Sugar sugar baby

[17] Extra help

I rented out a small office for Kevin so he could get the website up and running without the distractions of his anime or his cluttered apartment. I figured giving him his own space would keep him focused and motivated. Plus, with 100K on the line, I wanted this shit done right.

When I stepped into the office, I expected to see Kevin buried in code, his waifu T-shirt on as usual. But what I didn't expect was the small group of dudes huddled around a long table in the middle of the room, all with laptops open, typing away. They looked like a bunch of basement-dwelling hackers—skinny, unkempt, and absolutely zoned in on their screens.

"Uh, Kevin?" I called out, glancing around the room in confusion. Kevin was at the head of the table, of course, in his usual greasy glory, wearing yet another one of his anime shirts. This time, the buxom waifu on his chest was winking flirtatiously, her oversized breasts stretched out across the fabric. Classic Kevin.

He looked up from his screen, grinning as if nothing was out of the ordinary. "Yo, Tristan! What's up, man?"

I raised an eyebrow, motioning to the group of dudes. "Who the fk are these guys?"

Kevin shrugged nonchalantly, like this was totally normal. "Oh, right. I hired some extra help."

I blinked. "Extra help?"

He nodded, leaning back in his chair like he had all the time in the world. "Yeah, man. You said you wanted this website done fast and top-notch. I figured I could handle it on my own, but... you know, I'm kind of a busy guy." He motioned to his laptop. "I've got a couple of side projects going on, and, well, anime marathons to keep up with. So, I brought in some of the boys to help speed things along."

I looked over at the other guys again. They barely glanced up from their screens, typing away like their lives depended on it. One of them was muttering something under his breath about JavaScript while another was staring intensely at a block of code.

"So, you're saying you hired four other guys to do your job for you?" I asked, folding my arms.

Kevin laughed. "Not for me, with me. I mean, this is a big project, right? We're building an e-commerce site, online ordering, reviews, social media integration, the whole shebang. I figured why not delegate? That way we get it done quicker."

I sighed, rubbing my temples. "And how much of the budget are you giving them?"

Kevin grinned, clearly proud of himself. "I'm keeping 50K, of course. And I'm giving the other 50K to the guys. Split between them. Fair, right?"

"Fking hell, Kevin," I muttered under my breath. I couldn't believe the nerve of this guy. But at the same time, I couldn't argue with his logic. Sure, it was shady as fuck, but if it got the website done faster, I wasn't going to complain.

"Okay, fine," I said, dropping my hands. "As long as the site gets done in a month, like you promised."

Kevin grinned like a Cheshire cat. "Oh, it'll get done. These guys are pros. We'll have that shit up and running, fully functional, in a month. Guaranteed."

One of the guys, a tall, lanky dude with thick glasses, finally looked up from his screen. "We're already working on the backend, setting up the database and the payment system," he said in a monotone voice, like he'd been summoned from another dimension. "Should have a rough prototype ready by the end of the week."

Kevin pointed at him, nodding enthusiastically. "See? These guys are on top of it."

I let out a long sigh. "Alright, Kevin. Just... make sure it's fucking amazing, okay? No shortcuts, no bullshit. This website needs to be perfect. People will judge the restaurant based on the first impression they get online."

Kevin gave me a thumbs up. "Trust me, man. I got this."

I wasn't entirely sure if I did trust him, but at this point, what choice did I have? The restaurant was ready, and we needed a website to launch the business. If Kevin thought bringing in extra help would get it done faster, then so be it.

"Fine," I said, turning toward the door. "I'm counting on you. Don't fuck it up."

As I started to leave, Kevin called after me, "Oh, and Tristan?"

I stopped, glancing back over my shoulder. "What?"

He grinned that cheeky grin again. "You owe me a waifu figurine when this is all done. I'm talking top-shelf quality, man."

I shook my head, unable to suppress a small laugh. "You're unbelievable."

"Guilty as charged," he said, turning back to his screen, his fingers already flying over the keyboard.

As I walked out of the office, I couldn't help but feel a mixture of anxiety and relief. Kevin was a fucking oddball, no question about it. But he was good at what he did. If anyone could pull this off, it was him—and apparently, his team of underground programmers.

The next few weeks flew by in a blur of meetings, tastings, and final touches for the restaurant. Sasha and I were running around non-stop, making sure everything was in place for the grand opening. The soft launch was scheduled for friends and family in a couple of weeks, and I was relying on Kevin to have the website ready for the big reveal.

A week later, I checked in on the progress at Kevin's office. When I walked in, the energy was intense. The guys were still glued to their screens, and Kevin looked like he hadn't left his chair in days. His hair was even greasier than usual, and his eyes had that wild, sleep-deprived look I'd seen before during finals week at uni.

"How's it going?" I asked, trying to hide my concern.

Kevin looked up, grinning like a madman. "We're ahead of schedule, dude. The framework's done, the database is solid, and we're just finishing up the UI. Wanna take a look?"

I nodded, stepping around the clutter to peer at his screen. He clicked through a few tabs, showing me the homepage, the menu, the online ordering system. It was all coming together. The images of the food were bold and vibrant, the layout clean and intuitive. Even the fucking blog looked legit.

"This looks... amazing," I admitted, surprised by how polished everything was. "You guys are killing it."

Kevin smirked. "Told you. You worry too much, Tristan."

"Yeah, well, I had good reason to," I muttered. "Just make sure it's all finished in time for the launch."

"It will be," Kevin said confidently. "By the end of the month, this website is gonna be live, and people are gonna be flocking to your restaurant."

I nodded, feeling a small sense of relief. Maybe, just maybe, Kevin was actually going to pull this off. And if he did, I'd owe him more than just a fking waifu figurine.

Q: Do you own any anime figures?