Opening Jitters

(Know I said five threads, but idea wouldn't leave me alone. Besides, I think from experience I can handle more then that)
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Monica was in a restaurant waiting for her friends to arrive at a spot they had reserved at that was less noisy and crowded. In just a few days or so she was finally going to open up Second Chances. She had a lot doubts and concerns starting up this business but she pushed through it, it helped Manny decided he was going to go fully in with helping her in anyway he could.. How successful it would be, she wasn't too sure. Sure things worked out all right with Manny and Anita, and some other friends but did that really mean she was ready for something like this?

"Sorry, something came up." The familiar voice of Emanule caught her attention as he sat down. "How are you holding up?"

"Fine, I guess. Just things on my mind." Monica didn't think all of them were as important, some were though. "I'm really nervous about opening and this thing becoming a flop. I mean, sure I helped you and Anita but I Really didn't do anything. I just had a feeling you two get along and let it go from there."

Emanulle shook his head. "That's the point. You're not over doing it, you're just letting nature takes its course after you get a feel if the two people are compatible or not. It's a lot less pushy and intrusive then other methods. Relax, you'll be fine. You're just getting cold feet because its a new thing where you can fail, but even if it doesn't work out it'll be a learning experience."

He was right, he usually was in situations like these. "Thank you. You always make feel better." She hoped Anita showed up, she was kind of busy but said if she finished whatever she was doing she would meet up with them. "If nothing else maybe we can prove Rieko wrong we won't last a month."

"The woman that owns Eden I wouldn't worry about. If anything consider it a compliment a established one thinks you may be a threat to their bottom line. Speaking of.." Emanulle pulled out a folder and laid it out the table. "I've been conducting a bit of research on that, just in case. Been around for a number of years, but from what i can see they have a good turn over ratio."

"Turn over?" Monica asked.

"Basically, the amount of times a client comes back. From what I've been able to piece together, it seems they do this Just enough to turn a profit judging by a pattern of things. Once, or a few times could be written off but not when there's a history.of it. That way they have a steady flow of money."

Monica frowned, not liking that idea. "So they d dangle people along for money. It makes sense from a business perspective as its not really illegal but it puts a bad taste of my mouth still. I know its kinda naive to some but I do want to help people, that's another reason I wanted to give this a try. I honestly don't want this company to become a big souless corporation. I'm fine with it staying small, assuming we get enough attention at all."

"I understand. We'll have to see how it goes. I was thinking if we get a bit bigger we think about getting a dating coach perhaps? It would certainly help with making sure clients are happy if they need that extra help, assuming they're willing to put in the work." Emanulle had some other ideas, but right now it was starting off small.

Monica couldn't disagree with that. Too bad his girlfriend's chaos energy had nothing to do with love stuff..though it oddly seemed to make people horny at times for some reason. Not that Manny needed help with that with Anita around him more regularly now, but she didn't tease that simply because it wasn't fun when the target didn't get flustered.

"You know..." Marcen says, like he was always there "You might want to look into making an app for your business, along with a website." he suggests "Not only will it let people find someone on their terms, it'll also help a little with the bills if you have a monthly fee. he says "And for those who want a one-on-one session with you to help them find their 'Special Someone', they can book an appointment on your site."

Monica almost yelped in surprise, almost jumping back in her chair but Emanulle luckily caught her by reflex from the worse of it. She was still embarrassed by being startled and wondered if she should be more upset at Emanulle's friend from over hearing like that but decided against it. He wasn't apart of the group anymore since he decided to take this leap of faith with her, but his friends still popped up from time to time.

Macen was lucky she found them cute and they were Manny's friend. So she told herself.

"Please don't startle me like that." Monica said, trying to recover her tattered dignity, though could of been a lot worse. "And its not a bad one. Um could you get started on something like that Emanulle? Its really not my fore front."

Emanulle shook his head. "I could, but I'm not an expert so the website would be one of the make and bake type. In other words, pretty cookie cutter. The app thing I can do for sure."

Marcen nods "Apologies." he says. He never Means to startle people, he thinks they just need to switch to decaf.

"I'll ask Buddy if he could whip up a website for you two and, if you want, maybe an app program as well." he offers. Just because Manny wasn't apart of the team anymore, didn't mean he wasn't still Marcen's friend.

"And with the app, even if you charge Five American dollars a month, which is pretty reasonable, and you get, let's say, ten thousand subscribers, that'll be over a half a million dollars in a year." he points out "And for Only five bucks a month."

Monica thought that sounded pretty fair, and while she did start the idea of the business it was her And Manny's so any big decsions they had to talk to each other. If they agreed, or have to come to some sort of compromise. She trusted his judgement and cooler head on most things, though she did think she got things he missed and visa versa.

"We would really apperciate that, thank you." Emanulle said to his friend. "Right now, we're just testing the waters to see how things go. If business picks up we'll have to hire a few more people."

Marcen thinks for a bit "While it's no business of mine, I would suggest hiring at the most, One person for now." he says "That way you can keep the amount of people who can stake a claim in your company down it a minimum. This will Also minimize a potential headache later on." he explains.

Monica didn't see an issue with that, it seemed smart. "You have a point. We were going to keep it small anyway for now since we don't know how things will go, not to mention it makes it easier on us." She looked her watch, she was just checking on things far as time went. "Did you want to sit with us?"

Marcen nods "Sure, if it's not an inconvenience." he says as he takes a seat by Manny "I don't know anything about running a business, but like anything, it's best to treat it like forming a team..." he says.

"You need a leader..." he holds up a finger "Someone who will make the hard decisions if they have to, and come up with the good one too." he explains.

"A healer. Someone who will watch your back and call you out when you make a bad call." he continues.

"A powerhouse. Someone who will do all the heavy lifting and can be counted on to get the job, no matter what it is, done." he says.

"And finally, a jack-of-all-trades. Someone who is good at a little of everything, even things you didn't know you would need on your mission. That way you'll always have the right person for any job that might pop up." he finishes.

He pulls out a flask and offers it to Monica "That's how I would set up a team, you know, if I was going on a mission. For a business, things Might be slightly different." he says.

Monica had a drink coming but just to be polite, she accepted it. A business was different then running a team, however she could take what was offered and tweak it to her liking to something that fit. Some of the things they mentioned.

"While its not a team, some of this stuff me and Manny can use. Just have to twist to our liking." Monica says. She didn't really have any friends she trusted for it who didn't already have stuff going on and would be interested.

"From the sounds of things, I think hiring two more people would be the ideal for now." Emanulle think they had two of those covered at least. "It may be a good idea to delay the opening just a bit longer to make sure our ducks are in a row first."

"Hm..I guess so.." Monica said. "Not for too long, but just enough."

It wasn't anything to drink, so much as it was a soup of some kind that was sweet, but had a slight spicy after taste to it as well.

Marcen thinks for a bit "You know,  opening your Physical location might have to wait, but your online one is something you can launch once it's ready." he says.

Monica supposed that would be fair, they could get some money rolling in before they got the actual shop opening up. On another plus side she'd be able to screen other possible employee's with keeping a mind it be a rather small range to start off in the beginning.

"That could work, and Manny said a lot of things about Buddy's web site making abilties. They're very creative. If all goes well, this could give us a head start." Monica took another try of the odd soup, not quite able to place her finger on it. "Say, what is this soup anyway? I can't really place it."

Marcen shakes his head slightly "It's nothing you would be familiar with." he says "It's a special brew that helps boost stamina, keeps you alert, and helps you focus, as well helps with any hunger pains." he explains "You looked like you needed a pick me up." he says.

That made sense, it sounded like a family recipe or maybe more likely something from his background being a ninja. "We'll, it helped so thank you for that. If I may ask, is it a secret recipe or something you could teach me if I wanted to?" She wouldn't mind learning.

In the background the waitress delievered Monica and Emanulle's food before they left the three.

Marcen nods slowly, he was still on high alert, like always "It's not a village secret if that's what you're thinking. Every shinobi village has someting of this nature. I'll get you the recipe." he says as he checks his watch "Well, my break's over..." he says as he stands "Back to patrolling I go." he says "Monica, it was good seeing you again..." he says to the young woman "Manny, I'll get back to you with the website when Buddy is finished with it." he says.

"Thank you, both of us apperciate it a lot." Emanulle really did, since it helped both him and Monica as far as getting a even further head start then what they would be on their own.

"You too. You take care of yourself. One thing before you go." Monica dug into her pockets and gave Marcen a card. "Here. In case you ever feel like talking, its my own number." She wasn't expecting anything but you never know. Closed mouths don't get fed, but best just to be casual about it.

Marcen takes the card, looks it over, then sticks in one of the pockets on his vest "Take care you two, I'll be in touch." he says with a nod, before heading out.

After Marcen had left, Monica and Emanulle continued to enjoy their meal in peace, with idle small talk here and there. Monica didn't have any plans and was thinking of heading in early after this but for Manny he'd probably be staying up to his own thing since he still had plenty of energy to spare.

As Monica was wandering where she was heading, Anita was also wandering about. She had some things to talk with Manny about. Mainly about how to handle this job with Paragon Corp. It Seemed simple enough, her task was to gather information about the kind of help was to be sent.

Monica ended up just going home to get some sleep, she had a lot of things she intended to do early on. As for Emanulle he decided if he was going to stay up to see if Anita was still up around this time of the night and give them a call he wouldn't mind spending more time with them of course.

Since it was late, Anita decided to go to sleep as well. She had plenty of things to make her day a busy one tomorrow and figured she would need all the rest she could get at the moment.

Emanulle didn't get a reply so he figured she was likely sleep, so that in mind they deciided to go home to get some sleep.

* *

Around the next morning, Monica woke up early on however she had the usual things to go over with Manny among other things. However it was early and she was slugging through so she wasn't in a hurry. She'd have to see about getting into contact with Anita too.

After Anita wakes up and replies to Manny, saying she would love to hang out for a bit, but she had a pretty busy day planned out for her and if she wasn't Too tired after work, she would get ahold of him.

Once Monica got her early 'to do list' out the way she went to find Emanulle when he was ready so they could go do some tidying up at their business. Sure it still had some time before it opened but that didn't mean they should slack on it when a good first impression meant everything, whether in business or in life. It may not have been fair, but that was life.

"Sorry I'm late, had a few things that took longer." Emanulle said as he joined his cousin.

"Eh its fine. So you hear back from Anita? I was thinking the three of us can hang out one of these days." Anita had work and a life of her own to worry about so they didn't see each other quite as much as they used to in the more care free days.

"She did, it depends how she's feeling after work. Said something about having a longer day planned."

Anita sends Manny a text asking if he wanted to have lunch, saying there was something she wanted to talk with him about, work related, that way he wouldn't stress out trying to rack his brain about what she wanted.

Emanulle sent her one back he'd meet them at the place of their choice before addressing Monica. "Anita wanted to have lunch together, are you sure you don't need my help with anything before I leave?"

The young woman thought about it, then shook her head. "Not for now that I need to do myself anyway. Tell Anita I said hi and if she's doing anything this evening. I would like the three of us to go on a night on the town, if she's up to it and not busy."

"I'll let you know. See you in a bit." Emanulle didn't want to keep them waiting so he went go meet with them.