Page 16 of Enemy Crush
“Bye.”
After I get off the phone, I call Lola.
“Hey, what’s up?” she answers.
“Hey, can I get those pics you took of the bookstore? I have DJ starting on a new website.”
“Oh, absolutely. I’ll email them to you now.”
“Perfect, thanks.”
“So, I take it Pax took you up on your offer, huh?”
“Yep, I’m making my presentation to him this evening over pizza and beer.”
She laughs. “Good. I knew he would.”
“It took some convincing.”
“I figured it would. I’ll send those pics over real quick, but I have a client coming in so I have to go.”
“Okay, thanks. Bye!”
I hang up the phone and check two things off my list. Within minutes, the pictures are coming through my email and I forward them over to DJ before getting to work on other projects. The day goes smoothly and when five o’clock rolls around, I shut everything down and head home to get ready for dinner.
I change out of my stuffy work clothes and pull on a pair of skinny jeans, a tank top, and some flip flops. I pull my hair up into a ponytail and add some fresh lip gloss. The day is hot and even though the sun will be going down soon, it doesn’t seem to be cooling off any. I grab my purse and the folder holding the presentation is already inside. I head out the door with my keys in hand, but the sun warms my cheeks and a light wind blows. I drop my keys into my purse and decide to walk. I need the fresh air and I’m only two blocks away from the pizza place.
It doesn’t take me long to get there, but I notice his truck is already in the parking lot as I’m walking up. I walk in and find him sitting at a table in the center of the room. I walk over and sit across from him.
“I thought I might actually beat you here today.”
He smiles and shrugs. “I was excited to see what you’ve come up with.”
The waitress noticed me walk in and she comes over and asks for a drink order. “I’ll just have a Coors Light draft.”
She nods and dashes off.
“I have some great stuff for you,” I tell him, pulling the file out of my purse and handing it over. “I’ve got someone working on a new website for you and I’ve already gotten the pictures from Lola and sent it all over.”
“Wow, you work fast,” he says, flipping the cover back on the file.
“So, the first part of saving your business is to get your expenses as low as possible. After looking at your books, I found an insurance company who will insure the building with more coverage for half the price you’re paying now.”
His eyes pop up to me and his mouth hangs open.
“Also, the town offers tax free utilities for businesses, so I’ve applied for that discount for you. It won’t save a lot, but something is better than nothing. There wasn’t anything I could do about property taxes, but I did find a cheaper place for you to order your books and that information is in the presentation. Since you don’t currently have any employees, I couldn’t cut anything back there but getting rid of that open mic night will save some money too.”
His eyes are bouncing back and forth between me and the papers in front of him like he can’t believe I managed to get so much done.
“Now, part two is getting people in the door and making some money. So I spent the week reaching out to well-known authors. Some of them I didn’t hear anything back from, others wanted payment to do a signing and, well, that just doesn’t make any sense when we’re trying to make money, but I had a few who offered their help. Smith Grayson is willing to donate one hundred books to your bookstore. You can sell them for whatever you want on the day of his signing.”
His eyes widen. “Smith Grayson is going to do a signing at my bookstore?”
I smile and nod.
“And he doesn’t want payment?”
I shake my head. “He’s all about the small business and the written word. He hates how everything has gone digital now and he wants more bookstores to succeed, especially small business owners. So you get one hundred free books that you can turn around and sell for ten or twenty bucks each. His signing will bring in people from town and from surrounding towns and while all those people are there hopefully they buy other books in stock.”
