Page 25 of Rough Trip

She preferred to clean up as she went so she wouldn’t have to backtrack throughout the house to clean up any mess that had been left behind and so after she was done with breakfast she washed her dishes, dried them and carefully placed them back into their designated areas.

She then cleaned the rest of the kitchen before she headed to Sage’s room. She was luckily the only one who really cooked in the kitchen so besides some of the mess from breakfast, there wasn’t much mess for Mia to clean.

She proceeded to his room to check if he had any laundry because she did that on a daily basis when it came to both his and her clothes. It was just easier than letting them pile up for too long. She noticed his bed hadn’t been slept in. She would know considering she had made his bed the day before as she did most mornings. She found it rather odd that he hadn’t slept in his bed. Had he slept on the couch maybe, she wondered, maybe he had too much to drink at the bar and couldn’t make it to his bed when he had gotten home.

Living with Sage had been a big adjustment for Mia because she had never lived with anyone before, let alone a guy, and because it was just the two of them, she didn’t feel it necessary for them to get a maid, so she ended up cleaning up after him a lot. She didn’t mind so much because he was quite a neat person, clearly from all his army training. Only occasionally would he forget to clean up after himself, like leaving his bed unmade, whereas Mia had always made her bed when she woke up in the mornings.

She then went into his bathroom to check if the shower had been used. She could always tell because the smell of his body wash and cologne always lingered in the air after every shower he took, and to her surprise, the bathroom was neat and had no evidence that it had been used recently. She definitely found it strange as no matter what he would always come home, and he would always have a shower before he went anywhere. He seemed to be a hygiene freak in that aspect, she had noticed. He would rarely go to work without a shower, and sometimes he’d take a second shower when he got home from work.

It was a guilty pleasure of Mia’s to sit in his bathroom long after he had left and just breathe in the body wash and cologne that still hung in the air. To her, it was almost the same as smelling someone's clothes when you missed them because it still smelled of them. She did miss Sage and being around him. She hadn’t managed to break down his guard completely, but she always felt at ease around him, and she wouldn’t have minded just being able to sit next to him. She missed the smell of him that morning.

Mia knew there could be many reasons why he hadn’t come home, especially since he worked for Grier and the Screaming Demons, but he would usually tell her if he was doing any business after hours. He had at least always been thoughtful about her waiting up for him and it was still completely out of character for him to not come home at all, she thought. She knew he liked sleeping in his own bed.

The Screaming Demons were usually pretty clean when it came to business around the chop shop, mostly using stuff that was safe, and besides having people who might want to steal it, everything normally ran smoothly without a hitch, but there were things being done behind closed doors that no one really talked about, stuff that could get people like Sage into a lot of trouble. Mia had never liked the idea of the things he had to do for Grier but who was she to tell him not to do it? Definitely no one of interest to him.

It was highly unlikely that he could’ve been caught. He had been involved for so long that Mia knew that Sage knew what he was doing, but anything could be possible. Mia couldn’t help but think that something bad had gone down after she had left the bar the night before. It didn't make sense to her for him to do something that night though. He never drank on the job even when it was after hours. Had Sage done some side business after hours either way and gotten caught, she asked herself. She didn’t know what to think, and only the worst things came to her mind. If Sage had gotten caught, he could be in jail, and she wouldn't even know considering she doubted he would call her. He’d probably call Grier who may or may not inform Mia of the situation. She couldn’t help but be stressed out as the day started to tick by.

Had Sage maybe spent the night with someone else, she wondered. It would explain why he had ignored her. He had probably gotten tired of her and was ready for the next person. Although it was painful to think about, it would be a lot easier to come to terms with than Sage being behind bars. She tried calling his phone, but it went straight to voicemail. She knew then that something had gone wrong. She felt it in her gut, and she knew her gut had always been right in the past. She didn’t know what to think nor what to do. Should she call the police station herself and see if they had him or should she just wait it out, she wondered. She had never been in a situation like this before. Dealing with a missing person was serious and in their line of work she didn’t think it would be a good idea to get the police involved, especially since they were both new to town. Besides asking questions within the Screaming Demons, she didn’t know what else she could do that wouldn’t cause any trouble. If her gut instinct was right, she needed to find out where Sage was as soon as possible.

Mia spent the day trying to distract herself. She had started asking around the bar if anyone knew where Sage was, but no one had answers which caused alarm bells to go off in her head. No one said that there was an outside job that he needed to do the night before, so she crossed that off of her list of possible reasons for his absence. She tried to keep her thoughts at bay, but until Sage returned, she could not be settled. She had tried to call him more than once, but each time there was no answer, the call would just go straight to voicemail. His phone had clearly been switched off. Had he gone off the radar for a while, she thought. However, that was highly unlikely. He couldn’t risk missing a call from Grier or Fiona, considering they called him every couple of days to check on things. Mia knew he respected Grier so him ditching work and his phone just didn’t make sense to her.

She had originally thought he could be with another woman, but soon that idea left her mind. It had taken her so long to get him to let her in, and even then he hadn't let her in completely. She couldn’t imagine he would be with anyone else so quickly after her when he had tried to fight her off for so long. And even though he had proved to be a different person than she thought she had met, she knew that was something he wouldn’t do. She had heard him screaming out Laura's name while he slept, and of course, she knew exactly who Laura was. She knew that he would never be able to completely let her go after what had happened. It wasn’t within his control. So she could definitely tell that he didn’t seem like the type of man to just go off with a woman he had met at a bar which just made Mia stress even more because she had no other ideas as to where he could be. It just didn’t make sense for him to just disappear. Obviously though, if that were the case, she wouldn’t be able to stop him from doing anything with anyone else. She didn’t own him, and he certainly had made his feelings clear the last time she saw him.

His clothes were still in his cupboard, so it was evident that he hadn’t decided to move out. Fiona would go crazy if he tried something like that and Mia doubted that Sage would try to cause any bad blood considering he enjoyed working for Fiona and Grier. She knew he loved his job because he had always prided himself in giving his best and giving his all when it came to every job Grier gave him. Everyone knew he had a troubled past so they could see him trying to make himself better by constantly trying to prove himself to those around him, especially Grier and now Fiona. Mia felt the same way he did about it. She knew she had a lot to prove and she had a big sign hanging over her head that read ‘Kick me out if I screw up.’ She had been trying her best, but now she was worried that something had gone terribly wrong and she had no control over the situation because she didn’t understand what was going on.

Without wanting to jump the gun and cause any unnecessary concern, she decided to wait one more day before she took any action. He could still turn up as if there were nothing to be concerned about in the first place. She wouldn’t be surprised if that did happen. It all seemed like some sick joke to her and she really just wanted Sage to come home.

She went to bed stressed out. She tossed and turned the entire night, constantly waking up thinking she had heard something in the house, someone coming in, but she was always wrong and had fallen back to sleep every time. She went to bed hoping that she was just overthinking and that soon Sage would come home to her. Well, not come home to her exactly but just for him to come home in general.

On the second day, she tried to keep herself busy, but her mind wouldn't have it. She stayed at the house waiting to see if he turned up in the evening after possibly staying the night at a hotel and going straight to work after that. She continued to ask around at the bar and still no answers. She waited up for him that night, again constantly praying he would just come through the doors. But still, he hadn’t been seen or heard from.

Her feeling of unease just kept growing when she discovered that Sage hadn’t come home the second night. She had gotten out of bed without making it and rushed to Sage’s room, and again she found his bed neat like she had left it two days ago and so she decided to call Fiona. She couldn’t keep Sage’s unknown whereabouts to herself and she knew that if anyone could track him down it would be Fiona and Grier. It was time to get all hands on deck so they could find out exactly where Sage was. She couldn’t wait any longer. She didn’t know if he was dead or alive and every passing minute could determine whether or not they found him in one piece and still breathing.

On the second ring, Fiona picked up. Mia was so scared to tell her the situation, she honestly didn’t know how she would react. Would she get mad that Mia had left it so long or would she understand why she had waited a few days?

“Hello, Mia. How is everything going down there?” she asked.

“Um, hi, Fiona, everything seems to be going well…” Mia said. She was unsure about how to explain the situation. She knew she needed to get to the point because she was driving herself insane, being the only one concerned.

“What do you mean everything seems to be going well? That doesn’t sound so certain,” Fiona replied.

“Well, I’m actually calling because no one has heard from Sage for two days now and obviously that’s very out of character of him because he usually always comes home, so I’m starting to get a little concerned. I know I’ve left it a few days before telling you, but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t overreacting,” she said.

“Do you know the last place he was seen?” Fiona asked with concern in her voice. “I completely understand why you waited, and you don’t need to explain that to me. Dealing with something like this is always difficult because until we find him and find out what has happened, it could turn out to be a misunderstanding,” Fiona also said. Mia was grateful that Fiona had understood her. She didn’t want to get in trouble when she had been going out of her mind with concern for Sage's wellbeing. Fiona had sent Sage out with Mia to protect her as both of them took over the Screaming Demons in Florida. Fiona was definitely concerned because although he had complained about going to Florida with Mia, he had agreed because he followed instructions very well.

“Yes, he was at the bar the last time he was seen.” The same night he had ignored her, she wished more than anything she had spoken to him, maybe if she had he wouldn’t be missing. Maybe talking to him could have changed how things played out that night, maybe he would’ve gone home with her instead of staying at the bar.

“Did anything happen out of the ordinary?” Fiona asked, trying to get as much information as possible.

“I heard there was a scene caused by a member of the Omens who had entered the bar. But I wasn’t there, so I’m not entirely sure what actually happened.”

The story that had been told to Mia was that one of the members from the Omens had gone into the bar and caused a scene, Sage got the best of him, and the man was beaten almost to death but let go. Mia didn’t want to tell Fiona the story because she was worried that Sage’s actions would get him in trouble with the big boss when he did eventually turn up, and she didn’t want to be the cause of that. Mia knew Sage shouldn’t have let the guy go, everyone knew better than that, and so she couldn’t understand why he had been so soft. He knew how those kinds of things went. It was no good sending a message to the leader of the Omens when it was clear they wanted revenge for Tyler. Sage knew he should’ve ended it then and there, and Mia knew she would have to find out from him why he had let him go.

“Okay, well I’m going to send Grier there. He’ll come by plane so he can get there as soon as possible, and hopefully he can get some answers, but until he arrives, I want you to stay in the house. We don’t know what we’re dealing with here and I don’t want you to be in any sort of danger,” Fiona said.

“Oh, great, okay, yes. I’ll stay in the house until he arrives.” Mia was pleased to hear that Grier would be coming to help figure out exactly what was going on, but if anything Mia knew that if it came to it, she would do whatever it took to find Sage, even if she went without Grier.

“Great, I’ll get him to contact you once he’s landed so you know to expect him.”