CHAPTER NINE - The Party Mishap

Mason took another sip of wine, his On the fifth evening, as Claire was preparing for a video call with the New York office, the lights flickered and then went out completely. The sudden darkness was accompanied by the fading hum of electronics powering down. "Mason?" Claire called out, her voice tinged with frustration. "Please tell me you didn't blow a fuse with one of your experiments." Mason's voice came from the direction of the study. "Contrary to what you might think, I'm not responsible for every inconvenience in your life. It seems to be a neighborhood-wide outage." Claire sighed, fumbling in the dark for her phone. As the blue light illuminated her face, she saw Mason emerge from the study, his own phone casting shadows across his features. "Great," Claire muttered. "There goes my call with New York." Mason shrugged. "Nothing to be done about it. The building manager says it could be a few hours before power is restored." They stood in awkward silence for a moment, the