Chapter 9
436words
She set her sights on Mason on her first day.
"The 'City Memories' series is amazing!" She stood next to Mason's workstation, her eyes sparkling with admiration. "Can you teach me?"
Mason's face instantly turned bright red, he could barely speak clearly.
For the following week, Abby followed Mason around like a little tail. Buying him coffee every morning, pulling him aside to chat about design during lunch breaks, and looking at him with that kind of gaze that everyone could notice during work.
"She's obviously pursuing Mason," Leo whispered to me in the break room.
"I know." I watched as Mason was so nervous he could barely breathe. "The question is what Mason will do."
During Friday's lunch break, Abby pulled Mason to the small plaza outside. Ten minutes later, Mason returned alone, his face pale.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"She confessed to me," Mason said softly. "I rejected her."
Everyone in the office looked at him in shock.
"Why?" Leo asked in disbelief. "That girl is so great!"
"Because I already have someone in my heart." After saying this, Mason returned to his seat, opened social media, and stared at an account named @angelwithwings.
I walked over and saw a photo of a woman on the screen—quietly looking at a painting in the Museum of Modern Art.
"Who is she?"
"I don't know either," Mason smiled bitterly. "I've only seen her once. In a coffee shop. But I just... can't forget her."
I recalled my own obsession with Alex, and Leo's infatuation with Seraphina. We were all chasing after people beyond our reach, rejecting those who truly cared for us.
"Mason," I said softly, "maybe you should try to contact her."
"What next?" He looked up at me, his eyes filled with both pain and determination. "Being rejected? Being treated like a stalker?"
"Maybe," I said, "But at least you won't have regrets. At least you were honest."
Mason stared at the screen for a long time, finally opened the direct message window, his finger hovering over the keyboard.
"Hi, I'm Mason. We met a few months ago at the Third Wave coffee shop. You were reading 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' at the time. I know this sounds presumptuous, but I'd like to get to know you."
His fingers trembled, but he finally pressed the send button.
"Did you do it?" I asked.
"I did," he exhaled deeply, looking both terrified and relieved. "Whatever the outcome, at least I'm no longer a coward."
