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22
Kaluna stood and smiled to Jack as she strutted back to his door. She slipped out of the door and shut it behind herself with a final heat filled look into Jack’s eyes.
Jack pulled his clothes back on and checked to make sure he hadn’t got them dirty. He was good. Kaluna had done an excellent job of cleaning him and catching every drop.
“Stand up,” he said.
Leffera jumped up and stood before him.
“No more lies. Is that understood?” he growled.
She nodded rapidly as she rubbed her thighs together.
“No touching yourself. You call me at ten and I will watch you give yourself release then. Understood!” Jack said sternly.
Leffera’s eyes went wide and she almost came at the idea of masturbating on camera while he watched. She’d never heard of that before. It was so HOT! She squirmed and nodded.
“Out you go!” he commanded and she went.
He sat behind his desk and grinned. He knew that call tonight was going to be a short one. She wouldn’t last a minute. He still had to think of a way for her to make amends to the staff in the two offices who missed out on movie night for a full week. Without disclosing why.
He looked at his schedule and saw that Denee had contacted Leffera and she had pushed his schedule to the following day so he’d have time to go to Earth to get his tuxedo. She’d also contacted the Security Ministry and arranged to have his escort meet him at the Gate terminal. He wondered if it was going to be Bal and Gee again.
He did have a little time so he left his office and went down to the consultation room to see if any of the applicants were still there. He found only one. An older black gentleman in a wrinkled suit with a selling kit at his feet. He was sitting on a chair looking like life had just given him a beating. He was holding a handkerchief in his bony fist.
“Are you alright sir?” Jack asked.
“No, I’m not alright. This was my last chance. I spent everything I had to be here today and Lucifer’s too busy to see anyone,” the man growled with a shaky voice.
Lucifer?!? That nickname was a new one to him. It kind of shook him a little to know people thought of him that way. He knew he wasn’t going to make everyone love him, but Lucifer? Really? He sighed.
“My dad used to tell me that everyone deserves a second chance. Maybe I could have mine?” Jack asked and old eyes finally turned to him. They widened when they saw his horns. “Oh Lord. It’s true!”
“Sir? I’m not the devil. I’m just a man… with horns. But I’m here and I have time for one applicant. Would you like to make your pitch?” he gestured towards the meeting room. He saw the old man gather his wits and stand. He picked up his kit and followed Jack into the room.
Once they got inside he turned to the man and held out his hand. “I’m Jack Danner, Earth’s Trade Representative for Altaria.”
“Douglas Stanfield.” The man had an excellent grip.
His eyes looked up then back to Jack’s eyes.
Time to address the elephant in the room.
“I’m just a Human who had a one in a zillion reaction to a stupid little Altarian virus. Bonded some old Altarian genes with mine and now I have these. Could have been worse. Like I said, the chances of it happening were astronomical but lucky me for being there when all the stars aligned,” he smiled.
Douglas just looked away from the horns and nodded. Jack gestured to the table for him to set his kit down and begin.
Sometimes Jack would sit behind the desk while the applicants made their presentation. But this one had gone to seemingly extreme lengths to get to Altaria to make his pitch so Jack stayed on the man’s side of the desk to give him that little extra attention. He leaned back against the desk and watched the man open the display and prepare. The sales kit was old and threadbare, held together by rubber bands and paperclips. But it did hold the small hand tools he was showing.
Jack watched attentively as the pitch unrolled and felt his heart ache when he realized the product wasn’t suitable for the Altarian’s due to the anatomy of their hands. They wouldn’t be able to hold the tools properly. Even if they could there really wouldn’t be a market for them anyway. Then his mind made a leap as something he’d seen triggered a memory of a frustration he’d had since he’d been on Altaria. He waited politely for the man to finish.
Douglas looked at him nervously. He hadn’t been kidding when he said this was his last chance. His family was relying on him to pull this off. They’d pooled their savings into this business and the ticket to get him all the way here. Now it was up to the man with the horns to make or break him.
“That was an excellent presentation. I want you to bear with me until I’m finished talking, ok?” Jack paused until the confused man nodded. “First off the craftsmanship of your product is very high. Quality stuff! I’m going to recommend this product to a market… but not the Altarians. You should have researched your target market better as Altarian hands have two strong fingers and two strong opposed thumbs which would make working with these tools rather difficult and uncomfortable. Additionally they don’t really have a need for the function these tools provide.” The man began to slump. “It’s not all bad news. There’s a race of people I’ve met called the Greeluan Harn who would love these but you should know they are terribly cheap and you’ll need to use every ounce of your bargaining skills to get a fair price from them. My estimation is that their market might top out at 10, 000 units but I could be wrong. Like I said if you want I’ll give you a letter of introduction that will get you in their door.” He saw the man was still deflating as he realized his access to the vast Altarian market had just passed him by.
“Now for some better news,” Jack smiled and the man looked hopefully at him.
“Something that Altarians don’t have and there would be a market for are these!” Jack reached forward and plucked at the rubber bands holding the kit together.
“Rubber bands?” the old man mumbled.
“Yes! It’s crazy but they have nothing like them here and while they seem so innocuous they’re very useful as your trade case proves! If you could find a good source for quality rubber bands I’ll set you up as the importer,” Jack said.
The old man looked at the case and then back at Jack to see if he was trying some elaborate and cruel joke. Jack saw his doubt and felt it in his heart.
“I’m not kidding. No one has approached me for selling them yet. It wasn’t until I saw your kit that I realized what was missing. We need an importer. Do you think you could do that?” Jack simply said.Belonging to NôvelDrama.Org.
“Yeah, I could do that,” Douglas said with a slow grin.
“Do you have any samples?” Jack asked. The old man chuckled and opened a compartment in the kit full of odds and ends and pulled out a bag of rubber bands in various sizes. He handed it to Jack.
He also handed Jack an old fashioned business card with his contact details on it. Jack smiled and tucked it in his pocket.
“I’ll show these to my people and we will send you an order. Remember you need to find a source for good quality rubber bands, not those cheap ones that dry out quickly and break. I’ll find out the specs for which sizes will be most popular and we will go from there, ok? If they’re as popular as I expect they’ll be you should be good,” Jack explained. He held up a small silver rod and indicated Douglas should press his thumb to the round pad at the end. Jack then pressed his thumb to the pad.
“Jack Danner, Earth’s Trade Representative for Altaria. Douglas Stanfield, Rubber Bands,” Jack said towards the device. It beeped then he handed it to the man. “This is proof that we have an initial contract and that should get you started. My team will contact you and you will deal with them from this point on.” He held out his hand to the man again.
The old man suddenly hugged Jack and he felt him trembling. “Easy now,” Jack gently pushed him back so he could look in the man’s eyes. “You still have some work ahead of you finding the supplier. Also, you should seriously show these tools to the Greeluan Harn. They will love them! Don’t settle for less than $2500 a set though. Would you like the introduction letter?”