After an hour and a half that Mason had spent freaking out about different things, he sits in front of Ayaan in the same place he had failed to catch him the last time, tensed and trying to hide it to no avail. Hiding his emotions has always been another thing he was never good at.

Inside his head, he'd thought of a million ways their meeting could go wrong, considering how stupid he'd been on the phone.

"Stop reading articles about him. The news never portrays people right, Mase. This isn't fair. Don't make snap judgments," Gwen had said with a frown when they were eating dinner the night before. "And not to mention, if he's anything like his sister, he's probably a sweetheart."

Yeah, Mason doesn't know about that.

Ayaan has an impassive look on his face.

The soothing but unrecognizable music that plays in the café does nothing to calm Mason's nerves and he grips his thighs under the table in an attempt to find some stability and not blurt out something even stupider than he did on the phone.

He almost jumps in surprise when Ayaan speaks.

"I'm sorry about making to come here on such short notice," he starts, not mentioning it if he noticed the boy in front of him flinch. He sounds genuinely apologetic, and Mason grips his thighs harder. Man, I really am only good for doing the research work from home. Ayaan continues speaking. "It's just that I'm going to be stuck in a storm of work for the next two weeks or so and you would have nothing to process over." He makes a face. "That would be such a waste."

Mason nods, smiling weakly as he internally sags in relief over the realization that Ayaan didn't call him over to fire him personally. Gwen would have his head on a platter.

"That's completely fine," he replies, hoping his voice doesn't sound as strained as he feels.

Ayaan smiles back, looking more and more awkward by the second. He clears his throat, gesturing towards the menu on the table. "Right. So I thought we could discuss everything over breakfast. I hope you haven't eaten yet."

As if on cue, Mason's stomach growls audibly and he goes still.

Words fail him, and he doesn't even dare to look at Ayaan. I'm never going to stop embarrassing myself in front of this man, am I? He decides to pretend that didn't just happen so he picks up the menu, staring at it intently.

Ayaan settles with placing his elbow on the arm of his seat and pressing his lips to his fist to hide a smile. Mason doesn't notice.

And after a few minutes, that the curly-haired boy half spends distractedly staring at the menu and the other half to hide his cheeks that had flushed from embarrassment, he slaps it down on the table with a little more force than necessary, startling the waitress standing by their table. She almost drops her notepad.

Mason had no idea she was standing there.

"Eggs and Bacon for me, please," he squeaks.

The waitress stares at him with wide, frantic eyes. "Sir, are you-"

"The same for me, please," Ayaan interrupts her obvious question, and if Mason wasn't so lost in his anxiety, he would have thanked him. Ayaan smiles politely at the petite woman and asks her to add two of the café's special drinks to their order, which she does and scurries away, side-eyeing Mason.

He pretends like he doesn't notice, instead making it seem like his attention was caught up on the little discolored spot on the table.

"Is my presence really that uncomfortable?"

The question obviously takes Mason off guard, and his eyes widen, meeting Ayaan's liquid grey ones. He quickly looks back down and opens his mouth to reply but fails, closing it. He repeats it a few more times, internally cursing himself and wondering if he looks like a fish.

Ayaan sighs at his unintended lack of reply. "If this is about the phone call, I just want to let you know that it was pretty obvious you didn't expect it to be me. You really don't have to worry about it."

Mason mumbles something under his breath.

"Sorry?" Ayaan tilts his head with a little frown on his face.

"...and the time we were supposed to meet and I got late."

Ayaan blinks once, unsure. "You did already apologize about that, though. You also got me tea to make up for it-"

"...that I almost spilled on you." Mason feels the top of his ears burn.

"Almost," Ayaan repeats, serious. "I mean it. You can stop apologizing now."

Mason tries not to frown to himself, still hesitant. He hates how nervous he gets around this man. We're probably not even that far apart in age, he thinks, rubbing his palms against his jeans.

"I just..." Mason tries, clearing his throat when his voice barely comes out. "It's not uncomfortable. To be around you, I mean. I guess I'm just..." He shrugs, holding back the urge to clear his throat again. "...a little intimidated?" he peeks up at Ayaan only to realize he's listening to Mason carefully, looking like he really does want to know. "It's mostly because I'm not used to this."

"Not used to what?"

Mason feels embarrassed again. "Meeting the clients. It's Gwen who does this. Or she sends someone else."

He didn't want to admit it, but the look on Ayaan's face tells Mason that he can trust him.

Ayaan nods silently, looking like he wants to say something but holds back. "If it's the call incident that's bothering you, don't worry about it. To be honest, it was kind of funny."

Was it, though?

He probably blurts it out loud, because Ayaan nods with a chuckle. "It was."

All of the intimidation that Ayaan had radiated, that had eventually settled inside Mason's head, goes down with a plop at the sound of his deep laugh. When he feels his heart beat a little faster in his chest, he knows it's not because he's anxious this time.

Ah, shit.

He looks away from the still smiling man and gulps, partly confused but mostly flustered over his own reaction.

"Now that we're gotten that out of the way," Ayaan gestures between them, gaining Mason's attention again. "Do you think you could stop looking like I'm going to throw something at you every time you open your mouth?"

Mason smiles sheepishly. "Right. Sorry about that."

Ayaan just stares at him.

Mason shakes his head like an obedient child. "Oops. No more apologies."

Ayaan looks amused. "Is there anything else you would like to clear up here so I'm sure you're comfortable and we can talk properly?"

Mason shakes his head again. "All good."

"Alright."

They're there for a while, with Mason asking him all of the basic questions about the event that he didn't get a chance to before, like how many people they were expecting, if there were any locations they already had in mind or any 'must-have' elements that he should take note of, etcetera.

Ayaan answers everything patiently and even supplies with more relevant information that Mason should have thought of asking to make his work considerably easier.

They also eat surprisingly comfortably. And a lot.

"Whitewater...seems like something my mother would approve of," Ayaan adds when they're done after a few hours, and Mason can't read the emotion in his voice. He doesn't get to dwell too much on it because his phone chimes.

Pointedly ignoring it, he smiles at Ayaan. "Gwen insisted that I put it on the list, I won't lie."

The older guy breathes out a laugh, but it sounds empty. "It's very...over the top, isn't it?"

Mason doesn't know what to say to that.

Ayaan sets his palms on the table. "I guess we're done?"

"Pretty much."

Mason reaches into his back pocket to take out his wallet, but Ayaan stops him, already getting the money.

"Don't worry about it," he says with a smile, discreetly dropping a generous tip for the waitress but Mason notices. He feels both warm and ashamed, aware that he had judged the guy too quickly. Gwen wasn't wrong.

He smiles to himself, shaking his head as he stands up. Then again, she never is.

"I didn't keep you too long, did I?"

Mason's eyes snap up to meet Ayaan's at his question, and he has to shake himself internally, seemingly for the thousandth time since he's met the guy. He realizes he often finds himself wondering about the most random stuff ever since their first meeting: Do I talk weird? Was I always this anxious around people? Do I look as intimidated as I feel?

He shakes his head in answer to Ayaan's last question while they make their way out. "Not at all. I wasn't doing anything important."

"Very well. Do you need a ride home?"

Mason shakes his head, smiling politely. "I'll take a cab. Thank you, though."

Ayaan opens his mouth, clearly about to tell Mason it won't be a problem when his phone goes off.

He sighs and slides his hand inside his pocket to get it, mouth set in a grim line as soon as he glances at the screen.

Mason is surprised when he slides it back into his pocket.

"I insist," Ayaan says softly, grey eyes regarding him with seriousness. "I was the one who called you here with no schedule beforehand. The least I can do is make sure you get home comfortably."

And all the curly-haired boy can reply with besides an oncoming flush of his cheeks, is a silent nod.