Suddenly, I Am Rich

Gray really did enjoy it while it lasted.

Mara and Selina, surprisingly, stayed at his condo until Sunday. And even then, he was treated like a king for the whole 2 days.

He was treated like that not just in the kitchen, but in everything. Snacks magically appeared when he sat down. Drinks were refilled before his glass was even empty. They even massage his back.

It was just a really good feeling.

So when Monday rolled around, reality hit him like a bucket of cold water.

He really didn't want to go to work that day.

The moment his alarm went off, Gray just wanted to throw it across the room and go back to sleep. He had no desire to leave the comfort of his bed to work.

But, of course, that was just all in his mind.

Either way, he didn't have any choice. Not when their ongoing partnership with Jet2 was still ongoing.

By the time Gray walked into the office, he had a coffee in his hand. He asked Daniel if they could drive thru one because he knew he wouldn't be able to function without it.

As he walked through the office, the familiar sound of keyboards clinking filled the air. He passed by a few employees who greeted him politely, and he gave them a brief nod in return.

When he got to his office, Mara was already there. She sat at her desk across from his. She was dressed sharply in a navy blouse tucked into a fitted skirt with her hair neatly tied back.

The casual remarks and teasing from the weekend were now gone. In the office was a composed and professional Mara, though the glint in her eyes told him she was still the same person underneath.

"Good morning," she said while barely looking up from her laptop.

Gray set his coffee down and loosened his tie slightly.

"Good morning. You're pretty early."

"I had to coordinate with Jet2's team because they're setting up our system now," Mara replied, her fingers still flying over the keyboard. "They said their new system for the online delivery service is still buggy, so they needed some clarification."

Gray grunted in acknowledgment and sank into his chair. He opened the sales report for the grocery branch. That will be his work for the day.

Fortunately, after their sale, the numbers had been steadily growing. Although they still have to push harder if Gray wants to succeed on his mission.

While he scrolled through graphs and figures, Mara was already juggling a video call with Jet2's staff. She wore her headset like she was used to it. And when she spoke, her tone was clear and professional.

It was as if Mara had another personality whenever she was at work.

"Yes, I understand, but you can't delay the integration again," she said evenly. "Our delivery launch date is fixed. If the payment API isn't stable by then, we'll have customers abandoning their carts, and neither of us wants that."

Gray glanced up briefly.

Outside of work, Mara could talk circles around anyone, laughing and tossing sarcastic remarks like they were part of her personality. But in the office and when speaking to people, her voice took on this firm and no-nonsense edge.

Though with him, she still made those occasional comments under her breath.

After ending the call, she looked over at Gray.

"How good are our sales?"

"It's good," Gray answered before reading again. "But they could be better. Foot traffic's been going up. I think once the delivery mode is launched, we'll have more sales."

"Alright," Mara nodded, tapping something on her screen.

I'm pushing Jet2's marketing team to feature our products more on their homepage. Right now, we're buried under three other partners. No one's going to scroll that far down unless they're looking for us specifically."

"Good," Gray smirked faintly.

"I told them if they want us, they need to make us visible."

"That's the nicest possible way, huh?" He chuckled.

"Of course," Mara answered.

Gray silently chuckled before leaning back in his chair. He watched her work for a moment before working on his own thing, too.

They just worked for the next hour.

Gray was checking stock levels and supply reports, and Mara was managing back-and-forth communications with Jet2. At one point, he noticed the inventory sheet showed a shortage of certain fresh produce.

"Looks like we're running low on spinach and cucumbers," he said aloud.

"Really?" Mara glanced up. "I think Joel already flagged that to procurement. The farm supplier had a delay with their harvest, but it should be sorted by Wednesday."

"When did you—" He raised an eyebrow.

"This morning," she said simply, returning to her screen. "I told you, I came in early."

Gray just shook his head. She was… annoyingly efficient sometimes.

By mid-morning, he had a clearer picture of their current standing. The physical store was doing fine. The only problem now is the online delivery service since they still have no clear updates regarding it.

After a few more hours, Mara's phone buzzed on her desk. She glanced at the caller ID and sighed.

"Jet2 again," she muttered before slipping her headset back on.

"This time, good news or more delays?" Gray looked up from his screen.

"We'll find out," she said flatly before answering.

"Hi, yes, this is Mara," her voice shifted back into that composed, professional tone. "I assume you have an update for me?"

Gray pretended to keep reading his reports, but he was listening.

There was a pause on the line, then Mara nodded slowly.

"Alright… so you're working on it right now?"

Another pause.

"I see. And you're confident about that timeline?" she asked, tapping her pen on her desk.

Her eyes flicked to Gray briefly, as if gauging his reaction. He raised an eyebrow but stayed quiet.

"Okay," Mara finally said, jotting something down. "So you'll fix the payment API and the product syncing issues by tomorrow, and we'll get the official updated list by end of day?"

The voice on the other end seemed to confirm.

"Good," she said. "If that's the case, we can do a test run by Wednesday morning. I hope we don't encounter any errors because that's not going to make either of us happy ."

Gray almost smirked. That was Mara's polite way of saying Don't screw this up.

"Alright. Send me the updated report before 5 PM today. I'll review it myself before passing it to Mr. Adams," she continued. "Thank you."