Chapter 133: A Steal

What Aiden believed would’ve taken two to three months to go viral ended up clutching that virality in just over a month and two weeks.

The ad for Death Wish had found itself circulating across all major social media platforms, the general reaction mostly positive save for a few party poopers sprinkled in here and there.

As one would expect, that translated over to an increase in demand for the product, so much that the site Aiden had created for the DTC service had briefly crashed twice over the past week.

Thankfully, all Aiden had to do was shift the site to a better hosting server and things were dandy.

Another expected outcome of its virality, was the smattering of investors that began contacting both Aiden and SlurpPAK.

Unfortunately for them, Aiden wasn’t interested in making his venture a public affair, and neither were Nathan and Nolan.

The structure they had on ground was perfectly curated and neither party needed any grubby hands in the flow of things.

It was why they’d politely rejected all their offers and had maintained the current status quo.

And though some of them had gone ahead to check if the youth had slipped, they were met with a trademark of the product’s name, formula and future brands that could be associated with it.

Safe to say, if they ever wanted a product like Aiden’s, they would have to start from scratch.

That in its own right, was way too much hassle for individuals who simply wanted to make bank. So, as all smart investors did, they bounced and moved on to other things.

But Aiden and SlurpPAK hadn’t been the only ones whom had gotten attention due the success of product.

In fact, the messages and e-mails they had gotten, had paled considerably to Clarissa’s mails and DMs.

Given her foray into indie acting gigs, modelling and an equally active online presence, it didn’t take long before the internet dug up information about her.

That naturally resulted in an increased surge of followers, as well as the ample increment in the number of offers she was getting, both from modelling and likewise, acting gigs.

Unperturbed by all the online noise, Clarissa was currently hunched over Aiden’s back as he sat cross-legged on his bed, her head resting on his shoulder as she pouty-droned;

"Babe~."

"Yeah?" Aiden casually replied as his finger scrolling down the trackpad of his laptop, blue-light glasses resting on his face.

"When are we gonna go on our next date?" she asked, her head angling sideways to face him.

At the same time, her hair draped over the laptop, preventing the youth from seeing its screen.

"You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?" Aiden’s lips couldn’t help but twitch as he raised his gaze to look at her, a hint of amusement playing on his features.

"Whatever do you mean?" the lady feigned ignorance, her eyes blinking innocently.

"Don’t play coy with me," Aiden placed the laptop aside as he turned to face her, an opportunity Clarissa didn’t hesitate to take as she climbed onto and effortlessly settled into his laps.

"Coy?! I would never!" she placed a palm to her chest in mock offense, her lips spreading into a grin.

"Sure, sure, Your Highness," Aiden chuckled as he brushed a few locks of hair away from her forehead.

"How, about, tomorrow? Central Park. We can have a picnic date, and I could whip up a mean crème br?lée... amongst other things?" he asked with an inviting arch of his brow.

"And I’ll bring all the essentials," she replied with a loving smile, her head gently swaying from side to side and her hands resting on his shoulders.

"It’ll be a nice memory to have before we finally head to LA." she added with a soft smile, and Aiden replied in kind;

"Then it’s a date. I’ll come pick you up by nine."

"And I, shall patiently await your chariot with enthused candor, Sir Adorkable." the lady leaned in for a sweet kiss that the young couple melted into.

Pulling back a few seconds later, Aiden gently brushed his thumb across her lips, a sweet smile on his lips as he remarked;

"Good talk."

"Yeah. Good talk." Clarissa winked at him, her smile much the same.

"Damn you, Theo! That’s the fourth game you’re winning today!" Larry’s voice suddenly bled into their ears from downstairs.

"May both sides of your pillow remain warm tonight!" Benjamin followed up with, an underlying hint of irritated amusement to his tone.

"Quit being babies and actually get good, scrubs." Clyde egged them on.

Casper would’ve probably done the same as well if he hadn’t been completely locked in ever since he woke up yesternoon--courtesy of Aiden bolstering his skill.

It was also why he remained seated in the guest room instead of hanging out with the rest of the gang, his gaze razor-focused and his fingers clicking and clacking away at his keyboard.

Through it all though, Aiden and Clarissa had caught the faint sound of Theo’s familiar chuckle from time to time, one that equally had them chuckling as well.

"He’s an absolute menace, isn’t he?" Clarissa couldn’t help comment to which Aiden replied;

"When it comes to first-person shooters? Yes. Yes, he is. I would never want him on the opposing team, ever."

"Now, back to housing." the coal-haired youth shifted topics, his palms gently clasping as he reached for his laptop.

This time, Clarissa simply turned around with a satisfied smile, resting her head on his chest as he pulled on and lifted the device closer.

Placing it on her laps, the screen reflected in her hazel-irises, same as her boyfriend’s spectacles, Aiden resumed his search for a fitting apartment near Pacific Heights.

Though he and his buddies had originally planned to get a house together, they’d realized they would be better off having their own respective spaces to make time for their individual hustles.

It also helped that they already had plans to rent a studio as their base of operations for Crashout Interactive so, in a way, they would still be housing together every now and then.

That said, Clyde, Benjamin and Larry had made it clear that they would be banding together to get a good three-bedroom apartment--one they eventually had a couple days ago.

Casper intended to get a one-bedroom apartment of his own.

Theo didn’t even need to bother as his scholarship already covered his housing on-campus--which happened to be a well-furnished one-bedroom apartment as well.

Aiden however, was going for a two-bedroom apartment, instead of one like he’d originally thought he would.

The reasoning behind it? Well, it was surprisingly simple.

He wanted to have the space to accommodate not just his girlfriend and his buddies when they came to visit, but also his Pops whenever the man was chanced to come visit LA as well.

Thankfully, there was a very trusted and highly rated student housing website, complete with all the necessary bells and whistles to put the minds of whomever opted to get a home from them at rest.

Refunds too, if they purchased but didn’t like the house upon arrival or within their first month there--provided they didn’t ruin anything in the apartment at least.

It was also the website that Aiden was currently on as he browed through their page.

"Ooh~. That one looks great." Clarissa remarked as he settled on one that caught his fancy.

"Yeah. Let’s check the floor plan and the video..." the youth thoughtfully replied as he proceeded to do just that.

Five minutes later, after reviewing the video...

"Yeah. I think I’ll go with this." he audibly muttered.

In sync, Clarissa softly bobbed her head in acknowledgement as she spoke;

"I’m betting several people are after it as well, given its price point."

It was Aiden’s turn to nod in agreement.

For a well-furnished two-bedroom apartment near the bustling hub of Westwood where Pacific Heights stood erected right bang in its middle, Aiden had to admit that $3200+ per month was a steal.

Still, he brought up the messenger app and forwarded the link to his Pops. He was the pro here when it came to spotting discrepancies in floor plans and houses.

In fact, when the trio had finally decided upon the apartment they’d ultimately rented, they had first contacted Richard for his advice, to which he’s vetted it and given them the go-ahead.

Casually engaging in a mundane discussion with his lady whilst awaiting a response from his Pops, Richard finally got around to responding about ten minutes later.

-

Pops: Definitely a steal. Go for it.

-

Without hesitation, Aiden did as he was told.

No sooner had he sorted out the details of the purchase, alongside the time he planned to move in and everything in between, he gently closed the lid of the laptop and placed it to the side.

With that out of the way, he just had a few more things to sort out before he was well and fully ready for his transition to college life in the coming month.