Every Shade by Nora Phoenix

5

Let's eat?Langley had to be kidding, right? He couldn't just say things like that and then expected Alexander to sit down and have a normal conversation over a steaming dish of lasagna…which smelled absolutely heavenly, by the way. And so did the garlic bread that had browned deliciously in the oven. Fuck, Alexander was hungry. All right, so he would sit down and eat. But only because it would be a shame to let the food go cold.

He watched with a combination of amusement and amazement as Langley moved around his kitchen as if he'd been there a million times before, opening drawers and cupboards until he'd found plates, glasses, and silverware. And if it was the most normal thing in the world, he cut out a quarter of the lasagna and put it on Alexander's dish. "There's your appetizer," he said with a wink, and fuck, that was funny. He'd always had a sense of humor.

For the first few minutes, neither of them spoke, both too busy wolfing down the garlic bread while waiting for the lasagna to cool off enough to eat. Once Alexander dug into the rich, creamy pasta, Langley spoke up. "I looked at your numbers over the last few years, and it's easy to see where the problem is."

"Yeah?" Alexander mumbled with his mouth full. "Please enlighten me."

"Don't be a dick. You know what the problem is as well. Your accounting system might be rudimentary, but it's meticulous. You know exactly what your issue is."

Alexander swallowed, then sighed. "Even without the debts I'm still paying off, I barely break even. This town isn't big enough to sustain a gas station."

Langley nodded. "Exactly. I've done some calculations, and for the last five years, you would've made less than a thousand dollars profit per month if I take out the payments you did toward your father's debt."

Your father's debt. Alexander couldn't explain it, but it meant a lot to him that Langley had reported it like that, as if stressing these debts were not Alexander's fault. He had inherited them, not caused them himself. "You made those calculations already? That's quick."

Langley shrugged. "Like I said, your books are meticulous. Once I had access, it wasn't that hard. I've become pretty handy with Excel sheets. I'll show you after dinner, but the bottom line is that your business model is not sustainable in the long run."

"That's a fancy way of saying I'm fucked."

Langley leaned forward, his eyes seeking Alexander's, and he didn't speak until Alexander met his intense gaze. "No. It's a fancy way of saying you need to make some changes."

"Like what? Sell?"

"Fuck no. Why would you sell? Unless that's what you want? My father told me you wanted to keep it, both the gas station and the house."

"I do, but I don't see any way I can make that happen, not in the long run. I know I shouldn't be telling you this, but it's not like you or your father wouldn't be smart enough to figure it out yourself. A loan from you would tide me over for maybe a year, but after that, I would be in the exact same situation."

"Exactly. That's what I'm telling you. You do need to make some changes, but that change is not selling. It's diversifying your offerings. You need to change your business model and become far less dependent on the sales of gas alone."

Despite himself, Alexander was intrigued now. He had to admit that he hadn't expected much from Langley and especially not for him to have an analysis already. "I don't know what else I could sell. Not without getting into trouble with Mary, who is already a competitor since she added a convenience store to her café."

"Your busiest day of the week is Sunday, correct?"

Alexander nodded.

"Do you know why?"

Huh. Good question. He'd never actually thought about it beyond some assumptions. "My idea was it had to do with tourists and especially people heading for the slopes."

"That's certainly part of it, but quick analysis shows that local sales are up on Sunday as well."

"They are? How would you explain that?" Despite himself, he was now intrigued by what Langley was hinting at.

"Is Mary's still closed on Sundays?"

"Yeah, but…"

“Unless something has changed, your gas station is the only store that's open on Sunday in the area. It was like that when I lived here, and I doubt that much has changed in between."

"It is, and everyone knows that, so I'm not sure how that would get me more sales. I mean, I know Sundays are my busiest days, but it’s still a small town, so there are only so many customers, even on a busy day."

"That's why the goal isn't to draw in more customers in the first place but to make them spend more. If they already come here for the quick groceries they forgot to buy during the week, we need to give them a reason to buy more than what they came for. Impulse buys. Things they don't need but that they want when they see them. Or things they never knew they wanted until they saw them.”

Impulse buys. In theory, Alexander knew what those were, but what on earth could he offer in a gas station? "What are you thinking of?"

Langley shook his head. "That, I haven't figured out yet. I'm fast, but not that fast. I’ll have to do some market research."

Much to his surprise, Alexander had finished not only his first plate but was halfway through his second portion of lasagna, which Langley had sneakily put on his plate. "You're good at this," he admitted reluctantly.

Langley chuckled. "Don't sound so surprised. It's not good for my ego."

Alexander couldn't help but smile. "Your ego can take it to be pegged down a rung or two."

"You think I'm arrogant?"

"Arrogant? No. Cocky. Incredibly self-confident. In the most annoying way."

"Ah, you flatter me."

"Calling you annoying flatters you?"

Langley waved his hand dismissively. "That's just you in the throes of denial. We both know how closely related hate and lust are. No, the self-confident part. The fact that you don't think I'm arrogant. That's a compliment."

Alexander slowly shook his head. "I certainly didn't mean it as such."

"Oh, I know, but that's all part of that confidence you find so irresistible."

"Pretty sure I called it annoying, not irresistible."

"Semantics."

“Not really. Annoying and irresistible are opposites, wouldn’t you say?”

“Nah. Like I said, it’s like hate and lust. They’re much closer than people think.”

“Are you saying I’m lusting after you?”

Langley’s smile bloomed slowly, his whole face lighting up as he leaned forward, put his elbows on the table, and said, “Oh, we both know you are. You’ve wanted to fuck me since I was eighteen years old. It’s the reason why you told me to leave and why you didn’t want me to come back… But it’s also the exact reason why I’m back. We’re not done, you and me. In fact, we’ve only gotten started.”