Beep! Beep! Beep!

It rang and rang.

And, of course, Alexander picked it up to receive it.

What else would he have done?

"Hello."

[Is this... Is this the little boss?] A feminine and accented voice sounded. Nervous for some reason

"That should be me." Alexander perked up. This lady sounded Italian. "If you don't mind me asking, what were you designated with again?"

[Erm... I'm a new temp for the legal team. I work for a Mr. Legalities.]

Alexander was a bit confused. He really had no idea that Mr. Legalities' recruitment was that colorful.

Italian, female, and a legal practitioner at that. "I'll call you Miss Consigliere then."

[Little boss, I don't work for the mafia.]

"Anyways..." Alexander just moved on. Since it wasn't Mr. Legalities with Marvel matters, it could only mean the other deal. "You calling must mean that the Seattle deal is done, right?"

[Yes. The contract has just been finalized with a Mr. Baldwin doing the last signature.] Miss Consigliere narrated. [The team leader said to inform you directly.]

That should be good news but Alexander was still mindful of other things. "About that, are there specifics that I need to be mindful of?"

[...] It took some while but the lady eventually said. [We've cooperated with the Newspaper as you've requested and Mr. Schultz seemed quite satisfied with the status quo.]

"Newspaper?" Alexander wondered.

[Kuhum... Mr. Schultz's Il Giornale, little boss.]

"I see." Alexander understood. She was Italian, so the mix-up is understandable.

Maybe that's why she was part of the team in the first place. The whole deal is themed with Italy, after all.

"Anyways, I take it that I now own that oddity of a mermaid then."

[It's as good as bagged...] Miss Consigliere perked up with that. She seemed quite proud to be one of the closers. [Coffee bags, logo, stores, and all.]

"The final price? Is it still 3.8 million?"

[It's all settled within the number you've asked for, little boss.]

Well, that was a surprise.

With Il Giornale and Schultz's participation, Alexander kind of expected the number to reach the 4 million range and above.

Then again, the man was currently no multi-billionaire CEO. He was still an impoverished business upstart with a dream.

All in all, it was a pretty good deal and Alexander would be stupid if he passed up on the opportunity.

Of course, there were still a lot of caveats that had to be listed out. With which the Italian temp on the other end was quite conscientious enough to list them out.

By the end of it, Alexander already got a good grasp of the situation.

At that point, he had to end the call, his DynaTAC just had to.

It was rather regretful because he wanted to hear more but what he got was good enough already.

Great even.

To the point that a smile had already crept up his face.

Like any other, Alexander just found it great when things work out.

------

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

As he settled the bricky phone down, his one-track focus also settled...

However, as he looked around, he found quite the curious pairs of eyes... looking back at him.

Milla was staring.

Drew was staring.

Even Miss Galina and Miss Jaid were staring.

Unknowingly, Alexander had seated himself by the outdoor dining table... with a lot of food to dig into.

As it turns out, it was that time of a beach day already.

Time must really fly when you're having fun. Fun with business, that is.

"Sorry about that." Alexander reasoned as he prepped for eating as he was quite famished. "Lost track of things."

"What was that about?" Drew was clueless, so she asked out. A sentiment that everyone else at the table wanted to know.

"A business call for a rather faraway business deal." Alexander answered while picking up a faraway pineapple slice with his fork.

It's also a rather expedited one. Given that the whole thing should have not come to fruition until next year.

Then again, it was rather timely to procure it this early. Schultz hasn't made too many waves and Bill Gates Sr. is nowhere near the equation.

Vague as ever but Miss Galina had doubts. "I happen to know that your company is preparing for a major acquisition. How come this business deal of yours, from what I heard, is only about 4 million?"

Not that 4 million dollars isn't anything major. It is... for almost everybody.

However, it doesn't match the type of high-million funds that Creed Entertainment had been preparing.

"Well, that major move is more of Creed Entertainment expense. Making it a very necessary and strategic deal meant for company-wide expansion." Of course, Alexander didn't divulge the whole deet. Just the gist of it.

"As for the call I just took, it's much more of a personal expense of mine. Meaning that it's going to be a separate business that's independent from how Creed Entertainment operates." It was as simple as that. That's not to say that it won't be merged under one banner.

He'll know when the time comes. "It's just that this new business venture is an untested one and it's best to separate two and two from interfering much. For now... at least."

Everyone else by the table blinked furiously at that.

"So you're saying that $3.8 million is from your own pockets!" Miss Barrymore got a bit feverish with that. "It's not from your big company?!"

As covered, that amount of money is really major for just about anybody. Even for a momager of a famous child actress.

"Well, yeah..." Alexander nodded as a matter of fact. "Although I half-own Creed Entertainment and that's net worth on its own, I also have other salaries. Comic book creator, screenwriter, game developer, and so on and so forth. I even have a salary for being the nominal "CEO" for all business endeavors or all-rounder little boss in my case."

Essentially, he was growing his company while also growing his personal pockets.

It's cheaty that it might as well be a crime. Of course, it's all legal... somewhat.

The Barrymore duo was shocked by this fact though.

With how young his age is, it really makes one forget that he was a true blue Hollywood bigshot. Possibly even more than that.

Drew was really awed by this prince charming of hers while Mother Jaid had a certain twinkle in her eyes.

On the other hand, the Jovovich duo wasn't too surprised by Alex's wealth...

They were more taken aback by the fact that he's starting a new business... again!

"Alex, just how many businesses are you planning to do?" Even Milla, who really doesn't know the brass tacks of it all, felt a bit horrified for him. "Aren't you overworked with stuff already?"

Mother Galina supplemented with a grimace. "You're grandfather is already worried sick about you being a workaholic. This new business of yours only proves that you are already addicted to it."

"Which is why I'm only an angel investor of sorts for the new business." Alexander easily dismissed their worries. "I don't really know much about it. Which is why I'm hiring a lackey to grow it for me."

"Come to think of it, maybe mermaid investor is the right terminology." He muttered.

He's not really an angel investor with his 100% stake and the business is about a mermaid, so why not?

Mermaid investor, it is.

"Mermaid investor? Is your next moneymaker idea about selling mermaids? I thought mermaids weren't real?" Milla had a whole lot of questions. "Oh right. If you really have real mermaids, that's probably a lot of money."

"Yeah..." Drew added to her rival. "But isn't that... like slavery?"

Alexander almost choked on a melon cube with that nonsense.

"It's a coffee-selling, coffee-serving, and cafe-esque business, alright." It's really his fault for not being direct about it. "The mermaid in this scenario is just the logo."

To give a clearer picture he pointed to his sandy creation that wasn't too far from them. "For reference, it's that mermaid doing the split. Minus the two-head design."

Drew and Milla exchanged glances.

"So that's what it is." Milla now understood and was in relief.

"Haha! You were so undecided between us that I thought that you wanted us to be the one person." Drew's reaction was more on the snickering side. "You even made our mutation breast-naked and have "tails" apart... because... you know..."

Fortunately, Alexander wasn't eating or drinking anything at that moment.

If he had, then he would really have choked or done a spit-take.

"Anyways..." Drew continued to ease the awkwardness. "Did you actually use a lot of money to buy something as ugly as that? Why? Is it because it can do the sexy splits?"

"Or maybe because he wants to make a comic book about a mermaid with two tails?" Milla piled on.

"Yeah, right?" Drew was doubtful.

"Of course, I'm right." Milla was sure.

"How can you be right?"

"Because..."

And the Drew-Milla saga ensued.

At this point, Alexander just tuned them off and looked towards his sandy creation.

It was messy as heck, given that it's just a pile of white sand.

No matter.

From Alexander's visualizing perspective, it was already reconstructed into a green beauty.

Extra green for all the money.

Still doing its improbable mermaid split.

It is the legendary Starbucks, after all.

Making it a $3.8 million mermaid investment with multi-billion-dollar returns!