On the car ride back, everyone was quiet. No one asked about what had occurred in the meeting, and it was all because of the energy that was being given off by Gary. One could tell as Gary still had his hands clenched, annoyed at what had occurred, still blaming himself for what happened.
In the end, Gary finally spoke.
“I’m sorry, guys. As Mr Cardenez said, I guess I'm not really fit to be that type of leader. I don’t know many things when it comes to business and such, and I know I make ridiculous requests that might make it harder for the gang to operate.
“But I guess, I can only really be me in the end, and if someone doesn’t like it, I guess that's just it. So I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm sorry that you guys have to put up with a leader like this.”
Immediately, everyone started to speak out at once, arguing against what Gary said, about to say he was a great leader but because they all said words at once, Gary couldn’t even follow what any of them were saying, so instead Kai turned around to Tyler.
“Let’s stop on Burnham food street and get something to eat.” Kai suggested.
Everyone was sitting down at a fancy hotpot restaurant on burnham street and due to Olivia being with them it was safe to say they got top service. As for the onlookers there really weren’t any without their masks.
Since they were wearing normal suits and so, many thought it was just a company out on an evening meal, which in some cases it really was.
Everyone was trying to cheer up Gary as they gobbled down on food, and Olivia, Gary and Kai were by far eating the most, but nearly everything they ate and ordered was all meat. After the meal was done though, raising a glass of plum juice, Kai had a few words to say.
“This is only a small hiccup in the many opportunities to come, but it was a good chance for all of us to come together once more. Let's enjoy tonight as we say goodbye and good luck to our friend Gary!” Kai raised his glass.
The rest did the same with Olivia only the one actually drinking some alcohol since the rest weren’t of age yet. As for the toast, it was because Gary would be returning back to the AFA tomorrow, just in time for his special lesson again.
Before leaving of course, Gary did make the promise that if he was needed again like so, then he would be happy to return at any time. The others were sad to see him go after arriving so soon, but that was just the way it needed to be for them to move forward.
For some reason though, Kai didn’t think it would be the end of their involvement with the Cardenez group.
——
After the meeting had taken place, Mr Cardenez wasn’t the type of person who would just sit and wait around doing nothing. His business would have never survived if that was the case, which was why he had set up a meeting on the same day with the tier 2 city, known as Notsburg.
A tier two city that prided itself on its history. Because it was one of the few cities that ,although it wasn’t strong enough to classify itself as a tier 1, they had cemented its position as a tier 2.
They had been one of the longest standing tier 2 cities, and not once had they been taken over, or had the head gang that was in charge of such a place been changed. Of course, just like other cities, they would listen to the kings if instructed as to not cause any trouble but the fact that none of the kings ever tried to directly own the city, showed their strength.
Mr Cardenez knew this about them, which was why he was sure they were a confident pick. They had also shown an interest in his company as well.
Before heading to the tier 2 city though, Mr Cardnez wished to head home, and that way because there was a certain someone that he was looking forward to picking up.
Rather than heading to his company headquarters, he was heading home instead. His house was a single story building, that was wide and had quite the large pond for fish and more.
As soon as he entered through the large gate, many of the men had their heads held down as he walked towards the gate.
“Welcome back Sir!” The men shouted at once.
Rather than an owner of a large business the way his employees acted were more so that of welcoming back their gang leader, but this was the way that he had run things and would continue to do so.
Walking down the grand entrance, he eventually went to his office, a large room with a back window that looked out to the pond and shelves filled with countless books, but here was the person he had been waiting to see the most, and seeing him had brought the biggest smile on his face.
“Aren’t you going to give your father a hug?” Mr Cardenzes said. “Come on Numba there is no need to be shy.”
Hearing this, Numba tilted his shy face to the side, before he walked over and gave his father a hug. Sitting down in his office chair he picked up a picture, which had him, Numba and his mother in the picture as well.
Of course, in the photo Numba was only a couple years younger than he was, and there were no photos in the room of Numba as a child, all of this, was due to Numba being an adoptive child of the Cardenez family.
“I got your message, and came back as soon as possible, is there something wrong?” Numba asked.
“Nothing is wrong.” Mr Cardnez replied back. “In fact things have been great, especially after learning of all the things that you have done in the AFA. I knew you were a special person which is why we put so much hope into you, but you have been surpassing our expectations.”
Numba knew exactly what he meant, people usually spent a lot longer in the preliminary stages before entering the real academy, but he had gotten through quickly but not just that, as the number one ranking student no less.
This was a joy that anyone would have learning of the news, but Numba knew it wasn’t due to his own efforts, and seeing his father act a certain way about it, there was no way he could tell his father the truth, that a lot of it was due to his help from his friend Gary.
“I know it must be hard for you there, especially with our position. I have heard a lot of things about the AFA and how the students use their backgrounds to bully the others around them but you have stuck through it, but soon you won’t have to shy away so much. That is the reason why I called you.”
Mr Cardnez let the smile go away from his face as he moved onto what he believed was a more serious matter.
“I wish for you to attend a meeting today with me. As you are the only heir, eventually you will also take care of the family business. I know it will be hard for you to focus on the AFA, the AFC and the business at the same time, but this is to improve our relations in the future.
“You will become a name that will not be messed with.”
This was pretty much the thought that nearly everyone had that sent their kids to the AFA. So Numba was expecting this.
“I see now, I will try my best to learn as much as possible during this meeting,” Numba replied.
“Good, your willingness to learn has also always been great. So I will give you a few details beforehand about the whole meeting. This is a chance for our company to make good connections with a tier 2 city.”
Now, Numba knew what his father meant by not allowing him to be bullied around. If they had connections with a tier 2 city it would put him on par with many of the others.
“The tier 2 city we will be going to is Notsburg.”
Hearing that name, the colour from Numba’s face had immediately dropped. The name was quite familiar for Numba, and that was because he had been doing some research of his own on the tier 2 city.
‘This city, it's the one that Sty….and Apollo, the one that both of them are from.’
*******
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