm. "You're a jerk, I thought you stood me up. You even had Grandfather scared."

He chuckled. "He wasn't in on it, I wanted to surprise everyone, especially since I didn't get to plan my own engagement announcement."

I shake my head and look at the crowd. "Are you sure it's okay? I'm surprised they're so happy especially with our age gap."

"They don't care, most people do this. Admittedly not when they turn eighteen exactly but there's always a large gap." He explains to me. "My father and mother had a twelve year age gap. She was ridiculously young which is why he's so old and we're still so young."

I nod at him, appreciating the words of comfort.

"Anyways, I'm fucking starving, come on fiance feed your man." His grin widens at me.

I scoff. "Feed me. I'm the one who had to spend a painstaking amount of time to look good in a dressing room."

"So did I." He frowns.

I roll my eyes. "Greyson you can put on a bunny suit and still look better than Ryan Gosling by a long-shot. Don't you dare tell me it took you more than fifteen minutes to get ready."

"Woah there, honey, perfection is not easy to acquire. One must work up to this." He pulls his arms off me and gestures himself. "You know how long it took me to look like fucking Adonis?"

"No time, as soon as you came out of the womb you were probably the most gorgeous boy baby alive." I tell him.

He scoffs. "Probably. You mean definitely."

"Exactly." I cross my arms, unable to stop smiling.

Greyson looks me in the eyes, his gaze gentle. "You know you don't need to try hard to look good right? We did live together for quiet sometime, I have seen you without the makeup on, and truthfully I prefer the look you were born with. Not that I'm complaining about you now because you looks smoking hot." He grins when I slap his arm with the back of my hand. "But all you need to do is wake up, wash your face, and I'll be content with it."

Que the awwwwing.

I'm not sure what's up with him but ever since we had that argument a week ago we've both been on cloud nine. At least I have. Greyson is more carefree and less angry, I even think he enjoys being around me.

Think?

I know he enjoys being around me. I can tell from that smile.

"You know you're not so bad yourself, Blackstone." I grin back.

Greyson's eyebrows rose. "Not bad?" He shrugs. "I'll take it."

I laugh.

Then suddenly I felt a warm feeling in front of me only to see Greyson leaning in close to me. That is until he kissed me—in front of a LARGE crowd of people. Fighting it wasn't an option but I swear my face was bright red by the time he backed away.

"Well I guess we started some talk, Sage." He whispers in front of my face. "Shall we speak to our guests?"

"I'd honestly rather go home and take this dress off." The dress was nice but very uncomfortable.

Greyson's eyes were wide. "Woah! Moving a little quick don't you think? I haven't even gotten to second base with you."

That's when I realized what I said. "Greyson! That's not what I meant."

"No that's totally what you meant." He shakes his head. "I'm marrying a freak."

I slap his arm, again. "Shut up we need to converse with our guests."

"But now I want to go home and take off your dress."

I snickered. "Shut up."

"Whatever, if not tonight, it'll be very fucking soon." He informs me.

I shake my head. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"Hopefully you." He says back.

I chuckle.

Hopefully