(BL)Alpha Made-Chapter 313: A thinly veiled recruitment

Turns out, the jeweler was really good at explaining everything to Andrew, and the pros and cons of each piece. Andrew, being the stickler that he was, pulled out a pen and paper that he had shoved into his pocket, you know, just in case, and was writing down everything he was learning.

He would cross out types that he didn’t think would suit the image of Maxwell that he had, like whatever a solitary one was, and looked at more...blended styles? He wasn’t sure if that was what he was supposed to call it, but that was what he was calling it in his head.

The ones that had different sizes that kind of circles or enclosed around the larger stone. He was kind of set on getting a diamond since that would suit Maxwell, but he wasn’t set on a white diamond when he found out that diamonds came in different colours.

Andrew had felt his whole body lighten when he realised that he really could get other colours of the ring. He knew that classically, only white diamond engagement rings were the norm, but he just...It would suit Maxwell. Anything would suit Maxwell, but...he was his little spitfire. His little fairy. He wanted the ring he got for him to be as unique and important as Maxwell was to him.

When he’d said that out loud, he said it with his full chest. Amir had melted, reaching over and squeezing Andrew’s upper arm with his hands, his eyes watering.

"That’s so sweet, Andy." Amir had told him and Amir’s grandmother had nodded, his eyes a little damp as well.

"Good. If you had approached this lightly, I would have had to punish you." He warned and Andrew laughed. He approached nothing with Maxwell lightly.

They were moving onto another phase of rings when Andrew felt arms wrap around his waist and Maria chuckled.

"How’s it going?" She asked, poking her head out from behind him and surprising the jeweler. Andrew chuckled, patting the top of her head and she released him, pulling Zack and her daughter behind her. Zack hoisted up Kailey so that she could see all of the pretty rings with them.

"I think it’s going well?" Andrew told her in reply and she nodded. She scanned over the rings in the case, then glanced at the little notebook that Andrew had and a smile split her face.

"Maxy is going to get the best ring on the market, isn’t he?" Maria asked, turning to Amir and his grandmother. They both smirked.

"The best ring? I have a feeling that since Andy isn’t familiar at all with this process it’s going to set off new trends for rings." Amir teased, smiling at Andrew with such affection that he knew it wasn’t a dig in the slightest. That was confirmed when Amir’s grandmother nodded next to Maria.

"I’m looking forward to it. Andrew has asked some good questions, very eye opening ones. It’s inspiring me to come up with some more interesting designs as base rings." He told them and Maria’s expression brightened.

"Hear that? You might inspire a change in the market. Your Mom would be so proud since she disrupted the market as well." Maria said and Andrew gave her a strange look.

"You...knew?" He asked and Maria halted, before her face turned red.

"Well...no. I only found out about it later. It was...a accident I found out. One of my relatives had met her personally and was talking about how she suddenly disappeared, that she worked in accounting, she was blonde and I don’t know why I just thought it was your Mom but I asked for a photo and then...yeah. It was her. I’m sorry. Was I not supposed to talk about it?" She sounded extremely apologetic and Andrew shook his head.

"No. It’s totally fine. You are welcome to talk about her. I like hearing other people speak of her. I just...I assumed that you didn’t know what she’d done." Andrew told her and Maria snorted.

"A woman working that hard only to walk away with nothing? I wasn’t going to believe it even if you told me that. Not the same woman who told me to cause as big of a problem for Zack’s family as I could so that they couldn’t ignore me." Maria’s face was smug when she said it, but Andrew felt his eyes widen.

He’d never heard her say that, especially not to Maria. Maria smirked when she saw Andrew’s shocked expression.

"Surprised? You shouldn’t be. How else did you think your father left your family alone? Without stealing you even if you were ’just a beta’? Your Mom made herself a thorn in their side. I bet she’s isolated them from all of her properties and her company. Probably put a clause in that no one from said family is allowed to rent or borrow or anything from the A & D firm." She scoffed. "Probably wouldn’t even be able to get a part time job at the cafe or some shit. She’s way more petty than you gave her credit for. She was an icon." Andrew wouldn’t argue with that.

He was just surprised, again, that there were sides of her that he never knew. This time it wasn’t a bad feeling, or even an awkward one. He was just filled with...humour. He chuckled, covering his mouth.

"Maybe she took inspiration from when I told her that I wanted a card of my father’s money so that I could throw his child support payments back in his face?" Andrew murmured out loud and Maria let out a loud laugh, causing several people to look in their direction while Amir’s face split into a wide smile, along with everyone else.

"As I said, an icon. She probably already had those urges, since you clearly got them from her, but I bet you saying that solidified what she wanted to do. I bet if you called up your aunt she’d say the same thing, or at least prove what we think happened." Andrew smiled.

"I can always ask Kim about it later. I don’t need to do it now." Andrew said. "Plus, I have to visit her anyways since I parked at A & D to get close enough to this place." Andrew told Maria and she nodded in understanding.

"Ah shoot. I should have reached out to you if I had known that was a possibility. Do you think she’d allow me to do the same if I brought babies with me as compensation? You know how cute Hewie is." The Johnson family all nodded in agreement with Maria’s statement, and Andrew laughed. Kailey wasn’t even arguing with how cute her baby brother was.

"I can ask her about it when I visit. I don’t think she’d turn down babies though. Both of her kids are in their teens, and with Jenny being her secretary, there’s no way they are going to turn down fresh baby smells." Maria nodded and gave him a thumbs up.

"Perfect! Anyways, sorry for interrupting. Where were you?" Maria turned the attention back to the Jeweler and he smiled, nodding.

"We were just about to start talking about this style of ring." The jeweler’s shoulders seem to relax now that everyone was here, relaxed, and not speaking to them harshly. Andrew could tell that Amir’s grandmother was impressed, and Andrew felt that a silent offer of a job was probably coming their way.

They had done a really good recovery in Andrew’s eyes, and when he checked in subtly with Amir and his reaction, he could tell that Amir thought the same. While Andrew was pretty sure that Amir’s grandmother thought the same, from the way that his eyebrows were slightly raised and his expression was slightly relaxed, it was good to know that he was probably correct in his guess from their joint reactions.

~

When it came time for them to leave, Amir’s grandmother fussed with the bag that he carried. He handed it off to Andrew to hold while he rifled through a smaller, but clearly opulent case that must have held business cards. The reason why Andrew thought that was the sheer amount of detailed work that went into the little hand purse. The beading, that was probably real gemstones, the golden thread which Andrew knew had to be real. The patterns. Andrew was sure it cost a fortune.

When Amir’s grandmother realised that Andrew was staring, he turned a slightly sly smile in his direction.

"It was a wedding gift from my husband." He said and then leaned in closer. "It was to keep all of the numbers of the lovers who tried to reach out to me." He whispered and Andrew felt a grin cross his lips. Andrew chuckled as he sighed. "Alas, those days are far behind me. But, it’s a nice memento. Maybe you can do the same for Maxwell." He said with a smirk and Andrew actually thought that was a great idea.

"I might steal that from him. With his permission, of course. I know that Maxwell would never, but I think he would find great joy in the fact that I’ve gifted him something like that." Andrew said. Amir’s grandmother reached out for his arm, giving it a squeeze.

"He’s cheeky, like you. You, boy." His attention shifted from Andrew, to the jeweler who had been helping them. He had been packing everything up, trying to get ready for his next set of clients. Andrew was sure that they ran over on time, and that he was probably a bit upset that he wasn’t getting a commission. Andrew wasn’t even sure if that was something that they did get. He was making an assumption.

The jeweler flinched at being called boy, but turned a smile in their direction.

"What can I help you with?" He asked and he shuffled over. Andrew wasn’t moving, nor was Amir’s grandmother. Once he was close enough, Amir’s grandmother reached for his arm, grabbing his hand in his and sliding the card into the palm of his hand.

"You’ve done a great job. So good, that I do not understand why you are bothering yourself by working here. You have a deep knowledge and love for what you do, and I would love to have you on my team. This card has my personal number, as well as my personal secretaries number. Call it when Jennifer gives you a hard time for having to take care of us." Amir’s grandmother said, his look knowing.

That was probably another reason why they had come by. So that they could check up on how the customers were being treated in the stores that they provided to, as well as the education level of the staff. That, and to poach clients.

Andrew smiled to himself. He turned, looking at some of the cases that held other pretty stones and sparkly items.

"I am not quite sure if this is the right practise, but I’ll buy something so that all the time was worth it. What’s an expensive, but thin bracelet or anklet around?" Andrew asked and the jeweler seemed to be having two shocks at once.

"Uh, well, we have the anniversary anklet that’s expensive, but I don’t think-"

"-I’ll take it." Andrew interrupted. "Cost doesn’t matter." Andrew felt a shiver run down his spine when he said that. Goodness, that was a crazy thing to come out of his mouth. He also hadn’t ever expected he’d say it in a place like this.

Maria was grinning widely, as was Amir.

"Good job. He’ll like an anklet." Amir said and Andrew scoffed.

"What? It could have been for me?" Andrew protested and Amir blinked, shocked, before he realised that Andrew was pulling his leg. Then he smacked his arm.

"Oh ha ha. Let’s go get you sorted since I’m sure grandma has finished his recruitment."