Capítulo 33: The other woman

The week flew by quickly. Michael spent most of the time training and working on his game. He and Jennifer had planned on using the weekend to look for an office to rent first. After all, They could not hire any employees without having an office.

Michael called the real estate agent he bought his house from. He remembered Ginnie as someone supportive; She helped him through the process and he did not have to worry about anything as everything was taken care of by the enthusiastic agent.

Ginnie was surprised when she got Michael's call; she still remembered him because of the large commision she got from the house. She was surprised to learn that Michael wanted to look at office buildings. Commercial properties in Austin were expensive; there was no cost cutting this time. Michael would have to pay seven figures for a decent office. Fortunately, the agency Ginnie worked in could deal with both commercial and residential properties.

Ginnie agreed to meet up in the afternoon and spent the rest of the morning doing research for suitable properties. This was going to be her big chance; it would take her years to break into Commercial real estate deals normally. However, if Ginnie closed the deal with Michael then she could directly start working in the lucrative industry.

Michael also called Jennifer to let her know that they will go office hunting in the afternoon. She was excited and spend all morning looking at property listings on the internet. Jennifer drove to the restaurant with a smile. However, when she got there and spotted Michael her smile faded away.

Michael was talking and laughing with another woman. The woman was dressed in a short dress that gave far too much away. Seeing the woman flirting with Michael, Jennifer had an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She rushed to the table and slammed her purse on the table while pointing to the other woman. " Who is she?"

Michael was taken back by Jennifer's sudden question. She looked like her mouth was stuffed with sour candies.

" Umm… Jennifer this is Ginnie, She is the real estate agent who will help us find an office. Ginnie this is Jennifer; She is the CEO who joined my team."

Jennifer was taken back; she had spent all morning looking at listings and now Michael had hired an agent. Did he not trust her? She was always confident in her abilities and never thought Michael would attempt to get second opinions. However, she was a professional business woman so she shook Ginnie's hands and exchanged courtesies.

Michael did not understand why Jennifer was so tense. Was it because of Ginnie? He had thought it was best to get a professional for a multi-million dollar purchase. After all, there might be issues with the property that only real estate agents could recognize. He decided to order lunch to ease the tension.

Lunch was awkward because Jennifer did not talk and Michael was not talkative in the first place. Fortunately, they ate quickly and moved on to business. However, Michael was thrown back into the fire pit as both the women started listing properties to visit. Feeling helpless Michael agreed to see a couple of properties from both sides.

Michael spent the rest of the day being dragged to different properties by both women. Although from the surface it seemed like both women brought the same knowledge to the deals. Ginnie as a professional went into more details that were often overlooked by Jennifer. Every time that happened Jennifer would snort angrily and say that the information was not relevant.

Michael was helpless at the competition between the women. He did not care too much about this purchase because it would just be a stepping stone. The company would rapidly expand and would ditch its first office for something more grandiose when the time was right.

Initially, he had not planned on buying a property and just wanted to rent office space. However, he realized that as a tenant, he would not be allowed to modify the building. Michael wanted the company property to have top-notch security. He was not comfortable with using the system for it because many employees will use the building; however, he still intended to hire a private contractor to upgrade the building's security.

After spending all afternoon looking at properties; Ginnie turned to Michael. " So which one did you like?"

Jennifer also turned to him while giving him a serious glare. Michael felt like he was stuck between two options that would both have negative consequences.

"The property on Independence Drive." Michael declared. This was a property that Jennifer showed. It was a Mid-sized office that can fit up to 200 employees. The price was 12 million dollars; The building was only two years old and was built contemporary style. It would certainly last long enough until the company could buy a bigger office on its own without relying on Michael.

Ginnie looked disappointed after hearing Michael's decision; however, he still held firm with his decision. Michael was much more invested in Jennifer than the real estate agent. He had just consulted her due to familiarity.

Jennifer rejoiced at her victory and immediately sent the seductress away. She turned to him and smiled. She did not understand why she felt so frustrated seeing Michael with another woman. "Am I falling for Michael?" She thought to herself. Jennifer tossed the sentimental feelings to the back of her mind and turned to their office.

They spent the rest of the day completing the procedures for the Office. Empyreal Holdings finally had a base of operations.

"Now we just need to hire some employees" Michael declared to Jennifer.

" I think we should wait a bit more. First, we need to write an employee handbook and establish company rules. We also need to develop training programs for new hires." Jennifer reminded him. It would not be wise to hire employees; There was still a plethora of preparations to make.

Michael winced as Jennifer added more work to his schedule. He had to develop the game and make the training program for new hires now.