Weeping Willows

Elephants Should be Avoided

Chapter 51

Elizabeth sat in the churches' secretary's office waiting for Mason to finish up his meeting. She stared at her cell in her hand as if it was diseased. If she hadn't been worried about missing a call concerning Addison, she would have left the damned device in her car. She couldn't fathom why Nolan had called her phone again but was beginning to seriously consider getting a new number to avoid any further contact. In truth he had been the farthest thing from her mind not having heard from him since girl's night she had assumed he got the message that night. After his call today however, it was clear he still thought Elizabeth owned the number. She did but that was beside the point. Just knowing he still hadn't given up yet made her skin crawl. Any other guy would have moved on by now and forgotten all about her. She could maybe understand if they had had a long running deep relationship but since that hadn't been the case the fact that he was still looking for her gave her the creeps. Thank goodness he had no idea where she had moved to or she would be considering moving again. Knowing he had a past of stalking made her very uneasy though and she briefly entertained contacting the police with this problem. If it weren't for the fact that in her earlier panic, she had already texted Courtney she might have. She almost felt bad for whatever was coming his way, almost.

"You ready Lizzy?" Mason asked her from his now open office doorway. Trying to find the courage to open up she meekly nodded while rising from her seat. Sometimes she wished she was more like her friends and less like a mouse. She knew that this was just talking with her friend Mason more or less, but she still couldn't help feeling like she was in trouble and being called into the principal's office.

"Relax Lizzy, you'll be fine I promise." Mason smiled reassuringly at her making her feel ridiculous for her trepidation. She offered him a smile in return as she entered the room but couldn't control the fact that it was a weak and shaky one.

Elizabeth glanced around looking at the bookshelves that lined the wall behind his desk, the little houseplants that sat on the windowsills, and the comfortable looking armchairs that sat to either side of a small round blonde wood table. The room was cozy and homey in feel as light poured in from the two windows to the right of the desk. Fresh air drifted into the room where the windows had both been opened a couple inches. She didn't know what she had been expecting but the welcoming room that was Mason's office hadn't been it. Mason called out to her from the comfort of one of the armchairs motioning for her to sit in the other one. She had automatically moved to the seat in front of his desk when she entered thinking that was where they would sit. Taking the offered seat Elizabeth was surprised at how comfortable the chair was as she sunk into the seat with a sigh. Mason opened a black leather binder taking a pen out before relaxing back himself.

"Would you like something to drink?" He asked politely as Elizabeth shook her head. She waited for things to begin but for his part Mason sat patiently across from her looking at her quietly.

"How do we start?" She asked wringing her hands in her lap unable to sit still with all the nervous energy that was building.

"We begin with you telling me anything you want to. It might be easier to start with something you don't mind sharing and we can work up to the harder stuff once you feel more comfortable." Elizabeth relaxed a little glad they weren't going to dive right into the meat of her problem.

"It looks like Addison might have the baby soon." Mason nodded in response to her statement. If he was disappointed that she started way out in left field, he didn't show it. He merely crossed his legs and leaned back into his chair as if they were settling in for a friendly chat.

"I heard the same from Elliot this morning when he called me. If he doesn't calm down, he'll have ulcers by the time the little one gets here." Elizabeth giggled at the thought of a frantic Elliot driving Addison nuts.