Ava cussed under her breath as she watched Mason walk out of the store. Such arrogance! Who did he think he was? Ordering her to meet with him.
"Ava, I'm so sorry. I tried my best to stop him from coming to where you were hiding," Nathan said in a sorry tone as he walked up to Ava.
Ava sighed, "it's fine Nate, it wasn't your fault."
"What did he want, and why were you hiding from him?" Nathan asked, looking at her with concern.
Ava craned her neck to the side as she tried to come up with a reasonable explanation for hiding away from Mason. She couldn't tell Nathan how she knew Mason.
"Ava, is everything okay?" Nathan asked when she didn't respond to his first question.
She managed a weak smile, "yes Nate, everything is fine," she glanced at her wristwatch, "I have to go now, you don't mind closing up without me?"
"Not to worry I will handle it," Nathan said, still not looking convinced that Ava was all right.
"Ava, if there is something wrong, you know you can talk to me right? Is that man bothering you? Should I call the police?"
Ava came closer and hugged him briefly.
"That won't be necessary, I'm okay. I will see you tomorrow," she said, before going to pack up her things to leave.
As she stepped out of the store, Ava saw Mason's car was parked in front of the store, and he was outside, leaning against the hood of his car, obviously waiting for her. She decided to call Maddie on the phone.
"What's up?" Maddie answered.
"He is here," Ava whispered into the phone,
"Who are you talking about?" Maddie asked her.
"Mason, he came to the store to see me, he says he has a job for me and insists on telling me about the job, even if I told him I already have a job," Ava said.
"Okay?" Maddie said, waiting for Ava to tell her what the actual problem was.
"Can't you see he is stalking me? Now he wants to offer me a job, what if it's a trap? Or....."
"Ava, you worry too much, I don't think it's a trap," Maddie said.
"Then why would he want to offer me a job?"
Maddie sighed, "probably the guy just wants to help you. How about you go talk to him and hear the job he has to offer you, it isn't a must that you take it. It might turn out to be a good job," Maddie quickly added the last part before Ava got the chance to protest.
"So you think I should go with him?" Ava asked.
"You don't have to go anywhere with him, you both can talk about the job offer in his car or something, and if he insists, then make sure you go somewhere busy, like a restaurant, and you can share your location with me, so I can know where to come find you, just in case you are in any sort of danger," Maddie suggested.
Ava sighed for what seemed like the tenth time that evening, "just know that, if I die, my blood would be on your head."
Maddie chuckled, "don't worry, I will make sure to name my first daughter after you, so your name isn't forgotten." They both laughed and Ava ended the call.
Mason was on the phone when Ava got to where he parked his car.
"Jason, I would have to call you back," Mason said before ending his conversation.
"Are you ready to leave?" He asked Ava.
"It depends on where we are going," Ava said.
"There is a nice restaurant I know, it's not too far from here," Mason said, opening the passenger's side of his car for her. Ava noticed this wasn't the same car that he used the other day that he offered to take her to her place.
"I'm not hungry. Why don't we talk about whatever job offer it is that you have, here? And we can both be on our separate ways in no time?" Ava said.
Mason looked at her for a second, it was as if he was contemplating whether or not he should say what he wanted to say, and then he sighed.
"Please get in the car, we will talk about the job at the restaurant."
"No, I suggest we talk about it here," Ava insisted.
"You still think I'm out to harm you?" Mason asked her.
"Aren't you?" Ava asked raising her eyebrow at him.
"You are not so special Ava, I only want to help you, but if you don't want it, you are free to leave." He glanced at his wristwatch. "I don't have all evening, are you coming or not?"
Ava liked the way he called her name, it wasn't the first time he had said her name, but the way he said it this time, seemed different. For some useless reason, she liked it.
"Are you coming or what?" Mason asked with a bit of impatience in his tone when she just kept looking at him.
"Fine," Ava got into the car and sat down, Mason chuckled as he helped her to shut the door.
"Just so you know, I already told my best friend I would be with you, so should anything happen to me, she knows who to hold responsible," Ava immediately knew she sounded stupid when the words left her lips, but she didn't care.
Mason chuckled, "relax," he said to her as he got into the car. "If I wanted to harm you, I would have done so a long time ago."