Ready To Move On

Lauren—6 months later

After our last client left the office, I let myself slump back in my chair, more than a little exhausted. I frowned at Mason as he started to type on his computer. It was his ‘thing.’ At the end of every meeting, he always typed up a page of important notes and shared them with me. The man was so methodic it was scary. I sighed as I linked my fingers together over my stomach.

“Mason?”

“Mm-hmm?”

“Are you almost done?” I asked grumpily.

“No. Why?” He chuckled.

“Are you coming to the party tonight?” I inquired.

He sighed as he massaged his temples. “No, Lauren. Aren’t you tired of those parties?”

“Nope! That’s why I keep throwing them. Sex on my terms. Who wouldn’t want that?” I told him cheekily.

He pushed himself away from the computer to meet my eyes. “I don’t want anonymous sex for a night anymore, Lauren. It’s become tedious. Boring even.”

“So, what do you want then?”

“I want someone who will be there day in and day out. I want someone who arouses my mind as much as they arouse my body. On the one hand, I want someone to argue with and stay home and relax with. But on the other hand, I don’t want anyone. I want to be left alone. I just want everything and nothing. If I find someone I can mesh with, great, but if I don’t, it’s not going to crush me, you know?” he said.

“No, I don’t. I don’t want to be with anyone. Men are assholes!”

He raised an eyebrow at me before spinning back toward his computer. “You do realize that I’m a man, right?”

“You’re not really a man, Mason. You’re my brother. There is a huge difference,” I laughed.

“Oh? And what’s the difference?” he asked nonchalantly, seemingly uninterested.

“A man I’ll get on my knees for. You, I’ll just kick in the balls,” I laughed.

“Geez, Lauren, and here I was expecting you to say something sweet.”

I rolled my eyes as I grinned at him before sighing. “All my sweetness died that night in the rain.” He turned fully toward me, his face softening with pity, making me immediately angry. “Don’t do that, I snapped. You know I hate to be pitied!”

He sighed. “I don’t pity you, Lauren. I understand you, and I hate that I do.”

I held his gaze for a moment before looking away from him, taking a deep breath. “I know. I’m sorry.”

And I did know. We had met in a support group for teenagers who had been sexually assaulted. It was what made our bond so strong. He was the one person in my life that I didn’t want to share, not even with Laurel. He was the one I could call at 2 AM when I had a nightmare without worrying if he would judge me. He deserved everything good in life, and I hoped he would find it. As long as she knew that I wasn’t going anywhere. People rarely created bonds like the one we shared. And I would be damned if someone tried to take that away from me. He eyed me for a moment before turning back to his computer.

“I think you should try again,” he told me, making me stiffen.

I knew what he was talking about, but I wish I didn’t. It hurt me every time I thought about it. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. “You know that I tried. The hospital told me a Mr. Morgan saved me. I looked up every single man who had Morgan in their name. None of them were him.”

“I know you did, but what if the hospital was wrong? What if his name isn’t Morgan?” he asked.

“Why would the hospital lie to us? They knew him. They were very respectful toward him, Mason. For God’s sake, he paid my medical bills.” I slumped in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest. “I wholeheartedly believe that I was saved by an angel.”

He chuckled as he glanced at me. “While I’m over here waiting to be saved by my angel.”

“That sounds like the better way to live than to wonder if you will ever see the man that you judge every other man by again,” I muttered angrily.

“You know you’re supposed to judge every man you meet by your father.”

“For most women, yes, but not me. I would be stupid to, considering the man that saved me that night had a bigger impact on my life in the hour he spent with me than my father, who spent 27 years with me, did.”

He glanced at me. “Is that why you sleep around so much?”

I narrowed my eyes on the back of his head. “If I remember correctly, every Friday for the past year, you have taken a different woman home with you an hour after meeting them. And besides, these parties were your idea.”

“Yeah, they were, and now I’m choosing not to go to them, because I want either nothing or everything. I wish you would too. It’s time to find another way to deal with what happened to us.”

I rolled my eyes. “Nah, I’m good. Thanks, though.”

“If you say so, Lauren. Eventually you’ll get tired of jumping from man to man and want someone to occupy your bed every night, and I don’t mean a random Joe Schmoe all the time. I mean the same man. One that will love both you and Ty.”

I burst out laughing forcibly as my stomach rolled with anxiousness. “Nobody is going to get close enough to me to meet my son. I won’t allow it. I won’t give someone a chance to hurt Ty like you were hurt.”

When his whole body locked up, I mentally kicked myself. I hurried around his desk to wrap my arms around his neck.

“I’m sorry, Mason. I didn’t mean to say that,” I murmured softly.

He patted my hand. “I know, and I understand your worry, Lauren. Trust me, I do. When I think about bringing kids into the world, I am terrified that I am not going to be able to protect them.”

“You’re thinking about having a family?” I asked, completely shocked.

“Yeah. Call it whatever you want, a midlife crisis, growing up, I don’t really care, but it’s what I want,” he said.

I was silent for a moment before kissing his cheek and straightening up. “You’ll be an excellent father, Mason. Ty just simply adores you.”

“Thanks, Lauren.” He let his eyes slide over my face before returning to the computer screen. “But I’m still not coming to the party tonight.”

I groaned. “Alright. I’ll let you do whatever you want to do.”

“Thanks, Ren.”

I walked to the door, pausing before I opened it to look back at him. “But if you get bored or tired of being alone, you know where we’ll be.”

“I’ll keep it in mind. I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Yeah, you will. Love you, Mason.”

“Love you too, Lauren,” he repeated back to me, smiling softly.

I slipped out of his office to go back to mine, immediately putting my head down on the top of it, completely frustrated with myself. How could I have said that to him? He had worked so hard on healing from what happened to him, and my dumbassness took him back into that part of his life that he was trying to forget. I kept my head down until my phone started ringing, which immediately made me groan as I fumbled around in my purse for it.

“Hello?” I asked exasperatedly.

“Hey, Lauren. Is everything okay?” Laurel asked.

“What? Yeah. Why wouldn’t it be?”

“You sound frustrated. Do you want to talk about it?” she inquired softly.

“I just said something to Mason that I shouldn’t have,” I admitted.

She remained silent for a full minute before sighing. “He sounds like a great guy. When are you going to let me meet him?”

“Eh. He’s just my business partner,” I told her.

“Yeah right! I know everyone in your life but him! Is something going on between the two of you?”

“God no!” I said, gagging. “Don’t ever say that again! He’s literally my brother. Anyways, what’s up?”

“Nothing much. I was just wondering what you were doing this weekend,” she mumbled, making me straighten up.

“Why? Do you need something?”

“Not ‘need.’”

“Then what do you want?” I pressed.

“I was wondering if you would go to an event with me.”

“What event?”

“There’s a blind date thing at the library,” she told me, and I could just see the blush on her face.

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” I asked excitedly.

“I am. I’m ready to meet someone.”

“Oh! My! God! Laurel! I’m so fucking excited! You’re going to come to my house tonight. We’re going to go to a party,” I gushed.

“Umm, is it one of your sex parties?” she inquired worriedly.

“Yes, but you don’t have to go home with a stranger. No one will pressure you. Please, say you’ll come. I’ll stop and grab you a costume for tonight.” When she remained quiet for so long, I thought she hung up, so I called her name softly. “Are you still there?”

“I don’t know about the party, Lauren. I said, ‘Meet someone,’ not flaunt myself like a $2 hooker.”

I rolled my eyes. “You don’t have to fuck someone, but it’s the safest place to be on your first time out. Hell, you should think about going home with someone. Scratch the itch before you try to start a relationship with someone.”

Finally, she sighed heavily. “Alright. I’ll go, but you have to respect my choices while I’m there.”

“I will. I promise. I’ll see you tonight. Be at my house by 8 PM so we can get ready.”

“Alright. I will. I’ll see you a little later. Love you, Lauren.”

“Love you too, Laurel.”

We hung up, and I sat back in my chair, grinning widely. Fuck it. If Mason didn’t want to listen to me, I was glad at least Laurel would. Maybe he would start to listen to me soon too. Because I was good at coping with trauma. I sighed as the thought of my savior crossed my mind. Or maybe I was just lying to myself.