Royal Jester

Epilogue Part 1. Mason

Three Years Later

~~~

Mason hated to admit it, but his girlfriend was right; he was late to everything. 

His graduation? Late.

Their meeting with the real estate agent? Late.

His really fucking important interview for a job that would allow him to work remotely whilst being on a marketing team? Also late (and it was online!) but he somehow still got hired. 

And now he was on his way to pick up his mom from her hotel room, twenty minutes late. 

"Shit," he sighed, leaning his head back as he hit yet another red light. He began tapping absentmindedly on the steering wheel, clenching his jaw when he heard a car honk from behind him; whether it was directed at him or not was unknown. 

Mason's phone went off then and he looked over at the screen of his automotive head unit to check the caller ID. He groaned when he realized it was a coworker, mentally preparing himself as he answered the call. "Hello."

The light finally turned green and Mason glanced at the time on his dashboard to see that two more minutes had passed. "Hey, you finished the slide presentation right?" 

"I sent it in this morning," he confirmed. 

He heard the sound of typing, "And you added the personalized photo they wanted us to put in last night right?" 

Mason's eyes widened. "Fuck- no." It had been so late last night when he got the email that he had just decided to do it the next morning. He'd clearly forgotten about it and just sent it as was. "I'll have it fixed in twenty minutes."

Luckily Mason brought a laptop with him everywhere, specifically for reasons like this. Even more fortunate though was that he'd put in a placeholder image a few days ago, so all he would have to do is replace it, redownload it, and email it to the team leader. 

He could definitely do that in twenty minutes.

"Okay, text me when it's done." 

"Sounds good," Mason nodded despite the fact that they couldn't see him before hanging up, sighing as he finally pulled into the hotel parking lot. 

He found a parking spot near the front doors, calling his mom as he grabbed his laptop from the glove compartment. She answered just as his laptop powered on, "You're finally here?" 

Mason chuckled at the impatience in her tone, "Yeah sorry. I'm right by the entrance."

"I'll be there in a second." 

"M'kay," he turned off his phone, and had just downloaded the image when his passenger door abruptly opened and he about jumped out of his seat. "Holy shit!" 

His mom sent Mason a glare and he smiled sheepishly. "Language Mason." 

"I'm twenty four mom," he rolled his eyes with a laugh. "I think it's okay if I cuss a bit. Besides, you scared the absolute fuck out of me." 

She crossed her arms over her chest, her eyebrows raising as she stared at him. "Well it isn't okay in front of me; you may be an adult but I'm still your mother."

Mason lifted his hands in surrender, "Alright, alright. I get it, no swearing when I'm with you."

"What is that for," his mom asked as he redirected his attention back to the laptop screen. She leaned a bit closer to look at what he was doing, "You're not working right now are you?" 

"It'll just take two minutes," he responded distractedly as he replaced the photo. 

"Mason, we were supposed to be there five minutes ago."