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Just like the ebb and flow of the bustling city, the stea of brakes and the endless honking of car horns, every nuance of his romantic life held the potential to be predictable because he was a Mason Scripted, if anyone other than Tague had a say in the matter Unfortunately, two extremely prominent people once had His parents

When it caht” to date worander aspiration than trophy wife Polite ladies who lunch Genteel sorts who spoke softly, agreed with anything he said and didn’t make waves in private And especially not in public

Bor-ing

Tague wanted siren-red vivaciousness Not everything-should-be-beige pretentiousness

And he’d learned the hard way that the only one who could control his destiny was hihtest bit of influence over him That could prove—had proved—detrimental

Never Again

Even nine years after his ill-fated relationship with Renee Redhts of the massive destruction his parents tended to incite with the force of an F5 hurricane did nothingOr someone

Chip was da to make this spontaneous introduction Were it anyone else butting into his life in this manner, they likely would have been left sprawled on the floor as Tague stalked off

“For the record,” he told his friend, “I do date”

“Sure you do” Chip gave a seet aith, because they’d been through thick and thin during their years at Harvard “You’ve been overseas all this time”

“I can ask a woue retorted

“And what do you do on these iue pressed, undeterred—and, apparently, unconvinced

“I happen to like sushi”

“You happen to like solitude A bit tooyou out this time”

Chip gestured for him to veer to the left, into the crowded coffee house