To Live Again, For the First Time!

"Are you mad?"

"Not quite, I'm quite sane as of this moment, thank you," Owen replied with a playful smirk.

Mason rolled his eyes in response.

"Kid, this is illegal," his brows furrowed, thinking about how such a nice man like Zenon would be pulled into his son's mess if this got out of hand.

Mason wouldn't care about Owen's private love affairs, but if it stepped into illegal territory, he wasn't going to just sit back and watch either.

"Relax," Owen gestured for Mason to flip the page, which he did skeptically.

Mason casually read at first, that is until he had to reread the first paragraph 3 times just to make sure he was reading it correctly.

He hadn't expected this one.

Mason's eyes shone thinking about the possibilities, thinking of the possible ways to use such valuable resources.

"How long will it take you to get real products on the table?" Mason couldn't hide his excitement, no matter how much he tried and Owen was glad to see that he had Mason good.

He had the big fish on the line, now he only had to reel him in.

"I'm talking to their representative today about exactly that, but I've estimated that we should have at least 5 to 6 products on the table by the end of the next month if we start immediately."

'That's faster than I thought. Is he planning to make everyone on his side work overtime?'

It was currently nearing the end of September and so the end of the next month would be around Halloween, the end of October.

Now Mason was in a dilemma.

Did he want to keep on eating here, or did he want to go with Owen to find out more about the project?

Ah, the struggle.

The problems Mason had to deal with could truly compare with rocket science.

"So what do you think?" Owen asked when he saw Mason considering it seriously.

Mason shook his head, making Owen think that he was about to reject the offer, not knowing that Mason had long decided to take the job and was just thinking about what he should do with dinner.

"I'm still considering..." whether I should keep eating and join you later or to go with you and skip out on eating more.

'I did eat quite a bit already, maybe I should give Noah a break on this one.' Mason nodded at his own thoughts.

He was feeling benevolent today.

"Well, I'll have to go receive my guest right now, so we can speak together when she arrives," Owen said, glancing at the time on his watch.

"Hm?"

"Well, I'll tell you. I was quite shocked when I found out that you guys were eating here since I also made my appointment here today," Owen pushed his hair back as he let out a short chuckle.

"Then I must say that you were quite accurate when saying that your appointment was made quite close," Mason replied with a smile.

This was perfect for him!

He didn't have to give up on either one of his choices, eating here while discussing this project, two birds with one stone.

Not to mention he could also invite the guest to eat with them to fatten up the check later.

Owen soon made his way back up with a beautiful woman. Her light chestnut hair swayed as she walked in with her hand holding on to Owen's arm.

It gave others the illusion that Owen was a kind gentleman and if Mason didn't know this man's reputation as a womanizer to be a fact, he would have likely assumed those to be lies told by someone jealous.

However knowing his reputation, Mason had a little inkling. Thinking that this woman of light hair, wearing a beautiful blouse and a black skirt may have relations with Owen other than the work-related ones.

"Let me introduce you, this is Miss Lenin, the businesswoman we will be partnering with as well as our supplier. Great beauty and has the skills to back her up, a pleasure to work with." Owen signaled to his side.

"And this is the photographer who I wanted to introduce you to, Mason, better known as Nosa. Very skilled."

Miss Lenin moved his gaze to Mason, who was, for better or for worse, presentable.

Mason's hands were still somewhat oily from the food he was eating, his clothes somewhat messy from reaching out for food as well as stuffing the napkins to make sure his clothes didn't get dirty, well, at least it wasn't dirty and his hair wasn't neat, but it wasn't too bad either. He didn't have the time or patience to brush or anything of the sort before leaving.

"Pleasure to meet you, Mister Mason, It's an honor to meet someone who can make Owen look even slightly serious in a photo, quite commendable," Miss Lenin (Lenin is her last name FYI) smiled as he mocked Owen, who's arm she was still holding.

Her sentiments were incredibly sincere, but Owen didn't mind too much.

Mason shifted his gaze from Owen to his partner and then back with a questioning expression.

"Oh, please, no," Miss Lenin shook her free hand at Mason.

"The two of us are in a purely business relationship so don't let your imagination run wild," Miss Lenin shook her head with a smile as if already used to such a reaction from others.

Owen, on the side also had a weak smile on his face.

"What do you mean purely business-orientated relationship? You could at least address me as a friend." Owen said weakly.

"This is a business setting so we should act like it, rest assured that no friendship could affect our partnership in this project," Miss Lenin properly addressed the issue like a strong businesswoman.

"So you guys aren't having sex?"

"Not at all."

Miss Lenin once again shook her head gently, not at all embarrassed due to the misunderstanding.

On the other hand, it was Owen that had a somewhat sour expression on his face, though he still concorded with Miss Lenin.

"I see, then I'll stop thinking unnecessary thoughts," admitting to having misunderstood.

"I would shake your hand, but I'm sure you'd rather not. Can I invite you to come to eat at our table as we chat?" Mason moved on from that topic promptly as he showed off his oily hands to reject the handshake offered to him.

"Very well then, I'll be joining you." She nodded.

Owen asked a waiter to pull up an extra chair on one of the tables and one of the employees on Mason's table moved over to empty out the seat next to Owen and across from Mason to Miss Lenin.

"Then let's get straight to business." Mason started, to which Miss Lenin simply nodded.

She was also hungry so it was best not to drag anything out for too long.

"Then I'll give you a brief explanation of the project. Some of this information you will be able to find in the folder handed to you by Owen, and other details you won't be able to find anywhere on paper. Though I'm telling you all this assuming that you will be taking up this job, so if you do not have such plans, I suggest you tell me now. And I will add that I require you to be 100% certain."

Owen was already used to Miss Lenin's straightforward approach, which both showed how steady and confident she was.

He didn't comment on her words which showed his position on the matter. It seemed like Miss Lenin had quite the big say here.

Mason simply nodded, having long decided to participate.

"Very well, I'll warn you once again. There's no backing out anymore." 

She sounded so confident that it almost made Mason believe that there would be repercussions he couldn't possibly face if he were to back out now.

It gave him the chills, still, he didn't regret the impromptu decision he had made.

"The truth is, I am not the one who is providing these resources, but rather my brother. This farm mentioned on the second page is one of a kind and it belongs to my brother. My father was, and still is, an avid collector of animals of all species and subspecies and you can rest assured that he has the legal documents to do so."

The young woman, around 23-4 years of age, revealed this shocking news.

Animals were going extinct left and right and many of these animals listed below were ones protected by nations. Various different ones at that.

This could only mean one thing.

This father of hers was powerful, likable, or influential enough to have all of these national figures concede.

Allowing him to collect and nurture such animals. He would also have to be skilled or at least possessor of enough money to be able to provide living conditions as well as food for animals of such varying species.

Not to mention that if others knew this to be true, it would be more than just one or two powerful people who would be unsatisfied.

Even though Mason didn't know much, he had still watched some national geographics when he was younger.

He knew that some of these animals had already been in danger of going extinct for decades, most of them due to the environment they could grow in as well as climate change, etc.

Their habitats were being destroyed and most of the animals on this list had desirable features for which they would be hunted for.

Some lived in expanse rainforests, others in the freezing antarctic, others only being able to survive in certain temperatures while even more required changes in terrain.

There was more than one reason why they were in danger of going extinct, which only made them rarer and more valuable.

The number of things that prevented them from being nurtured, and much less nurtured together piled up, which only made this even more unbelievable to Mason, and to anyone else really.