Mason Danielson was the senior partner at an asset and property management firm that he had helped build from the ground up, married to a glamourous socialite, and seemed to have the world in the palm of his hand. How, starting down the barrel of his 50th birthday he's divorced and out of a job. For most men that would be the cause for a midlife crisis or nervous breakdown, but Mason couldn't be more optimistic and ambitious.

His partners at the firm were tired of his ethical approach to investing - they felt Mason stood in the way of the profits they could make taking risky stockmarket bets with their clients money, so they staged a leveraged buy-out of his share of the company. Mason was left with a fat severance package on top of his own considerable savings and investments, so money is not an issue... but he finds himself at a loss for what to do with his time. He needs a project to occupy himself, and is considering management in the nonprofit sector, or teaching business management at the local college.

He had been married to his wife Gloria for almost thirty years, but once he lost his job she was gone soon after. Gloria had always been more interested in the social access Mason's career allowed her than in Mason; she loved the high life of fancy soirees and cocktail parties hosted by international investors and bankers. She was strait-laced and vanilla in the bedroom as well, which was frustrating for Mason, a man with a powerful sex drive, but after years of marriage he had learned to sublimate his unfulfilled desires and the experiments he had never got to try. He never cheated on Gloria, though now that they're apart he feels wistful for the missed opportunities... and eager for future ones.

At 49, Mason remains in fantastic shape. A rower in college - and bronze medallist at the Olympics, many years ago - he still enjoys kayaking, swimming and jogging, and has the physique to prove it. Broad shoulders, thick powerful arms and a deep chest top a waist as trim and toned as a man 20 years younger. His hair is longish, wavy and silver, his beard short, neat and the same colour with a slightly darker mustache. His face is weathered and lightly lined, enough to suggest maturity but free of wrinkles, except perhaps the laugh lines around his twinkling blue eyes. He stands a solid 6'3" tall, though his warmth and gentle confidence keep his stature from being intimidating.