Mason Walton

I had never seen Katrina tipsy before. Not even at senior prom where the punch was spiked and everyone drank from it. To say it was a funny sight was an understatement. She was singing to Alan Walker 'Unity' song slurring the words and giggling from time to time. She was so cute tipping her head from side to side and dancing with her arms in her seat. I was supposedly driving her to her parents' house which I had no idea where that was.

"Kitty Kat? What intersection should I take now?"

"You are my symphony! By your side we are unity..."

I chuckled "Kat please" she met my eyes but kept singing.

"You are my energy, my guiding light, we are unityyyyy..."

I listened to her sing wishing she was really singing to me, really telling me I meant to her that much. Letting her have dinner with my family and friends tonight was a hard choice to make. At first, I immediately said no to Helena, not wanting to cross that line. We had just agreed to be friends and I didn't want Kat to run for the hills. I also thought letting her meet them would mean that we are more than friends. Something I wouldn't mind, but knew she would. She surprised me by saying yes to dinner to Helena.

Once Helena left, I asked Kat why she agreed and it turned out she couldn't resist my sister's puppy eyes. We spent more time in CP before getting flowers and chocolates for Helena. Something Kat insisted on.

Dinner was great; they all behaved and teased me just a little without making me or Kat uncomfortable. When Adam brought up Celine, it was like all hell broke loose. They were all concerned and worried but I assured them I was alright and even told them how I faked being Kat's boyfriend. Jason grinned knowingly. "You only did that so you could kiss poor Katrina here". We all laughed at his comment including Katrina who was blushing like never. The rest of the evening went by smoothly and we all decided to do it again before Kat left for Boston.

I parked the car and realized I was in front of my apartment building. I let out a sigh and looked at Kat who was still hyped and dancing. I couldn't take her like that to her parents, that wouldn't be good now, would it?

"Katrina, we're at my place."

She looked at me and her eyes went huge "No! I have to be home" She giggled "My brother Noah is waiting for me at home." she whined before resting her forehead on my shoulder. "You need to take me home Mr. Walton."

I froze when she wrapped an arm around my waist and was snuggling to me. "Kat," I whispered, "I would gladly take you home if I knew where it was."

"Okay," She mumbled, "It's in Queens."

"Could you add it to the GPS?" She nodded and fumbled around before adding the address.

"Thank you, Kitty Kat."

"I love it when you call me that." She smiled as she dozed off.

I was grinning like a fool as I followed the instructions and drove toward her parents' house. It was in Forest Hill and in a nice neighborhood. The houses were dotted with trees and foliage, they almost looked the same. I stopped the car in front of their house and looked at a sleeping Katrina Johnson. She was so damn beautiful.

"Kat, Kat, we're here."

"No... five more minutes please."

I chuckled "Katrina Johnson, your dad is coming to us with a rifle; I'd suggest you get up."

She opened her eyes too quickly as she sat up straight and looked at her house. "Mason! You scared the hell out of me!" She rubbed her eyes pouting.

"Would your dad actually come out with a rifle?" I asked suspiciously.

"well... yeah. He's done it before." She smiled and looked at me seeming to have sobered up a little. "Thank you for this beautiful evening. I was skeptical at first but it turned out good. I had fun."

"You sure did." I smiled "Thank you for playing the girlfriend and for accepting my friendship." I felt myself lean into her a little and she did the same before clearing her throat and pulling away briskly.

The front door to her parents' house opened and a young man walked out narrowing his eyes at the car before walking toward us.

"Katrina" He raised an eyebrow before looking at his watch "You're two hours late." He didn't even look my way.

She giggled "I am, aren't I? I'm never late! It's fun to be late."

I pressed my lips together hiding my smile as she grabbed her bag and looked at me "that is Noah, my brother." She grinned "Good night my friend." She stepped out of the car and her brother steadied her.

"You did not make a good impression by bringing her home drunk you know?"

"I'm not drunk!" She protested and I laughed.

"She wouldn't stop drinking; I had to snatch the bottle from her hand."

"Were you clubbing?"

I raised an eyebrow at him "No, we were having dinner at my sister's."

"I see." He frowned, "And you are?"

"Mason Walton, I'm her... friend."

"Of course you are, she would never date a white boy." He chuckled.

"Well, that was a bit racist don't you think?"

He paused for a second and nodded with an apologetic smile "You're right, but that's the truth. That's how she is. Anyway, thanks for bringing her home. Have a good night."

I watched them get inside the house and shook my head before driving back home. He gave me something to think about. With all this chemistry we had, she kept building walls around her and kept pushing me away. Why would she? Was it really because I was a white boy as her brother put it? If that was the reason then I have a lot to do.

As soon as I opened the door, Max came in a hurry barking in happiness. I pat his head and went to the kitchen to give him some food.

"Good boy, I'll just take a shower and come back to you."

I walked out of my shower and put on my briefs and trunks "Max!" He came running and jumped up on the bed next to me. "I missed you too buddy, we'll go for a run tomorrow." I was glad Elsa found me a good dog walker, he came three times a day and took Max out while I was working. I got comfy and took my phone from my nightstand seeing a couple of texts from Celine and one from Katrina.

Celine: I can't believe you didn't want to take my project.

Celine: And I still don't believe that girl is your girlfriend.

I rolled my eyes with a groan deleting her texts not wanting anything to do with her. I opened Katrina's text with a smile.

KJ: We're on the gossip page.

"Gossip page? What is she talking about?"

MW: What gossip page?

KJ: It's an online page on IG where they post everything about celebrities.

She sent me the link and I clicked it finding pictures of me kissing her in my office and another one of us walking out hand in hand. I smiled goofily at the photos when I got another text from Kat.

KJ: Do you know someone who can take them down?

MW: Why would you want that? Beautiful photos.

KJ: I don't want my boss to see them. Fix this.

I frowned setting my phone away hating the tone she was taking with me. It was two in the morning anyway, who would I call at this hour? I turned off the lights and went to sleep ignoring her. Maybe I was wrong to hope that this so-called friendship could transform into something more.

"They took the photos down Mr. Walton." Elsa seemed content telling me the pictures were down. When I came in this morning, it was the first task I gave her and she was as happy as a kid on Christmas.  She followed me to the conference room and turned on the projector readying everything for the meeting.

"Good, that's good. Thank you, Elsa."

"It was a pleasure, sir. It's a good thing Miss Johnson showed up when she did."

"It was indeed." I reviewed the pamphlet Dahlia had made, she was the one pitching to the client today and it seemed everything was in order. "Is Adam joining us?"

"No, sir, he has a meeting in New Jersey. Your mother called Mr. Walton. Twice."

I looked up at her with a sigh. Since my outburst in front of my mother, she called me at least twenty times. I wasn't used to all that attention, and it felt weird but comforting.

"Did she leave a message?"

"She said that she would like you to go see her after work."

I nodded "alright, I'll see if I can do that when I'm done here. Don't tell her anything though, just in case something comes up."

Dahlia came in with her team, she looked a bit nervous. I gave her a reassuring smile "You'll do great Dahlia, just don't show them you're stressing."

"I'll try" She chuckled and set up her laptop and her work. "I sent you the last update on Williams' project, did you manage to check it, sir?"

"No, I'll do it right after the meeting. Thank you, Dahlia."

I watched Dahlia as she pitched her ideas to our clients proudly. She was a great architect and took her job seriously. What I liked most about her was that she always thought out of the box and risked trying new things. The clients were smiling from ear to ear and nodding in excitement, meaning it was a done deal. It didn't take us long to shake hands and leave the conference room.

"I'm proud of you Dahlia, you've been working hard lately, keep it up."

"Thank you, sir, it means a lot."

"Why do you insist on calling me sir even when we're alone? We went to college together after all."

She laughed and shrugged "It's just a habit, and trust me it is so hard to maintain a straight face when I remember your days in college."

"Oh, don't go there." We laughed stepping out of the elevator, "Just think about the promotion that might be coming your way instead." I winked and got in my car leaving her standing in shock.

I grabbed my phone wanting to tell Kat the photos were deleted but voted against it. Not that I was playing hard to get or anything, but it felt like I was the only one rooting for this friendship or whatever it was. I just started getting better. I hadn't had a panic attack in about three months and I didn't want to set myself back by hoping for something that wasn't bound to happen.

Something that wasn't meant to be...