Ella Frank - Exquisite

“My new number is on the bottom of the envelope.”

Lena nodded and watched him walk away wishing there was something, anything she could do to make him stay.

Christmas had come and gone. Lena’s parents had come down to visit on Christmas Eve and it’d gone well. It was the first Christmas in years where Lena had been able to discuss anything relating to her sister. The only ache in her heart this time around was caused by a six-foot three-man, who was still not speaking to her. Her mother had asked about Mason but she hadn’t known what to say, so instead she’d told her about Catherine, cried and hugged her. Somehow she couldn’t bring herself to tell her that she’d known all along that Mason’s mother was sick. She couldn’t bear the judgment that would cross her mother’s face as it had Mason’s.

Lena had just got back from her run and was sitting down taking her shoes off when she looked across to the desk by the window. Sitting on top of the mail was the envelope Mason had given her. Lena had procrastinated for the last few days on what could be in that letter but she still hadn’t had the guts to open it. Sighing, she kicked off her shoes and leaned back on the couch. Rubbing her eyes she tried to imagine what Catherine had possibly wanted to say to her. She knew she took first place when it came to putting things off, but this was something she knew she had to do.

Lena decided she was going to go down to visit Catherine and she would take the letter with her. Standing up she padded into her bedroom to get her coat, she looked over to the dresser where the picture of Carly sat. She remembered the night Mason had first asked her about Carly, Lena had not been very receptive, and if she was being honest she now found herself in a similar situation. Mason was hurting, she knew the grief he was suffering was so deep that it was hard to crawl out of, and she also knew that she hadn’t helped the issue. No matter which way she looked at it there wasn’t any other way she could have handled it. Either way, whether she’d told him or the fact that she had not, someone would’ve been hurt or disappointed. In the end, she’d chosen to go with her professional opinion, but unfortunately Mason didn’t want to hear that. She grabbed a coat and walked back out to the living room. Picking up the envelope she stuffed her feet into her boots and made her way out the door. It was time to go and talk to an old friend.

Mason’s head hurt. He was lying in bed and the sun was beaming through the window hitting him right in the eye. Last night had been rough, he’d gone down to the local nightclub and had a few too many Scotch on the rocks. This had become a ritual for him. He found it difficult to sleep at night, nightmares seem to plague him where he got a phone call and some strange man told them his mother had died. So yeah, drinking himself to sleep seemed like a much better idea . Until the morning that is.

His head was throbbing his mouth tasted horrible and quite honestly he felt miserable. He hadn’t shown up at Exquisite three nights this week and he knew Rachel was going to kick his ass, not to mention what Wendy would do. Mason knew he’d been slacking, he had no excuse and honestly he didn’t care, it seemed like the last two months of his life had gone to shit real quick. He didn’t really see a way out. There was no way he could bring back his mother, there was no way he could forget the pain of betrayal, and he was starting to think there was no way he would ever be able to forget her . He should know he’d tried. No matter how much liquor he drank or how many women he looked at, all he thought about was Lena.

He’d tried over and over to tell himself that what she’d done had not been done maliciously but no matter which way he looked at it the fact that she’d known something was wrong, killed him. Sitting up he ran a hand through his hair and groaned as his stomach lurched. Yawning he stood and stretched his arms above his head and that’s when he heard the knock. He walked to the door slowly and the knocks sounded again.

“Alright alright I’m coming.” he grumbled as he moved toward the door quicker.

“Open the damn door Mason!” Wendy yelled back. Mason yanked the door open and glared at Wendy who was standing on the other side with a tray of coffees. She pushed her way past him and moved into the living room, placing the tray down on his coffee table. She looked over her shoulder and glared at him. He pushed the door and it slammed its way shut.

“Do you mind?”

“Do I mind? Where the hell have you been the last three days?” Wendy demanded as she pointed at him. Mason put his hands on his hips. “Listen here, Exquisite is mine. If I want to take a day off I will! I don’t need your permission.”

“That would be fine and dandy but it’s been three days and you haven’t bothered to call anyone!” she yelled back at him.

Mason scratched his head and walked over to her. “Look Wendy. I just need a fucking break. Do you think you could give me that?”

Moving in close to him she jabbed his chest with her finger. “You listen to me Mason Langley. You weren’t the only one who lost their mother.”

“I know that.” he hissed.

“Really? Because you don’t act like it. You leave Rachel to run the restaurant all day, all by herself without a thought in the world to how she feels.”

Mason’s chest was starting to hurt where she was poking him. He stepped back and raised an eyebrow. “Look I’m really sorry but I just can’t be there right now. I can’t be fucking anywhere.”

He walked around her and moved over to the window, looking out at the people below walking around the tracks and crossing the street to get into the park, he wondered how it had all gone so wrong. He heard movement behind him and knew she was walking over to stand beside him. She took a deep breath when she stopped by his side and reached out a hand and took his. He turned his head to look down at her. “God I miss her.”

Wendy gave him a half smile then whispered, “Which one?”

Lena stepped onto the fresh grass and made her way through the tombstones that lined the the way. It’d only been a little over a month since she had last been here. In her hand she held the envelope that Mason had given her. It was still unread and still sealed, and as she stopped in front of Catherine’s resting place she glanced down and took a deep breath. The sun was out today but the wind was still cool as a whipped around her hair. She raised her hand and brushed a stray piece behind her ear then she glanced up at the sky and watched as a bird flew overhead. Sighing softly she looked down to the grass below her where fresh flowers added color to a green canvas.

“So I thought I’d come and visit you today.” she said softly as she fiddled with the envelope. “You always told me I couldn’t run for my problems and that I needed to face them head on, even when I found that so difficult. From the time we met you urged me to face the fear that I had inside myself and to live life the way Carly would’ve wanted me to.”

She shuffled her feet back and forth feeling uneasy talking to someone who would never talk back.

“Mason gave me your letter. I haven’t opened it yet, but I bet that doesn’t surprise you. I mean after all it took me nine years to gather the nerve to go and visit Carly and yet you think I’m going to be able to read a letter from you just like that, huh?”

Lena took in a deep breath and looked down at the envelope in her hand. Closing her eyes she remembered Mason telling her that his mother had once told him that a cemetery was a place for the living, not the dead. This was the place where the living came to talk, to say goodbye or cry with the ones they loved. It was a place where no one judged and you could say whatever you wanted to them and know that they heard you. Smiling at that memory she opened her eyes and undid the envelope.