stolen smile - a mason mount story

e l e v e n

You better find a way to fix this

It's been a month, bro. I think it's
past the point of her forgiving me

I've been trying for ages and she's not
replied to me at all

Tough! Find a way! I love Flossie,
she's bloody fab!

If she quits because of you, I'll
deck you one

And you can't be shagging my next
socials manager

Today 06:23

Shitting bricks, bro. She told me to
meet her this afternoon. WTF do i say?

Today 13:43

Pick the bloody phone up.
Delivered

---
The darkness felt comforting as Apollo lead her way. She had decided to meet Trent for some food after his match against Arsenal. He was sat outside the cafe, giving her a small wave and a smile.

"I wasn't wavin' at you, I was wavin' to Apollo."

"Oh calm down, don't be going all diva on me, Adele."

"Love you really, la."

The friends chatted away, talking about the match that just had finished, as they awaited for their order to be taken. Trent was unsure about whether he should've brought the topic of Mason up himself so opted not to until they had begun eating. He liked Mason but he had grown fonder of the woman and would happily pick her side at any given chance. "How did it go with Mason?"

"Okay, I guess. Didn't really stay long, like. Couldn't hack it, lad."

"Fairs, I don't blame you but I am chuffed that you're tryin' to sort it out."

"I told him I was in love with him."

"You fuckin' what?"

Florence nodded her head, as she bit the food on her fork. Trent was in fits of laughter, unable to stop and control it. "So you said it went okay and then followed it up by telling me that you said you loved him. Does Sasha and Jack know?"

"God no, I didn't even tell Sash I was meeting him that day. She still doesn't know."

Trent fake sniffled. "OH EM GEE, am I the new favourite friend?"

"No, I can't stand you, what the fuck gave you that impression?"

The duo had spent the past hour talking about anything they possibly could, with Trent teasing her every so often. A small part of Florence was mourning the lost time she had missed out on by constantly declining Sasha's previous attempts to get her to go out with them. She also wondered what the differences would've been had she met them all earlier. Would she still have ended up with Mason? Or would it be some other wildcard of a person?
---
"Hey, Flo, can I come see you? I'm in the area." Mason spoke through the phone. He had been attempting to spend as much of his free time but she always found herself busy. Mason didn't blame Florence, of course. He knew just how busy her schedule and job had been recently. There was a lot of things Mason needed to do before Florence would fully forgive him but he wasn't going to stop until it happened, even if it meant he had to go through the extremes.

"Sure! I'm out on a dog walk with Apollo right now. Will be back in an 10 mins or so." She spoke softly. There was silence on the other end of the phone. "Actually, make that an hour, I want to tire him out, he gets excited around new people!"

Mason sat with the dog curled in his lap. He looked over at Florence, who hadn't let the smile falter from her face. In the moment, her beauty could not be matched. She was the personification of something Immanunel Kant once said "Rules for happiness: something to do, someone to love, something to hope for." She was everything that lead to Mason's happiness. Florence wasn't something he had hoped for but rather everything he hoped for and more. Every inch of his being longed for her and he had hoped that this was just the beginning of their long journey ahead. He felt nothing but love for her, every heart beat was for her, every second of every minute he thought about her. To say that Mason loved her would be an understatement. His heart fluttered at the thought of the words she had said to him previously.

"I love you, Florence Martin."