Mason Walton

I looked around the site one last time taking notes. We'd been here for a couple of hours now and Mr. Williams kept talking about the different levels in the land and difficulties we might encounter. I snapped a few last pictures before looking back to where Elsa and Katrina were standing. Elsa came rushing to me and took the notes and camera from my hand.

"Send them to Dahlia as soon as we get to the hotel."

"Oh but we're not going to the hotel just yet. We're going to my house for lunch."

"Mr. Williams... I thought..." I didn't know how to politely decline the invitation.

"Drop the formalities Mason, just call me James. And there's no way you're getting out of this lunch, my wife and daughter already prepared everything and are waiting for us." We were now standing by his car "And Natalie is in her second year in architecture, you can give her some pointers." He opened his door and climbed in before I could protest.

I glanced at Katrina who was standing still like a statue with an unreadable expression on her face. I guess I can't run from this... I knocked on his window which he rolled down immediately.

"What are you waiting for?"

"Could you send me the address? I'll drop Elsa at the hotel and meet you there."

"What? That's nonsense! They are coming too. We treat our staff like family, right Katrina?"

"Yes, Mr. Williams."

With that, Elsa and I headed to my car in awkward silence. I didn't feel comfortable with going to a client's home, I knew Adam did it all the time but it felt weird. And to top it all, I was dragging poor Elsa with me.

"I'm sorry you have to go too, I know you don't like spending time with Katrina but I couldn't get out of it."

"No worries, plus it's better I'm there in case you want to leave and I can make up an excuse for you."

I laughed reversing the car and driving out of the site following James. It took us an hour to get to his house due to traffic and rush hour. Elsa was busy on her phone as usual but this time it wasn't work-related. It was espionage.

"I found her!"

"Found who?" I asked raising an eyebrow, I didn't know we were looking for someone on social media.

"Natalie Williams! Oh! She's beautiful! But thankfully not your type. She's blonde and has blue eyes." She said a little too happy about it.

"Wait, what do you mean by thankfully Elsa? What if she was my type? And how do you know she's not my type?"

She looked up at me with round innocent eyes "You never go for blondes?"

I rolled my eyes at her and looked ahead of me. It looked like not intimidating my assistant was a huge mistake as she now probably considered me as a friend of hers. I didn't mind, but it stunned me that she even noticed what my type was.

"I still don't get it though." I glanced at her "Thankfully? I mean why?"

"Well, if she's not your type you won't flirt with her and jeopardize your first leading project."

"Elsa, mind your own business please,"I said rather calmly considering I didn't like her comment one bit.

The second we parked our cars in front of a huge white Victorian house, the doors opened and a middle-aged classy woman stepped out followed by Natalie I supposed. Saying she was beautiful was an understatement. Elsa was right, I didn't usually go for blondes but Natalie had her own charm.

"I guess you were wrong, blonde might be my new type," I said still annoyed at her as I stepped out of the car ignoring her shocked look.

"Hi, may I call you Mason?" I nodded with a smile "I'm Sarah, it's very nice to meet you. You really impressed James to the point he wanted us all to meet you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs..."

"Oh don't you dare," She chuckled "Sarah. Just Sarah. And this is Natalie our daughter."

"Sarah" I repeated after her and shook her hand before shaking Natalie's with a smile. In the corner of my eye, I could feel Katrina staring at our hands and for some reason, it boosted my ego.

We went inside and sat down for drinks, even Katrina and Elsa were invited to sit with us. It showed me that James wasn't a snob and neither was his family. He also had a son but couldn't make it as he was away on business. Sarah reminded me a lot of my mother; she was elegant and well poised. She talked a bit about her own business and all the charity they do and even asked if I would join them on their next event that was next week. It was supposed to last a couple of days; brunches as well as art displays during the day and balls during the night. It sounded interesting but I wasn't sure I could leave work for a couple of nights.

"I'll see if I can clear my schedule and if I can, then I'll be more than glad to participate Sarah."

"Oh, I'm sure you can make it. You'll have to come over for the weekly report anyway." James grinned taking a sip of his drink.

"Oh no business talk Dad, you know the rules." Natalie smiled sweetly at her dad. She was calm the whole time, only sending smiles my way and getting glares from both Elsa and Katrina which was very intriguing.

Lunch was fun and vivid as James started telling us stories about how he met Sarah and how hard it was to get her to talk to him. At that point of the conversation, my gaze met Katrina's in an unspoken understanding. Sarah started telling us funny stories about James just to get back at him while Natalie looked at them adoringly.

"Darling, why don't you show Mason the horses? He mentioned he loved horses. Maybe you two can go on a ride?"

I raised both eyebrows at Sarah and looked at Elsa for help, wanting her to come up with an excuse but the one time I needed her she wasn't looking! She was bickering with Katrina in a corner.

"Yes, sure! Come on mason."

Too late to say no now... she took my hand and led the way outside hurriedly going towards the stables. As soon as we were out of sight, she let go of my hand and let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry but I need to tell you something. I think my parents are trying to match us together..."

"What?" I said with a laugh "why would they do that? They don't even know me. And it's not like you need anyone to get a boyfriend!"

"Exactly! I don't" She giggled "I already have a boyfriend, someone they don't approve of and you impressed my dad at that meeting. He's been babbling about you since then! I also am pretty sure he didn't really need you here today. They made it an excuse for us to meet and for me to change my mind about Leo..."

I ran a hand through my hair looking at her stunned "Please don't change your mind about Leo" I joked to lighten up the mood. She seemed stressed about it and I was grateful she was honest with me. "Thank you Natalie for your honesty, but now, what do you suggest we do?"

"I don't know actually, I thought you might have an idea."

"Let's just pretend we know nothing about it and see how it goes. What do you think?"

"Deal," She smiled and led the way back to the house as she started telling me about Leo.

On the ride back to the hotel, Elsa was awfully quiet for her own good. She didn't even glance at me once the whole ride. I sensed some negative vibes around us but couldn't even bother to ask her what was wrong. I retreated to my room after telling her she had the rest of the day off; she could do or go wherever she wanted. I called Adam and told him everything that went down with James, including the little talk I had with his daughter. Saying Adam was shocked is an understatement. We ended the phone call so I could take a nap and rest up a bit.

I met up with Martin, a college friend of mine in an Italian restaurant for dinner before we hit the club. I honestly didn't feel like going and only wanted to have dinner with Martin and catch up, but he wouldn't budge. The waiting line was so long I thought we'd have to wait for hours before getting in, but with one look at the bouncer from Martin and he let us in.

"Looks like you come here a lot?"

"Only every night" He smirked pushing through the crowd and heading to the bar.

The dance floor was packed! I looked around the place while he ordered our drinks and noticed there was a spiral staircase leading to the VIP lounges. Knowing Martin he probably was going to sit us up there and leave the fun down here.

"Why don't we stay here? Look around" I shouted loud enough for him to hear me.

"No, I prefer it upstairs with the strippers."

I grabbed my drink and was about to turn around and followed him when someone bumped into me dipping my glass drenching my button-up shirt. I groaned looking up only to find a very distraught and very stressed Katrina.

She was horrified when she saw what happened to my shirt, but she was panicking over something else as she kept looking right and left before focusing on me.

"I'm so sorry Mason, I..."

"Are you okay?"

"Katrina!" We both looked behind her and a furious-looking man was coming our way.

"Again, I'm so sorry for this, please play along..."

"Along what? What is going on?"

Katrina cupped my face, lifted herself on her tiptoes, and kissed me. Her lips crashed on mine like a wrecking ball, my arms wrapping around her waist bringing her closer, not wanting this moment to end. After all these years, I finally felt the softness and warmth of her lips. I nibbled at her lower lip wanting her to open her mouth for me. And slowly, she parted her lips granting me access. I heard a soft moan escape her as our tongues collided making me press her even more to my body. We were both enjoying the kiss, there was no denying it, but before I could deepen it more she was pulled away from me harshly.

"Hey!" I grabbed her arm pulling her away from the man "leave her alone!"

"And why the hell would I do that? Huh? Who the fuck do you think you are to kiss my girlfriend?"

I froze for a minute not knowing what to say to that. She did say she had a boyfriend but I thought she was lying.

"Ex-Girlfriend Fred! Get it through your thick skull!" She stood closer to me and took my hand in hers "I'm with Mason now, just leave me alone! It's been five months already for God's sake!"

"No, you promised you'd give me a chance, and then you just left me!" He groaned closing the distance between them.

I let go of her hand and wrapped a protective arm around her pulling her behind creating distance between them.

"I gave you a chance! But you're sick! You need help, Fred! Go fix your problems before jumping into a relationship!" Katrina grabbed my hand and led us out before he could follow us.

I let go of her hand and studied her face as she looked through her tiny purse. Katrina Johnson kissed me... and what a kiss it was.

"What just happened in there was..."

She looked up at me and shrugged "it was nothing." She finished for me "sorry for spilling your drink on you, and sorry for kissing you like that." I could see a hint of a blush creep on her cheeks.

"It was nothing and you're sorry? That's it?"

She rose an eyebrow at me "Yes. I told you I have a boyfriend, but I needed to kiss you so I did, and I'm sorry I used you."

"Wow" I let out a nervous chuckle "You know what... thank you for showing me your true colors." I turned around seeing Natalie standing in the waiting line and started walking toward her.

"Mason, what do you mean?"

I looked back at Katrina "I mean keep running, it's best for the both of us."