Chapter 14 - Mason Walked Into The Canteen Without An Audience
Mason came into the canteen Thursday at 1430.
Nearly empty.
I was drinking bad coffee at the end table.
He saw me.
Stopped.
I expected him to leave.
He didn't.
“Can I sit?”
“Why?”
“Coffee.”
“Plenty of tables.”
He nodded.
Then chose one across the room.
That surprised me.
For ten minutes we said nothing.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
“Reed.”
Pause.
“No, sir.”
His face tightened.
“Yes, sir.”
He ended the call.
I looked over.
“Bad?”
“New assignment.”
“What?”
“Not instructor.”
I waited.
“Operations support.”
“How do you feel?”
He stared at me.
“Not your problem.”
I almost smiled.
“Correct.”
He looked down at his coffee.
Then:
“Vale leaves tomorrow.”
“I know.”
Mason saw my face.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
He laughed quietly.
“You really did learn that from him.”
“Shut up.”
For a few minutes, ordinary silence.
Then Mason said:
“I used to think he ruined my career.”
“Did he?”
“He slowed it.”
“Same?”
“No.”
I nodded.
He continued.
“I got two good assignments after.”
“So.”
“I stopped telling that part.”
I looked over.
“Why?”
“Made the story worse.”
“For you.”
“Yes.”
He took a drink.
“Then I came back to training and started doing exactly what he said I did.”
“You noticed before the canteen?”
His face tightened.
“Sometimes.”
“And?”
“I called it intensity.”
Of course.
He looked at me.
“You know what bothered me most when I saw your stance?”
“What?”
“That he was still in your body.”
I stared.
“That's a weird sentence.”
“I know.”
He tried again.
“I thought he had left Alden with nothing.”
“And then you saw me.”
“Yes.”
“So you wanted to take it away.”
“No.”
He paused.
“Maybe.”
I looked down at my cup.
Mason continued.
“I wanted to prove his way wasn't special.”
“How did throwing my bag help?”
“It didn't.”
“Good talk.”
He almost smiled.
Then:
“You still going to finish certification?”
“I don't know.”
“You should.”
I looked at him.
“Don't.”
He stopped.
Right.
No directions.
He nodded.
We drank terrible coffee.
When he stood to leave, he stopped beside the spot where my duffel had landed.
Nothing on the floor now.
“Rachel.”
I looked up.
First name.
Rare from him.
“I am sorry.”
No list this time.
No performance.
I nodded once.
He left.
May you like
I did not decide what the apology meant.
That was not urgent.
