A company car was provided for Rowan on his trip with strong bearings and good on gas. It was black and sleek, small and fast. Sage had personally never been in such an expensive, luxury car. As a lead doctor, he was not tight on cash and considered quite wealthy, but he would never purchase a car brand new for years of debt when he could settle for one that was hardly used. The concept to him was idiotic. It was best to let those rich folks buy vehicles at full price and resell them off for less than a fifth of the original pricing.
Rowan was too kind. He had two bags himself, but he still offered to carry Sage's bags to the car for him. Sage declined. There was no need to act so kind. They didn't know each other, and they weren't in public where they needed to pretend they loved each other. He took it to the car himself and tossed it into the trunk.
Overall, the trip was planned to last three months. Their range was quite large, and they had to travel it from the west to the east in that amount of time. Each business they were meant to drop by had a week of Rowan's expertise they had paid his company for before he had to be off to the next one. If each trip involved working with a set client, they would end up meeting with twelve businesses.
Sage was a doctor, so he was used to meeting with so many different people. That was not an issue. However, all the driving was new. He had never had to travel so much before. His job for his whole life had been stationed in their city, and he had not moved in all his years. The ride made him a bit sick at first. Thankfully, he knew what medicines to take to avoid the nausea.
The first car ride was quiet. Rowan did not play any music, nor did he offer to turn on the radio to break some silence. The doctor was thankful he didn't have any questions either. There were no questions nor comments. Nothing from the businessman at all about why Sage agreed. Rowan was quiet after he had been rejected when he offered to carry Sage's bags for him.
Many could say that Sage was a gentle man, but that was only because he was a doctor. He had to be; he had to have a form of bedside manner. Meanwhile, Rowan was gentle because it was a part of his nature of being.
While they both had medium sized figures, Rowan had a wider one. Comparing the two side by side, everything on Rowan had more muscle than Sage's body did. His shoulders, hips, and chest. The man's voice was a bit deeper than Sage's voice, but his face was softer and his movement when he did anything was casual. His hair had a gentle color to it, a light shade of brown like a chewy caramel, complimenting the tone of his skin that was a little bronzed from the sun. The caramel hair was short and swept back, but it had a slight handsome wave to it. Rowan was what Sage would envision as the ideal body image of a masculine man.
When they arrived at the first inn to stay at, Sage was tired from sitting in the car and staying awake during the boring ride. He wore a long, white coat that went down to his shins and had his hands stuffed inside in the pockets, his mouth covered by the collar. His heavy bag of his belongings rested on his shoulder as he waited for Rowan to speak with the receptionist about their check in.
Rowan had said 'wife' when he first had things arranged, so most people were expecting a woman to be with him. However, it was hard to decipher anything about Sage when they looked at him and felt that he was a bit too androgynous to determine anything. He had gotten a few looks as he stood a distance away from Rowan, but it was more people attempting to figure out if Sage fit the term 'wife' or 'husband' better.
As they were 'a couple,' the company had bought them a room with only one bed. Sage stared at it and then his eyes drifted to their three suitcases.
"I get the bed," Sage claimed.
"I—It's a fairly large bed, Sage—"
"I like to roll around." It was a lie. Sage hardly moved when he slept. But he picked up his suitcase and moved it closer to the bed. Since Sage was doing him a very big favor by pretending to be involved with him, Rowan felt he could not argue with him. He sighed and moved his suitcases toward a small couch in a mini lounge area. There were no more exchanges throughout the rest of the night.
Sage and Rowan had little to no interactions before agreeing to the three-month business trip. The doctor knew of the other through his sister, Isabella, but to say they knew each other would be far too much. They had met at a party Isabella had invited Rowan to, but when they were left alone together they spoke of nothing. Mainly because Rowan had been completely wasted when they spoke. He did not remember Sage at all, but Sage remembered him; Sage knew of him, but he did not know him.
Overall, Sage did not like to drink and liked overworking, so he hardly had any friends. He was familiar only with people who were affiliated with the hospital he worked at and his close family. While he was very friendly with the staff at the hospital, they were all his subordinates who were too afraid to invite Sage out with friends to hang out, so he never did. The one instance he had met Rowan before was a weird coincidence wherein he had been successfully dragged to a party. It had made him ask about Rowan to Isabella once the morning after. He didn't think about him again after that.
All Sage knew was that Rowan was a nice guy who laughed a lot. He wasn't particularly ugly or anything. Actually, the opposite. He could be considered quite good-looking. One could say he could have been a model. Since he worked as a business consultant, Sage could conclude that the guy was by no means an idiot. He had to be charming, too, or else his company would not have thrown him out on a one-man mission for single handedly assisting twelve other companies who reached out for some help. If they did not trust Rowan with such an important task, they would have sent him with backup, and they most certainly would not have trusted Rowan to go on a business vacation where he could also bring his significant other.
It really made Sage wonder why he suddenly left his wife. He didn't seem like the type to. Good thing he didn't say that out loud—that was a very harsh thought. It could have killed the guy.
Instead, Sage looked over his own shoulder in the mirror where he could see out of the bathroom door. Rowan was texting on his phone with a smile on his face. He scratched his face waiting for a reply, smiled even harder and allowed a dimple to rip through his cheek, and then replied to the message before he set his phone on the dresser. The doctor assumed he was texting his ex-wife. Poor guy must have been still in his head.
Sage softly sighed. He picked up the eyeliner he had been given by Liwayway and applied it.
"Curve your wrist like this to make a fine line! You know when you kitty-corner with your cuts with a scalpel? Picture that at the corner of your eye and brush outward. It might seem easier to close the eye you're working on to apply it, too, but keep them open."
There was not nearly enough time to teach Sage the whole beauty of makeup, but she at least taught him the basics. Eyeliner, mascara, and a small brush of color on and a bit below his eyelid for a small pop. She told him to match it to his outfit and eyes and it would be okay.
He questioned the necessity of wearing makeup. "Liwayway, I told you. I do not have to pretend to be a wife. I'm going as someone married to him. That's it. I don't have to push a fake femininity." but she insisted that adding some cuteness to his personality would sell it more.
"You look like a miserable sack of potatoes! Try the eyeliner!" Whatever. She wanted an excuse to play dress up. It was clear he spoiled her, too, because Liwayway could not see Sage anyhow. He could lie and say he did it when he did not, but he still did it despite not being able to be caught.
It was the first meeting with Rowan's business partners. Sage knew that he couldn't ruin the other's face, so he followed along with the rumors that Rowan's 'wife' was a very beautiful and clean character. Luckily, he was clean and good-looking to begin with.
Sage had a few articles of clothing that were very nice thanks to his sister's clothing line. He slipped on a dark green designer blouse. The material was smooth and silky. It fell around his torso, hanging loosely. If someone was right next to him, they could peer down the front of the deep v-cut of the top. He put on some sleek dark-colored pants that had a gentle shine on them and pulled them over the bottom of the shirt.
The doctor frowned at himself in the mirror. Sitting on his shoulders, the straps to the top were thin. He felt that it was a little too revealing, so he picked up a thin coat and draped it over himself.
Normally, he tied his hair back. It was slightly long, a little past his shoulders, and it would get in his way, so he would pin it back for work. Considering he was supposed to be dressing up, he figured he could let it down and began brushing his fingers through it. Since he didn't usually have it styled in such a way, he was confused how to have it sit and played with it a little bit. His hair fell normally with a middle part. He did have to say that with his hair down on his shoulders and dressed up in nice, fancy clothing, he looked kind of pretty. It had been a long time since he took the time to dress up; the last time had been his ten-year high school reunion seven years prior.
Sage stepped out of the bathroom and got ready to put on shoes. His back leaned on the bed as he slipped them on. When he stood up, he turned to Rowan to ask him if he was ready, but he noticed the other was paused on him and staring.
"What?" Sage asked. He looked down at his outfit, seeing if something was wrong. "Is there something on me?"
"I, no, there," Rowan shook his head quickly, his words jumbled and incoherent. "I, ah, nothing." He scratched his face and cleared his throat. With his caramel-toned hair smoothed back, Rowan's features were much clearer. Sage could see his jaw tighten—a sign of nervousness. The doctor considered the reasoning was because he was afraid that they would be caught and people would find out they were lying. So many questions would attack Rowan if they were. Why did he lie? Was Rowan Mayle not an honest man? And who was Sage?! Where was Rowan's wife?! It would be nothing but trouble.
So, Sage spoke up and said, "As long as they don't suspect me, they won't find out, and why would they?" Sage walked over to Rowan and stood in front of him to meet his eyes, but Rowan still appeared nervous. Since it was Rowan's image that would be shown, it was only fair to allow him the dominant role. Rowan was given the role of being 'the man of the relationship' that many people of the older generation questioned when it came to same-sex couples. Sage didn't really care about being either or. It was fake anyway. If something were real, Sage still wouldn't care. He didn't see eye-to-eye with labels anyway.
Sage was not embarrassed by being 'the woman of the relationship.' It was him taking the image of being a 'shy husband.' He knew nothing of the business, and his temperament was not very good in such cases. His whole life, he had grown up in a world where he knew everything; he excelled in his work, and no one was better than him. To be surrounded by people who would treat him like an idiot, it was a little risky. They decided Sage would play as a shy husband who only spoke with his husband in close and quiet whispers to avoid the chances of him snapping in annoyance. That was embarrassing.
In the end, he was glad he was never going to see any of the people he had to see ever again. If he did, they hopefully would not be able to recognize him as Rowan Mayle's shy and quiet married partner, but as the humble and intelligent doctor that he was.
They were alone in the elevator. An uncomfortable silence stood between them. It was the first time Sage questioned where the elevator music was and why it wasn't playing. His lip curled, and he attempted to think about the feeling in his gut. He concluded that he wasn't uncomfortable, but the air around them felt more awkward than anything.
"Can we at least agree that I'm your husband, not wife?" Sage suddenly asked. While he didn't care about labels, he definitely did lean toward 'husband' more than 'wife'. Rowan glanced over at him. "Say something got lost in communication or something."
Rowan nodded. "That's fine. My husband works. Whatever you want, Sage." He gently cleared his throat and said, "You'll need to hold on to me."
"Excuse me?"
"You're supposed to be my shy husband, so if you latch on to me and stay close, it'll look most believable. Besides, if you're with me the whole time, you won't have to deal with anyone you don't want to without my help."
It made sense. Sage nodded and looped an arm around Rowan's arm before the elevator door opened.