Super Sales on Super Heroes 4 -Ch15-

Chapter 15 - First Volley -

Feeling rather better about the situation Felix was quite happy to sit there in front of the small-local owned coffee shop.

A truck bed with an ice-chest filled with fresh meat was on the way back to the trailer with Andrea behind the wheel.

They’d also stopped off to get a used suit for Felix, a map of Hardysburg, and while they were there they found some used appliances as well. To be specific, a freezer and fridge that Felix bought and was having delivered to the trailer today.

Reaching up he ran a finger along his jaw and watched a group of teens move past him. One and all they looked to be around fifteen and male.

They looked fairly normal for the area. Jeans, t-shirts, somewhat worn but not overly so. Though Felix noted that they were on the lookout for something and their heads swiveled around visibly.

Felix didn’t have to think very hard on what they could be watching for. The simple fact that their eyes kept drifting over to where Miu, Faith, and Goldie had been collecting items at the drop off point gave it away.

Not that he could really blame them if he was being honest. The simple reality was they were incredibly attractive women. The type that wouldn’t stop over in a small place like Brandonville.

Even in a place like Hardysburg they’d stick out terribly.

When he thought about it, even if they went to LeFleur city there’d be few who could compare to them. The simple reality was none of them belonged to this world.

Faith and Goldie came from a world where sex and violence were king, and Miu was a Super Hero.

“I’m probably the closest thing to what belongs here,” mused Felix to himself and then picked up his cup of coffee and took a sip.

By the time he put it back down he’d spotted what he suspected was the reason for Felix being here.

Heading his way was a man that stood out as nearly as much as Miu did.

Dressed in an expensive suit Felix would have picked out from corporate board rooms was a man in hid middle-years. He was also taller than the average and looked to be at least six-foot four from Felix’s best guess.

He was rather pale as well with blue eyes and brown hair. He really didn’t fit in with the local populace for more than just that though.

His shoes were brand new, his hair styled, and his wrist had a watch that looked pricey. Everything about this man screamed that he was originally far removed from this place and was here not completely by his own volition.

Must be the mayor.

Not many other people would dress like me in Brandonville as a general rule. Nor would they show up to this part of town as such even if they did dress so.

Standing up, Felix reflexively worked the top button on his coat and then took two steps from the table. Holding out his hand to the man, Felix put on his best middle-manager smile.

“You must be mayor Jordan,” assumed Felix as soon as the man was within a casual speaking distance.

“Ah, yes. Indeed I am. That makes you Mr. Campbell,” said the mayor who made a small hand-waving gesture, ignoring Felix’s hand. “Forgive me, I’m still wary of shaking hands.”

Felix felt his brows draw together for a split second and then let his hand fell. Once more he felt like he was missing something, but didn’t want to push.

“Of course, not a problem. I didn’t order you anything because I had no idea if you’d actually want anything,” Felix apologized and gestured at the seat at the two-person table.

Felix unbuttoned his coat without realizing he’d done it and hitched up his pants from the knees.

Taking his own seat Felix immediately took another drink from his coffee. It was a good opportunity to force a response from the mayor.

To put it simply, many people would jump to fill a silence all on their own. Adding to that a situation where one couldn’t talk and others would take it on themselves to fill the void quickly.

“Ah, yes,” the mayor said, nearly repeating his earlier words verbatim. Then he took the seat that’d been offered and made a small hand wave at the table between them. “I… no, I don’t need anything from here.”

Hm.

I wonder if he feels like maybe this place is beneath him. He certain dresses like it is. Does it match the mentality?

I wonder if I could use him as a pawn. Further my goals without putting myself in any deeper.

Something to certainly consider.

“I’m glad you were willing to meet with me. I wasn’t sure given how… aloof… you’d been about this so far,” tested the mayor, leaning back in his chair.

“Oh, well, I figured it’d be a good time to let myself be in public,” Felix said as if he were allowing something to happen that was a bother. “It wouldn’t have been very polite to offer such a service, then decline to meet you. That’s no way to make a lasting relationship.”

“No, it would most certainly not,” agreed the mayor with a chuckle. Then he folded his hands in his lap and crossed one leg over the other. He looked far more at ease all of a sudden. “And may I ask where you got that suit? It’s rather impressive. It looks like its hand tailored?”

“Why thank you. A one off, I’m afraid. My seamstress is a real… dragon… with her work and secrets. I had to spend some points to get this made on short notice,” murmured Felix with a grin. Mixing lies and truths was always his favorite weapon. The lies were easier to obfuscate later if it was all tied into truth.

The mayor smiled.

Felix smiled.

Both men eyed each other, letting the silence build between them.

How curious. Maybe he isn’t so dissimilar from myself.

Felix picked up his coffee and once more took a sip from it, setting it back down and then looking to the surroundings.

He could let the silence build for a few seconds further, but then he’d need to move the whole thing along. He wasn’t looking to put this man over a barrel or get anything from him.

At least not yet.

“Well, I must—”

“If you don’t mind—”

Felix paused mid sentence when he realized the mayor had started talking as well. Apparently the man really was quite similar to himself.

Smiling, the mayor gestured to Felix to indicate he should continue.

“The little drop off event went rather well,” continued Felix. “As far as I can tell there was a solid need for it this time around. Brandonville had trash to get rid of across it’s population.

“We even had someone bring in a small tractor. I believe he called it a bobcat, though I’m unsure to be honest. That was a bit of a surprise but we got rid of it all within the limit of the event.”

Felix had indeed been surprised with that one.

He’d almost considered trying to fix it and sell it elsewhere but realized the points would be more useful. It’d been scrapped with all the rest.

“Yes, it certainly did go well,” murmured the mayor with a small nod of his head.

“Is there an issue with a local business? It seemed like something that could have been done easily from someone else,” asked Felix. He wanted to pry into this as he felt like it could be an angle he could use. Then he reached into his jacket and pulled out the envelope he’d prepared for this meeting.

The mayor had already made mention of giving him a gratuity for taking on the job. Which meant he wasn’t against the idea of handing over money.

That most certainly hinted at the idea that he took money, too.

“Oh, I meant to give you this previously. My apologies. It’s the green-contract we spoke of in regards to the event. I’m sorry that it slipped my mind until just now,” Felix said setting the envelope down in front of the mayor. “All two-thousand words for such a simple contract. It’s a wonder how lawyers can muck everything up, isn’t it? Shouldn’t involve them for anything.”

The mayor looked confused for only a fraction of a second before his face smoothed out. Then he smiled and picked up the envelope and tucked it straight into his own jacket. Likely in a similar pocket to the one Felix himself had.

“You’re so very right, Mr. Campbell,” agreed the Mayor once again. “You know, I think I can guarantee we’ll have a useful relationship with your sentiments on that alone.

“As to what happened, more or less what you already intimated. A local business that normally took care of it wanted significantly more for the contract. To the point that we just couldn’t afford it. Unfortunately they were the only ones we could go to. You bailed us out at just the right moment.”

“Glad to be the white knight. Though, I hear that there’s similar issues cropping up with the recycling plant,” Felix offered and then tilted his head to one side. “Would they happen to be the same company, the same problem?”

“Different company, same problem. The city owns the plant, thankfully, and it’s operated by employees of the city. Except that most of them are all asking for more money.

“I’m fairly certain that the company that handled collections for the recycling plant, which is indeed the same company as the problematic one, is behind the issues. They’ve offered to purchase the plant from the city and are offering up a number of solutions that seem impossible to deliver on.”

I see.

That sounds somewhat like a hostile takeover of sorts. I wonder if that’s their intention. Squeeze the city out of a few jobs and services and then push the price up.

Somewhat similar to what we did but more aggressive.

This might be an easier push than I thought.

“I’d love to make a bid on that recycling plant. As well as the trash collection contract,” Felix stated, getting straight to the heart of the matter. He’d been fairly direct with the mayor so far and he felt like this was a perfect place and time to continue that. “Though I wouldn’t want to own the plant. No, that wouldn’t be acceptable at all. I’d prefer it to remain part of the city, just handled by my own company. Almost like—”

Felix froze mid-sentence. He had no idea if post offices operated the same here as they did in his own world.

“Well, do you know how the postal service leases a building from private individuals, then pays them for it? Covers almost the entirety of it including damage to everything?” asked Felix then frowned deliberately. Trying to hedge his words. “Well, at least, I think that’s how they do it.”

“No, no, you’re right. That’s exactly how they do it. I had to negotiate a contract with someone for the damn roof practically caving in,” complained Jordan. “Wanted the city to pay for it.”

Grinning, Felix made a hand gesture at the mayor. An open handed gesture as if he were giving something.

“Just so. I want to give you that sort of a contract. I’ll least the building from you and all the equipment. You’d be responsible for upkeep of a certain amount of equipment per quarter, whether repair, purchase of new, or otherwise.

“You would in turn contract me to handle the running and maintenance of the location and all the services that would be required for it,” explained Felix. “You get oversight of the facility as you’d own it. I’d be responsible for the services and making sure everything is running in the right way.

“If we parted ways in the future, you’d cancel the contract, I cancel the lease, we both can go on without the other being too far out. No lingering problems for either.

“As for the details, just write down whatever the current contract is with the company and the promises made. I can fulfill anything they have written in as it stands today with no change. Though each year after that would need a contract arbitration to make sure we meet whatever rising needs may be.

“As an example, you might need more large item pick ups in the future. Or more neighborhoods. Perhaps even more trips between other plants and locations.

“Or costs for wages and the like might go higher as an average across the state. We wouldn’t want to be behind what other companies can offer. There’s never really a labor shortage, just a shortage of correctly paid labor.”

The mayor digested all of that with what looked a lot like forced deliberation. As if he had wanted to answer instantly, but had fought it down.

There might be something or someone else that was a problem here.

“Though, I’d want the collection and transportation contract at the same time,” added Felix. “So we’d have to wait for that contract to come up for negotiation. Off the top of your head, would you happen to know the timing on that contract?”

“I… I think it’s about four months, to be honest,” the mayor said after another short period of thinking. “I’m sure I could get the other parts of what you wanted ready for that. Are you sure you can actually meet what you’ve said though?”

“Easily. Without even seeing what they’ve promised. So long as you put the same exact contract down in front of me that you have with them, I can meet it to the letter,” Felix confirmed. He had no doubt he could make it work regardless of whatever it might be.

“Well. I… that’s a lot to consider for me. A lot. I think it’ll be easy for me to meet your request positively, but I can’t promise it. I do have to do whats best to remain the mayor, after all,” Jordan confessed with a tired looking smile.

“Why am so low?” asked Felix, jumping to the next part of the conversation he wanted to touch on. There’s always the possibility of becoming the governor or perhaps a senator of Alassippi.

“I can imagine that someone such as yourself wouldn’t set themselves such a low bar as the mayor of Brandonville. It can’t be your endgame, can it?”

Jordan was staring at him in a blank, completely shut down, unsure how to respond, kind of way. Whatever his plans actually were, Felix had struck at a point he hadn’t considered, or very much wanted to do.

“Just food for thought,” Felix said and tapped the table between them. “Now… if you excuse me, mayor, I do need to move on to my next meeting. It’s been a real pleasure talking with you. I’d love to have another sit-down with you.

“I heard you might be heading out of town for a little bit though. Problems with the state as a whole is the scuttlebutt.”

“Err, I… yes. I’ll be out of town for a while. I can get everything else worked up in the meanwhile. Is there a way to stay in direct contact with you as I start going through this? I’m sure you’ll want to see the contract long before we get to the signing,” asked the mayor.

“Just so. Here’s a number I can be reached at. As for the contract. No, I don’t need to see it until I sign it,” Felix declined while standing up. He once again buttoned the top coat button and then pulled a small card from a pocket.

It only had a phone number on it with no other information.

Not his name or anything else.

He set it down in front of the mayor and tapped it once. Then he gave the man a smile, stuck his hands in his pockets, and began walking off.

He didn’t need to speak with the man anymore and he’d gotten the points he wanted to make across. Everything else would need to wait for the man to come back into town.

Well.

The question becomes, who’s in charge of the company that handles the recycling plant, trash pickup, and transportation? Why’re they pushing for more?

Is it greed? Need?

Power?

Something to work on while I wait.

For now though, I need to focus on what I can.

Points, cash, and paperwork.

I need to get it all squared away in time for this deal with the mayor.

I’m on the clock in more than one way.

Shaking his head, Felix kept walking. His eyes slowly picking over the scenes around him.

Then he saw what looked to be a bookstore. One that had probably been in the same location for a long-while, in fact.

Opening the door Felix stepped in and was immediately reminded of his childhood. Coming into a store just like this with his aunt.

He’d go pick out a few used books while she always went straight to the romance section.

Full of scantily clad men and most of a torso on the cover. Sometimes with a certain long haired blonde man on the cover.

“Hi! Welcome in,” said a young woman behind the counter.

Felix met her eye and gave her a smile and a nod. He moved to an aisle and then looked to the taped up listing there.

Fantasy, to the right.

Well. What else would you buy a bed-ridden dragon but fantasy novels. I’m sure she’ll appreciate the irony.

Smirking, Felix grabbed one of the hand-baskets then turned and walked down toward the indicated aisle.

Squat down in the middle of it was a young man. His clothes looked like they were on the more worn than average side, his pale-green eyes moving across the page of the book he held in his lap. Dark-blond hair was cut short and springing up in every direction on his head.

He looked quite “down on his luck” Felix would say, though there was clear intelligence in the eyes.

Additionally, Felix noted that the young-man seemed to be rather underfed for a teenager. He’d judge him to be about seventeen given the way his face looked but far too skinny for him to be absolutely certain.

Out of habit more than anything he tried to call up a window for the kid to see what his stats were and what his power was.

These were the types of people he’d hunted down to join Legion in the past. Those he could pick up and dust off then hand a purpose to.

Standing there, staring at the young man, Felix had no idea what to do. While he’d done it accidentally, he now was presented with new information.

The fact that his power was “latent” meant this young man would indeed become a Powered on the day of Awakening.

On top of that, his competency and intellect were significantly higher than most everyone else Felix had come across. In fact, the young-man’s stats were very similar to Felix’s own.

Looking up at Felix the young-man stared at him for several seconds.

“I’m… not hurting anyone,” he said reflexively. Defensively, in fact. As if he’d had people pushing him about where-ever he went.

“I know you’re not. Was just curious about the book, sorry,” Felix lied, motioning at the book in his hands. “Though… you seem familiar. But you’re not from around here, are you?”

“No,” admitted the young-man with a head shake. It looked like he couldn’t decide if he wanted to shrink into himself, or run away. “I… doubt you’ve ever seen me before. I’m not from here. Like you said.”

“Mm. Which community?” asked Felix. He was very interested in Edmund but had to take this in a slow and careful way. Otherwise he’d come off as a creepy bastard.

“Community?”

“Trailer park community,” elaborated Felix.

The young-man flinched at that, then let his eyes drop to the ground.

“Forest Ridge… I swear I’m just here to read.”

“I don’t doubt it. Forest Ridge,” repeated Felix. He had no doubt the boy had actually told him the truth. “Buy a few books on me. Feel free to come back in a week from today and maybe I’ll buy you a few more. I remember doing the same thing you’re doing.

“Never really made the owner happy with me, but he didn’t throw me out either.”

Felix reached into his back pocket, pulled out his wallet and quickly thumbed out two twenties. Dropping them down next to the man, Felix then went to what he was actually here for.

He looked to the shelves of books and started going through them. He’d have to make sure he got a few decent ones for Goldie.

“I can… recommend a few,” offered Edmund, having already picked up the money, put it away, and stood up.

“Oh? Fantastic. Please do,” Felix requested. He’d half expected the man to scamper off. “Romance would be preferable. She has a maiden’s heart.”