CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN - Crossing the Line

"Really?" Claire felt a glimmer of hope. "Really," Mason confirmed. "Look, Claire, I know we're both busy, and we live in different cities, but... I can't shake the feeling that there's something here. Something worth exploring." Claire felt her heart racing. "I feel the same way. But how would it even work? You're in San Francisco, I'm in New York..." Mason ran a hand through his hair, a gesture Claire had come to find endearing. "I don't know. But I think it's worth figuring out. If you want to, that is." Claire found herself nodding before she even realized it. "I do. I really do." They spent the next hour talking, really talking, in a way they hadn't since Paris. They discussed their fears, their hopes, and the practical challenges they'd face. By the end of the call, they had a tentative plan. "So," Mason said, a mixture of excitement and nervousness in his voice, "I'll come to New York next week? We can spend some time together, see how things feel outside of Paris?" Clair