With the smiles Mason and I shared as I did my best to be brave and keep doing my job, I waited for him to finish up his set at the piano, and hopefully, he'd take a seat in my line of sight so I'd get the chance to take care of him that evening. There was something about the way he played the keys that made the winery feel like a whole different place, and without many options for me to go otherwise, a little change was certainly a good thing.

Text conversations weren't anywhere close to seeing someone in person and watching their eyes light up as they spoke, and it seemed like fate was working out in my favor for once.

Who knew? Maybe he would even mention that he had a boat with a red sail that he liked to use on the lake. Or maybe he would tell me that he would be playing the piano at the Lakeside Daisy every other night for as long as we would have him. Or maybe he'd ask me on an actual date since he had the gentlemanly opportunity to do it in person.

As the night continued on, eventually the music stopped, and our very own piano man took a seat at a table, once again, by himself. Maybe he didn't have anyone in the area to support him after he did his set. Or maybe he did have plenty of friends and family around, and he just didn't update his status everywhere he went. That was probably weirder. The second I could live my inner artist dream and just get by making little crochet goods, I would tell everyone about it, related to me or not.

He really was living my dream, wasn't he? He didn't even have to dress the part to be a fancy piano player, even if choosing outfits and looking good was easily one of the most fun parts of being alive.

"Welcome to the Lakeside Daisy. My name is—" I began my spiel, but he cut me off.

"It's good to see you, Marigold."

He probably knew everything that I was going to tell him anyway. "I didn't realize you were our new piano man."

Mason nodded. "Sure am."

Was he going to elaborate on that, or—? Although we had practically just met, there were a million ways to continue that conversation naturally, from how he got the job to whether it was his dream in life to what bigger steps he saw in the future.

But no. I got nothing. Most men were terrible at texting (it must have been a gene on the Y chromosome or a testosterone thing), but talking was a much more important skill to have.

"Would you be interested in trying another one of our IPAs today, or are you looking to switch it up a little?" I asked. Apparently, I was going to have to do my job as I talked to him. Disgusting.

"Just water for now," he said.

Maybe he was tired after playing for a few hours, but he certainly didn't seem like he wanted to talk much with me, even if it was good to see me, Marigold. It wasn't like I had the patience to put up with Alex and Blake arguing after a long day of dealing with mostly nice customers.

Unfortunately for him, though, I was a little bit of a talker.

"Well, when you're ready, we have this seasonal pumpkin ale, and it's ridiculously good. I'm definitely more of a wine person, but I can make an exception for it." Before he could provide any sort of opinion on that, I continued. "Do you have any other places you play regularly?"

Mason smiled. "The piano? Oh, that's just something to keep me busy right now. I have a few other gigs around, but none of it is actually how I want to spend the rest of my life, you know?"

I nodded, even though it seemed a little weird that he needed little jobs around town just to keep him busy, or maybe it was just a figure of speech. "Trust me, I know. This job isn't exactly the end goal for me."

"What is?"

"Owning an online craft shop. I mean, I already have one now, but the dream is that it pays all the bills and then some."

"That's an interesting dream."

"My parents always told me it wasn't realistic, and maybe it's not since I didn't even do the bare minimum they asked of me by getting a degree in business or finance or something, but even the daydream of it is pretty nice sometimes. It'll all work out eventually, or it won't, and I'll move onto something else. Now is a good point in my life to give it a try. You know?"

"That's pretty entrepreneur-like of you."

"I think it's a little more domestic goddess or cottage core than girlboss, but I guess you have to wear more than one hat in this world."

When he didn't respond to that right away, I assumed it meant that he wasn't on TikTok or Pinterest enough to understand the cottage core aesthetic or anything I was talking about. He did say he stopped using Instagram when he was sixteen, after all. 

So I changed the subject back to him and kept talking. "Do you have a dream you're working toward?"

"Shouldn't you be working right now?" Mason asked.

I smiled. "I am. Making connections with customers is part of my job. I have to be personable if I want to get paid."

I definitely had more people to take care of than just him, but he left me a decent tip last time, and I wouldn't have been mad if I managed to get another one just like it from him.

"I'm not a customer though. I just want water," Mason said.

"Everyone who takes a seat here in the Lakeside Daisy is family, and family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten."

"What?"

"It's Lilo and Stitch, the Disney classic." When he didn't respond to that, I held in a sigh. "I'll get you your water."

With this interaction, I had many more questions than I did after our first. How did he get the job dressed the way he was? Why did he ask me to do my actual job when I asked him about himself? Did that red sailboat I saw on Lake Erie belong to him? And most importantly, how did he not know Lilo and Stitch?

It was all so fascinating. I had to know why.

Even though I could hear my father's voice in the back of my mind telling me that if only I had cared that much about my career, my financial situation wouldn't be in the hands of people who wanted me to bring them drinks, this was a much more interesting way to live my life. And at the end of the day, there was only one person who had to live my life.

Besides, I lived with Alex and Blake, both of whom went to college and had one of those real jobs he always wanted for me. And those two certainly weren't any better off than I was.

***

"So when are you going to hang out with that guy you met the other day at work?" Alex asked after I had a few moments to decompress after my shift.

I hadn't mentioned that I saw him earlier, and I definitely didn't mention that the conversation was a little more forced than how I remembered the first one going. But now, I had to have the opportunity to hang out with him one on one. There was plenty about him that didn't quite add up, and what was more exciting than a little mystery for me to think about?

Maybe Velma would be a fitting Halloween costume when the time came. I stored that information away for future Marigold to deal with.

"Hopefully soon. You know how painful the talking stage can be," I said.

"You make everything much more complicated than it needs to be, MG," Alex said. Blake probably would have agreed if he were still awake. Pretty much every single person I knew probably would have as well.

I had a mystery to solve, though, and if I played my cards right, maybe I'd have myself a Scooby Snack at the end of it. And a boat.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello, and thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate your support.

So for today's question, if you died today, what kind of creature would you be in your next life? I will accept a variety of answers, so it can be a plant, animal, or even a type of person. Anything living.

I'm pretty sure I will end up being a cat in my next life. I'm a little lazy at times, but I'll get a random burst of energy. I also very much enjoy getting attention on my own terms. So yeah, I would either be a cat, or I would maybe end up being a weeping willow tree. They're super pretty, and I just want to be a tree sometimes. Life would be much simpler.