Yours, Until Needed
Chapter 70: Booth

Chapter 70: Booth

"Eli, I’d like to believe that we just succeeded in getting our hands on an interior designer," Rina spoke as she cackled in between.

"I think so, too, but if you don’t stop cackling like a maniac, we might lose our only hope," I told her to reign in her real self, as the world isn’t ready for that.

Mitchel kept silent, but that side-eye said it all. There was no need for him to comment on how absurd we were.

Sometimes, I pitied the guy.

Only sometimes, because I pitied myself more.

Our conversation with Ben ended very well. If anything, it went on too well. And by now, I should be sweating because of how smooth it went.

I did feel a bit queasy earlier, but I had two other people with me. Even if I couldn’t use Lucian’s method of attributing it to him, I could definitely attribute this to Rina’s use of all her skills.

She went all out, using all her social skills that she refused to use on people she did not like. It was funny because I knew what she really was like.

But it was also because Ben was likable and sincere. He also asked questions that showed interest in what we were doing, trying to understand what would be essential to the project.

We had the digital designs of the development that Rina worked on with Idris with us. So it was easier to describe and visualize everything.

It was also important that we inform him of our timeline, as we were already processing our permits to start the actual groundbreaking.

Oliver worked his magic for us and produced the contracts and costings we requested.

The number was something that no normal young adults would want to see, but we expected such an amount and even more. And we were also not normal young adults but insane ones who brought this upon ourselves.

Thank heavens for nepotism because at least we can get decent discounts on materials and labor.

Yes, we are shameless.

We could have haggled it down to zero, but that wouldn’t have worked. We are all doing business, and no one should lose from this.

Who would want to work with us in the future if we abused them now?

And we also wanted to see the actual profitability and viability of our business model. Because if we had gotten everything for free, then, of course, we’d look like we were making a killing.

We’re even renting to own my Mom’s building. We’re a start-up that does not yet deserve to buy its own office, but we’ll cross that bridge once we get there.

It was important to us to acknowledge how we have benefited from all the help we have received. We worked hard but were aware that our upbringing partially made such things possible.

The capital was ours. We worked to grow those.

However, we also know that we managed to earn more money because we received an allowance that was just too much for kids and teens.

We could snowball because we were given an advantage. Therefore, it would be a shame to fail when we’ve already got this much assistance.

__

It took us a while to slither back to my Dad’s side as the crowd just kept on increasing.

"Has it always been like this?" I asked him as we rested for a bit. The updates I received were only about the content of the deals made here, not how packed it actually got

"No, three years ago, all you’d see were old men and women who already knew each other."

"Three years ago? Then why does it look like a fair right now?"

You’d think we were attending some convention with how many people kept entering. And this wasn’t even free. People had to pay to enter.

"Why do you think? That media coverage caused all of this. Did you really think those young people would be out there looking for commercial contractors?" Dad tilted his head towards several booths that were being flooded by visitors.

"We’ll have to go there because our booth happens to be right there." He pointed at our exhibit, which was blocked by people going to the next booth.

"I bet my inheritance that that’s SCC’s booth." Rina sighed at what we’d have to go through. We could barely see the booth from our angle and it was teeming with people that the standing signs were covered.

"Thankfully, you’re right, Ms. Rina, that really is SCC’s booth," Mitchel confirmed the safety of Rina’s inheritance.

"Wow. If only all those people needed construction work for high-rises." I couldn’t help but chuckle at that swarm.

"You’re already rich. You don’t need any more. And if there’s too much competition, how will we get our projects constructed." Rina elbowed me.

True. SCC had to squeeze us in because it would look absurd if I had to look elsewhere for a general contractor.

We braved the crowd to get to the exhibit of Foundation Tools. Today’s goal was to man this booth as a soft launch for my existence.

Dad’s presentation was scheduled for the next hour, and some might ask why I wasn’t doing it. That’s because it would be improper for me to talk about these technical advances when I had just entered the game.

Dad and his team deserve credit for these advancements and are the perfect people to discuss them extensively.

We’re looking forward to associating me with the company, but there is no way I’m credit-grabbing their work to improve my standing immediately.

Also, the target market was mostly people who valued trust and tenure. I’d have to work to get actual credentials, the same way Lucian had to prove himself against all these veterans.

But my contribution would be to man the booth. I had been regretfully immersed in learning the ins and outs of our new offerings as well as our other products.

For the past few days, the specifications, best use case, and different versions have been drilled into my brain.

However, after seeing this, I doubt my knowledge would be useful. With this many people blocking the way, who would be able to get here?

__

Well, let’s just say I was kinda wrong.

We had a moment of respite before the commotion started.

It was Rina calling me as she handed me water, which started the problem.

"Eli, drink this. You may have to talk like crazy later."

At the mention of my name, heads started turning like a mob of meerkats acting together.

Very disconcerting, I tell you.

I was in the middle of drinking from the water bottle when I noticed how the people outside had stopped pushing for the SCC’s booth and were instead looking at us.

Drinking had to be stopped because someone might decide to push the bottle into my face.

I couldn’t help it because the people outside weren’t exactly all cordial.

All I could do was blink and offer a polite smile at them.

I suddenly felt like I could relate to the zoo animals being watched by people. I felt like the most clueless zoo animal as these people stared at me intently.

Then, the pushing started.