the other side of us | ✓

1.5 | nowhere fast

She stopped what she was doing and looked at him. "No way, really?"

Mason looked at her with a flat expression.

"Who was chasing you?" she asked after a pause.

"The cops. Or didn't you notice?"

"I did notice," she admitted sheepishly.

"Then why ask?" Mason didn't mind, he was just curious.

She shrugged. "Wanted to hear it from you, I guess. I'm not a fan of second-hand information."

That made sense.

Mason watched her work as she poured antiseptic into his wound. She was gentle yet effective, like she'd done it before.

"I'm Charlotte, by the way," the girl said then, blotting away the last of the blood. Her hands rested on his for a moment before she pulled away to reach for the wrapping. "But most people call me Charlie."

It was pretty, and it suited her. "And what do you prefer?"

Charlotte met his eyes. "Nobody's ever asked that before."

"Have you thought about it?"

She paused. "Charlotte." She said decidedly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Charlotte."

Her cheeks tinged pink again as she looked down to secure the wrapping across his knuckles.

"Mason Carlyle, at your service." He did a little bow with his head.

"Nice to meet you. Is your life always this exciting?" Charlotte asked as she began cleaning up.

"Exciting?" Mason asked curiously.

"The cops were chasing you. That means that you're exciting."

"No," Mason corrected her. "That means I broke the law. That doesn't make me exciting, that makes me a criminal."

She rolled her eyes. "Same difference."

"Is it?"

Mason had leaned closer to her, and he could see the tiny, barely visible freckles that were spackled across the tops of her cheeks. Charlotte sucked in a breath.

"What did you do?"

"Huh?"

"To get the cops to chase you," Charlotte clarified. "What did you do?"

"Nothing."

"Oh," she paused, "why were they chasing you then?"

"Can you keep a secret?" Charlotte nodded.

"I was framed."

"Framed? Who would do that?"

"A guy that I royally pissed off."

"Doesn't sound like a nice guy."

"Guess not."

The two sat there, looking at each other before Mason cleared his throat.

"Um, Charlotte?"

"Yes?"

"Are you done with my hand?"

Charlotte blinked and looked down while Mason chuckled. She removed her hands from his and stood up.

"You probably need to get back to work?" Mason asked. "You looked pretty busy out there." He gestured lazily in the direction of the diners.

"Devin would've called me if they needed me."

"Devin?"

"One of my friends-slash-employees."