Chapter 13
Mason
“Mason!”
My mother’s voice echoed across the entire damn house. With as much time as she spent in it, it didn’t shock me, but Jesus, it was a terrible way to wake up.
“Mason! Don’t forget about the charity dinner tomorrow night. You will need to make an appearance.”
I hated it when she did this. She’d dedicate my appearance to one of her functions and then “remind” me of it the day before. I knew she had a charity dinner Friday night, but what I didn’t know was I was apparently supposed to be there.
Great.
“I’ll make sure I’m there!” I yelled back.
“Wonderful. Go get one of your suits tailored. I love that gray one, but it’s too big!”
I rolled myself out of bed and went on the hunt for the suit. I knew exactly which one she was talking about. It was one of my father’s old suits. We were the same height, but he was much broader than I was, so I only wore this suit on occasions where I needed my father’s strength.
I wonder if Ash would want to attend something like this?
I wanted to see her again, and I was planning on asking what her Friday night was like. But apparently, mine had already been planned. Mom didn’t mention anything about taking Eva, so maybe I could make a quick appearance with Ash before we went and did something that wasn’t so stuffy.
I plucked the suit from my closet before I tossed it onto the bed, and I grabbed my phone from my bedside table before I opened it up to call her.
“Hello?”
“Hey there, Ash,” I said, smiling.
“Mason, is that you?” she asked.
“Of course, it’s me,” I said. “Who else would it be?”
“I don’t know. I don’t really recognize your voice. Is this the Mason I text all the time?”
God, I adored her sense of humor.
“I guess I could hang up and message you if you wanted,” I mused.
“But you already went through all this work!”
“Listen,” I began. “I was wondering what you were doing tomorrow night?”
“Well, I have work until four, and then I have a scheduled shower after that, followed promptly by a lonely dinner of ramen noodles and frozen corn. Then, a rousing game of ‘what color should I dye my hair?’ will take place, followed by Frank interrupting my existence with her newest life-altering emergency. Why? What’d you have in mind?”
I laughed at the breakdown of her evening, and when I gathered myself, I went ahead and threw out the thought.
“I’m being dragged to some charity dinner tomorrow night. I figured, if you wanted to go, we could make an appearance before going and enjoying something normal and fun.”
“Ah, a charity dinner for the rich and famous,” she said. “Sounds fancy.”
“We could make fun of all the insane fashion statements people are making,” I said.
“Oh shit! Will there be lots of outlandish hats?”
“That’s the British, beautiful,” I said with a chuckle.
“That’s a shame. I was going to buy one for the occasion.”
“Just wear your most beautiful dress, and I’m sure it’ll be a panty-dropper.”
“I didn’t realize you wore panties,” she quipped. “And when did I agree to go with you?”
“When you started joking with me about it.”
Silence fell on the other end of the line, and for a split second, I thought I’d overstepped my boundaries. I clenched my jaw and closed my eyes. When her voice sounded on the phone again, I felt a broad relief sweep over my body.
“I’d love to go,” she said.
“All right. I’ll pick you up at your place tomorrow around seven? That work?”
“Sounds perfect. I’ll be ready and waiting.”
We hung up the phone, and I couldn’t help but smile. I was excited to see her again, and if my mother kicked up a fuss about it, then I could use that fuss as an excuse to leave to do something fun. I pulled on a pair of slacks and a polo shirt before I grabbed the suit on my bed, and I made my way downstairs.
“Aren’t you going to eat breakfast?” my mother asked.
“I’ll grab something in town. Gotta get this suit altered!”
“Mason!” my mother called.
“See you for dinner!” I called back at her.
I rode into town and had the driver drop me off at a small place to eat, and instead of making him drive me around town, I shooed him off for the day. I swung my suit over my shoulder and started walking down Rodeo Drive. I breathed in the fresh air that lingered in the depths of L.A.
It was nice to be walking around, and I started to get more perspective on why Winston did what he did. It was freeing to walk around instead of being clammed up in a car, and I made the decision to tell my tailor to take the day while I ventured around the city.
Maybe I could drop in on Ash at work or something.
I was headed to my tailor’s when a little shop window caught my eye. I saw the funky necklaces and outlandish earrings displayed in the window, and I instantly thought of Ash. She’d love something like this, and I figured I could get her a present for the dinner tomorrow night.
I made my way on into the shop. The necklace and matching earrings had dark green, misshapen pieces strung together on a long cord. They were interspersed with little bright yellow beads, and the chrome-looking cylindrical pieces added a massive amount of length that would drape perfectly into her bosom.
They reminded me of the necklace Ash said she’d made, and I promptly grabbed it from the display window and took them up to the counter.
“Will this be it, sir?” he asked.
“Do you have any earrings to match it?” I asked.
“Of course, we do, sir. I’ll be right back.”
I looked around the store while he was finding the earrings, and every single piece of jewelry reminded me of Ash’s funky style. I knew she would adore a shop like this, but I also thought she could probably sell her jewelry here, too. It matched the style she was wearing around her neck a couple of nights ago. When the owner came back, I started to ask him some questions.
“Do you sell jewelry by local artists?” I asked.
“Oh, yes,” he said. “Everything in my shop is created by myself and local artists.”
“How would a local artist go about selling their stuff here?”
“Are you making jewelry, sir?” he asked.
“No, no. The woman I’m dating makes some incredible jewelry, though.”
That statement fell off my tongue easier than it should have, and the thought of dating Ash made me smile.
“Well, I’m always looking for new talent, especially since one of my regular artists just pulled her pieces. I have open shelf space, so I’d love to see some pictures of what she’s made.”
He rung me up, and I handed him my card without looking, and that’s when he started in on the caveats.
“But our jewelry is made with only the finest materials, and no piece in this shop is sold underneath a certain price point. It weeds out people who are simply browsing and brings in a nice profit for both the store and the artist. So their time isn’t wasted sacrificing beauty and quality for mere quantity.”
“Understandable,” I said, nodding.
He bagged up the necklace and earrings I’d bought Ash, and I rolled that statement around in my head. Ash probably didn’t have the money to make her jewelry pieces from whatever “finest materials” there were, and she didn’t strike me as the type of person to charge someone obscene prices for it, either. I knew I could get him pictures of Ash’s stuff, but I didn’t know if I could convince Ash to invest in the materials to get into this man’s shop.
I probably couldn’t convince her to let me invest in those materials, either.
I looked down at the bag I was holding, thanked the owner for his time, and I turned to walk out. I had just handed this man my card without even looking at the price, and the truth was, it was because I didn’t need to. This jewelry set probably cost more than Ash made in a year in the craft shop she worked at, and I had the money to drop that daily on things like necklaces and earrings.
We had a very serious difference in backgrounds, and I started to wonder if we could overcome that gap. Would she be upset that I talked to someone about selling her jewelry? Would she be angry that I spent that kind of money on something I saw that reminded me of her? Would it make her uncomfortable to wear something this expensive?
Jesus Christ, I’d just invited her to a charity dinner where my fucking mother was going to be.
“Sir?” the store owner asked, “Are you all right?”
I stood there with my suit slung over my shoulder and the bag of jewelry in my other hand, and for the first time, I was nervous.
I was nervous about seeing Ash again.
I nodded. “Oh, yes. I’m fine. Thank you for your time.”
Should I have invited her to this dinner?