midnight rain | mason mount

xxxiii

AUTHOR POV.
DECEMBER 6, 2022 

"What's got you so down?" Charlotte asked, looking up at him. They were lying in bed together, her head on his bare chest. Bored, her fingers carefully traced the tattoos on his arm. She had made a habit out of that. Today was one of the rare days that they would get to spend the night together— the manager had made an exception and allowed the players to see their families, since the quarter-finals were soon. 

"Nothing. Let's just enjoy the time we have together." 

"I can tell that something's up, Mase. What is it?" 

Sighing, Mason replied— "I guess I just haven't played as much as I would like. Especially in the knockout stages." 

Charlotte nodded— she knew what he was referring to. "I'm sorry." 

"The manager plays a 4-1-4-1. So realistically, I'm competing with Jude and Hendo, and well... I guess the manager thinks that they've been playing better than me." 

"I'm sorry. But maybe you'll play in the quarter-finals against France?" 

"I hope so. Well, there's no point stressing about it anyways."

Changing the topic Charlotte asked, "How'd the contract extension talks go? Didn't you say that the director is coming to Qatar to finalize the deal?" 

Mason shook his head and said, "I asked them to delay until after the World Cup. I wanted to focus on what's happening here, instead of having my head wrapped around all that jumble." 

"That's probably for the best. But you like the deal?" 

"Yeah. I want to stay." 

"That's good. I like living in London." Charlotte replied, smiling. "As much as I love Phil, I don't miss Stockport too much. Not much to do around there."

"If I moved, would you move with me?" Mason asked abruptly, taking Charlotte by surprise. 

"Why? Do you want to move to another team?" 

"No, just hypothetically." 

"I don't know. It all depends, I guess. I haven't really thought about it." Charlotte said. Her answer was no— she wouldn't uproot her life just for him— but she was worried that if she said that, she would be causing a fight. So instead, she lied and beat around the bush. "Why do you ask?" 

"Just in case. I would feel a lot better about moving to another club if I knew that you were coming with me." 

"We'll worry about that if or when we come to it, okay?" Charlotte said. "C'mon. Let's go to sleep. You're going to get wrinkle lines on your forehead with all that worrying."  

~

Much to both their disappointment, Mason didn't get much playing time in the quarter-finals as England was eliminated after a loss to France. Charlotte was careful with what she said around him, although he insisted that he was okay and that now, his focus was on the Premier League and Champions League. 

They were now on their flight back to London. Charlotte wasn't used to the luxury of business-class flights that she took whenever she was with Mason. With her business, she did make enough money to fly business, but it wasn't something she was used to. Her parents had always taught her to be frugal and save money when she could, and she stood by that principle. 

As Charlotte shifted around in her seat, Mason asked with a worried look on his face, "You okay?" 

Charlotte nodded and laughed a little. "Just not used to this plane I guess. It doesn't even feel like a plane— it's like a bed." Their seats were next to each other, but they were connected, making their seats combine into one big bed.