“I apologize for keeping you waiting, ma'am.”

The woman in the office turned, impatience written clear on her face- she had come here specifically to rattle the 'boss' of this new charity, and been left waiting for far too long in her opinion. She took a moment to study the 'boss' for the new charity that was starting up: tall and broad shouldered, the man was intimidatingly large. Even casually walking across the room in a button down shirt and jeans, she could see he was impressively muscled. Warm chocolate colored skin, his head shaved bald... He cut a handsome figure.

And young, likely college age, which confused her quite a bit. Who would put a college kid in charge of a million dollar charity?

“Mr. Biggs, I assume? Yes, you kept me waiting quite a bit. Which I do not appreciate, given my busy schedule.” She huffed disdainfully, pointedly ignoring the offered handshake.

Despite her attitude, Tyrone kept a friendly smile on his face as he took a seat behind the desk- his desk, a fact that he was still getting used to. While he was pursuing a business degree, suddenly being the 'man in charge' rather than working his way up through a company was a surprise. A pleasant surprise, and a huge challenge, but definitely exciting.

How many guys had the chance to graduate college after running a million dollar organization? Even if he didn't work for Oli long term, his future success was practically guaranteed- as long as he didn't fuck it up.

And dealing with this irritated woman would go a long way towards determining that success.

“I understand, Mrs. Wallen. I've already addressed the scheduling issue with my assistant so such problems do not arise in the future.”

Mrs. Wallen sniffed in disdain at his response. “And what scheduling issue could cause you to keep a representative of the Federal government waiting for almost an hour?”

Tyrone spread his hands helplessly. “My assistant failed to notify me of your visit in a timely manner. Unfortunately, I turn my cell phone off during class so as not to disrupt others.”

Her eyebrows rose slightly in surprise, she was right in her assessment: a college kid was actually running the charity! What could they be thinking!? “And the Board of Directors is actually accommodating of someone in your position being inaccessible for a portion of every day?”

Tyrone's deep, bass chuckle filled the office as he shook his head. “We don't have a Board of Directors, ma'am. And, aside from this one mistake, everything has been running smoothly so far. That's actually part of why I hired several very capable people: to address issues before they even get to me and streamline operations. I'm a firm believer in delegation, and I trust my people to get things done.”

Mrs. Wallen shook her head skeptically at him. “You don't have a Board of Directors? Do you not know how important that can be?”

Tyrone's easy shrug clearly irritated the woman, but, considering she was already being so antagonistic, he figured it was better to put her on the back foot anyway. “I suppose I should have said we do not currently have a Board. Most of those responsibilities are being delegated out to the people that will eventually form the Board, as we are still fleshing out the structure of the organization. Sort of as a working test: they show what they bring to the table and their ability, and they will likely end up as one of the people managing everything.”

The woman nearly sneered at his answer. “Oh? And the final decision for everything is on a college kid like you? And who oversees the fundraising necessary for this charity to operate?”

A confident smile spread across his face as he neatly brought her up short. “Oh, we don't have any fundraising planned currently. The charity is entirely privately funded. By my boss. We actually have no intention of receiving any form of grants or subsidies from the government.”

Mrs. Wallen sat back in surprise. After a moment of contemplation, she shook her head slowly. “You are entirely funded by a single individual? And you aren't looking for any assistance... Then for what purpose did you request this meeting? If you have no need of the resources we offer, then I fail to see the purpose of this meeting.”

Leaning forward, Tyrone folded his hands calmly in the desk. “Because of the importance of a connection. Your office handles emergency relief, and that is one area we are concerned with.”

“We aren't looking for funding or assistance... But direction.”

Curiosity peaked, she leaned forward expectantly. “Direction?”

With a confident nod, Tyrone was eager to expand on his statement. “Yes, direction. Our goal is to help people, and the people that need it most are usually those that have just suffered from some sort of disaster. We are focused on gathering and bundling the essentials: food, first aide supplies, clothes and blankets, tents for temporary housing... Basic things that are typically in short supply after a catastrophe.”

“Our people are being trained to quickly package and load the supplies. We already have contracts in the works for trucks and drivers, with the possibility of including cargo planes down the line... Depending on the success of our efforts, of course.”

“Still, this is a new organization. What we need is for people like you-” He gestured vaguely in her direction, a bright smile on his face. “-to point us towards the people that need it. And a little help smoothing the way, as we don't want to interfere with other efforts that are already in place.”

“Basically, we want to help but don't want to get in anyone's way. Your name, in particular, was suggested to me as someone that could give us that bit of direction and help streamline our efforts.”

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Mrs. Wallen sighed softly. She could at least appreciate the young man's attitude, as he genuinely seemed to want to do good things. But she had also seen plenty of businesses that used charity like this as a way to spread their names- it was less about helping and more about the money they could make off the 'good will' being done. “Of course. I'm curious, though... What company is sponsoring this philanthropy?”

Tyrone shrugged easily, already seeing through the question. What she really meant was 'what company name is going to be written in bright letters as he hero of the day'... A fact that didn't actually matter to them, as the 'company' in question was really just Oliver.

“No company, ma'am. Like I said, we're funded entirely by a single individual... An individual that has specifically demanded that their name not be placed on anything. No trucks or billboards; not even on a single box. He even went so far as to make it part of our legal agreement.”

Shocked once more, she sat back slowly. “Then what does he get out of all of this? Or is just for tax purposes?”

Tyrone shook his head slightly, a touch of sternness in his voice. “I'm sorry, ma'am, but I can't answer that. He's a very private man. And, as this organization is entirely owned and funded by him... He isn't really required to divulge any information. Beyond paying taxes and following all the laws that apply, does it really matter? But, just as a matter of clarification... While we operate as a charity, we file and pay taxes like any other business. We aren't even asking for tax breaks, just to be able to send assistance where it is needed.”

“Like I said before, this is just me trying to smooth the way and help out where I can.”

----------------------------------------

Afterwards, Tyrone sat in his office alone, mentally reviewing the 'meeting'. While it had been a bit bumpy in places, he honestly felt it had gone well. While it was really just a step forward, it was an important step- making the right connections could make or break any business, even one as simple as a charity. And, while Mrs. Walren was clearly still a bit skeptical about them, she seemed to warm to the idea.

He had been told she was softhearted, and that she hid it behind a stony exterior. That turned out to be far more accurate than he had thought. Her disdain for business that just wanted to show off their charity work as a publicity stunt was obvious.

A knock at his door broke him from his contemplation. The work day wasn't done, and he was sure he still had a few things to catch up on- running the charity while still taking classes was a lot harder than he had expected.

Sitting up straight in his chair once more, he quickly readjusted mentally before he spoke out. “Come in.”

When the door opened, he was surprised at not seeing his assistant. Or one of his managers. Instead-

“Yo, Sweet T!” Filing in one after the other were the 'Three Stooges', as everyone affectionately called them: Marty, Ed, and Gary.

Oliver's roommates, and a part of their close friend group. For a second, Tyrone felt guilt. He hadn't spoken with the three of them since the last semester ended...

“You know how hard it was to track your ass down?” Ed practically shouted as he plopped down in a chair. “We've been texting you all day, man! We got so worried we even ran by your mom's house!”

Marty, ever the calm one of the trio, waved the more boisterous guys down before he spoke. “Guys, chill. His mom already told us he was busy with a new job... Of course, we didn't expect that job to come with a fancy office like this!”

He could see the mischievous glint in Marty's eyes, and chuckled at the gentle teasing. “Yeah, sorry guys. Between work and class, I've been run ragged lately. I actually feel kinda bad about disappearing so much...”

“Eh, shit happens man. We know how it is.” Gary shrugged, idly looking around the office. “But you've got to tell us how you manage to wrangle a cushy office like this! I mean, damn! I always thought us college assholes were stuck with shitty food service jobs!”

“Maybe if you say more than two sentences without cussing you would find a job like this too!” Marty threw out, shaking his head with a laugh. “But seriously, man, when your mom mentioned you working at this warehouse, we imagined you lugging around boxes. We almost didn't come by, as we didn't want to get you in trouble with your boss.”

“Instead, we show up and get told 'Oh, Mr. Biggs? He's in his office right now.' And we're apparently on some list that lets us just walk right in? Seriously?” Ed chimed in as he kicked one leg over the arm of the chair. “I mean, not gonna lie... If any of us were gonna get a job like this, we expected it to be you. Maybe Marty, but definitely you...”

“Fuck you too, Ed.” Marty threw out quickly.

Ed just grinned. “You've got to tell us how this happened!”

Tyrone could only laugh. Yeah, the trio was crazy... and a bit vulgar at times. But they were good friends, wanting to check in on one of their friends.

And honestly, he could use a friendly distraction from all the stress.

“So, you guys just swung by to check on me?”

Marty nodded before quickly shaking his head. “Yeah, sort of. I mean, the point was to check in with you, make sure you were good. But we're also trying to track Oli down-”

“And we all know how much Oli loves him some Sweet T!” Gary interrupted, making a kissy face at their large friend.

Marty sighed in exasperation. “And since we haven't been able to reach either of you, we went looking... And we decided to started with you because we knew where your mom lived.”

“And Polina kinda scares us!” Ed laughed.

Tyrone fought to hide his grimace, and knew he failed when Marty gave him a sharp look. With a soft sigh, he decided to explain before the awkward questioning began. “it's probably better you came here first. Oli and Poli hit a rough patch... And Oli decided to get out of town for a bit, try to clear his head.”

“What the hell! Those two are having problems? How? They're the best couple we've ever seen!” Ed couldn't contain his disbelief, his words emphasized by the agreeing nods of his friends.

“I know, guys.” Tyrone sighed. “Look, I can't really tell you much. They had some sort of problem, Poli said she needed space to think about it... And Oli dipped out for a bit to give her that space.”

“And, before you ask... No, I don't know where Oli is right now. Last time I talked to him, which was a couple weeks ago, he was on some beach in South America...”

“South America?”

“What the hell is he doing there?”

“Is he ok?”

Tyrone shook his head slowly as all three fired off questions at him. He felt uncomfortable in lying to his friends... But, at the same time, he knew he couldn't tell them everything. For one, they were Oliver's secrets and not his to share...

And two... He had actually seen Oliver do magic and he barely believed it. How the hell could he explain it to these three?