Suddenly, I Am Rich

After a few more rounds of greetings, the atmosphere in the staff room began to relax again.

Joel offered another awkward and thankful bow to the group. After that, Gray clapped him lightly on the back before telling everyone, ”Alright, back to your posts, everyone. Don’t let me get in the way of your work and break time.”

Everyone laughed because of it. The employees chuckled and jokingly groaned. However, despite that, they started moving. They stretched and drank some water to refresh themselves.

Slowly, they walked out of the room, some giving Joel a polite nod or smile as they passed him.

He returned each gesture the best he could, even if he still felt like his knees were made of jelly.

As the last employee left the staff room, Gray gave Joel a reassuring glance.

”You did well.”

Joel blinked. ”Did I, Sir? I felt like I was going to faint,” he muttered under his breath.

Gray laughed.

”That’s normal. I was also like that, but don’t worry. They’re good people. You’ll be fine.”

Just as they were about to exit the room themselves, a familiar voice called from the hallway.

”There he is.”

Marcus walked in, holding a paper bag with freshly brewed coffee in hand. He handed one to Gray and the other to Joel.

”Nice to see you again.” Marcus offered a hand.

Joel shook it quickly, clearly trying not to look nervous again.

”Thank you, Sir.”

Marcus simply nodded at him before turning to Gray.

”I had all the files with me.”

”Alright,” Gray nodded, gesturing for them to move. ”Come on. Let’s talk in the office.”

With that, they quickly walked through the hallway together. Joel slowed behind as the two men talked lightly about something.

Behind, he couldn’t help but make all kinds of expressions on his face. He was thrilled, excited, happy, nervous, and anxious. That was 5 emotions all at once.

He still couldn’t believe that he got the work! He wanted to hug the two men right now, but that would look so wrong.

When they reached the small glass-paned office tucked at the back corner of the store, Gray pushed the door open.

His office was clean now.

More than clean, actually.

It looked... renewed.

The desk was cleared, wiped down, and freshly organized. There were no longer stacks of random folders stuffed into corners or leftover snack wrappers or coffee mugs.

Everything was new now. There was a new table. The old swivel chair had been replaced with a modest but sturdy one. The lighting was also changed, making it brighter and warmer.

All signs of Will’s former presence were now gone.

The office now belonged to him. The right owner of it.

Gray and Marcus entered. However, Joel hovered by the doorway, unsure if he was supposed to step in.

Gray looked back and motioned.

”Come on, Joel.”

Joel blinked and stepped forward, still half-unbelieving as his shoes crossed the door. He stood inside the office slowly, almost like he was scared he might accidentally break something.

”Have a seat,” Marcus offered, gesturing to one of the two chairs in front of the desk.

Joel nodded. He moved quickly, then sat down stiffly. He looked like a student about to receive exam results from his professor.

Gray chuckled under his breath and sat across from him. Joel’s moves were too robotic. It was different from the chill guy he appeared to be in the interview.

Once they settled, he placed the coffee on the table before glancing at Marcus. ”You have the documents?”

Marcus nodded and reached into the document bag he was carrying. He pulled out a crisp brown envelope and placed it neatly on the table.

Gray slid it toward Joel. ”This is your employment contract.”

”My what?” Joel blinked.

Gray gave a small grin. ”I already introduced you to the employees, aren’t I? Now it’s time to make it real.”

”God...” Joel looked down at the envelope, his fingers hesitating before opening it. Inside were papers that were neatly stapled together.

It was really his employment contract!

”Read through it,” Marcus added calmly. ”It covers your basic responsibilities, terms, benefits, probation period, and starting salary. If you have questions, feel free to ask.”

Joel picked up the first page and began reading. His brows slowly lifted as he scanned the terms.

”It’s... more than I expected,” he muttered softly as he looked at his salary.

It was $88,000 for a year or more than $7,000 a month!

It was definitely good!

Gray leaned forward, resting one elbow on the desk.

”We’re not looking to underpay our people, Joel. You’ll be working hard. You deserve a fair rate for it.”

Joel swallowed and nodded.

”I didn’t think— I mean, thank you, Sir. I... really thank you for this.”

”You earned this.” Gray’s voice softened. ”We just gave you the chance.”

Joel gave a small, shaky laugh.

”I feel like I’m going to cry.”

”You can,” Marcus said plainly, raising his coffee. ”Just don’t cry on the paperwork. We still need you to sign it.”

That got a chuckle from Joel. His shoulders shook lightly, and the sound that left him was laughter rather than a cry.

”Right. Right, okay,” he muttered, nodding more to himself than anyone else. He carefully took the pen Marcus handed him and began signing the bottom of the last page.

Joel Hernandez.

His name looked a little shaky from his grip, but it was there.

”It’s done, Sir.”

Gray smiled. He collected the signed pages and stacked them neatly. ”You’ll get your copy by tomorrow, but for now...”

He extended his hand across the desk.

”Welcome to the team.”

Joel looked at the hand, then took it with both of his own. He shook it firmly, maybe too firmly, and looked like he was trying to keep himself from breaking into full tears.

”Thank you, Sir Gray,” he said. ”I won’t waste this. I really won’t.”

”I know you won’t.”

Gray smiled, and a chime echoed gently in his ears.

[Ding!]

[Mission Complete!]

[+2 Influence Gained.]

[+$4,000 has been added to your wealth.]

= = =

A/N:

Finally done!

I would like to say thank you to all the readers who have dropped Golden Tickets into the novel for the past few days:

killLee, Donald_Edwards, Mark_Campos_5123, Anubis, samuel_noland, marcmary_houston, Roberto_Duran, Tripeace, Bennie_Hostetler, measter, Arnold_Manuel. imsleepylife, Octuva, marcmary_houston, FraulC, Kyra51, Darkness_19, Jessie_Risola, imperial_demon

So far, measter is leading the top contributors in the Golden Ticket ranking!

Though, damn, man. How come we’re in the top 130 already?

2 additional Chapters will be posted by Sunday.

You’re all fucking amazing.