Suddenly, I Am Rich

"Mr. Adams…"

Anton gave a brief nod as he stepped into the office. He scanned the space with his eyes, as if he wanted to take note of every detail, yet said nothing about them. His assistant slowly trailed behind him.

The assistant bowed to Gray and the others before smiling.

Gray stepped forward and extended his hand.

"Mr. Reyes. Welcome."

"Nice to meet you," Anton shook his hand briefly. "Let's get started. I want to see the operations before we sit down and talk about numbers."

"Of course. We've prepped everything for the walkthrough." Gray gestured for him to follow.

They stepped out of the office, with Joel walking slightly ahead to clear the path. As they made their way through the store, employees paused what they were doing to bow politely.

This scene cause quite a commotion. Some customers who were shopping around momentarily stopped shopping just to see why the employees were bowing.

"Good morning, sir," a cashier greeted.

Anton gave a slight nod in return, but not pausing his pace.

Gray also kept walking on his side, speaking clearly as they walked. He was explaining things about their store.

"Our staff here run on two shifts, morning and late afternoon. Each section is handled by a lead, and Joel supervises the full rotation. Sales have steadily grown this quarter, but we're expecting a major spike once the Jet2 delivery system is fully integrated to our system."

Anton stopped briefly by the produce section, examining the shelves and arrangement. He didn't say anything, but his eyes did a quick look from top to bottom.

"It's pretty clean here," he said, followed by a short nod. "The layout had some good spacing between each aisles. It's pretty nice and easy to map."

"We optimized the layout for accessibility," Joel chimed in. "That way, even first-time customers can navigate easily on the store."

Anton gave a slight grunt of approval before continuing on.

They made their way down another aisle, where one of the inventory staff politely stood to the side to let them pass. Mara kept herself to the back, silently observing. Her folders were still in her arms as she kept pace.

Finally, Gray led them through a side hallway that opened to the back.

"I wanted to show you this part, Mr. Reyes," Gray said, as he held the door open.

It led to the store's delivery drop-off zone—an area lined with receiving docks, a few empty pallets, and large metal shelves. A delivery truck was parked at the far end, currently being unloaded by two staff members.

"This is where all our goods come in," Gray continued, stepping out onto the platform. "We're currently working on clearing this side section here," he pointed toward an empty, roped-off portion to the left, before counting.

"So we can designate it exclusively for Jet2's delivery use. That way, once the online delivery operations kick in, your team will have direct access without interrupting our in-store logistics."

Anton stepped out and followed him, his eyes taking in the loading zone.

"Hmm," he murmured, nodding. "That's quite smart. Segregating traffic from the start will prevent bottlenecks later."

"That's the idea," Gray said.

For a moment, Anton just looked out over the area. His assistant snapped a few photos silently, then returned to typing on his laptop.

"I appreciate that," Anton finally said. "Most partner stores we've scouted are too tight or weren't built with delivery in mind. It's good that you're thinking ahead."

Gray's chest tightened just slightly at that remark, but in a good way.

"You've got the space, and more importantly, the awareness to use it right," Anton added.

"We're trying to build this long-term. Not just survive it." Gray gave a slight smile.

Anton turned to him finally, making direct eye contact. "That's nice. I hope you keep that up."

"Thank you."

After that small conversation, they started walking again.

They continued walking down the corridor, heading back into the main area of the store. Anton's expression remained neutral, but it was clear he was silently evaluating everything—from how fast the staff moved to how well-stocked each shelf was.

As they passed the frozen goods section, a staff member opened one of the storage doors and respectfully stepped back to avoid blocking their view. Joel took the opportunity to explain how inventory rotations were handled every morning and evening, and how they kept spoilage to a minimum through a manual check and digital tracking hybrid system.

Anton only nodded occasionally, asking a few questions here and there:

"How long is your average stock turnover?"

"How are returns managed?"

"Who signs off on third-party deliveries?"

Each question was sharp, direct, and immediately answered either by Gray or Joel without hesitation. Mara stayed quiet but flipped through her folders now and then, ready to offer the data sheets if needed.

Eventually, they rounded back through the central aisle, passed a few customers still throwing subtle glances at the group, and re-entered the back hallway that led back to the store's internal office.

Once inside, the atmosphere eased slightly.

Mara set the folders down on the table and opened the one marked "Jet2 - Delivery Integration Proposal." She slid it gently across the table to Anton, followed by another containing their current logistics blueprint.

"These are the documents you asked for," Gray said. "It also includes all the sales data from the last two quarters. The other has our forecast and integration plans."

Anton took the folders and opened them briefly, scanning the top pages. His assistant took over from there, already snapping photos and uploading them onto a shared drive on his laptop.

Anton closed the folder a moment later and turned to Gray.

"Well then," he said, standing upright. "That's it for today. We appreciate your time, Mr. Adams. The visit was productive."

Gray extended his hand again, this time with more confidence.

"We're glad to have hosted you. We'll be on standby for any updates."

Anton shook his hand firmly, then looked at both Joel and Mara with a polite nod. "You have a solid team here. Keep things running tight. We'll be in touch."

"We'll wait for the update," Gray replied.

With that, Anton and his assistant exited the office, led out by one of the staff.