32. Mason

THIRTY-TWO

Mason

The door closes behind me as I push my way into my office carrying the for sale sign. The Jamesons loved that house so quickly that I'm pretty sure it's the fastest I've sold a property.

Cassie's sitting at her desk as I pass by, and she gives me a smile, her eyes going wide.

"You already sold it? Damn, well done, Mason."

I laugh, stopping to lean the for sale sign against the wall behind her desk. I'll take it to the back closet later.

"I barely had to do anything." I put a hand on my hip, shaking my head, still a little shocked. "They were so cute. The Jamesons. They're expecting their first kid, and they just loved the ambiance. They said it was perfect for living out their ‘cottagecore lesbian' lives. Absolutely adorable."

Cassie laughs, and I let her know that I have a few things to finish up in the office and to hold my calls so that I can try to push through it all before going home.

"Sure thing, Mason."

"Thank you." I wave over my shoulder as I walk back to my office and take a seat at my desk.

The heat is oppressive today, and I sigh as I unbutton my suit a bit and try to fan myself with my shirt.

My eyes are closed, my head back against my chair, when the phone rings. I sit up and look at the thing, a little confused since I just told Cassie to hold my calls.

Maybe she hasn't switched it over yet.

I grab the receiver, tucking it under my ear as I wiggle the mouse to my computer to wake it up.

"Hello?"

There's no response, and I wonder if the phone did something weird when Cassie was trying to hold my calls.

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

There's nothing again, and I'm pretty sure at this point that the wires just got crossed when Cassie was forwarding the calls to her desk.

I'm about to hang up when I hear it.

Someone breathing.

"Hello? Did the call go through? Can you hear me?"

They don't respond, but I can still hear that breathing clear as day.

"Look, I can hear you breathing, so if you're some kid who thinks this is funny, knock it off. Yeah?"

Still no response, but the line doesn't hang up either.

"All right, well, I have way too much to do. So go prank call someone else."

I hang up, shaking my head as the annoyance flares in my gut. I hate prank calls, and when I'm already hot and tired, that's not the way to get the cranky mood to back off.

Quiet returning to the room, I concentrate on my email replies for a few minutes before I see the time, and I decide to give Bridget a call before I finish up here and go home.

Using my cell, I pull up Bridget's number and swipe to call. It rings a few times, and then I hear her sweet, familiar voice, which immediately eases my nerves.

"Hey."

"Hi. How's it going over there? I plan on coming home soon. I just want to finish up some paperwork."

There's a slight pause, and then Bridget clears her throat. "Umm, it's good. Mia's up, and we've been playing. She'll be glad to see you."

As far as responses go, Bridget's is fine. It's the tone that's off. She sounds distracted and even a bit…worried.

Not sure what's bothering her, I do what every good boyfriend should do, I ask.

"Hey, are you okay? You sound upset."

"I'm fine," she answers quickly, but then Bridget hesitates. "Umm, I'm fine. Mia is good. I just…we'll talk when you get home."

"You sure?" It's clear something is bothering her, and Bridget has basically said as much herself.

"Yeah. Better to talk about it here, but really, I'm fine."

"Okay. Well," I sit up in my chair, turning away from the computer and looking down at the floor, "I plan on getting Chinese food on my way home. Sound good?"

"Sounds great." That I believe. "We'll be ready for kung pao chicken and egg rolls."

I laugh. "You and your kung pao. Okay, well, let me wrap up a few things here, and then I'll head home."

"Great. I can't wait to see you."

My heart warms because I believe that one, too, and damn, even after just a regular day at work, I can't wait to see Bridget, either.

"Me too, hun. I'll see you soon."

"Bye."

I hang up, smiling, thanks to the awesome girl I have waiting at home for me, and turn back to the computer to make sure that my showings and appointments are all sorted out for the morning.

I'm at it for a few minutes when Cassie walks in, her purse slung over her shoulder.

"Hey, boss, I'm going to head out for the night, okay?"

I look up from my desk. "Oh, sure thing, Cassie. Oh, but hey, who tried to call earlier? The line…didn't connect properly."

She cocks her head, frowning slightly. "Earlier like this morning?"

"No," I shake my head, "like when I got back from that sale. Did you not mean to forward me that call?"

Cassie takes a step back, pulling into herself. "I didn't forward you a call. You said not to. No one has tried calling the office since you got back. Did I do something?—"

"No, no. I'm sure it was just a prank call. I'm sorry. You're fine. Have a great night, Cassie."

She smiles weakly, still clearly confused and a bit upset by the call. I can't say I blame her since I'm definitely feeling the same way.

"I promise. You're fine, Cassie. It was some lucky little punk that dialed my office number. Have a great evening, okay?"

Perking up a bit, Cassie nods, hiking her purse strap up her shoulder. "I will. Thank you. You have a good evening, too."

"Thanks, Cassie. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you then."

Cassie leaves, and I sit at my desk doing exactly nothing for a moment. How did that prank call get my number, and why didn't the redirect work?

But there's no use in dwelling on it. I want to finish up here so that I can get home to Bridget and Mia, and I need to pick up Chinese food on the way home before they close.

Kung pao chicken, egg rolls, and I think I'll change it up this time and get cashew chicken instead of chow mein .

I go back to my computer, finalizing the times for my showings, and I make sure to update the pending status of the property for the Jamesons. They're going to want to start the title process quickly.

That baby is due any day, and I'll do what I can to make sure they get through escrow and close faster rather than slower.

The last thing on my mind before I finish up for the day is restarting the phone. Maybe it was just glitching out, and that prank call never should have gone through.

Restarting mine and Cassie's will be sure to fix the problem. Nothing more to worry about.