Consulting An Expert

After talking with Harvey for two hours about my future plans, I was now back in my hotel room.

'Off to a good start so far. Corporate lawyer, check. Financial manager, in progress. Hana Kirisaki from Nisekoi. In the manga, she's said to have been the world's best business consultant and she kept the world's economy in check. I doubt it's that egregious in real life, but still, her talent is clear.

Having her on board as my financial manager will really allow me to not worry about the business side of things. Though my future products should take care of the flow of cash, I still need someone to manage it correctly. But, I'll also need to create an A.I. that will help keep an eye on things so I don't end up with my company stolen from me. That trip to Scholar's world is going to need to be sooner than I thought.

Still, there is something more important than all of that and that I need to take care of as soon as possible, Ciri. Clearly, I've waited much too long. The fact that she hasn't moved on and has said something to the girls, means that I've been an idiot. Okay, anything that needed to be taken care of at the moment has been taken care of, so I need to focus on this now.

I could just go right out and say it, or I could do a grand romantic gesture. I know Ciri acts like she doesn't care about romantic stuff, but I know she does. She just hasn't been given the time or opportunity to do anything with that, especially in a world like hers where people struggle to survive, and with her being hunted. And there's no better expert on grand romantic gestures than Ted Mosby, so I should give him a call. Since clearly, I'm not that great at romantic things.' I thought before picking up the phone and calling Ted.

"Hello?" he said as he answered.

"Hey, Ted, it's Matt."

"Oh hey, what's up?"

"I need your help with something. It's something you're kind of an expert in."

"Architecture?" he asked in a hopeful tone.

"Grand romantic gestures. I remember in those stories you talked about your grand romantic gestures, and I need your help coming up with one."

"Uh, okay. Can you be at the bar in like an hour?" he said in a slightly disappointed tone he wasn't being asked about architecture before returning to normal.

"Yup, I'll see you there. Thanks."

"No problem, see you then."

~~

"Hey, guys. How's it going?" I said as I sat at the booth where Ted, Marshall, Lily, and Barney were.

"You're going to ask her out?" asked Lily as I sat down.

"Seems like Ted's gotten you up to speed. Yes, I am. I was told by a mutual friend of ours that she's been waiting for me to make a move. Apparently, I've been too slow."

"Ted definitely knows what that's like." said Barney.

"Barney." said Ted.

"Oh, I haven't heard this story."

"You haven't heard the story of how Ted and Robin met? Let me tell you." said Barney.

"Bup-bup-bup. That can wait for another day. Right now we have to come up with the grandest, most romantic gesture of all time. So grand and romantic that it'll put all other romantic gestures to shame. So grand that it..."

"Ted." interrupted Marshall.

"Right, sorry. So, Matt who's the lucky girl?"

"Oh right, you and Marshall haven't seen her. Here, this is her." I said before showing them the picture.

"Holy crap."

"Eh, no offense Matt."

"None taken."

"What do you mean eh? That girl is freaking beautiful, don't tell me we're going to have this argument again?"

"Don't get me wrong Lil, she's pretty, but no one's prettier than you."

"Oh, spare me. Anyway, did you have any plans in mind Matt?"

"I was thinking of just asking her out after taking her to a fancy dinner."

"No, that's too simple! You have to think bigger! I'm thinking horse-drawn carriage ride through Central Park, with a rooftop moonlit dinner before fireworks light up the night sky!"

"That's the same thing you did with Barney's super date." said Marshall.

"Well forgive me for reusing my greatest idea. Anyway, she doesn't know that and it's still a grand romantic gesture. So, what do you think?"

"I like it. A few tweaks though, I'm thinking helicopter ride around the city instead of a horse carriage, the dinner is good I like that, and instead of the fireworks just being normal fireworks, they say her name."

"Oh, that's so sweet." said Lily and Marshall.

"Pff, yeah it's good but not as good as mine."

"Thanks for the help, Ted. This night is on me." I said as I ordered a round of drinks for us all before getting a text.

"Oh, speak of the devil, sorry guys I gotta go take care of this real quick." I said before going outside the bar and answering Ciri's call.

"Matt, are you busy right now?" she asked.

"Not particularly, why?"

"I need some help finalizing a plan to rescue Geralt and take down the Wild Hunt in one fell swoop."

"Sure, I'll gladly help. You want to jump right now, or?"

"It's nighttime in your world isn't it?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll go over tomorrow."

"Sounds good, just let me know beforehand so I can prepare."

"Alright. So, what've you been up to?"

"I'm sorry, Ciri, I'm getting another phone call. We can catch up tomorrow."

"Sigh, fine. Bye." she said in a disappointed tone before hanging up.

'Ah, I feel bad for hanging up but now that I know she's jumping tomorrow, I need to get the plans started today.' I thought to myself before going back inside the bar.

"Everything alright?" asked Ted.

"She's coming to the city tomorrow so I'm going to have to bail early today. I need to start making some calls and get the plan ready for tomorrow. If all goes well, the next time you see me I'll have a big smile on my face. If not, I'll probably go to a strip club or something."

"Yes! That's what I'm talking about! Call me if things go wrong. But good luck." said Barney.

"Good luck." x3

"Thanks, guys, I'll see you later." I said before leaving the bar and going back to the hotel.

Once in the room, I took a quick shower before I started doing research on everything that I would need for tomorrow.

"Hi, is this NYC Helicopter Tours? Great, I was wondering if you had an available spot open tomorrow night? You're all booked up? What if I pay double? Triple? Triple and a big tip for you? Great."

After booking the helicopter tour, I started calling different restaurants that had rooftop options and none of them had available bookings even after offering to pay an exorbitant amount. So, I decided that I would put House's cooking skills to use and just dine on the hotel's rooftop, after booking the entire place with Charon. I wanted to have a rooftop view of the whole city, but I think it'll work out even better with me cooking the meal.

And for the fireworks, I just used 25 points in the DGC Shop and bought some custom fireworks. As to the location for the fireworks, I'm thinking of placing them on a random rooftop and setting them off, safely of course.

'Okay, everything's ready. I just need to think about what I'm going to make. Well, Ciri would be fine with anything, but I want to wow her. I'll make those ragout-filled quail eggs for an appetizer and I've always wanted to make beef wellington so I'll go with that. As for dessert, I want to do something lighter like a flan. I'll buy the ingredients from the Shop, but I'll have to leave the hotel so I won't arouse suspicion. Sounds like a plan.'

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AN

Sorry for the late chapter, I had a bit of writer's block. (⊙_⊙;)