28 Chapter 28 Meeting Gwen’s Family

Gwen was seated with her mom and three brothers in the dining room. Making them a family of six relatively large by New York standards.

She seemed to notice my arrival, quickly standing to welcome me in as she brought me over and began introducing her family members.

First, she pointed to a mature woman who looked exactly like her but older.

"Nice to meet you dear, it's not often that Gwen brings a friend over. You can just call me Helen" She was a warm person who had a friendly personality.

Quite the opposite of her husband I thought as I felt the man's eyes on my back.

Gwen then pointed over at the three boys on their phones "Those three are my younger brothers with Philip being the oldest followed by Howard and Simon."

They didn't really seem to be interested in me as they went straight back to their devices and talked about what happened at their school.

Gwen's father soon took his seat as well beside his wife.

"You also already met my dad earlier"

Looking back at the man I realized I hadn't introduced myself yet and felt this was a good time too.

"Nice to meet you sir, I'm Kol and I go to school with Gwen. Ah, I also brought gifts." With that said I handed Gwen's parents the flowers and cake as I sat down.

Helen looked happy to receive the gifts as she placed the flowers in the empty vase at the table's center. Her father George on the other hand gave me a more narrowed look.

"These gifts are a bit much, aren't they? I wonder what your intentions could be." He didn't outright say I was after Gwen but everyone got his meaning.

Helen nudged him a bit "George don't be like that just say thank you"

The brothers giggled at this while Gwen seemed a bit bashful at her father's comment.

After this Gwen's brothers began cutting the cake and set the plates. Eager to eat dessert having already eaten dinner before my arrival.

"I hope you don't mind me asking but how did you become friends with Gwen?" Helen asked as she tried to start a new conversation.

This question brought me back to when I first arrived in this world and inherited the memories of a bullied version of myself. I didn't want to bring up those events as they weren't truly mine.

It would also lower their image of me. As a person who couldn't defend themselves. So I opted for a different story.

"Well, Gwen here would pester me often on school work and the importance of studying. Things just happened to develop from there on."

Gwen laughed at this remembering all the times she mentioned my grades that only began to change recently because of NZT.

"That does sound like Gwen she has always been diligent like her father" Both Gwen and her dad smiled at this taking it as a compliment.

"Well Kol tell us about yourself, do you have a job or any hobbies?" George asked, wanting to know more about the kind of people his daughter surrounds herself with.

I saw this as a chance to bring up my business ventures and see what his views on it would be. His reaction should also give us an idea of how he'll react to Gwen.

"I actually do have a job"

"Oh really where do you work?" Helen also seemed interested in this. She obviously knew her daughter worked at Oscorp but she wanted to know what a normal job was like for a teenager her daughter's age.

However, her expectations of a classic high school job like subway ended as quickly as it came.

"Well I don't work for a company but actually started a business along with some friends"

George slowly lowered his fork as he heard this, not really expecting to hear anything good. Young entrepreneurs come to New York all the time thinking they are going to be the next big thing but more often than not fail.

As a police officer, he has seen this time and time again with a good portion of the homeless having once been entrepreneurs themselves. Things were even worse this year with the market crash and the disappearance of Tony Stark did not help to alleviate the issue.

"That's a pretty risky decision you're making. Don't you want to go to college?" Helen asked with some concern

"No, not really and it actually isn't that bad. We have actually been successful so far with our product being well-liked in the online market. I believe Gwen even shared the app I created with you, Mr Stacey."

George was taken aback by this as only one app came to mind. 'Specter'

He did a fast turn as he looked at Gwen who just nodded with a smile as if saying yup he made that.

"By chance did you make Specter?" He asked wanting more confirmation than just a head nod from his daughter.

"Yes that would be me, how have you liked the app so far?" I said with confidence knowing the conversation was now heading in the right direction.

"It's been great and is already used by most of our officers. Even my superiors were asking about it. Who would have thought it was made by a high schooler."

George honestly smiled at this since it did make their work a lot simpler especially when cases involved cyber crime. Which was something the departments were starting to get used to as technology became better.

It has even helped in preventing a recent cyber attack against the police force.

Helen looked at her husband in confusion lost on the subject. He noticed this as well and proceeded to explain the app in detail to her.

By the end of their conversation, I could tell that she now saw me in a new light. If my system had a favorability option then the notifications would be going nonstop right now.

Too bad it only gets points by putting me in dangerous situations. Whoever made that thing must be a sick person who enjoys suffering.

"That's incredible Kol you must have worked really hard to accomplish that." Helen commented with genuine admiration

"Thank you miss and I did really put some effort" Well not me exactly but UNSC programmers "In fact we are also in the middle of expanding right now. With a new building, workers, and even new apps that will be released once we have more computers to act as servers."

George, taking an interest in the conversation's direction, began inquiring about the kind of apps we were making. Hoping it would also be useful for his department.

However, he was disappointed to discover that these apps were just games. Though he recognized the potential of such a direction.

"How many friends did you make your company with?" Helen asked, thinking back to what I mentioned earlier.

Gwen glanced at me giving the ok as this was the right time to add her in with their opinions being good so far.

"Well, I actually started this with three friends Peter and Ned from school. As for the last person, well… they are right here next to me"

The air froze as even Gwen's siblings pulled their attention away from their devices. Gwen, who was beginning to feel the pressure, chose to speak first before any questions came her way.

"It's true. I've been helping Kol for a while now. That's why I gave you the app for the department and asked for Joe's business number. I was advertising and most recently scouting for a company building."

Her parents were still stunned but you could see a hint of pride in their eyes, especially her father. Gwen had always asked his approval on things even when it came to working at Oscorp. So it came as a surprise to see her do something like this.

He even wanted to scold her a bit but he couldn't bring himself to be upset. She was being responsible and mature in her own way. Building a company and venturing out for buildings are far beyond what most people achieve.

Looking at Kol he examined the young man once more. As a cop, he had gained an eye for people and had been evaluating the boy since he arrived.

From what he could see Kol appeared quite normal and well-mannered but his gut was telling him that there was something more with this boy.

Now with the knowledge of Kol running his own company, it more than confirmed his gut feeling as he assumed this was it.

"What kind of job will my daughter have working for you?" If she was going to be working with this boy he at least needed to know that she at least had a respectable position.

"Well I plan on giving her a lab in the future"

George made a confused expression as he wondered why a software company needed a lab. This thought was also shared with the rest of the family as the image of a lab didn't really match the one they had of my company so far.

"What do you mean by lab?"

"My programming skills are quite good as you can tell by Specter but my real talent lies in technology. So I plan on making other things that aren't apps in the future"

George doubted this while urging me to stick with what works to avoid risk. I kindly accepted his advice but remained resolute in my choice.

"Will she also be getting paid for her work?"

"Yes, in fact, I've already wired the money to my friend's accounts earlier. They just haven't checked their banks yet."

Gwen's eyes widened at this

"You did?! But Kol shouldn't you wait a bit we're still working on the budget" She pulled out her phone and began checking

"Yea it's fine I already ran the numbers and the company won't be damaged by it. Plus It's about time you guys got paid."

Gwen dropped her phone as soon as her bank information pulled up and was quickly taken by her mother. As she and the rest of the family counted the zeroes.

"100 Thousand!"

"I wanted to give you guys more but the finances wouldn't allow it. Though that should change once the games hit the market."

Gwen just sat down frozen.

She never really cared for money and it was never her goal but even she couldn't ignore it when it was right in front of her.

Once the family calmed down a bit they began to ask me more about my company and goals. From this point on the atmosphere had changed into a good mood. Gwen and her mother even agreed to go shopping together the next day.

It eventually became late at night before I knew it and ended up staying past 1 before I was finally let go.