Chapter 115: I Thought You Didn’t Want Me

Chapter 115: Chapter 115: I Thought You Didn’t Want Me

The morning air smelled heavily of fresh dirt and cut steel.

The new Calloway youth academy was finally under construction. The massive site was loud and completely packed with workers. Audrey walked across the uneven ground, holding her digital recorder and a fresh notebook.

She spent the entire morning doing exactly what she came to do. She interviewed the lead architects. She spoke with the charity sponsors. She took detailed notes on the foundation plans.

And she avoided Mason completely.

She knew exactly where he was at all times. She saw his dark suit standing near the scaffolding. She saw him talking to the site managers. Every single time his group moved to the left, Audrey made sure to walk to the right.

Mason noticed. He watched her turn a corner every time he got close. He did not say a word, but his eyes followed her across the dirt.

The morning tour officially ended. Audrey packed her notebook into her heavy leather bag. She brushed some dust off her blazer and turned toward the parking lot.

A young assistant wearing a bright yellow hardhat walked directly up to her.

Miss Ellis, the assistant said politely. "Mr. Calloway has time for one final question before his next meeting begins."

Audrey completely froze.

Her heart started beating too fast. She desperately wanted to refuse. She wanted to say she had enough material for the day.

But professionally, she could not turn down an exclusive quote from the CEO.

Audrey took a slow breath. She nodded once.

"Lead the way," Audrey said.

The assistant led her away from the noisy construction zone and up a small dirt hill.

This was not the luxurious, glass-walled CEO office in the city. It was a temporary metal trailer overlooking the entire site. The assistant opened the door, let her step inside, and closed it firmly behind her.

The atmosphere instantly changed.

The heavy noise of the construction was completely muffled. Through the small window, they could see steel beams being moved and children training on a finished grass pitch far in the distance.

There were no flashing cameras. There were no microphones. There were no board members.

It was just a cheap metal desk, two folding chairs, and Mason.

Audrey sat down in the plastic chair. She clicked her pen and set her digital recorder on the desk.

"Let us talk about the timeline," Audrey started smoothly.

They got straight to work. They discussed the academy. They talked about the future programs and the children who would use the facilities. Mason answered every question clearly. They were entirely professional.

Ten minutes later, the interview naturally came to an end.

"Thank you for your time, Mr. Calloway," Audrey said.

She reached forward and switched off her digital recorder. She put her pen away, grabbed her bag, and stood up to leave.

Mason watched her. He did not stand up.

"You do not have to rush away this time," Mason said quietly.

Audrey stopped. Her hand gripped the strap of her bag so tightly her knuckles turned white.

She stood there for a very long moment. Slowly, her hand dropped from the strap. She sat back down in the cheap plastic chair.

A long, heavy silence filled the small metal room.

Outside, a truck engine roared, but inside the trailer, the air was completely still.

Mason leaned forward and rested his arms on the desk. He looked at her face.

"I used to wonder if I had imagined us," Mason finally spoke. His deep voice was incredibly soft. He offered a very faint, tired smile. "Seven years is a long time."

Audrey looked down at her hands. She swallowed the heavy lump in her throat.

"It doesn’t feel like seven," Audrey replied quietly.

Another long, suffocating silence settled between them. The professional walls they had spent weeks building were completely falling apart.

For the first time since they reunited, there was no pretending.

Mason looked directly into her eyes. He needed to know.

"Why did you tell me to leave?" Mason asked.

Audrey felt her chest ache. She did not look away this time. She answered him with absolute, brutal honesty.

"Because I loved you," Audrey said.

Mason completely froze. His breathing stopped.

"Your world was becoming too big," Audrey continued, her voice shaking slightly. "And mine wasn’t. You were going to Europe. You were going to be a massive star. I thought loving you meant letting you go so you could fly."

Mason stared at her. He let out a short, quiet laugh. It was not a happy sound at all. It was completely broken.

"I spent seven years believing you stopped loving me," Mason whispered.

Audrey felt her eyes burn. The hot tears pooled instantly.

"I never said that," Audrey replied softly.

Mason looked toward the small window. He watched the kids playing far away on the green grass.

He finally admitted the truth about what happened after he left the airport. He did not say it dramatically. He just stated the simple facts.

"I waited for you, I was hoping you would come stop me..." Mason said.

Audrey wiped her eyes quickly.

"I tried calling you," Audrey whispered. "After you left. Your phone was switched off."

Mason’s expression changed.

"I know it was off when I left," he said quietly. "I was already on the flight."

Audrey stared at him. "I called again."

He looked down at the desk.

"By then, I had changed my number. The club arranged a new one when I settled in Europe. I didn’t know you had tried to reach me."

Audrey’s chest tightened. "You never tried to find out?"

Mason was silent for a moment.

"I did," he finally said. "But every time I thought about calling, I remembered the last thing you told me. You wanted me to go."

He swallowed.

"I thought giving you space was what you wanted."

"I planned to come back after I settled into the European league," Mason explained quietly. "But then the football schedule started. Then my knee shattered. Then the surgeries happened. Then the brutal recovery. Then taking over the ownership."

He turned his head and looked back at her. The intense pain in his dark eyes was impossible to hide.

"One year turned into two. Then four," Mason said. "Every single year, it became harder to explain why I had not come sooner."

Mason looked down at the desk.

"When I first got to London..." he said quietly, "I kept thinking that once things settled down, I’d come back."

A faint, bitter smile crossed his face.

"I thought if I stood in front of you again... you’d tell me I was an idiot for taking so long."

He met her eyes.

"If I’d come back after one year..."

His voice almost disappeared.

"...before the surgeries... before the company... before seven years..."

He looked straight into her eyes.

"Would your answer have been different?"

Audrey looked at him.

For a moment, she could not speak.

She thought about the boy who used to wait for her after class. The boy who remembered how she took her coffee. The boy who had once stood on a football field and promised her that no matter how far his dream took him, he would find his way back.

She had spent seven years convincing herself that boy was gone.

But he was sitting right in front of her.

Older. Harder. More guarded.

Still Mason.

"Yes," Audrey whispered.

Mason’s jaw tightened.

"Then why didn’t you tell me?"

Audrey’s eyes filled again.

"Because you were gone."

"I was waiting for you."

"I didn’t know that."

"You could have come after me."

"You could have come home."

The words landed between them.

Neither of them spoke.

Audrey wiped at her cheek, but another tear slipped free.

"I thought you had chosen football," she whispered.

"I thought you had chosen to let me go."

"I thought you didn’t want me anymore."

"I thought you were the one who didn’t want me."

Their eyes met.

For seven years, they had both been living with the same wound from opposite sides.

Mason leaned back slowly. He dragged a hand over his face and let out a quiet breath.

"We were idiots."

Despite everything, a tiny, broken laugh escaped Audrey.

"We were."

Mason looked at her for a long moment.

Then his expression softened.

"I missed you."

Audrey’s smile disappeared.

"I missed you too."

The words came out so quietly that Mason almost seemed afraid to believe them.

"You still do?"

Audrey nodded.

"Yes."

Mason’s eyes dropped to her lips for the briefest second before returning to her eyes.

Neither of them moved.

The silence stretched.

Audrey knew she should stand up. She knew she should leave the trailer, go back to the newsroom, go home to Alexander, and pretend this conversation had never happened.

But for the first time in seven years, she did not want to run.

Mason slowly reached across the desk, his hand stopped halfway.

"Can I?"

Audrey looked at his hand.

Then she looked back at him.

She knew exactly what he was asking.

She also knew exactly what saying yes would mean.

Her heart was beating painfully hard.

She gave the smallest nod.

Mason’s large hand finally cupped the side of her face.

His thumb brushed gently beneath her eye, catching the tear before it reached her cheek.

Audrey closed her eyes.

The touch was familiar.

Too familiar.

She remembered all the times those hands had held hers, steadied her, pulled her closer when she was afraid.

Seven years had changed almost everything. But somehow, this hadn’t. She opened her eyes again. Mason was still watching her. He did not pull her closer. He did not kiss her. He simply waited.

That was what finally broke something inside her.

Audrey reached across the small space between them and placed her trembling hand over his.

Mason’s fingers tightened slightly against her cheek.

"Audrey," he whispered.

She shook her head.

"I know."

She leaned forward. Mason met her halfway.

Their lips touched.

The first kiss was barely a kiss at all. Just a hesitant meeting, almost as though neither of them trusted that it was really happening.

Audrey pulled back an inch.

Their foreheads nearly touched.

She looked into his eyes.

Neither of them spoke.

Then Audrey closed the distance again.

This time, she stayed.

It was slow and aching, carrying seven years of words they had never said and questions they had never answered. There was no rush. No desperation. Just the quiet realization that neither of them had ever truly stopped loving the other.

For one impossible moment, seven years disappeared. There was no boardroom, no construction site, no boyfriend waiting at home. There was only the boy she had never really finished saying goodbye to.

Suddenly, Audrey opened her eyes.

Reality crashed back down on her like a falling brick wall.

Alexander. Her warm apartment. Her parents smiling at the dinner table. The quiet, serious promise Alexander had made to her father in the backyard.

Audrey gasped. She immediately pushed her chair backward and stepped away from the desk.

Her breathing became entirely uneven. Panic flooded her chest.

"No," Audrey whispered, holding her fingers over her lips. "No."

Mason instantly let her go. He dropped his hand back to his side. He looked confused. He looked incredibly worried.

"Audrey?" Mason asked gently.

She backed up until her shoulders hit the metal door of the trailer.

"I have a boyfriend," Audrey said.

Complete, dead silence hit the room.

Mason’s face completely changed.

He was not angry. He was not suddenly jealous.

It was pure shock. And then, immediate, crushing regret washed over his features.

He physically stepped back away from the desk. He created as much space between them as the small room allowed.

"I didn’t know," Mason said quietly.

He stood there for another long beat. He looked at her terrified, guilty face.

"I am sorry," Mason added softly.

He offered absolutely no excuses. He did not try to stop her from leaving. He did not beg her to choose him. He just showed her complete respect.

Audrey pushed the door open and practically ran out of the trailer.

She walked quickly across the dirt lot until she reached her parked car. She unlocked it, got inside, and slammed the heavy door shut.

She gripped the leather steering wheel with both hands.

Then, she completely broke down.

She cried hard. She did not cry because Mason had kissed her.

She cried because she had kissed him back.

She touched her trembling lips with her cold fingers.

Her cell phone buzzed loudly in the cup holder.

Audrey wiped her eyes and looked down. The screen lit up with a new text message.

Alexander: I wrapped up filming early. Want to have dinner together tonight?

A fresh tear slipped down her cheek and dropped onto her blazer.

She stared at the bright screen. She desperately wanted to answer him. She wanted to go home to her safe, settled life.

She just did not know what to say.