Suddenly, I Am Rich

Daniel glanced at him through the rearview mirror as Gray shut the car door behind him.

”Everything alright, Sir?”

Gray settled back into the seat and let out a breath. ”Yeah. Just... had lunch.”

Daniel didn’t comment. He simply gave a short nod and started the car.

As the engine hummed quietly beneath them, Gray leaned his head back and closed his eyes for a moment. The conversation with Selina lingered longer in his thoughts than he expected.

Her voice, her laugh, and the way she carried herself all replayed in the back of his mind.

One lunch, huh?

He couldn’t help but let out a quiet chuckle.

But it didn’t last long.

The moment the car made a turn and he spotted the city skyline again, his eyes snapped open.

Right. This wasn’t the time to be thinking about a girl.

Gray sat up straighter and reached for the folder sitting beside him on the seat. He flipped through the pages—purchase reports, competitor pricing, sales forecast. Everything he needed for this meeting was here.

Gray tapped his finger lightly against the folder.

”No distractions,” he muttered under his breath. ”Focus up.”

Time to lock in.

”Daniel,” Gray uttered after a minute. He sat upright, his tone more grounded now. ”Let’s head to the restaurant this early. I want a minute to review things before we get there.”

”Understood, Sir.” Daniel adjusted the turn signal and shifted lanes smoothly.

As the city passed by outside the window, Gray opened the file and started scanning through the highlighted notes again. Numbers, names, contract clauses. He took them all in, page by page.

Surprisingly, the restaurant where the meeting was scheduled wasn’t far. It was just fifteen minutes away from Coastal Cafe. Daniel pulled up in front of the restaurant, and a high-end place with glass walls greeted them.

Gray stepped out with the folder tucked under his arm, he took one last deep breath and straightened his blazer. It was just quarter to 1, so he still had a few minutes left before the meeting starts,

Still, it was better to be early so he could get comfortable around.

”Hello Sir, do you have any reservation?” A young woman in a red uniform greeted him.

”For Gray Adams.” Gray kindly answered.

As if the name rang a bell to her, the waitress bowed her head immediately.

”Mr. Adams? This way please.”

Gray followed her through the quiet restaurant until they reached a private conference room labeled 2B. The staff held the door open for him.

Inside, the room was clean and neat. A long table stretched across the space, with a pitcher of water and neatly placed glasses in the middle. The view of the street could be seen through the wall of windows behind them.

There, two men were already seated at the far end of the table.

The first was someone Gray recognized from the file. It was Mr. John Smith, the branch Manager of the Westle California supplier company. The one he was supposed to meet.

John looked to be in his early forties. He had grayish hair, thick glasses, and a well-fitted gray suit. He had a calm and calculating expression on his face that became evident as he glanced up from his tablet.

The second was a younger man, probably in his late twenties. His ID tag on the side of his clothes read Aaron Li – Procurement Assistant. He was busy adjusting some documents, looking a little nervous.

’It’s probably his first time too,’ Gray uttered.

John stood up the moment Gray entered.

”Mr. Adams,” he said, extending a hand. His voice was polite as he greeted Gray. ”It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Gray shook it firmly. ”Thank you for meeting with me, John. I’ve heard good things about you.”

No, he didn’t.

Gray didn’t even know the man except when he searched his name on the internet.

”That’s always good to hear.” John gestured to the seat across from him. ”Shall we?”

”Sure.” Gray sat down and pulled out his file, sliding it onto the table.

Aaron gave a small smile and a nod, still avoiding eye contact. Meanwhile, John leaned back slightly in his seat, folding his hands over his tablet.

”I’ll admit,” John started, ”we were a little surprised when the meeting was requested so suddenly. But if your branch has seen the kind of growth Marcus hinted at, then I can understand why.”

”Yes,” Gray nodded once.

”Riverside’s numbers have changed. We’ve had a solid increase in customer flow these past few months and our weekly inventory turnover is up by almost twenty percent compared to last quarter.”

John raised an eyebrow. ”That’s a lot in a short amount of time.”

Gray didn’t flinch. ”It is. Which is why we’re looking to revise our current terms. I’ve brought some numbers to support the request.”

He opened the file and slid the Purchase Volume Report across the table.

John took it and scanned it quickly. His eyes didn’t show much emotion, but his fingers did pause briefly at one point.

”And these are verified by your internal tracking system?”

”Yes. Everything’s backed up through our sales logs. I’ve included data from the last six months, along with a projection for the next two quarters.”

John flipped to the next page. It was the projected Sales Forecast. His expression remained unreadable, but he nodded slightly as he went through it.

”And your price adjustment proposal?” he asked.

Gray handed him the Proposed Terms Sheet, and for the next minute, no one spoke. The only sounds were the faint rustling of papers and the soft hum of the air conditioner.

It seemed like John was reading everything to make sure. After a few minutes, John leaned back in his chair finally. He glanced up and frowned, his brows meeting together.

”You’re asking for a 4% drop in base unit price for essentials, and a 2% discount on bundled goods.”

”Yes,” Gray nodded. ”We also want to order more products. It’s good for you, too.”

”And you’ve done a competitor pricing check?”

Gray slid forward the third document. It was a Competitor Pricing Analysis.

John skimmed through it, then passed it to Aaron without a word.

”And finally...” Gray tapped the final document still in his folder. ”An internal evaluation of your service so far. It’s good. You’ve been reliable, but there were a few flagged issues like deliveries and mislabeled shipments. I didn’t want to bring them up, but I’m prepared if needed.”

John looked up at him, his eyes sharper now. He looked like a man in a battlefield.

”I see Marcus wasn’t bluffing when he said you’d come prepared.”