Infinite Cashback System

Chapter 227: 228 | Not an MLM

Jordan muted the television and turned to face both women. The glow from Lila’s stream illuminated the room in shifting colors as her farm transitioned from day to night.

"Kumiko just established first contact," he said. "That’s good. It’s organic. Less pressure than a cold pitch."

"I know," Chloe said. "That’s not the problem."

"What’s the problem?"

Chloe was quiet for a moment. Her blue contacts caught the light from the screen, and Jordan remembered that her real eye color was brown, that the blue was a choice, a version of herself she’d constructed for an audience that might never know the difference.

"The problem is we don’t have anything to offer her yet," Chloe said finally. "Nova Network is paperwork. It’s Brooke’s operating agreement and your ideas and my twelve followers. We don’t have sponsorships. We don’t have a track record. We don’t have proof that any of this works."

"We have a plan."

"Plans aren’t products."

"They are if you sell them right."

Chloe’s jaw tightened. Jordan recognized the expression. It was the same one she wore when she talked about her OnlyFans subscriber counts or her family’s dry cleaning business or any of the dozens of invisible calculations running behind her eyes at any given moment.

"I know what it feels like to pitch something you don’t have yet," she said. "I did it for six months. Sold a fantasy to a hundred and eighty thousand people who wanted to believe a girl in a mask was their girlfriend. It works until it doesn’t. And when it stops working, you’re left with nothing but the gap between what you promised and what you actually delivered."

The room went quiet. Even Kumiko stopped typing.

Jordan reached over and took Chloe’s hand. Her fingers were cold despite the warmth of the apartment.

"This is different," he said.

"How?"

"Because you’re not alone this time."

The words hung in the air between them. Chloe’s expression shifted, something vulnerable flickering behind the professional mask she wore like armor. Kumiko scooted closer on the couch until her knee pressed against Jordan’s thigh.

"We’ll build it together," Kumiko said softly. "All three of us. And Brooke. And maybe Lila if she’s not too scary."

"She’s extremely scary," Jordan confirmed.

"But you like her."

"I gave her a ride. That’s not liking someone. That’s basic human decency."

"You remembered her streaming handle."

"She told me in the car."

"You told us about her before we asked."

Jordan opened his mouth to argue and then closed it. Kumiko was smiling at him with that knowing expression she got when she’d figured something out before he was ready to admit it.

The thing was, he didn’t like Lila Martinez. Not in the way Kumiko was implying. He barely knew the girl. She’d insulted his car, questioned his motivations, and called him boring in bed on a public stream watched by over a thousand people. That wasn’t the foundation for attraction. That was a series of red flags arranged in a pattern that spelled "stay away."

But she was interesting.

She was interesting the way a puzzle box was interesting. The way a locked door was interesting when you knew there was something worth finding on the other side.

Jordan’s phone buzzed again. He glanced at the screen and found a DM notification from an account he didn’t recognize.

@KhaosKitten: You’re the parking garage guy aren’t you

He stared at the message for three full seconds.

"What?" Chloe asked.

"She figured it out."

"Who?"

Jordan turned his phone so both women could see the screen. Kumiko gasped. Chloe’s eyes went wide.

@KhaosKitten: Your cosplay friend’s profile pic is her in your apartment. I recognize the windows. Same building, different unit. Also she followed me like two minutes after I mentioned you on stream. Coincidence? Probably not.

"Oh no," Kumiko whispered.

@KhaosKitten: So what’s the play here? You got your girlfriends scouting talent for some startup? Because if this is an MLM I’m blocking all three of you.

Jordan typed a response before his brain could stop him.

@JordanMcK404: Not an MLM. Actual business. We should talk.

The typing indicator appeared immediately.

@KhaosKitten: Interesting pitch. Usually people buy me dinner first.

@JordanMcK404: I’ll buy you dinner.

@KhaosKitten: Bold. What if I’m busy?

@JordanMcK404: You’re streaming Stardew Valley on a Tuesday night. You’re not busy.

The typing indicator stopped. Jordan watched the screen. Chloe was reading over his shoulder now, close enough that he could smell her shampoo, something floral that mixed with the residual scent of Thai food and late-night coffee.

@KhaosKitten: Friday. 7pm. There’s a Korean BBQ place on Harbor. You’re paying.

@JordanMcK404: Done.

@KhaosKitten: Bring your cosplay friend. She seems fun. Leave the other one at home. She has business face in all her pictures and that makes me nervous.

"She doesn’t want me there," Chloe said flatly.

"She doesn’t know you yet."

"She said I have business face."

"You do have business face. It’s a compliment."

Chloe did not look complimented.

Kumiko was already typing in a different window. "I told her we’re both really nice and that Chloe makes amazing spreadsheets and that Jordan is good at cooking eggs."

"Please stop helping."

"She sent a thumbs up emoji! That’s positive!"

Jordan locked his phone and set it face-down on the coffee table. The television still showed Lila’s stream, muted but still running. She was building a chicken coop now, her avatar placing fence posts with rhythmic clicks.

"Tomorrow at seven," Jordan said. "Korean BBQ. Both of you come. We’ll figure out the pitch together."

"She specifically said not to bring me."

"Since when do you follow instructions from strangers?"

Chloe’s lips twitched. Almost a smile.

"Fine," she said. "But I’m ordering the most expensive thing on the menu."

"Fair."

"And you’re explaining the ten dollar thing. Because that was weird and I want to hear how you justify it to someone’s face."

"It was fair compensation for gas and time."

"It was socially bizarre."

"It was pragmatic."

"It was both."

Kumiko clapped her hands together. "This is going to be so fun! Our first real business meeting! Should I bring my portfolio? I have photos of all my cosplays organized by character and difficulty level and materials used!"

"Bring yourself," Jordan said. "That’s enough."

Kumiko’s entire face went pink. She turned away and busied herself with her phone, but Jordan caught the small smile she couldn’t quite hide.

The stream ended at 10:30 PM. Lila signed off with her usual abruptness, thanking chat and promising more virtual farming later in the week. The viewer count dropped from one thousand two hundred to zero in seconds.

Jordan stretched and felt his shoulders pop. The sushi containers were empty, the document titled RULES sat saved on Chloe’s laptop, and somewhere across town a girl with purple hair and combat boots was closing out her stream and checking her DMs.

Tomorrow would be interesting.