Exquisite (5 page)

"You are
not
helping." Lena said through gritted teeth.

"Oh Lena he’s adorable and I
completely helped you out. Remember that on your date."

Lena continued to glare at her then
turned back as Mason shook hands with McKinney once more then walked around the
table. She was horrified when he stopped behind their chairs and squatted down.

"Hello again ladies."

Shelly turned so she was
practically nose to nose with him, "Hello Mr. Langley."
"Oh come on Shelly, you can call me Mason."

"Ok then, Mason. Dinner was
amazing."

Stiffening in her chair Lena felt
his breath on the back of her ear as he leaned in. "It was the extra
seasoning."

Turning her head quickly to see the
huge smile on his face bracketed by those damn dimples, she whispered,
"You’re disgusting." 

Only he and Shelly heard and she
wasn't sure but Lena thought she heard Shelly squeak.

"Hey, you were the one who
gave me the idea." then he laughed softly, "Not to worry Lena, your
meal was put together by the very best." he paused and stood, "Which
would be me."

Rolling her eyes as he turned to
walk away she let out a deep breath until she saw he’d stopped and looked back,
"Oh and Lena don't even think about not being here tomorrow. I know where
you work."

She glared at him as he walked away
not even waiting for her answer.

The following morning Mason decided
to drop by and see his mother. After all, the last time he’d spoken to her he
hadn't been on his best behavior. He parked his car at the rear of her shop and
made his way to the back entrance. Unlocking the door he pushed it open and
heard the chimes tinkle as he stepped inside. Immediately he was hit with the
fragrance his mother wore, Elizabeth Taylor's White Diamonds, mixed in with a
combination of red roses, petunias and huge yellow sunflowers which were all
sitting by the back door having just been delivered. He wandered up the main
aisle searching for her. As a child Mason had loved his mother's store. It’d
always reminded him of an enchanted forest. His mother and sister always
accused him of being to charming for his own good and when you added in
flowers, well  a woman didn’t stand a chance. That thought then brought to
mind uptight Lena. Now there was a woman who was obviously not impressed with
flowers. He tried to remember why and how he’d ended up asking her for a date
tonight other than being a complete masochist. He rounded the end counter where
his mother had set up a small water feature and saw her standing at the front
of the store in the display window arranging a vase of pink, yellow and white
tulips. His mother was a short lady, probably around 5'2 if that. She had her
grey hair cut to chin length and was currently wearing a blue shirt that
brought out her light blue eyes, eyes that both he and his sister had ended up
inheriting, although his were a shade darker. She was wearing a long black
skirt that was swishing around her ankles and had her shop apron on that was
red and had
Precious Petals by Catherine
, in black embossed across the
front.

"Hey there mom."

She looked up with three pink
tulips in her hand then grinned at him.

"Mase! How are you?"

Mason put his keys on the bench and
walked around it to her. Reaching out he bent down putting his hands on her
shoulders and kissed her cheek. "I'm good. How are you this morning? I see
you got more sunflowers in. I didn't realize they were such a big seller?"

She smiled up at him, "Oh yes!
They came in this morning, they're so happy aren't they? I always feel like
they’re smiling at me when I look at them."

Mason nodded and took his mother's
hand to help her step down from the small lip of the window display. She walked
around him wiping her hands on her apron as she moved over to the counter.
"So what brings you by dear?" she paused looking at her computer then
back to him, "Not that you need a reason, but this is an unexpected visit.
Especially after you yelled at me yesterday morning."

No one, absolutely no one could
make Mason feel guilty like his mother. He walked around the counter and leaned
against it watching her as she scrolled through the first orders of the day.

"Well I actually came by to
apologize to you." and that comment automatically brought Lena to mind and
her horrible attempt of an apology. Pushing her from his thoughts, for the
moment, he heard his mother say, "Oh you did, did you?”

"Yep." Mason smiled as
she turned to face him and leaned her waist against the counter in a pose
that mirrored his. She reached up and pushed her hair behind her ear.

"And what are you apologizing
to me for son? Yelling at me or hanging up on me?"

Mason grinned and shook his head,
"I did
not
yell at you."

"This does not sound like a
good apology to me." she said in a sing song voice.

"Alright, alright." Mason
chuckled, "I apologize for yelling at you
and
hanging up on
you."

She reached up and patted his
cheek, "That's quiet alright son. Obviously something had you quite
upset."

"Yes at the time I was upset
but I’ve since come to terms with it." Thinking with a chuckle of Lena as
the
it
, in question.

"Well good! I'm glad to hear
it. I just hate when my boy is upset." Turning she walked back down the
aisle he’d come in from. He grabbed his keys and followed her stopping by the
bright yellow sunflowers. She turned to beam at him. "See? Don't you feel
like they just smile at you?"

Mason swung his keys around his
fingers. "Yeah mom they do. I still don't know why you order so many.
Don't people usually by them one at a time?"

He watched as his mom twirled one
in her hand, "Yes usually. I have one customer who buys one
everyday."

Mason felt his eyebrows rise,
"Really? Everyday?"

His mother smiled then looked up at
him, "Yes dear, everyday."

"Wow. I wonder who they’re
for?"

His mother smiled softly and
reached out to touch his cheek, "It's not my job to ask son. I just make
sure I have what’s needed."

Mason nodded understanding his
mother, in some ways, was like a confessional and counselor of sorts. Someone
that people went to when they wanted their happiness celebrated, their guilt
assuaged, or their grief expressed. She touched more people in a day then
he did in a week. She was a wonderful person and he knew he was lucky as hell
to have her.

"Well I just wanted to come by
and say sorry for being a jerk and that I love you."

She smiled, reached out and
squeezed his hand. "Well thank you for that son. I love you to." she
paused and smiled widely, "Even when you're being a jerk."
Lena sat staring at the files in front of her. It’d just turned 3pm and she’d
been busy all morning. She had patient after patient and hadn’t been able to
stop and eat let alone think. She’d worked on a five year old boy today with a
piece of chalk wedged in his right ear and extracting it hadn’t been pleasant
for anyone in the room, including Lena who had felt horrible for the child
who’d started screaming the minute he saw the long pair of stainless steel
scissors going toward his ear. Lena grimaced remembering the crying child, the
worried mother and her own immense headache. It’d felt like hours, but in fact
had been twenty excruciating minutes. However, the day had finally
slowed down and she’d got a break in her schedule before the last few
patients of her shift and as she sat at her desk her mind wandered to Mason
Langley. She hated to admit it but last night, after the frustrating and
humiliating turn of events, she had gone home and Goggled him. She now wished
she hadn't. She knew everything from what his favorite color was, which was sky
blue, to how many women this year he’d dated, which was a staggering thirty
three and it wasn't even mid May yet!
How could one man have the energy to
date that many women? Let alone sleep with them?
Then, of course, her mind
started wondering to Mason in bed and Lena doubted when he was there he did any
sleeping. Groaning to herself she dropped her head onto her arms and thought,
why
on earth had I agreed to this?
Then she reminded herself,
oh that's
right he suckered me into it with his manipulating words and his damn dimples.

Lena had also found out that he’d
grown up right here in Chicago and had decided he’d wanted to open a restaurant
from a young age where his family and friends could relax and ‘hang out’. He’d
entered the local Culinary Institute and got his degree then went and spent one
year in France interning with some of the great chefs of the country. Returning
state side he’d located an old rundown warehouse and had it renovated and
transformed into
Exquisite
. The doors to his restaurant had opened 13
months earlier and it’d been an instant hit with the town. A feel good story of
hometown boy makes good. Again Lena found herself sighing. She sat back in her
chair and stared at the phone. She’d contemplated calling the restaurant and
canceling all day but had stopped herself at the last minute, she didn't want
to appear to be a coward and in his own way he’d issued a dare of sorts to turn
up or he’d come find her. She stood up and was about to go down to the
cafeteria when Shelly knocked on her door.

"Oh are you on your way
out?"

Lena shook her head, "I'm just
going to get something to eat."

Shelly looked at her watch. "I
can come with. My schedule’s been cleared for the afternoon."

Lena nodded and started walking
with her to the elevator, "What? People don't need to breathe today?"
It was a standard joke between her and the Pulmonologist.

"Yes they do. But right now I
need to eat," She paused then winked at Lena, "And gossip."

"I knew it." Lena groaned
as the got in the elevator.

"So you
are
going
tonight right?" Shelly probed.

"Of course I'm going. He
threatened to come down and get me if I didn't." Lena grumbled.

"Hmmm. I'm not sure that would
be a bad thing Lena. I think I’d let that man drag me anywhere he wanted
to."

Lena rested her head on the back
wall. "The man is infuriating."

"He's gorgeous."

"He's frustrating."

"He's charming."

Lena rolled her head against the
wall to glare at her friend. "He is a serial womanizer. I don't need
this." The elevator pinged and the doors slid open. They got off and walked
into the cafeteria.

"You don't need what? A date
with a good looking man?"

Lena picked up a tray showed her
badge then moved with Shelly down the aisle. She picked up a ham and turkey
sandwich. "I don't need a distraction, a complication."

Picking up a bottle of apple juice
Shelly stated. "What you’re really saying is you don't need emotional
distractions, but Lena honey? I’ve never met anyone who needs it more.”

She paused and picked up a granola
bar and kept moving. Lena looked at Shelly’s tray. "That's all you're
eating?"

Shelly nodded, "I ate a
sandwich earlier. Don't change the subject. You’ve been really bad lately, even
for you. Late in the mornings. I know you aren't sleeping for shit and I don't
think even you can remember the last time you had fun or sex."

Lena's head whipped around to her
friend. "Who said anything about sex?"

Shelly laughed, "Lena, did you
see that man? It didn't need to be spoken it was implied the minute he smiled
and those sexy ass dimples appeared."

Lena slid into the seat groaning
and put her head into her hands, "I don't want this Shelly. I don't want a
distraction or something to take my mind of things. I'm fine."

"You're not." she stated
bluntly, "You’re a mess. You’ve detached yourself from anything even
remotely resembling a relationship."

"That's not true," Lena
said biting into her sandwich. Then mumbling around it she continued, "I
have a relationship with you."

Shelly smiled chewing her granola
bar, "That's true, but only because I make you be nice to me but even I
won’t have sex with you Lena. Come on when was the last time you had a man in
your bed?"

Lena grimaced, it’d been a long
time and even then, it’d been in his bed and she’d snuck out the moment he’d
rolled off and fallen asleep. "Three years and two months."

"Holy shit!" Shelly
gasped loud enough that other people looked.

"Shut up!" Lena hissed.
"What's wrong with you?"

"Jesus Lena. How are you not
more of a bitch? I will never know. How do you deal with it?"

"Well I just try to take each
day at a time and pray every day there’s a cure." Lena replied, her voice
dripping with derision, "It isn't a deadly disease Shelly." she
snapped. "Plus there are other ways to ahh... you know."

Shelly grinned then laughed loudly,
"Ah Lena just when I think you’re losing your sense of humor."

"Shut it Shelly."

He friend laughed and stuffed the
rest of the granola bar in her mouth.
Mason was sitting in his office at the restaurant when Rachel came in with a
pile of paper work in her hands.

"I’m assuming that’s for
me?"

Smiling she dumped it on the corner
of his desk and sat down opposite him. Her black hair was in a high top
ponytail today and the red tips swung back and forth freely. Her bright glossy
lips stretched into a smile.

"Yep. Receipts and balances
from last night boss. You made a killing."

Mason smiled at her as he leaned
back in his chair. Rachel had followed in his foot steps and become a Pastry
Chef and he’d snatched her up the minute he could get her to stop traveling to
globe. She was an amazing artist and that
was
what she was. A genius
with desserts she was fast gaining a reputation as the best in the business.
Mason also happened to love making her do menial things, such as chop
vegetables to keep her humble, and well because he could.