The Beauty in Eternity

Chapter 90.

I sit in the same spot I always do, shovelling more fries into my mouth shamelessly. Jake's diner serves the best comfort food, and Jake being assistant manager and giving me it for free certainly isn't the worst thing in the world.

The door rings as it opens and Mason walks in, noticing me and taking a seat on the stool. "What's wrong?" he asks immediately, leaning his elbow on the counter.

I turn to him and pout, offering him a fry. "I had this patient. I was pretty close to her, Mrs. Smith but she insisted I called her Barb," I tell him, letting out a sigh. "Turns out she has Alzheimer's disease, they had to transfer her into a care facility. She just wasn't safe at home and she doesn't have anybody."

His brow furrows as he takes the fry from my hand. "I'm sorry, she sounds like a lovely woman."

"She is," I smile. "I used to tell her about my life and she'd give the best advice. She called me the granddaughter she never had, her son died a few years ago."

"I'm really sorry." he sighs as he takes another fry from my plate.

"It's okay, she's safer there. She's just a good person, you know?"

"Yeah," he agrees. "How are you? You know, after yesterday."

"I'm okay—better." I smile. I turn back to my food and continue to eat, but I can feel his eyes on me.

"What?" I raise my brow.

He tilts his head with a slight smile on his face. "You seem different than before, stronger."

"I have to be, grief never gets any smaller or weaker. Saying time heals is really just a myth," I tell him. "So you have to make yourself stronger. Bigger than the grief—so you aren't consumed by it."

He nods slowly with a look in his eye I can't quite distinguish. "I'll cheers to that." he says, raising a fry into the air and tapping it against mine.

"Well, well, well. They just let anyone in here nowadays." Jake teases as he leans over the counter.

"Yeah, I heard the assistant manager is kind of a dick." Mason retorts with a smirk.

"Shut up." Jake rolls his eyes.

"Burger please." Mason orders as he taps the counter with his fingertips.

I let out a laugh. "Since when do you use 'please' in a sentence?"

"Since I became a big boy." he whispers sarcastically.

Jake directs someone to make Mason's burger before leaning back over. "So, what are you guys up to tonight?"

"I'm having drinks with a friend." I say, causing Jake to raise a brow.

"Quentin, from work. It's just a friendly thing." I tell him. I try to gage Mason's reaction, and I don't quite know why my first instinct was to look for one; but either way, there was nothing.

"Well, enjoy," Jake nods, before turning to Mason. "How about you?"

"Hopefully finalising my new apartment." he announces.

I clap. "Finally!"

"I know, so far it seems okay. But the woman across the hall constantly plays her music really loud; loud enough for you to hear outside," he rolls his eyes. "And just in case you're hard of hearing, she opens her windows. I could hear her blasting Snow Patrol from my car."

"Better than the hotel, though?" Jake asks.

"A lot better, I can buy a proper bed," he sighs. "You can come along if you want, I'll ask Brenda to play something extra nice for you."