"Yeah. That’s it."
Gray clasped his hands together after saying everything he had to say.
"So, a child, huh?" Owen gave a small and thoughtful smile at Gray’s answer. He nodded briefly before closing the small folder he had in front.
Gray leaned forward a little, resting his elbows on the edge of the table. The talk had gotten a little less formal now.
"I mean... this is my first time handling something this big," he admitted out loud. "When I took over, it was a mess."
Gray paused for a second, his fingers tapping against the table before continuing.
"And as I’ve said, I’m trying to fix it. Slowly. One thing at a time. So yeah, I guess this place feels like a kid I’m raising. Other than that, I don’t want to be the kind of boss who only looks at numbers and forgets the people. I want the team to care and the customers to feel it."
Owen studied him for a moment. His expression was neutral, but not unreadable. At that moment, it felt like he was assessing. Not to judge Gray, but to understand where he was coming from.
"That’s not a bad mindset," he said at last. "You’re not the only one who’s said something like that, but... most people who do?" He shrugged.
"They usually don’t last long. Some care too much but don’t show it. Others show it too much and lose the part that a boss and a worker still have their differences."
Gray lifted a brow.
"So, which one do you think I’ll be?"
"That’s what I’m here to find out," Owen replied simply. He set aside his notepad and took a folder in its place. In there, he showed Gray a brief checklist.
"For now, I’ll need access to your internal reports such as sales history, daily logs, supplier contracts, employee roster, and shift schedules. If you have any customer feedback logs or complaint records, I’d like to see those too."
Gray gave a slow nod. "I have those. I’ll forward you everything today."
"Perfect. I’ll go through the numbers tonight and build a baseline."
"Baseline?"
"Yeah," Owen nodded. "Before I start recommending anything, I need to understand what ’normal’ looks like here. What’s good and what’s bad? Every store has blind spots. I want to find yours before they bite you."
Gray nodded slowly, letting Owen’s words settle in.
"I got it. I’ll make sure I send all the files you need today. I’ll also let the manager know you’ll be observing in the future days."
"I appreciate it," Owen replied. His tone was still calm but professional. He tucked the folder back into his leather case and sat back in his chair, waiting.
Gray sat still for another moment, mulling over his next words. Even if Owen seemed easy to talk to, and even if he clearly knew what he was doing, Gray had been through enough to know better than to let his guard down too quickly.
"You know... I trust your judgment," Gray said carefully. "You’re the expert here, so I’ll follow your lead. Just..." He paused, tapping his fingers against the desk again, unsure how to say it.
"But this might sound a little paranoid, but will we be signing any sort of NDA?"
Gray just wanted to make sure, since these would require him to show confidential files of the company.
Owen blinked once, then let out a quiet chuckle.
"Of course."
He reached into his bag and pulled out a neatly folded document, already printed and paperclipped together.
"Mr. Everett had it prepared in advance. It’s the standard confidentiality terms that state mutual protection. You can check it first if you want."
Gray blinked. "Oh, you’re prepared."
"Like I said, Mr. Everett doesn’t like wasting time. And neither do I." Owen chuckled.
Gray took the document from him and glanced through the front page. One glance and he could tell that it was clearly written up by a legal team.
’This really is Conrad’s guy...’ he thought.
"It looks good," Gray muttered as he flipped through the pages.
"You don’t need to rush to sign it now," Owen added. "You can go through it, have your legal counsel review it if you want. I’m not touching anything sensitive until you do."
Gray looked up at that.
"Thanks," he briefly smiled and nodded. "I’ll read it today. We’ll sign before we move further."
"All right." Owen nodded. "That sounds like a plan."
Owen stood from his seat and picked up his leather case in one smooth motion. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a sleek white card with his name embossed in clean and minimalist font in front.
"Here," he said, placing it gently on the edge of Gray’s desk. "That’s my direct line. Once you’ve gone through the NDA and signed it, give me a call or send me a message. We’ll discuss things further after that."
Gray nodded as he picked up the card, flipping it once between his fingers.
"Will do," Gray answered. "Don’t worry, it won’t take long."
Owen gave him a polite nod, then turned and made his way toward the door. He walked with the kind of ease that came from experience. A few seconds later, the door shut softly behind him.
Gray remained in his seat, holding the card between his fingers. The name "Owen Tan" was etched into the surface in silver ink. There was nothing there except his name and number.
He set the card down and was just about to lean back when the door creaked open again.
Marcus stepped in again, his eyes flicking toward the hallway before settling on Gray.
"So," Marcus started casually, "who was that guy?"
Gray blinked.
It was a strange thing. He didn’t expect Marcus to ask like that.
Usually, Marcus kept his observations to himself. He wasn’t the type to pry. So, for him to ask that meant he was probably a little curious, or maybe a little cautious.
"Uh,"
Gray was ready to answer, but for some reason, the words stalled in his throat. He didn’t really know why, but something in him made him hesitate a little bit.
"Don’t worry, it’s just a friend." Gray leaned back and smiled. "He said he wanted to work for the company."