Two weeks since the Creed and Hackman meeting, the capitalist incarnate was now cheerily greeting while Alexander is behind the store counter to read comics.
"Haha! Mr. Creed, I hope you are ready for all the store closing bonanzas and discount sales that are going to be held in succession." Eugene laughed as he warned this future business partner of his. This Alexander was too reclusive even with the less strict protocols on quarantine and whatnot.
"I'm ready for it." Alexander said after closing the Civil War comic issue. "However, I am quite surprised that you gave them time to say goodbye."
"Hoho! It is a business tactic to hook their regular costumers to make them look forward to what's coming here." Eugene gave himself a pat on the shoulder for a job well done. "Of course, that's just the preliminary part of my propaganda plan! I'm pretty sure you've read all about it from the project proposal I've sent you."
"I have." Alexander nodded as an affirmative. "I also have to say that your proposal papers are incredibly detailed and innovative. I quite like the idea of retro arcade shops with merchandise surroundings."
"But of course." Hackman smiled with pride but still tentatively asked. "So does that mean you're in?"
"You prepare your lawyers and I'll prepare mine. Everything should be fine as long as my place would be preserved." Alexander didn't beat around the bush much and gave Eugene the answer he wanted.
"Oh, I like the sound of that. You'll find that CREED will always be the weird and out-of-place shop among the new shops to be built." Chubby Hackman said in celebration while not forgetting to poke fun. "It would seem that aside from all the farewell parties, you also have to deal with construction noise in a month or so from now."
"Don't worry about that." Alexander assured while looking forward to how the store would be out of place as the old man's house in Pixar's Up.
"See you around then." Chubby Hackman said as his fat body jiggled as he jovially trotted outside to his Ferarri.
While Alexander turned his eyes from the sight, his neighbor owners greeted the peculiar fatty with smiles as they sent him off.
After two days, the signing was done and the safety of CREED was guaranteed.
------
Alexander was back to his own peace with the store being lonely and computer complications not troubling much on the people of San Fernando Valley.
He got to enjoy what his home slash store could offer and more.
Although he had successfully dealt with the pesky ongoer, he still had to deal with the other one.
While chubby Hackman was mostly on the matter of business opportunities, the other pesky one was on the matter of curiosity and intriguing schemes.
Maybe not wanting to be spoken behind the back through narration, the store door opened and a girl walked in with a greeting. "Good morning, Mr. Alexander. Is there a job opening? I really need a sideline job!"
"Good morning Snipe and like always no." Alexander had already prepared for this confrontation and just concentrated on the book on his hand about animation.
Snipe or Sandra Reid is a girl that just popped out and demanded a job from him. As far as he knows, the girl is a star wannabe from another state just like any other pretty starlet that ventures into Los Angeles.
He likes to call her Snipe because she looks like that react girl from Youtube and the nickname seems to incense her.
"The name's Sandra and I am in no way shape and form related to whoever Snipe you speak of." Sandra defended herself and forwarded with her sales pitch. "I just need a part-time job, Mr. Creed! I am struggling hard to get by and my auditions always get blown off either by Weinstein-like producers or blatant nepotism."
"That's Hollywood for you." Alexander commented while he read an interesting passage about 2d motion in his book. "Besides, this is San Fernando Valley, not Burbank or Hollywood Central. Why even stay here?"
"Erm..." Sandra was stumped but picked herself up. "Well, because the rent on the apartments here is cheaper than those places. Things are way too overpriced with film stars that I am pretty sure people in California are leaving to other states to get by."
"True but why insist on getting a job on my store when you could have gone to my neighbors while they are still open?" He questioned while delving into the topic of 2D color and expression. "Within the month you've been pestering me for a job, I also saw job openings on my shop neighbors yet you didn't take it."
"Well..." She was stumped once again.
The Mr. Creed she investigated would always dismiss her with something but this time around, he must have also done his inquisitive research on her.
Sandra would do anything to stop her ulterior motive from being found out.
She was bound to make loopholes on her excuses but she decided to lie further and work with what she's got. "I can tell that the owners of those shops are perverts that would do me harm and only you, Mr. Creed is someone who is gentlemanly."
"Nice save but you made some errors." He commended while breaking it down afterwards. "Most of the owners are women who only hire women but you saved yourself because even women can be perverts on other women now apparently. The last part is where you got wrong because I am not gentlemanly as you say I am."
"Don't degrade yourself, Mr. Creed. You are too quiet and mild-mannered to have any unsavory thoughts on a pretty little girl like me." Sandra lifted him high with praise as she felt that tricking the man would be a cinch at this point. "Also, the other stores are closing down, so you're my only source of income to choose from. How about it? Am I hired? I can dust your store shelves right away."
"Don't be fooled by quiet and mild-mannered people, Snipe." Alexander said as a lesson while his finger pointed to the bed on the second floor. "Would a gentleman like me have that?"
Sandra grumbled at his counters to her already pleasing position and looked at what he wanted to show.
The clerk counter was quite a distance from the second floor, however, the second floor was low-lying and occupied a third of the store, so she can roughly see the bed.
Sandra would normally dismiss the mess on the second floor when she comes 'pestering for jobs' but this time that she focused her sight on it she saw a woman's legs dangling on the bedside.
Having another girl on the equation would send all her plans tumbling so she went full force.
"You perverted bastard!" The girl who was normally aggressive on her job pitch turned more aggressive but not about her job.
She wanted to embody feminists and punish this man's deplorable acts to fight back and gain an advantage in the already disadvantageous situation.