Mason Walton

"You're late!" Jason shouted over the noise as soon as I climbed out of my car.

"I was detained." I chuckled as I locked my car and walked to him.

"Oh, were you with your friend?" he asked teasingly wiggling his eyebrows.

"Nah, didn't even talk to her today. I was visiting the Queen herself."

"How was it?"

"It was good considering. We had a fight the other day so I got her chocolate and went to apologize. I was supposed to stay for an hour but she wouldn't let me leave. I had to stay for dinner."

"No!" He laughed "How was Zachary?"

Jason knew I didn't visit my parents much, he knew the tension there was between us. He was also well aware of the shift that went down in my father's behavior regarding me. We never really understood why he changed so much, from being the easy-going and fun to be around dad to the annoying father that kept jabbing at me. Jason asking that kind of question was fairly normal.

"He was... actually nice for a change," I said with a frown. "Believe it or not, he didn't make one bad or snarky comment at me. He asked about work, he asked about you guys, and we talked about sports, he even made a few jokes! It was like old times."

"I'll be damned" Jason stared at me surprised.

I didn't blame him, hell I was surprised he was so welcoming and nice to me. It felt like ages since we had a real nice conversation. And tonight I realized how much I missed him; I missed spending time with him. I was never jealous of his relationship with Adam because I was never been treated as less. But lately, it felt like Adam was the real son and I was adopted.

I looked at the line in front of the club and smirked "How did you make Tara let you come here alone anyway?"

He snorted shaking his head "Who said she let me? She's inside with my annoying, whining sister. I just had to take a break and told them I'll wait for you outside."

"That can't be good, what is she whining about now?"

"She's fighting with Kerem all the time. He even left for Istanbul this morning, without her! Can you imagine?"

"He never leaves without her..."

"Exactly! She didn't take it well and now she's like a ticking bomb."

I rolled my eyes following him inside the club. She and Kerem met up in Spain but never got each other's details. Turned out Kerem was Adam's uncle, so fate brought them back together. They fell in love so hard we all thought it was too good to be true, and knowing Serena we thought she'll get bored eventually and dump him but she didn't, they got married and worked perfectly together until last month. We never knew what happened but they started fighting. At first, it was small arguments that quickly ended but with time those little arguments kept on growing.

"Oh, Loverboy is here!" Serena cheered with a giggle "Where's your new friend?"

"Hi Tara," I leaned in and pecked her cheek before sitting across from them "Did you tell Helena about..." I nodded my head toward Serena.

"Yeah, but she doesn't have a sitter so I have to bear with drunk bitchy Serena." She let out a frustrated sigh.

"I'm not drunk!" Serena pouted before looking at me "How is your beautiful friend? Don't let her too close. She'll break your heart. They all break hearts."

I bit my lower lip and glared at Jason "You thought coming here was a good idea because?"

"Because she can drink as much as she wants and the music can drown her voice."

"You're an idiot Jason! Take your sister home we'll come back another night."

"No! I want to stay!"

Tara rolled her eyes "I want to leave. Seriously this is the worst punishment ever! We need Helena!"

"Take her there."

We helped Serena into Jason's car and they took her to Helena's. She was her best friend after all, and she was probably the only one who would know how to keep her sane. I glanced at the club before deciding to go home. It wouldn't be fun on my own anyway. I climbed into my car and drove home. Alan Walker's song unity came on and I smiled remembering Katrina dancing on it and singing it. I was about to reach my phone and call her but changed my mind. I didn't know what happened but something snapped in me. Something kept me from reaching out to her even though I missed her.

I pushed the door to my flat open and was welcomed by max as usual. I felt a little bad for not being able to spend more time with him. I petted him for a while before giving him a treat. I took a much-needed relaxing shower chasing away all the negativity from my mind.

Getting out of bed was painfully hard. It took me forever to finally stop thinking about every little boring detail there was and fell asleep. I notified Elsa I would be coming in late glad that I didn't have any meetings for the day. As I walked out of the elevator on the parking floor I received a text from my mother telling me to meet her at CP for a walk. I didn't have the heart to tell her no and I also wondered what it was about so I decided to meet up with her.

"Good morning beautiful" I kissed her forehead and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Good morning to you" She leaned into me as we walked to a small fountain. "It didn't take you long to get here, weren't you at the office?"

"I was still at home, woke up late today for the first time in four years." I chuckled sitting on a bench. "Why did you summon me here my queen?"

She laughed shaking her head "Oh stop that. I just miss you. We used to do this every morning before you met Celine. Remember?"

"I do... She came by the office the other day." I saw my mom raise an eyebrow "As a client." I chuckled "She wanted me to work on her new project!"

"The audacity of that woman. I've never liked her, but you seemed happy and that's all a mother wants. Happiness for her children. Thank you for coming last night Mason, It meant a lot. I missed having you at home, and I brought you here because I want to ask you something. Well, not ask really, it's a new rule."

"And another rule," I chuckled "What rule?"

"You have to come for dinner at least once a week."

I smiled and nodded "for you, I can certainly do that."

We talked for a while as we walked around the park like the good old days. I felt at peace, and I felt like everything was falling into place. I promised her we would meet up again before work also at least once a week and she was ecstatic about it.

I was opening her car's door when we heard someone calling her name.

"Auntie Elise! What a surprise!"

We both turned toward the voice and I saw my mother's smile grow from ear to ear "Oh, Eloise! What a surprise indeed." She hugged her tightly. "It's been so long since I saw you!"

"Yes, it has, I was in Paris for the last three years, but I'm back now." She smiled and looked at me "Hi." She said shyly.

"Hi, I'm Mason." I returned her smile and I swear I saw my mom send a wink in Eloise's way. A surprise huh? What a coincidence.

"Eloise, this is Mason, my son. Mason, this is Eloise, Katia's daughter. You remember Katia right?"

"Yes, I remember her, she was one of your best friends?"

"She still is honey, more like a sister."

"Well, it's nice meeting you Eloise," I checked the time and was about to excuse myself when my mom stopped me.

"Here's a thought, you're meeting for the first time, how about you both go for coffee?"

"Oh, that would be great! Your mother always spoke so highly of you and your sister Helena, I would love to get to know you both!"

I hated bursting her bubble and telling her I had to go, it was the first time I met her, and I didn't want to appear rude. I ended up going with Eloise for coffee. There was this little café within walking distance, and it turned out she was going there when she ran into us. Eloise was a tall slender brunette with beautiful hazel eyes. She was wearing sports legging and a sports bra meaning she was probably working out. Her brown hair was tied in a high bun, accentuating her beautiful face.

I pulled out her chair so she could sit before taking place across from her. It was awkward sitting with someone I didn't know. I did that on a daily basis with clients but it was work-related, I knew what to talk about. But this? This was new to me and I had no idea how to start a conversation with her.

"So, this place is nice huh?"

"Yes, it is, I usually go to a café two blocks from here but this one is nice too."

"Wait till you taste their coffee," she motioned to my cup with a smile.

"How come I've never met you before? I mean, we saw your mom a lot growing up but you were never with her."

"My parents had a divorce when I was thirteen, and I chose to stay with my dad. She was still in modeling and was never there. So I went with the one stable and present parent I had."

"I'm sorry about that..."

"No, don't be. She was barely there anyway so it didn't change much. I stayed in the same house with my dad, she got a new one, and I got the best of both worlds." She smiled taking a sip of coffee.

"And what do you do in life? I heard you say you were in Paris?"

"Yes, I'm into modeling. I took that from my mom. I came back for a new lingerie brand called Jaden, I work exclusively for them now. I just missed New York so my agent looked for something here."

"Lingerie huh, well, good luck I guess."

"Yeah... In Paris, I was working for Sephora and Calvin Klein. I liked it better but at least I'm home now. What about you?"

"I'm an architect." I got a phone call from Dahlia "I'm sorry I have to take this."

-Good morning Dahlia, what is it?-

-We finished the first draft of the blueprints sir,-

-That's great, send them to me by e-mail and I'll check them in a few minutes. I'm out of the office.-

-Already sent sir, see you soon?-

-Yes, I won't be long.-

I hung up and put my phone aside with an apologetic smile "I'm sorry this was work, I should be there by now."

"Oh, I'm sorry I'm taking your time I just thought you were free..."

"No, it's fine don't worry. It's really nice meeting you, I'm glad I came."

"Me too." She smiled warmly at me.

Something caught my attention behind Eloise, I looked up and saw Katrina standing there, staring at me.

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AN: Hey guys! thank you for reading so far. It means a lot!

Just wondering, whose POV do you like best? Mason or Kat?