Not a Reunion

Chapter 22

Thea

Quincy and I start to talk about my work life. I tell her that it was going well and that my boss was extremely nice, especially after letting me take this trip on such short notice. On the same day, I have to leave notice. That was very risky for me, and if I hadn't done it on my own, I would have been retired. But it was Mason who had told my boss, not me.

Quincy smiles and says, "That's so nice of him, Thea."

"I know," I say, agreeing with the fact that my boss was nice because that was a true fact. I had applied for a lot of jobs, and this one was the only one that had taken me on. Everyone else had rejected me, and after finding out how well this one was treating me, I was glad that no one else had wanted me. That was a good thing, then. I was glad that everyone else had rejected me.

I'm in the middle of wanting to tell Quincy what I just thought about when the front door burst open. The kids and a figure that I know as Mason all start to head up as if they were on a mission. I was looking at the door, and Quincy was looking at me, so she didn't see the face of Mason, who was now heading upstairs.

"You brought him with you?" Quincy asks when her eyes go to the staircase. She catches the back of Mason's head before he can leave, and she shouts out, "Hey, Liam!"

But it's not Liam. The guy that I had brought home with me was someone who Quincy hadn't seen in six years as well. It wasn't Mason's name that Quincy had called out, but the volume of the voice and the fact that it was famililar made him turn his head. As soon as he did, Quincy let out a loud gasp.

Her reaction was even more dramatic than my own. I had been shocked to my core, but I hadn't made a noise of surprise. I had merely stared at him for the longest time before ducking my head and taking my hand away. I may have muttered something about having to leave and hurried out of there, but I wasn't this dramatic.

Quincy's face is nothing short of surprised when she turns to me and says, "You're? What, Thea? You're dating him again?"

I turn my head to Mason and try to silently tell him to leave, but he doesn't. He only walks down the stairs and toward the girl, who was having a freak-out moment. Her assumption was wrong, and I was going to tell her so, but I didn't get a chance to do it.

Mason stands in front of her, his face nothing short of surprised, as he looks down at her. He holds out his hands and says, "I heard that I give out more hugs these days."

And then Quincy stands up from her spot and throws her arms around Mason. Mason wraps his arms around Quincy, and the two of them share an embrace. "Mason, six years," she whispers to him. "You lost contact with me and didn't find it anymore. Six years, Mason. That's a pretty long time."

"I know," Mason whispers, and then presses a kiss on top of her head. Quincy pulls back, wiping at her eyes with both of her hands, and then looks at Mason with an offensive look.

"Mason, you cannot do that," she says, and then says, "But it's so good to see you again."

"I know," Mason says with a little chuckle. "You look so different, Quinc."

"Yeah, well," Quincy says, placing a hand in her hair and then tilting her head to the side. "You're talking?"

"Well," Mason says with another chuckle, this one sounding better than the other one.

"Yeah," Quincy said with a nod. "You were a strangly thing when I last saw you."

"I was not," Mason says with an offensive gasp.

"You were," Quincy says, shaking her head. "You were good-looking, yes, but not as much as you are now."

Mason's face turns the red that I had been used to seeing on him during senior year. I had thought that it was because he was shy, but I hadn't known it was because he was nervous to be around me.