n

n

nWherever you turned, you could find people who looked to be pregnant.

nPregnant with food babies.

nMany people were rubbing their bellies to digest, and another group had gone outside for walks before coming back in to eat some more.

nIn the end, it was already well into the night and everyone was stuffed full like turkeys, ready to just stand up and go back home. In fact, many of them had already wanted to leave a few hours ago before being persuaded to stay by our good old Mason.

nThe ones who had been thinking of their diets while eating were already ready to sent assassins to get rid of Mason, who kept enticing them into committing the sin of gluttony.

nIt was a real pain when every bite was a mixture of a hint of pain from their stretching stomachs, a whole bucket of dopamine that made them want to go in for more, and an aftertaste of regret.

nAt Emilin's table, there were varying thoughts going on.

nThere was Mason, who was around 6 months pregnant.

nAnd everyone else, who wanted to leave but found it a little too awkward to say so.

nOwen had been trying to get Margo to tell him just what she was doing on her phone while Margo was ignoring him, still typing her long list while planning her next steps.

nNoah failed to notice all this as his attention was caught up somewhere else.

nOr more accurately speaking, someone else.

nEmilin, who had already consumed the daily intake of calories for 2 adult men seemed to be the only one who was not bloated. Fascinating.

nNoah somehow found himself enjoying watching Emilin eat delicious food. She seemed so concentrated that she wasn't paying any attention elsewhere, seemingly not having noticed Noah's glances, no, stares.

nNoah caught himself every once in a while, thinking 'wait, what's so interesting about watching someone else eat?' but in vain.

nHe gave up trying to convince himself to stop or even to find a reliable reason why he was even doing so to begin with, once again back at observing the girl who was just one year younger than him.

nEmilin however, was not at all oblivious to Noah's gaze as he had thought.

nIn fact, she was very conscious of it, a little too conscious if she were to judge.

nThere were thoughts running around her pretty little head that only stressed her out even more than earlier.

n'Am I doing something?'

n'Does he want something?'

n'Can I help him?'

n'Should I ask?'

n'Was it because of earlier?'

nNot exactly wrong.

n'What if it was? I can't do anything about it anymore except for apologizing, which I already did. Was he offended?'

n'Should I apologize more sincerely later?'

n'No, I should ask him what's wrong first. I shouldn't go off on a limb here.'

nAnd so on.

nIn other words, there was really quite a lot going on. When everyone else was off in their own worlds, Lisa was having her own thoughts too.

nShe was considering calling a few ambulances.

nAs a responsible person with willpower, unlike what seemed like everyone else here, she was one of the only people in their whole group who hadn't overeaten.

nShe was currently estimating the number of people she would have to call ambulances for when they started getting cramps.

nShe reckoned that it would be in the two digits if this kept going on and by then Carlson, the owner of this restaurant and Mason's acquaintance, would most likely kill her (Lisa's) boss (Mason) for causing trouble.

nShe wouldn't be shocked if Carlson simply banned them when tomorrow's tabloid titles became SHOCKING NEWS: Over A Dozen People Sent Straight to the Hospital After Eating at Carlson's Seafood!Just what are they serving?, or something like that.

nLisa wanted to prevent that at all costs.

n

"Sir, I think we should strongly consider finishing up now,

" Lisa whispered to Mason after walking over.

nMason, who had cleaned up after seeing that his assistant came over with a stern expression, telling him she had something important to say, simply looked up at Lisa, who stood next to him.

nHe waited for her to elaborate, after all, she never spoke without reason.

n

"It's already quite late and I don't think Mr. Carlson would appreciate it if we stayed past our welcome, especially not in our current states,

" Lisa spoke with tact while pointing at some of the people who were more bloated than the rest and then at her phone which presented the number for calling emergency ambulances.

nMason finally took the time to look around and in the end, he could only sigh before agreeing.

nEveryone was already more or less done, and the people who weren't could stop at any moment, they had already eaten their fill, only staying to eat for reasons such as, being bored or having nothing else to do other than eat.

nEither way, it was about time to stop, even Emilin had already slowed down noticeably, seemingly full.

nMason let out another long sigh, standing up and making a clapping sound by clasping his hands to catch everyone else's attention.

n

"I know that everyone would like to stay and enjoy for a while longer, but if everyone else has had their fill and if no one has any objections, let us consider taking our leave,

" Mason proposed ruefully.

nHe was clearly the one most unwilling to leave okay?

nMason looked like he was about to part with a couple of thousands of dollars.

n

"Though I know that we set out with the goal of emptying Mr. Noah's pockets, that still wouldn't be the right thing to do as fellow collaborators,

" Mason ended his short speech, not in the mood to speak anymore as he sat down to take one last bit.

nTruly, If one didn't know better they would think that this clean-cut man was some kind of homeless person who hadn't had a proper meal in his whole damned life.

nEveryone started packing up and leaving to go outside as if having come to a silent agreement in the short few seconds in which Mason's words were voiced, or perhaps they had simply been waiting for this moment and so they had preparations.

nIt wasn't exactly orderly, but everyone started leaving without making a fuss.

nEmilin also stopped eating, she had her own measures, and she felt like she had already overeaten a little anyways.

n'Then should I go home now?'

n'Should I come back tomorrow to talk about the collaboration?' She thought.

n'Well I'm not exactly in a rush,' Emilin concluded.

nShe didn't plan to live this life in a rushed manner, wanting to simply enjoy herself and do things as they came.

nIn the end, she stood up getting ready to go downstairs in a happy mood.

nShe had accomplished quite a lot today.

nEmilin had met and spoken to Margo again, met a few new faces who were good candidates for friendship, and even gotten a free meal.

nBut the meal wasn't the main point, the main point was that someone had asked her to eat with them.

nEven if this were just a company meal and she hadn't exactly been on the guest list, when she was in high school, she had never gone out to eat with friends, since she didn't have any, or anyone other than her family for that matter.

nThis was a small momentous occasion for her, and so she was quite happy, even if she may have ruined something earlier in the day during the photo shoot.

nAt least she was able to help with the auction house!

nAnd so, Emilin happily made her way down the stairs, with a small skip on her steps, which didn't go unnoticed by Noah.

n'Did she like the food that much?'

nThe last ones going down ended up being Mason, Noah, and Lisa.

nMargo quickly caught up with Emilin who was also at the back of the pack and Mason followed suit.

nMason and Lisa accompanied Noah as he went to pay the check at the front desk on the second floor, next to the bathroom.

n

"Hm, normally they would just bring the receipt to our table, should I file a complaint to Carlson?

" Mason offhandedly asked.

n

"I do believe we should at least inform Mr. Carlson if that is the case,

" Lisa nodded, not using the word complaint since she wasn't that familiar with the man in question.

nNoah ignored them and went straight for his credit card.

nHe wasn't as sad as he had thought he would be, in fact, he had almost hoped that they could have stayed a while longer to let the others eat some more.

n'Why is that?' Noah questioned his own thoughts.

nHe clearly didn't want to watch

"everyone

" eat some more... just a certain someone who looked particularly cute with her pink lips and small curved mouth chewing on shrimp, crab legs, and whatnot.

nShockingly enough, Noah was probably the person who didn't want to have had to end the dinner right then and there the most, second only to Mason.

nHe snapped out of it when the waitress

/cashier spoke to him.

n

"Are you not from table numbers 4 through 8?

" She asked with patience and politeness, as one would with a big customer.

nNoah looked around in a short daze before responding.

n

"Yes, that's right, I'm the one settling the bill.

"

nThe waitress had a strange expression when he said that, looking back at her monitor once again before clicking a few buttons as if to confirm something and then looking back at Noah.

n

"Sir, your table's bill has already been footed a few hours ago,

" she said, to the clearly oblivious Noah.

n

"Huh? Who settled the bill?

" Noah asked in confusion.

n