Shark Strike Survivor

Chapter 8

"Jaaace?" I sing-song as I stand at the window that looks into the kitchen of the cafe.

He walks to the window with an unamused expression as he replies; "Yes, Larken?"

Grinning broadly at him as I have been annoying him our entire shift, so for six hours now; "Will you pretty please cook me two orders of grilled cheese sandwiches, and tomato soup for the end of our shift? Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"You are so needy today," he playfully groans with a grin. "Yes I will, but why do you need two orders instead of one?"

Biting my lower lip, all playfulness gone; "Um, I invited Mason to have dinner with me at the park to apologize for my panic attack the other night. I need to apologize to him for my bad behavior."

Jace instantly frowns at me; "You do not need to apologize to him for that. Perhaps you should perhaps explain why you became upset, perhaps not fully, but only if you are ready to explain even a little bit."

Shrugging at him, I do not reply as I walk back to the counter to start filling an order that Sonya just took.

"How are you classes, Larken?" Sonya asks as I finish that order, and start on four, frozen chai latte's for the four of us.

"Classes are kicking my hiney, but I love it though," I grin, handing her one of the chai's.

"Samuel, Jace," I say to them as they exit the kitchen after the last of the customers leave for closing, and I hand them each a drink.

"I am so tired, and I am glad the day is over, so I can go home and sleep," Jace grumbles after a long sip.

"Head out, and the three of us will finish closing," Samuel tells Jace with a gentle squeeze to his left shoulder.

"I need to," Jace starts to argue, but stops when I shake my head at him, guilt eating at my insides because I asked him to cook extra food for me.

"Head home, Jace," Sonya insists with an encouraging smile, and Jace reluctantly smiles with a nod of agreement.

"See everyone tomorrow," Jace says with an apologetic smile, but I nod that everything is fine.

I will pickup or order food for my meetup with Mason at the park. I should have realized Jace was exhausted instead of being a hyperactive pain in his ass. I was, well I am being a bad friend to my best friend.

Forty-five minutes later, the three of us are leaving the cafe, and I have already ordered pizza, sodas, and breadsticks online, and will be delivered to me at the park in fifteen minutes. I should make it to the park in ten minutes.

"Can we give you a ride home, Larken?" Samuel offers kindly as he locks the back door behind us.

"Oh, no thank you, Samuel," I reply. "I am not heading straight home."

"We can drop you off wherever you are going," he replies, turning to face me now that the door is securely locked.

"No thank you, it is appreciated, but I am meeting someone at the park, so I will just walk there," I say as we reach their car.

"Walking there by yourself is not necessary," Mason's voice states from behind me, causing me to jump in fright.

Turning around to face Mason as Samuel and Sonya turn their attention to him in curiosity as I ask him; "Mason, I thought we were meeting at the park?"

"I thought I would meet you here, and we could walk back to the park together," he shyly answers with an equally shy smile as he nervously rubs the back of his neck with his right hand.

Giving him a small nod in agreement as I bed Sonya and Samuel a 'goodnight' with a smile and a wave. Walking next to Mason on his right side, I glance at him from the corner of my eye of his profile, and I enjoy the fading sunlight splashing across his features.

"Were you never told that staring is impolite?" he asks while he tries not to smile or laugh.

"Yeah, I was told that was impolite, but sometimes I do not mind my manners," I sass him, not even bothering to hide my grin.

We chat the entire walk, and we finally reach the entrance of the park where we lean our backsides against the wooden fence that surrounds the park. I had left instructions for the delivery person to meet me at the entrance of the park. The delivery person should be here in five minutes or less. Five minutes later on the dot, the delivery person arrives, exiting their car after parking it, and grabbing the food and drinks.

When they reach Mason and I, they look between us, asking; "Are one of you Larken Carrigan?"

"That would be me," I reply, pushing myself off the fence, pulling my wallet from my pant pocket to give him a five dollar tip before taking the food and drinks from them. "Thank you."

"How about we sit and eat because I do not know about you, but I am extremely hungry?" I question with a grin up at him as I turn to walk in the entrance of the park toward an empty picnic table.

Mason chuckles as he quickens his steps to fall in step with me with a fond shake of his head at my weirdness. We settle at the picnic table benches across from each other as I place the items on the top of the table with us opening one each.

"So, I want to apologize for my panic attack the other night," I start off my apology as we start eating. "I should have been honest with you about only being comfortable with going to any body of water with my family. I ruined our evening by being a stubborn jackass, and not speaking my mind to you."

"Larken, you do not need to apologize to me for that night. I should not have pushed you into going there with me before you were comfortable with me," he replies seriously. "I was being a cocky asshole in my thinking that I could take you there without checking with you, and how comfortable you would be before we went, so let's say we are equally guilty?"