Chapter 131: Fast Tracking

Aiden couldn’t have been gladder that he’d finally gotten his own vehicle, his head bobbing gently to the music playing from his infotainment system and his finger tapping against the wheel.

Sure, he could’ve simply boarded a bus or taken a train to Westchester where SlurpPAK was based in, he figured it couldn’t hurt to go on a little trip of his own despite the traffic he knew he’d face.

Besides, he’d left home somewhere close to 9:30am, so by the time he’d gotten onto one of the main routes to reach his destination--case in point, the Brooklyns-Queens Expressway--traffic had lessened considerably.

All perks of the morning rush clearing, one that put him between the 10:00am to 2:00pm sweet spot before the early afternoon school and freight spikes begin

It was also why he’d managed to reach the suburban county in under an hour and thirty minutes.

"I haven’t seen this much green in a while..." Aiden couldn’t help but remark as he took in the sights, his Honda Civic cruising through its less congested streets.

Soon enough, his vehicle pulled up to SlurpPAK’s establishment in a leafy suburb, just as the GPS had informed him.

The building itself was a modest, two-storey facility, its grey exterior having broad loading-bay doors and a row of windows running along the upper floor.

A simple sign bearing the company’s name hung above its main entrance, while a few delivery trucks remained present at its parking lot, waiting on the next shipment of beverages.

In the few minutes that followed after his arrival, he rang up his Pops and girlfriend that he’d arrived at the place and dropped a text onto the gang’s group.

Walking into the building a couple minutes after, Aiden was greeted by a clean, brightly lit reception area that looked surprisingly welcoming for a beverage manufacturing facility.

The interior had a very practical, no-nonsense design, the pale walls, grey flooring and a few framed photographs showcased the company’s bottling lines.

Aiden was also surprised to see that Death Wish had already being put up amongst them, and it definitely earned a light smile from him.

Beyond a set of glass doors just upstairs, he could make out a glimpse of the production floor where what seemed to be stainless-steel equipment and neatly arranged containers hinted at the work taking place deeper inside.

As a few staffs naturally moved around the reception area though, the youth walked up to the receptionist at the reception desk who looked rather sharp and she immediately rang up the CEO afterwards.

It didn’t take long after that. Aiden finally met face to face with the friendly-looking man he’d always seen from across the screen.

"It’s nice to finally meet you in person," Nathan extended a handshake, his honey-brown irises reflecting a hint of courteousness mixed with just the right blend of professionalism.

"The pleasure’s all mine." Aiden reciprocated much the same, their shakes firm.

"I’d like to introduce, Nolan, my brother," Nathan then gestured to the man who stood next to him, both of them sharing the same dirty-brown hair styled in a crew cut and a ponytail respectively.

"We co-founded SlurpPAK."

"He wasn’t kidding when he said you were quite young." Nolan remarked with a polite smile whilst extending a hand, his tone respectful.

"I’ve been getting that a lot in recent memory." Aiden simply chuckled in response as he received the shake.

After all the general pleasantries were over, all three relocated to the main office on the first floor and got down to business.

Pulling out the documents, Aiden leaned back into the chair as he took his time reading them.

Though he was rather trusting of SlurpPAK, it didn’t stop him from being cautious. This was potentially a business that could net him millions in the future and he wasn’t taking any chances.

Through it all, the brothers watched with a slightly nervous look without even realizing that they were.

After about thirty minutes of reading through every nook and cranny of said document, the youth finally penned down his signature onto each one.

Only after did both Nathan and Nolan let out a deep breath of relief, one they hadn’t even realized they’d been holding in.

With the major reason for his visit out of the way, their conversation soon shifted to other things that were just as important.

"For now, let’s focus on the places that are most practical for you to distribute it to in the United States." Aiden replied in response to a question from Nathan regarding the distribution model.

"We should be able to gradually expand on it going forward if things jell well, though." Nolan pitched in with a gesture of his palm and both parties nodded in agreement.

"That reminds me. You once said something about other beverages asides Death Wish?" Nathan curiously asked a moment after.

"Yes. It’s a..." Aiden’s voice trailed a bit with a thoughtful gaze, his arm folding gently across his chest before he then said;

"It’s a non-alcoholic brandy."

"Oh?" Nolan didn’t hide his surprise, and neither did Nathan as he remarked;

"Aren’t those like... quite expensive to make? More than their alcoholic brands in fact?"

"Not mine." Aiden simply replied without expatiating, a knowing smile touching his lips.

To that, both brothers glanced to one another briefly, their curiosity evident.

"But, we’ll get to that bridge once Death Wish becomes well-established enough that its revenue remains consistent." the youth simply added with a relaxed gaze.

Realizing Aiden wasn’t intent on saying any more than that, Nathan smartly pivoted into another conversation, Nolan following through as well.

Roughly twenty minutes after,

"I think its high-time I take my leave. I’d rather not get caught up in the craze of the afternoon traffic." Aiden slowly rose up from his chair.

In sync, the brothers did the same, all three exchanging pleasantries with another.

Upon escorting the youth out and waving goodbye as his vehicle pulled out of the establishment, Nolan couldn’t help but comment in mild awe;

"It’s still rather surreal that he’s just seventeen,"

"Yeah. He’s so well-spoken for his age, isn’t he?" Nathan simply replied with a reserved gaze.

At this point, he’d pretty much gotten used to it since he was the one Aiden often contacted.

"I’m just glad he’s on our side." he added a moment after to which Nolan nodded in agreement.

Then he curiously asked;

"You think you’d be willing to sell the company if he tried buying it in the future, though?"

"I don’t know," Nathan replied, both of them watching as Aiden’s sterling-grey Type R Sport model receded into the distance.

"I guess time will tell." he stated afterwards with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

Glancing over to one another, both brothers briefly shared a fist-bump with the sides of their fists.

Though they would need some capital to start up the distribution service--somewhere around $150,000--Aiden had opted to borrow them the funds without interest.

It was why Nolan had made the statement he’d made a couple minutes ago about the youth being on their side.

Afterall, they didn’t have nearly enough in savings to begin setting up the branch on the side.

Which meant they would’ve had to borrow from a bank or a firm...

...which in turn, meant that they would either have to pay back an exorbitant interest, or put the company up as collateral in case things went south.

None of those options were particularly palatable to them, so Aiden opting to fork over that amount with the condition of them paying him back in installments of $25,000 for the next six months without interest was a godsend.

As for the youth himself, he hadn’t decided to be a good Samaritan because he wanted to, and neither had he done it because he wanted to show some goodwill.

Rather, he was simply trying to fast-track the automation of Death Wish before he resumed college in a month and a few days’ time.

Given he also had the funds to do so--what with him getting $1.1M in revenue from the sales of [Gothic Survivors] alone--he saw no reason not to invest into a company he planned to work with for the foreseeable future.

If that also meant they’d be able to do their job properly without any pressuring deadlines on their head--one that would ensure the quality of his product didn’t take a hit--then more power to him.

One downside to today’s deal though--which wasn’t really a downside given the way things were going--was that his gross profit was going to take a hit.

Instead of 40%, he would now be getting 30%, which was to be expected since SlurpPAK would now be getting 20% of the net revenue instead of the ten he had proposed to them.

Even then, Aiden believed it was worth the cut if it meant he could just be supervising things from time to time without actively being in the system.

’Which leaves the marketing side of things...’ he mused to himself as he trailed behind a sedan, his vehicle humming quietly as his finger tapped against the wheel.

Knowing fully well that he couldn’t always be the one coming up with ads all the time and marketing it, he also needed to find a bunch of people that could handle things on that front.

In any case, Aiden looked notably contented as he continued the drive back home, his mind tossing the thought to its back for the meantime.

Unsurprisingly, he ended up running into traffic on his way back, hence ballooning what should’ve been a one hour, thirty-minute journey, into almost three hours.

By the time he’d pulled up into the street of his home, he had a rather surprised look on his features when saw Casper seated on the front step with a hand propping his chin and his boot softly tapping against the floor.