the other side of us | ✓

2.2 | lonely souls

Three years ago

In the months that followed the death of Mason's sister, his mother had hardly spoken a word.

Mason had taken care of the moving arrangements and their new apartment, and New York was just as he remembered it.

Their new place was just outside the city, and Mason had made sure that the were on the top level, just as his mother liked it.

Moving in had been difficult. Mason had had to shield his mother from any boxes marked with TARA in large bold letters, ferreting those boxes away to a storage unit before she could find them. Especially the boxes from the hospital, filled to the brim with her stuffed animals and photos. He'd told the staff to just toss the items, but they must have forgotten.

Now, nearly three months after Tara's passing, and Gemma refused to get out of bed for anything other than the bathroom. She slept for hours on end, staring blankly at the walls when she could no longer sleep.

"Mum," Mason said now, knocking lightly on her bedroom door. It was nearing eight o'clock – time for him to go to work. "There's breakfast here. I'm off to work."

He listened for any sound of acknowledgement and sighed when he received nothing. The toe of his boot scuffed lightly at the edge of the tray he'd placed by her door, the eggs and toast covered by a pot lid to keep it warm.

"The nurse'll be by later. Please be nice to her."

Mason grabbed his jacket from the back of a chair and closed the door softly behind him, not bothering to lock the door since Nina would be by in an hour.

He'd had no choice but to hire Nina after he and his mother had moved in. Medina this time, instead of the big city. Mason hadn't wanted to run into anyone from when they'd lived there before. Anyone who could remember his sister. When his mother refused to eat, bathe, or leave the house, Mason knew that he wouldn't be able to take care of her by himself.

Mason's walk to work was relatively calm, and when he got to the bookstore, he was happy to see that it was no busier than usual. He wasn't in the mood to deal with long lines, but then again, he never really was.

Micah was texting behind the counter, as usual. He looked up when the bell above the door signaled Mason's arrival.

"Yo, new shipment in the back."

Mason nodded as he clocked in and headed to the back room to unpack the books that he'd ordered last week.

Scoring a job working as a shift manager at a bookstore hadn't been Mason's original goal, but they'd needed money, and his savings weren't going to get them very far. As it was, he and his mother were living in a one bedroom apartment, he was sleeping on the couch, and they barely made rent on that each month. His mother's refusal to assimilate after Tara's death had meant that Mason was back to taking on whatever job he could.

Sun was unloading the boxes already when Mason walked in.

"Everything make it?"

"Everything," Sun confirmed. "They added an extra copy of the new Mayer book though."

Mason nodded. "I'll tell Ronni to send them a note."

Sun broke down the box that she'd emptied and added it to the trash pile.

"That need to be taken out?"

"Not yet, we still have a few more boxes so there's no point. You can take this stack onto the floor though."

He nodded and loaded the stack onto a cart, wheeling it out onto the floor.

Mason's shift went by quickly, and by the time he clocked out, he was exhausted and ready for a nap. He waved goodbye to his coworkers and hurried out the door.

*

Nina was just packing up when Mason got home.

"How was she today?"

Nina shrugged. "More or less the same."

"Eat anything?"

"Some toast and yogurt. Managed to make it onto the balcony today."

"That's good news."

Nina smiled and picked up her purse, fiddling with the strap.

"About my paycheck-"

"I know that we're late!" Mason cut in. "But I can pay you at the end of the week my check is deposited."

"I really can't wait that long. It's been two weeks, Mr. Carlyle. I'm sorry, but I have to pay my kid's tuition and I can't go this long between checks."

"Wait, Nina. We need you. Please. I'll pay you extra next week!"

"Mr. Carlyle, I'm so sorry to do this. I'll stay on until you can find someone new, but please consider this my notice."

Mason stared after Nina as she left, and then he turned towards the kitchen to make dinner for his mother, not ready to think about how he was going to find another nurse.

As it turned out, he didn't need to worry about finding another nurse because three days after Nina turned in her notice, Mason awoke to find that a handful of his mother's sleeping pills had claimed her life.