Suddenly, I Am Rich

”Okay, okay... wait,” Mara immediately turned toward her desk, already grabbing a pen and flipping open her notebook. Her excitement could be felt all over the room. She was smiling from ear to ear.

”Gray, we need a theme first.”

Gray leaned back in his chair, watching her with a faint smile on his face. Just a few minutes ago, she looked annoyed and all, and now, she’s all happy.

”What theme?” he muttered as he raised a brow.

”Of course, there will be a theme,” Mara lightly scolded him. ”You don’t know anything about it, but parties can’t just be random. If we’re doing this, everything should feel connected from the decorations to the staff outfits.”

”Damn,” Gray chuckled softly at that. ”You’re taking this seriously.”

”Of course I am,” she shot back without even looking at him. ”This is your first anniversary as the owner. We can’t mess it up.” She quickly wrote something down in her notebook because of it.

”We should do something warm and community-focused,” she continued. ”Since the store grew because of the customers and the staff.”

”That’s not bad,” he muttered

”What, not bad?” Mara paused and looked up at him. ”It’s great.” She squinted her eyes.

Gray laughed. ”Alright, alright. It’s great.” He realy couldn’t understand what’s with girls and their mood swings.

”Good,” Mara huffed before going back to writing.

”Anyway, for the promotions,” she continued, ”we can do daily deals. We can different categories each day. Like groceries, household items, essentials and stuff like that.”

”And what about the raffle?” Gray asked.

”We can do a big prize,” Mara said immediately. ”Something people will actually want. Maybe a brand new phone or something? Can we afford that?”

”That’s going to cost a bit.” Gray raised a brow at that.

”Right...” Mara pouted her lips, now thinking about it thoroughly.

”But it’s fine,” Gray continued.

Mara’s eyes lightened at that.

”Yay!” she excitedly exclaimed. She was clearly pleased that he agreed with it.

”And for the event day itself,” she added, ”we can set up a stage inside a venue. Maybe invite a host, do games, give away prizes, and eat, of course.” Her voice softened slightly after that.

”And... we should really highlight the staff, you know,” she repeated. ”They’ve been there even before you took over.”

”Yeah,” he said quietly. ”We’ll do all of that.” Gray nodded at her.

For the past few months, their grocery business has been booming well. They have gained many customers, and their deliveries have all been excellent, with the thugs handling them. They have also been offered some partnership deals now, but Gray chose to review everything first.

”Anyway, I’ll think about everything and make you approve of it, okay?” Mara smiled at her.

Gray just nodded.

”Alright. I’ll wait for it.” Mara just nodded before focusing on it.

Mara didn’t reply anymore after that. She was already fully immersed in her thinking that she even occasionally talked to herself as she flipped pages and scribbled ideas down.

”Theme, promotions, raffle mechanics...” she whispered to herself, minute after minute. She was completely in her own world with this planning.

Gray glanced at her once, then just shook his head faintly. He couldn’t help but lightly chuckle at it before returning to his own work.

With it, their office became silent again as the two of them became immersed with their own work. Time passed quietly.

Gray managed to finish a few more documents. He signed off on reports and reviewed supplier agreements one after another. Compared to the chaos from the past weeks, he was now working normally and peacefully.

Eventually, it became noon.

”Finallyyyy!” Mara finally dropped her pen and stretched her arms upward.

”It’s break time!” she muttered before rolling her shoulders slightly.

Gray glanced at the time as well.

”Let’s have lunch?” he asked.

”Yeah,” Mara nodded. ”I’m starving.”

”Alright.”

But how hungry they are, they didn’t bother going out. Instead, Mara just ordered food from the building’s cafeteria, and it didn’t take long before it arrived on their floor. They ate a hearty meal in the office.

But instead of eating on their own, Mara ate in front of Gray. She was smiling in all ears as she talked about what she had listed for the past few hours.

”So,” Mara said between bites, ”if we’re doing a phone for the raffle, we should make sure the mechanics are clear because people tend to be stupid sometimes.”

”Mhm,” Gray hummed, taking a sip of his drink. ”You’ll handle that.”

”Of course I will,” she replied confidently.

After a while, their conversation slowly lessened as they focused on finishing their food. Once done, Gray wiped his hands lightly and leaned back.

”By the way, I’m heading out later,” he said casually.

”Where?” Mara looked up at him.

”I’ll visit the store,” Gray answered. ”I want to check in on Joel and see how things are going there.”

Mara immediately perked up.

”Oh, then I’ll come with you,” she said as she started to stand.

”No need.” Gray shook his head at that.

Mara paused. ”Huh?”

”You can stay here,” he said, gesturing lightly toward her desk. ”Focus on the anniversary plan.”

”Are you sure?” Mara frowned slightly.

”Yeah,” Gray nodded. ”I’ll just drop by and talk to Joel for a bit, and of course, check the situation there. I’ll also ask them what they want.”

”Oh, I see...”

”Yeah, so you’re better off using your time on that,” he added. ”That’s more important right now.”

Mara stared at him for a second, then slowly sat back down.

”Alright,” she muttered. ”But you better not come back and say you don’t like my plans.”

”I won’t.” Gray smirked faintly.

”You better not.” She narrowed her eyes slightly, warning him.

Gray just chuckled before standing up to get his coat and things.

”Don’t worry. I’ll be back later to check it,” he said.

”Yeah, yeah. Go,” Mara waved him off. She cleaned off their food boxes before returning to her seat.