Ally indulged in her self-disapproval.  She could not believe how she just admitted that to him, and how he basked in her comment only made her even more upset.  It was not like she could just ignore him, though.  This was the work place, so she had to keep it professional.

"Let's go over some ground rules first," she muttered in an attempt to save herself from the embarrassment, even though she knew it was too late.

As she spoke, Ally only noticed different things about him from how his veins stood out on his knuckles to how his hair fell in front of his face.  She tried to continue talking, but the distractions kept building up with every second.

"Ally," he cooed softly.  "Everything alright?"

She nodded, trying so hard to recover from everything.  "Yeah, sorry.  I just had a rough night of sleep.  Anyways, if you —"

"You have a lovely, unforgettable face, too, you know," he said, cutting her off.

Ally looked up at him, dumbstruck in the middle of her sentence.  She had no idea what she had been rambling off about, but right now, it did not matter.  Josh thought she was beautiful.

She let her hair fall in front of her face, so he did not see the blush glowing on her cheeks.  She stumbled to find what to do next, but he made it simple.

"There's a customer coming.  How about you just do your thing and I'll watch?  Then, I can take care of the next customer," he suggested with a mere shrug of his shoulder.  Ally stared at him in awe.  How was he able to keep it together?

She nodded.  "Sure, sounds good.  You learn better by doing, anyways."

The customer walked up to her with a dull smile on their face, but Ally tried to make the best of it anyways.  After all, she was not going to allow for anyone to ruin her mood.  "Hello, welcome to the Burger Café!  May I take your order?"

"Small black tea, no sugar," they responded dully.

In an attempt to maintain the positivity, Ally gave her perkiest smile.  "Will that be all?"

"Yeah," was the only response, followed by the slap of a five dollar bill on the counter.  Someone obviously had a rough day.

Ally rang up the tea, and gave him the appropriate change back.  "You're order will be right up.  Have a great day!"

As the customer walked away to wait for Mason to bring out the drink, Josh snickered behind Ally.  "Well, aren't you Miss Sunshine?"

"I have to balance the equation out.  Sometimes we get really creeps in here," she responded in a hushed voice.

Josh's face cringed up at this.  "What do you mean?"

"Take the other day, for example.  This guy came in and he was dressed in all black.  He was just super creepy and gross.  I was just glad to see him leave," she admitted.

"Were you?" Josh raised his eyebrows.

"Mhmm, and I hope to never see him again," she responded with a dry tone.

Josh let out a nervous laugh. "Well, that sounds harsh."

"As it should be! Like I said, creep." She shuddered and walked away into the kitchen to pick up the drink. However, when she returned to the front, the customer was gone.

"Weird," she muttered. Ally set aside and stared at Josh, whose facial expression was now unreadable.

"You okay?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

He shrugged. "What's it to you?"

"I can't have two crabby co-workers," Ally reasoned.

"Then, tell your boyfriend to shape up," Josh snapped.

Ally raised her eyebrows, confused by his words. "I'm sorry — boyfriend?"

"Mason?"

"Is just a friend."

"So, there's hope for us?"

"Us?"

"Never mind, Ally." He shoved his hands into his pockets as a new customer walked into the cafe. He walked up to the register, ready to launch into this.

"Welcome to Burger Café! May I take your order?" he asked, his face filled with a sincere and genuine sweetness. He cared about the customers. Maybe Josh as an addition wouldn't be too bad.

******************************************

Us, what had he meant by that? Ally laid on her bed with her hands pressured underneath her head. She had left work only thirty two minutes ago and already she could not wait to return.

Mason never snapped out of his attitude, but Josh had been quite a pleasure. They kept sneaking glances at once another, though Ally still could not tell whether or not he had feelings for her. She really seemed to be falling for him, but at the same time, some of his remarks really irked her. She could not deduce whether or not he actually liked her, or if he was a player just toying with her. Likewise, she did not want to find out. She preferred the image of him that she was holding onto.

She reached for her phone and called up Mason, knowing full well that his shift was over by now.  After fourteen rings, he did not answer, so she hung up and tried again.  And again.  And again.

"Whaaaat?" he spat from the other end.

"It took me fourteen times to get ahold of you!" Ally yelled back.

"Oh, sorry Mom," he answered in a mocking tone.

"What's going on with you?" Ally asked, concern piping up and vibrating throughout her vocal chords.

She could hear him draw out a sigh and pictured him slamming his face against some wall.  "Ally, I can't talk right now?"

"Is this about Josh?"  She clamped her mouth shut as soon as she said it.  What was she thinking?  How could this have anything to do with Josh?  She shook her head, trying to recover from whatever just happened, but he interrupted her thoughts.

"Can we meet up?" he asked.

So it wasn't a no.  Ally stared at the wall blankly, trying to think of any possible reason of how this could link to Josh, but she found none.  Shouldn't Mason be happy to have a hardworking coworker?

"Sure, the park?" she asked.  If she wanted answers, she would have to go get them herself.

"The usual spot."

******************************************

Ally bobbed her head to the music that was blasting through to her eardrums. The lyrics almost seemed to bleed through her, which she fully absorbed. She preferred songs that are not too sappy, but at the same time, Ally enjoys relatable music. Unfortunately right now, her life is a huge sappy mess.

Mason showed up to the bench where she was sitting with a bored expression written all over his face. Then again, if he did not want to be here, he would not have come. He made the effort, which had to count for something, right?

Ally pulled her earbuds out of her ears and gave him a tiny wave. "Hey."

He nodded his head. "Hi."

She motioned for him to take a seat next to her, and he hesitantly did. "So, how are things?" she stammered. The amount of awkward tension that was pulling through was seriously making her regret ever asking him hear.

"Ok," he responded quickly. After a moment's pause, he asked, "You?"

"Ok," Ally answered, giving into the awkwardness.

He nodded, stretching his legs out to fill up some silence.  Ally heaved a sigh and racked her brain for things to say.  Something obviously needed to be said, but she had no idea as to what.

"Ally, I have to tell you something," he announced, silence directly following his statement.

"Sure," she said quickly, ready for something to be resolved.  If he was willing to work this cooperatively, then maybe everything would go back to the way it was yesterday.

He nodded, stammering on his thoughts.  He slammed his eyes shut and then looked over at her, his eyes staring into her.  He said no words, just silence filled him.

"Mason?"  Ally arched an eyebrow, beginning to believe that nothing would ever be resolved.  He remained silent.  "Hello?"

His gaze seemed to grow stronger, making Ally's clammy palms seem even more uncomfortable than when she first pulled up to the park. The silence was lingering and her head was spinning, like bowling ball pins that just suffered through a strike. She did not even notice anything else that was happening around her.

Mason's bony hands wrapped around the frame of her face, gently squeezing her as his lips pulled forward and parked on hers. The gentle touch made fireworks zap throughout her body, not knowing how to respond. Immediately, she pulled away, shocked by what was happening.

She saw his face go from absolutely pleased to completely disappointed. "I'm sorry," he muttered, stuffing his hands in his pockets and began to walk away.

Ally had no time to think about her response. Is this what she wanted? Of course, but how was she supposed to respond.

Through the heat of her cheeks that seemed to control her nerves, Ally ran up to him and grabbed his hand. She pulled him back and met his lips with hers again. They stayed stuck together like that for a few seconds, not bothering about anything else in the world.

It was a cliché moment with the summer sun pouring down around them, in a veil of happiness. Four seconds seemed to last five hours, and when they finally pulled away, they knew that nothing would ever go back to the way it was yesterday.

"I care about you, Ally," he said quietly, tracing his finger along her jaw line.

She let out a tiny giggle, escaping from his wandering finger. "And I care about you, Mace, but you can't just push me out like that."

He nodded slowly. "I know."

"So, we're good?" Ally asked, her forehead creased with worry and anticipation.

Mason cocked his head to the side, elapsing a laugh. "Well, I'd say so! Where does that leave us, though?"

Ally played with the fringe on her shirt, before pushing her black frames up the bridge of her nose. "I guess it's time for us to update our Facebook, would you agree?"

Mason pulled out his phone and began fiddling around on it. Within a few seconds Ally received a notification, requesting approval that Mason and her were now a couple. She accepted and put her phone back into her pocket.

It was officially Facebook official.

Ally smiled and twirled the fringe around her finger, resisting the urge to tie them together because she knows they would end up all knotted.  She tried to think of a way to approach the conversation now, but all she really wanted was to feel his lips brush against hers once more.

"May I take you on a date now?" Mason asked, his eyes wide with excitement flashing through his pupils.

"Right now?" Ally asked for clarification.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Unless you have something better to do."

"Please, it's summer!" She laughed, hoisting her tote bag further up her shoulder. "Where are we going?"

"Do you have an ideal date in mind?" he asked.

"I'm kind of up for whatever, honestly," Ally said softly.  She meandered around a flower bed, whilst admiring the beauteous colors.

"Then, let's go on an adventure! I'll text you the address, but don't Google where we're going," he instructed.

"And what if my GPS tells me what the location is?" she challenged him.

"Then, just act surprised!"

Ally let out a laugh, but looked uncertain as her eyes met her shoes.  "So, just one more thing?"

"Anything," Mason answered with a loving grin.

"On the phone, I asked you if your attitude had anything to do with Josh," she began, studying his face for any sign of recollection or emotion.

He bobbed his head.  "Right."

"Well, did it?" Ally asked, bluntly.

Mason simply shrugged his shoulders.  "Something just doesn't rub me right about that kid."

"Well, how so?"

"Look, it doesn't matter.  If my girlfriend is friends with him, then perhaps I can let things slide between him and me.  I mean, don't expect us to be best friends or anything, but a level of understanding and civility may be in order."  Mason gave her a slow wink before walking away to his car.  "I'll text you the address!"

"I'll see you soon," Ally called back, utterly pleased with his answer.  Her fingers touched the cold surface of her keys and her feet carried her off into the direction of her own car.  Things were about to get a lot better.

***********

Author's Note (A/N):

Heyyy friends,

How are you enjoying the story?  I'm dying for any feedback that you have - the good, the bad, and the indifferent!

If you like this story, make sure to check out The Starbucks Queen, if you haven't already.  It is only two chapters away from the end, so go and support it!  Plus, the sequel will begin soon, so now is a perfect time to jump in and start reading.

I'll see you next week, thanks for reading~

Lots of love,

Ali xoxo