"Alex, didn't you just get an earful from Grandpa Sullivan?" Milla asked.

"I guess I did."

"Then, why are you still fiddling with your phone?" Drew pointedly added.

"You could say that that earful of words just passed from one ear to the other."

Being found out was a bit unfortunate but it's not like Alexander was going to stop himself.

It can't be helped. Since he was on a roll, why stop then and there?

"Besides, there's only one more call that I'm waiting for." He reasoned.

After Starbucks, Mega Man, and Marvel... the next one should come soon enough.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Speak of the devil."

Milla and Drew could only shrug as within a moment's notice, Alexander already pressed to receive and listened in.

[Hello... little boss...] A hesitant voice sounded out. Exotic, feminine, and really familiar that it's hard to miss.

"Hello to you too, Miss Consigliere." Alexander greeted whilst wondering. "You've already been part of the Seattle Starbucks team, how come you're also partaking in the Indiana deal?"

[My seniors asked of me, little boss. Something about appropriateness.] The Italian lady sighed at that. [Erm... not that it's a problem. Travel accommodations are quite good and the experience is good.]

"That's good to hear." Alexander echoed. Given that this new deal involved pizza, perhaps involving someone from Italy is timely.

Then again, it's also a stretch and somewhat profile-y.

"Anyways, what's up with Papa John's?" Alexander straightforwardly asked. This was what this grandfather-disobeying call is all about, after all.

Papa John's.

It boasts over 5,500 locations globally...

Revenues reported at over 2 billion dollars...

And is essentially one of the most successful pizza fast-food chains in the world.

It's no Domino's, Pizza Hut, or Little Caesars... but it's consistently ranked amongst them.

In any case, his bold attempt to grab Starbucks worked, so why not try his hand with this one?

It's not yet the giant that it is and with a few extra million to spare, Papa John's should be easy pickings.

From what he knew of its history... it started out in a bar's broom closet, resorted to dumpster diving for customers, and a serious turn that was decided via speedboat.

Easy pickings, indeed.

At least, that's what he thought.

[About that, little boss...] Miss Consigliere was audibly gritting her teeth on this one. [My seniors asked of me to do stuff again and it's mostly to deliver the bad news.]

Well, that got Alexander intrigued. "I'm listening."

[We've hit a dead end as Mr. Shnatter the Papa John himself just wouldn't budge.] The Italian lady sighed. Probably pandering about Americans and their pizzerias.

[The man is set on his visions and from what we've heard, even bigger parties and established competitors tried. None of them succeeded.]

A murmur could then be heard from the background. Probably an urging member of the fielded legal team.

[Uhm... I could only say sorry as we may have failed on this one, little boss.]

"I understand." Alexander replied.

[You-you understand?] Strangely enough, the legal lady seemed to be in shaky trepidation.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

"Yeah. That's what I said." Alexander was baffled. How can understand not be understood? It's literally the word for it.

Then again, considering Miss Consigliere, maybe it's a language barrier.

[...]

After a bout of barely discernable murmurs, the Italian lady spoke up again. [Are-are we in some sort of trouble?]

Alexander blinked and connected the dots. "Well, considering the situation, No."

What were these people overthinking? He was no illogical tyrant. "Just report back to Mr. Legalities and be at ease, okay?"

[Okay?] Miss Consigliere sounded unbelieving but then she pivoted back. [Oh, right! Okay, little boss. Thank you very much. Grazie mille!]

[...]

[Are we safe?]

[It would seem so.]

[Yes! I can rest easy now.]

[Our little boss is a monster but it would seem that he has a monstrous grace as well.]

[See, what did I tell you? If we sent out a beauty like Monica here, we'll be spared.]

[How would our little boss even know? It's just the voice in a call and he's still eleven.]

[Besides, aren't you ashamed as a team leader?]

[If Monica hadn't woman-ed up, I don't really see you taking any initiative.]

[Err...]

Another bout could be heard again. This time around, it's more of relief, blame, and whatnot.

It's not that Alexander wanted to eavesdrop. It's more on the fact that they forgot to end the call.

Hence, he discreetly ended the call himself.

The Papa John's failure was understandable.

Papa John was stubborn so what can they do about it but perhaps he should reconsider that team leader's credentials.

Then there's Miss Consigliere or "Monica". Maybe he should give her a bonus or something along those lines.

-------

After a while of pondering, Alexander unwittingly murmured. "I guess that's a disappointing attempt into the pizza industry."

"So this Papa John's fellow is about pizza, huh?" Drew, who was shamelessly eavesdropping, surmised.

"So after coffee, you're into pizza now." Milla, the other eavesdropper, surmised. "Is that Papa guy important?"

"You could say so." Alexander nonchalantly answered. It's one of the top 5 pizza chains and one that's still starting out like Starbucks. "It's a shame that it all fizzled out. Then again, that was just option one."

Only idiots didn't have a backup plan and Alexander remembered that there's still a much closer alternative than something from Jeffersonville, Indiana.

"California Pizza Kitchen should be good too." Hopefully, the owners are much more welcoming than John Shnatter. They're fellow Californians, after all.

"And if that still doesn't work, there are a lot of pizza-inventive options out there." Suffice to say, other than a Plan B, Alexander has plans C through Z.

"Is pizza that important to you?" Drew can't help but note.

"You could also say so but not too much."

"Then, how come you have a lot of options?" Milla supplemented. Probably to not be one-upped by a newcomer on the Alex-questioning game.

"I'm just trying some stuff out." Alexander says so but he actually had a very bold idea off the top of his head. "It mostly involves the Creed Store though."

Suffice to say, it's a very bold idea that's inspired by his last life business deal.

Chubby-Fatty Hackman had an eye for hotspots and Alexander figured that he'll take advantage of it.

Of course, it's also something he's figured since his last visit to the Creed Store.

Aside from the boom, the bust, and NES power push... the cramped-ness of the place was the other thing that stood out.

It was a special place in Creed history. From Old Sullivan's shady old business, to Alexander's own home-store eccentricity, and... technically, it was where he "died".

So, it was high time that he'd upgrade it for a bit.

"Super-sizing the space, two-story-ing it up, and with my reconsideration of arcade gaming... it's going to be an arcade galore. Still with normal Creed Store functionalities, of course."

Clearly, he had bold plans and it wasn't just a bit.

"But that's Creed Store with nerdy stuff?" Milla was confused and unwittingly raised her hands for clarification. "What's pizza got to do with it?"

Well, that's the bold part as aside from Chubby Hackman, he's got two other franchises that he's inspired with and plundered from.

"It's essentially a Dave and Buster's with a rocket ship, arcade claw machines... and three-eyed, squeaky, green aliens as a mascot."

"Oh and a specially designed hearse for pizza delivery."

"Long story short, it's going to be Creed Store no more."

"It's going to be Pizza Planet."

"At least, that's the vision." Alexander wasn't sure if he was able to pull it off.

Admittedly, it was bold but it was also crazy.

Milla, on the other hand, was clueless of the references and was just straight-up confused.

Whilst Drew fiddled with her unliquored mimosa, aka orange juice, and had an idea of her own.

"You know, all this pizza talk suddenly made pizza desirable. So, why don't we order pizza?"

As she said so...

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The DynaTAC rang once again.

"Wow! Are pizza stores that awesome?"

Alexander didn't know how to respond to that.

Fortunately, he did know how to respond to this new incoming call.

He pressed to receive and listened in.

Generally, it should be some work call, a business update call, or a grandfather call.

However, it was actually none of those.

[---]

"Yes. I did get your special card."

[---]

"Well, instructions were unclear given that there's none whatsoever."

[---]

"And yes. I did crack it right away."

[---]

"Aside from being too busy, I just saw no point in corresponding."

[---]

"I guess I just didn't want to be a part of a farce, especially one where I feel like I'm treated as some puzzle-solving monkey."

[...]

"I sure hope that you didn't assume yourselves to be the high-minded scientist. You know, the ones that the monkey turns to for praise and validation after a puzzle is solved."

[---]

"Then, what's in it for me?"

[---]

"Well, you've clearly maneuvered yourselves into my private number, so maybe you should have called directly. Why all the nonsense?"

[...]

[---]

"I'll be there then."

And end call.

Momentum preserved and the other party was pretty much speechless for the most of it.

Alexander rarely does that but maybe he should do it more often.

After all, he needs it for where's headed next.