Open Case File [COMPLETED]

Meeting Him For The First Time (Yvette)

This will probably be the only one from her POV so I decided to make it count.

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Yvette knew who he was the second he walked into the restaurant. Her parents and relatives were second-generation American and loved getting involved in politics, debating over the candidates.

As a teenager, all Yvette cared about was the blonde-haired boy who smiled and waved to the camera. The one who looked so polished in his suits. The boy who grinned at something his mother said and nodded at his father's words.

The same boy walked into the restaurant she worked at but he was not the same.

Mason Douglas still looked as handsome but he'd grown up. He wore a suit but he didn't seem as polished as the boy on the tv. He seemed more relaxed. He laughed at something his companion said. A man in his early twenties with dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes.

They took seats at the bar, forcing Yvette to tuck away her girlhood crush. When she served them, they barely glanced at her, completely wrapped up in their conversation. There was a camaraderie about them that seemed easier than friendship. They looked similar enough, possibly cousins. Yvette could relate to that, her cousins were her closest companions.

The pair stayed for three hours and never seemed to tire of talk. When they eventually left, Yvette thought that would be the last time she ever saw Mason Douglas.

But she was wrong.

The next time Yvette saw Mason, he came in alone. He took a seat at the bar and gazed around him. Yvette finished serving her current customer and strode over to Mason. She wore an easy smile.

"What can I get you?" she asked.

Mason locked eyes with her and she realized something that she'd never been able to see from the tv screen and didn't notice the last time: the hue of his eyes. They were blue but a blue with so much depth it felt like she was looking into the ocean on a clear day.

"A Pellegrino and a menu," Mason said.

Yvette set a menu before him and poured out a glass of Pellegrino. Mason flipped open the menu, half scanning at it. He looked to the empty seats beside him. Yvette moved further down the bar to give him space. Still, she heard him as he made a call.

"What are you doing right now?" he asked.

A beat. "I wanted to check in and see if you need an excuse to eat."

The comment struck Yvette as a little strange. Not flirty or inviting, but somehow still caring. Which she felt didn't make sense.

"Wait, your boy scout fiancé got home? When?"

If Mason's previous comment had been at all softer, Yvette would have thought something scandalous with the latest comment.

"No," Mason said, scornfully. "I'm not lonely. I just know how you get when your fiancé is gone and wanted to make sure you weren't somewhere being pathetic. But he's home so I don't have to worry about you. Have fun with Mr. Perfect."

Mason hung up and Yvette glanced over at him. He sat back in his chair, staring at his phone on the bar top. In that moment, she couldn't see the smiling First Son the whole world knew. She figured someone with his claim to notoriety would have a million people he could call to come join him.

But he sat completely alone.

She had to wonder how many times when the world saw him living a perfect life, he felt the opposite.

Yvette walked back to him, her smile softer than before.

"Did you decide on what you want to eat?" she asked.