Chapter 42
Kyle arrived at Jones’ workplace, it wasn’t anything fancy, his job that is but it put food on his table.
He was a manager at a fast-food restaurant, which was his primary source of income as well.
The pay was barely enough to sustain a family and he knew his daughter’s chances at not being a screw-up was a good education.
This was why he went out of his way to make sure his two children attended decent schools even if it set him back a few years, it was worth the trade-off.
Kyle arrived and parked his car, everyone was in awe because this joint was for the common man but Kyle wasn’t here to eat.
He was aware that they would attend to him quickly, he didn’t care much about this either way.
The moment his foot stepped into the building, a lady approached him, which wasn’t customary but this was a good chance to render their service to him.
If they could retain him as a customer, it would be a good look for their chain.
“Mr. Jones, I’m here to see Mr. Jones,” Kyle informed her.
“Mr. Jones?” The lady was surprised because no one came to look for him and judging by the way he called the name, this man was no doubt familiar with him.
Kyle knew that his work hours were flexible for some reason because the restaurant rarely had customers but that was because their competition was major chains like KFC and Burger King.
There was no way they would do well in such a saturated market but they made just enough to record a little profit every year so it wasn’t all that bad.
“That is correct, Mr. Jones. You see, I’m a friend of his,” Kyle informed her but she looked even more shocked than he did a second ago but she wasn’t the only one that shared this look.
The employees behind the counter were all shocked.
“Mr. Jones has a friend?” She said out loud before quickly covering her mouth, she didn’t realize when this slipped out.
“Trust me, I know…” Kyle said with an understanding smile before looking at her nametag.
“…Jim?” Kyle read her name out loud before looking at her in horror.
“Y-You are a man?” Kyle recoiled at this thought because she looked so feminine, she had a cute face with delicate skin but that wasn’t all, the outline on her chest told him she had the assets every woman had.
“That is right,” She said, trying her best to deepen her voice before everyone in the restaurant laughed, including the few customers within.
“You’re messing with me, aren’t you?” Kyle realized this, shaking his head with a defeated smile but he realized how close everyone was here.
This didn’t feel like a gathering of strangers, it felt like they were all friends, customers included and he instinctively knew it was Jones’ influence.
“You should have seen the look on your face. These are old name tags from the previous employees,” The lady confessed.
Kyle heaved a sigh of relief, the last thing he needed was to misgender a person and the drama that came with it.
“My name is Alice and I will take you to Mr. Jones. I’m sure he will be surprised by your visitation,” Alice said, guiding him through the restaurant and into the backroom.
Kyle could feel the aura of the people around and this was proof of how amazing Jones was.
He was used to seeing fake smiles and employees looking half-dead but this place was different, everything was genuine.
Two distinctive knocks could be heard on the door, Alice did that before saying.
“Mr. Jones, you have a visitor!” Alice informed him and a clatter could be heard from behind the door before hastened footsteps gradually got louder.
Jones had jumped out of his chair and rushed to the door in a heartbeat but then there was silence, he was composing himself.
The door swung open soon and Jones’ surprise upon seeing Kyle couldn’t be masked.
“Kyle, what are you doing here?” Jones questioned before looking at Alice and giving her a nod to excuse them.
She did just that with Kyle making his way into his office after he was given the go-ahead by Jones. This was Kyle’s first time visiting his place of work so one couldn’t blame Jones for his surprise.
“I have come to discuss something with you,” Kyle said, his tone was serious so this forced Jones to wear his serious face as well.
They both sat and Jones gave him his undivided attention, looking right at him.
“What is the matter Kyle, I have never seen you so serious before,” Jones asked, a hint of concern in his voice.
“I know that you’re struggling financially…” Kyle began.
“Who isn’t in this economy, am I right?” Jones responded. Kyle thought he would be self-conscious or embarrassed about him bringing up his financial struggle but he got none of that.
This allowed him to proceed with the conversation without restraint.
“The building’s condition is getting worse, year by year… I have noticed that the number of tenants has reduced as well,” Kyle informed him to which Jones sat back on his chair, heaving a loud sigh.
“Let me guess, you want to move, is that it?” Jones knew this day would come but he couldn’t blame Kyle if he did decide to move.
“And leave my sweet place to you? You wish!” Kyle quickly rubbished this accusation.
He could visibly see Jones’ body loosen up, telling him how important his residency was.
“Then why are you here?” Jones questioned, he came all the way here so it had to be important.
“I have come to give you a solution to all your worries,” Kyle said like a demon about to offer him a contract to sell his soul and Jones read it this way too.
“No Kyle, I’m not giving you my soul,” Jones said but this only made Kyle chuckle.
“C’mon, I’m trying to be serious here,” Kyle responded, composing himself before continuing.
“I want us to partner up, I want to renovate the entire building and fix up every apartment but we will keep the pricing the same for the first year of rent before charging a 40% increase on the second year,” Kyle said bluntly.
“Wait, what?” Jones’ jaw dropped the moment he heard this offer.
He knew that Kyle came into contact with money but what was this eagerness to spend it or was this Kyle’s way of trying to buy the building from him?
That had to be it but before Jones could respond.
“And all the profits will be yours despite me being an investor. I just wanted to hear your thoughts, this is my way of giving back to you for all you have done for me,” Kyle said but this was partly true, he could use this as another avenue to mask his source of income.
“Do you even have to ask!? I’m in!” Jones accepted the moment he heard all profits would be his because he knew what this meant for his family.