Sales Pitch

Jeri led John, Vivian and Estelle into a small office that sat right off of the kitchen area behind the counter. Between Vivian’s business knowledge, Estelle’s connection to another magical botanist and John’s link back to the rest of the group through Senka, he figured they had their bases covered.

‘I’ll have Kiera keep a line open to Verida,’ the spirit chimed in.

‘I think we’ll need to keep details like her a secret for now,’ John thought back, wanting there to be a more concrete commitment from Jeri or anyone else they approached before revealing that information.

‘Fair, but she can give us info on things like growing conditions,’ Senka remarked.

‘That is true,’ John agreed.

“Okay, let’s get this over with,” Jeri said, drawing John’s attention back to the scene before him. The shop owner stood behind a small desk littered with papers, her hands braced upon its surface as she leaned slightly forward. “What exactly are you offering? Because it sounds too good to be true, if I’m being honest.”

Vivian took a small step forward, taking command of the negotiation. “I know it’s a bit much on the face of it, but we’re not lying about having a spot suited for growing crops. I’m not sure if it’ll suit your needs, but from what Salem told us, you’re kind of winging it, right?”

A dark look crossed Jeri’s face before she sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “Okay, won’t lie and say the setup's not exactly optimal.”

“Then it sounds like you have little to lose to hear us out,” Estelle chimed in. “The barrier we have is rather large and you're only the second prospective group we’ve approached so you can take all the space you may need.”

“The first made that slime?” Jeri asked curiously.

“No, she’s a separate party,” Estelle clarified. “Though, she’ll likely be interested in setting up shop too. Like we’ve said, lots of space.”

“Do you mind if I take a look at it?” Jeri asked. Estelle glanced over at John, leaving the decision to him. Between her giving him control over its fate and the fact it was a copy of the original, John had little issue letting the coffee shop owner take a poke at it. He placed the jar on the desk and popped the lid off.

Jeri wasted little time and stuck a finger in the slime, the digit glowing slightly.

“Hmm, algae based like you said,” she muttered. “Organic mana matrix is a bit flimsy. Probably burns out after, what, an hour?”

“Around that time, yes,” Estelle answered. “This is a sample of the first prototype our friend produced.”

“Fascinating,” Jeri said. “Do you know what her aims for it are?”

At this question, the witch pouted. “No. Cleo’s being coy with her ideas. We do know it works though. Would you like a demonstration?”

Jeri withdrew her finger and tried to keep her expression neutral as she nodded, but John could see a glint of excitement in her eyes. Reaching over, John scooped out a bit of slime and infused his water spirit into it. Immediately, the slime reacted as the spirit gave it life and John willed it to hop down onto the desk.

“Interesting,” Jeri said as she poked the slime. She blinked, then her expression grew contemplative. “Huh, not sure how you’re powering it, but I can feel your mana being boosted by the matrix. Bit weird, not going to lie.”

She pulled her finger back and turned her attention back to the group. “So, what do you get out of this? A cut of the profits, I presume?”

“That is most likely what the deal would be,” Vivian answered. “We’re still in the planning stages and have other parties to consult with before finalising any deal so what the cut may be or any other form of contract is still up in the air.”

Jeri hummed as she mulled things over. “So nothing’s locked in yet. Not exactly the best sales pitch. But if you can deliver a place that’s better than what I’ve got set up now, I’d be a bad business woman to not at least look into what you’re offering.”

“Then we look forward to showing you what we can do to help your endeavors,” Vivian cheerfully said as she produced a calling card from her choker. Jeri took the card and looked at it.

“Renox Solutions, huh? Not exactly the name I would have pegged for an outfit revolving around agriculture,” Jeri said with a note of humor.

“Like we said, we recently came into this opportunity,” Vivian remarked. “Rather unexpected when it fell into our laps.”

John had to hold back a chuckle at the redhead’s summation of how Pruzonia came into being.

“I’m sure,” Jeri said, pocketing the card before jotting down her own number on a piece of paper. “I hope you don’t mind me not having a business card. Wasn’t expecting anything like this.”

“It’s fine,” Vivian assured her. “We weren’t exactly prepared to begin looking for diversified partners, but one can’t pass up a good deal when one presents itself.”

Jeri smiled. “I get that. Now, I think you’ve got drinks to get back to. I presume you’ll contact me with more information.”

“Yes, we will,” Vivian said. “Hopefully it won’t be long before we have something concrete for you.”

“It’ll be fine if it takes some time,” Jeri remarked before letting out a chuckle. “Won’t stop Salem from bugging me about it though.”

John could tell that their meeting was over and recalled the mini slime back to him, the spirit half bouncing half oozing its way back to his outstretched hand. He willed it to coil around his wrist like a bracelet before sealing the jar and putting it back in his inventory. He noticed Jeri was still looking at the slime curiously.

“Something the matter?” John asked.

“Just trying to figure out how you're controlling it so well,” Jeri answered.

Deciding to stoke her curiosity, John smiled at her and said, “Maybe once we get everything sorted, you can try to puzzle it out more.”

Jeri blinked before flushing, her gaze shifting away from John. He was confused for a moment before Senka’s laugh echoed through his head.

‘Smooth line there,’ she said between chuckles and John realized he basically invited Jeri to keep watching him and that such an invitation was pretty close to flirting. And it seemed Jeri took his words as that. Before John could clarify his words, Senka urged, ‘Oh, don’t correct yourself. It might help with negotiations.’

John wasn’t sure he liked the idea of leading anybody on like that. It reminded him of a prank pulled by one of Vanessa’s gaggle back in 8th grade. They left a note in his locker on Valentine’s day, but when he went to meet her, he just ran into Frank and got a fist to his gut. Even if this was an innocent misunderstanding and wasn’t a set up for bullying, John had no desire to walk down even a similar path to them.

Before John could speak up to clear any confusion, Vivian clapped her hands. “Right, we’ll be off. And I think we’ll order some drinks for the road.”

“Um, thank you?” Jeri uttered, a perplexed look on her face as the redhead gestured for John and Estelle to follow her out. Estelle did with only a slightly confused expression and John followed a second later, not wanting things to get weirder.

“That was a rather quick exit,” Estelle remarked once they were out of Jeri’s office and back through the kitchen.

“Best to not linger,” Vivian stated. “We’ve made our pitch and show a willingness to continue purchasing their products. There was nothing more we could do right now so leaving was the best option. Sticking around would just increase our chances of saying or doing something that would harm our chances of getting things set in stone.”

‘Not a word,’ John shot Senka’s way. He could feel the smug grin on her face and wanted to head off any awkward conversations. Or discussions of expanding the number of women involved with them.

‘I’ll keep your accidental flirting to myself,’ Senka purred and John got the feeling that there was an unspoken ‘for now’ in her mind. He knew that fighting her over it would likely be a losing endeavor and reveal his possible screw up.

They made their way back into the cafe proper with no issue. John half expected Salem to ambush them and beg for details but the sharp toothed woman was occupied by the other patrons.

“I take it things went well?” Brenda asked as they reached their tables. “Senka’s been tight lipped.”

Brenda shot the spirit a look of feinted annoyance that Senka replied to with a wink.

“Why spoil the surprise?” Senka asked teasingly. “Business is Vivian’s purview so I figured she should be the one to report our success or failure.”

“Well, I think I can safely say we have Jeri interested,” Vivian reported to the rest of them as they sat back down. “But we’re going to need a really solid plan to seal the deal. And that applies to whoever else we approach. Winging it doesn’t exactly give the best impression.”

“So, what exactly is our ground floor plan?” Aeolia asked, keeping her voice low. “That we have a large barrier with natural resources that can be extracted?”

“That sounds like the best idea we can come up without giving away the more crucial details,” Vivian answered. “It covers the general idea well enough. If your friend joins up, Estelle, then I say we probably don’t need to look for more general farming types.”

“I’ve sent her a message about it, but she might not respond for a bit,” Estelle reported. “It seems getting lost in the weeds is a trait arcano botanists share.”

“Even if she doesn’t bite, we can circle back to farming later,” John said. “That’s the sort of work that requires us to make fields, get equipment and build infrastructure to house said equipment and the harvest itself. Probably need less for logging or mining.”

“You’d be surprised how many buildings good logging actually needs,” a sweet voice cut in, causing everyone to jump and turn their attention to the person butting in. If John recalled correctly, she was the person Salem had been serving when they entered. Now up close, John could clearly take in her full appearance.

The most striking thing about her was her eyes, in John’s opinion. They were an odd faded blue color with faint darker portions that formed two concentric rings around her pupils and seemed to sparkle as she smiled at them. Her skin was rather pale which stood out against the warm pink blouse and black skirt she wore. The amount of frills and lace on her clothing, combined with the red ribbons tying her hair into twintails did not give John the impression she would know much of logging.

A sentiment shared, at least, by Beth who glared at the interloper.

“You really don’t look like the type to know about that sort of thing,” she said tersely. “And don’t you know it’s rude to listen in on people’s conversations?”

The girl only grinned and tapped her ears. “Some people are blessed with enhanced senses thanks to their magic. Senses that really can’t be turned off. So maybe in the future, you shouldn’t talk of things you don’t want overheard in public. As for what I know and don’t, perhaps you shouldn’t judge a book by her cover, hmm? Who knows, I might just know some people in that area of expertise. Or be the daughter of someone that does.”

“I think we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot,” Vivian spoke up, trying to salvage things. “Why don’t you sit down and we can talk shop. If that’s alright with you, miss…?”

“Lutak, Nadiya Lutak,” their unexpected guest answered cheerfully before she swiftly grabbed an unused chair and sat down next to Vivian. “Are you sure you want to keep chatting here? Anyone else could be listening.”

“I think that ship has sailed already,” Senka pointed out. “Maybe we’ll double down and spill everything now.”

Nadiya laughed at Senka’s remark. “That certainly would be a bad idea. And, somewhat loose lips aside, you guys don’t strike me as stupid. But, I would take these discussions somewhere private in the future.”

“Noted,” Vivian said. “Now, keeping things nondescript, how do you think you can help us?”

Nadiya grinned smugly. “Like I said, my family’s in the business of, let’s say, collecting businesses. And one of those happens to be an all round logging group. Cutting down trees, processing them into logs, they even dabble in turning them into furniture and decorative pieces.”

“And what makes them the best fit for our needs?” Brenda asked. “I’m sure they aren’t the only group who we could find.”

Nadiya’s smile only grew larger. “Oh, I’m sure if you look around, you might find some that are of the same quality. But I’m going to take a guess that you guys are under some kind of time crunch. If you weren’t, I think you could have given our lovely coffee shop owner a card instead of jumping right to a meeting.”

“To be fair, she was the one that invited us to talk more,” John pointed out calmly, wanting to dissuade Nadiya from the idea they were ****. In a way, they weren’t. While getting Pruzonia up and running and allowing Verida the ability to freely travel was a priority, it wasn’t something that necessitated reckless haste.

Nadiya turned her piercing gaze towards John, her blue eyes sizing him up.

“That’s fair I suppose,” the girl admitted, her smile never faltering as she toyed with the end of one of her twintails before she leaned forward slightly. “But, I still think you want to get working as soon as possible, right? Strike while the iron is hot? Or, I guess, while the trees are still green?”

“Can’t fault you for that line of thought,” Vivian said cautiously. “But, while we are interested in quickly getting things off the ground, we aren’t keen on rushing things and making unwise decisions. But, we would be willing to hear your associates’ pitch in time, if you could provide us with their contact information.”

Nadiya’s smile didn’t dim as she asked, “Could I have your number then? Don’t have them on speed dial, but I’ll be sure to let you know when they’re going to call you.”

“Of course,” Vivian replied, producing a business card from her choker before handing it to Nadiya.

“Huh, wasn’t expecting you to have a card all ready for me,” Nadiya remarked as she slipped the card into the small purse that hung from her shoulder, her hand remaining in the bag. “I should be able to get back to you some time tomorrow.”

“We’ll be waiting for it,” Vivian said with a smile. “But we likely won’t be able to schedule a proper meeting for a few days at least.”

“That’s fine.” Nadiya waved her off with her free hand as she pulled out her phone from her purse. “It’ll take a bit of time for a rep to come around anyway and it never hurts to get things locked in as soon as possible.”

She looked down at her phone and her smile dimmed a bit. “I’d love to keep chatting, but I have something to get to. But it was lovely to meet you all and I hope this is the start of a fruitful relationship. Bye!”

She didn’t wait for any of them to respond before practically jumping out of her chair and darting off, leaving everyone a bit stunned.

“So,” Beth said after a long moment of silence, “that happened. Now what?”

Vivian took a breath to center herself and said, “Get some more drinks and make an actual plan. Someone flag down Salem.”