serendipity

         so maybe this wasn’t the most thrilling way to spend a friday night, as spencer sat on the floor of her apartment with furrowed eyebrows gazing towards the jigsaw puzzle sprawled out on the coffee table. “ alright, i think i’m officially done with this, ” she says to norah, clearly not anywhere near done but she wanted to give up for the night, too frustrated and tired of trying to fit the same pieces together to really care anymore. “ what do you think? anything else you wanna do? i’m feeling defeated, ” she asks the other she leans back against the couch, an overly dramatic and exasperated sigh following. @ohnorah

❝ SO  ,  I’m  feeling  a  little  wild  tonight  .  Hit  me  with  your  best  shot  ,  or  don’t  ,  ❞  Andi  quips  ,  looking  up  from  the  glow  of  her  phone  to  flash a  grin  at  the  figure  across  from  her  ,  ❝   the  drinks  can  be  on  me  ,  I  don’t  care  .  I’m  currently  swimming  in  tip  money  and  I  just  need  to  forget  things  for  awhile  .  So  tell  me  ,  are  you  game  ?  ❞

She knows she should be cutting back on drinking, but norah really does need something to take the edge off, and the proposition andi makes is incredibly hard to say no to.  free booze?  she’s in.  “okay, sure.  mind adding some fried food in the mix?  i can’t decide whether i want fried pickles or fried green beans more.”  she peruses the drink menu for a long moment, cocking her head at andi.  “i’m kinda tired of the same ol’ lemonade and vodka.  what do you recommend?”

“Shit,” Jack grumbled as his shot clipped the ball he’d been aiming for and instead knocked into one of his opponent’s. A few games and plenty of drinks in, and it was definitely catching up to him. He shook his head in amusement and took a swig from his beer as he picked his way back around the pool table.

“What do you think? Am I buzzed enough to give you a fair handicap?” He tapped at their shoe with his cue stick, silently urging them back onto their feet. “It’s your turn.”

“Oh, thank you! One less ball I have to hit.”  Norah snickered, clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth.  She’d maybe played pool at least three times in her entire life--this one included. She’d tried not to be bothered by the alcohol (she was trying to cut back!) and instead stared down into her third bottled water thoughtfully.

Paiton paused. She somewhat understood what Norah meant… well about the stopping herself from doing something stupid part. “I won’t judge but I understand what you mean.” She shrugged her shoulders. She looked over at the woman next to her, “I’m just… I was supposed to meet someone here.” She paused. “Like over an hour ago… I don’t think they’re coming.”

“I mean, you could if you wanted to, I guess.  ‘m used to it.”  Norah blew out a breath slowly, face scrunching ever so slightly.  She definitely had been stood up in the past, although to be fair, seven times out of ten she’d been the one doing the ditching.  “I don’t wanna be a dick and ask Siri to play Despacito, though under some circumstances I probably would...so, uh--you wanna go split a sundae or something?  My treat.”  

it had been a long time. so long, in fact, mason wasn’t entirely sure he’d ever step foot near mulberry again. there were no promises in those emails — the messages themselves becoming rather far and few between as time passed. for quite some time, things weren’t looking good. however, that was then. this was now; for what seemed like the first time in his life, mason felt like he was back to somewhere he belonged. with both feet planted on his skateboard, he carelessly sped through the sidewalks in true mason fashion like he’d never even left. it was a few blocks back that he’d spotted her —norah— stumbling out of the pub and appearing less than sober. instead of intervening, he merely followed at a safe enough distance to be considered discrete. when the girl stopped, however, he made his oh-so valiant move to heroically swoop in.

“no, you’re right. i’ll give ya’ that,” mason played along, as if he were just any stranger handing her a water straight from his bag, “have a good time, didja?” then that there was pause, with mason all but anticipating the moment it would click and suddenly thrust the pair of them into a whirlwind. soon enough, it came. “ah, don’t call me that — just call me mason,” the male responded with a lazy shrug of his shoulders, unable to be serious even for a second. the circumstances were different, but not much had seemed to change between the pair of them. this image was almost a familiar one, with norah exasperated on some level while mason merely remained unwavering and persistent with a broad grin across his face. “what d’ya mean, why am i here? ‘cause i wanted to be…?” perhaps deep down, it wasn’t that simple. regardless, mason gave a single laugh in disbelief. “this is my home. and you’re part of that too, whether you wanna be or not — sorry ‘bout it. fight it all you want, i don’t make the rules.”

the sound of mason’s voice infuriated norah, but not as much as it would’ve maybe four months ago.  “for your information, i had a terrible time.  s’no fun to drink when you’re feeling lonely.”  she waved her hand dismissively, feeling the slightest bit of bile creep up her throat.  maybe it was the fact that she was kind of a lightweight, or maybe it had to do with the relief she felt knowing mason is alive and well and standing right there, even if he ticked her off just like before.  she wasn’t used to missing someone so much, nor had she expected to keep in contact once she’d taken a break from mulberry living.  

“gimme a break.  you have a life.  you have friends.”  she paused, taking a long drink from the water bottle after much debate.  even in her state, she knew it was probably wise to at least try and stay hydrated.  “and, y’know, even if i did believe in fate, that’s not what this is. it doesn’t matter that i missed you, or that you’re gonna hold this over my head in the mornin’.”  she stood, gesturing vaguely between the two of them, screwing the top back onto the water bottle.  instead of letting her gaze run over him one more time (twice was enough), norah lunged forward and (poorly) smacked mason, pouting when she just barely grazed his arm with the bottle.   he wasn’t actually doing anything harmful,  so a small apology was mumbled shortly thereafter, and as she glanced back up at him, the world seemed to be spinning.  “you should--um, you should go.  i’ll find a cab or--i don’t know.  sleep in the park.”  with that, norah plopped her ass right back onto the curb, head in her hands.  “i don’t want you to see me like this.”