The third week of November, Conor finished his Monday shift at Jackson's and decided to visit Mr. Nuri. It was time to make Vokrizin a more concrete entity. A quick phone call confirmed Mr. Nuri was in the office and available so Conor made his way to Dreadnaught Law Firm. Once in the conference room, his team assembled.
"Well... I didn't mean to pull you all away from your tasks." Conor said, chagrined.
"Mr. Brantley, you may not realize this, but you are quickly becoming one of the firm's largest clients. Just the deal with young Yuri was enough to make you a VIP client. Add in your ownership of AperturePhoto and even the head partners are taking notice."
"Hmm well if that is the case... I would like to make Vokrizin more concrete, not just a name. It needs an office. For now a place for me to work from would do just fine but room to expand would be nice. Do you know of anywhere?" Conor eyed Ana Brooks, who in turn looked to Mr. Nuri.
"Sir, we do have the fourth floor..." she said.
"Fourth floor?" Conor asked.
Mr. Nuri nodded, contemplating. "Yes, buying you your own office building is of course doable, however, it would be much more cost-effective to rent you floor space here in our building. After all, this is just a satellite office of our firm. The main headquarters is in the capital. We only use two floors and much of the rest of the space is rented out. However, thus far, no one has rented the entire fourth floor. It would need to be remodeled of course but that just means we could design it to any specifications. It's a blank slate for now."
"May I see it?
The team headed to the fourth floor and as Jarad opened the door Conor had to suppress a shocked gasp. "Well, I guess I see why it hasn't been rented out yet." The whole floor looked like one wide-open room, with wires hanging from the ceiling. There were remnants of metal divider walls in a few portions but most of the space was completely gutted.
Mr. Nuri chuckled, "don't be fooled. Most remodelers would prefer to be handed this than have to begin with demolishing the old office space before they could begin assembling the new design. Our in-house team can have this whole floor renovated by the end of the week."
"Really?"
"You just need to work with Miss. Brooks on the plans and I will authorize the work to begin this evening."
Conor strode through the space to a large window wall that looked out over an immaculately landscaped park with a small pond. A small bench sat beneath two sprawling samanea rain trees at the edge of the pond.
"Those don't normally grow here..." Conor pointed out the trees.
Ana Brooks excitedly explained, "A gardener was able to plant them over fifty years ago because that pond is actually a hot spring. The steam coming off it in winter is enough to maintain the trees and stave off any frost!"
Conor stared out over the park for a long moment. "How much?"
Anna and Mr. Nuri considered for a moment before replying, "it would be best for us to discuss in the conference room. I can have a full set of samples made ready but in general, I can have this looking like a presentable office for 30,000 dragons, but for something that matches the Law firm and reflects what I believe you want Vokrizin to represent, we could easily spend 150,000 to 300,000 dragons or more."
Down in the conference room, Anna laid out several designs, and Conor and the team mapped out several options.
"If it is acceptable to you, being that all three are now dedicated to your projects, I can reassign their offices to this floor," said Mr. Nuri
Conor looked at Anna, Abby, and Jarad. "I will leave it up to you. Would you prefer to work where you are now, or would you like new offices?"
"A new office would be nice, Sir. Especially if we get a small say in its layout," said Anna with a smile.
Conor agreed and they added office space for each, as well as conference rooms and future office space. After several hours of planning, Conor felt confident in the design.
"Yes, I think this will fit nicely. With this design, it will not be cheap but will not break the bank. I can have it done for around 175,000 dragons? I can have the crew start tonight at least prepping and collecting materials. We can deduct it from the assets NewAge Gaming has provided." Said Mr. Nuri, examining the plans and writing on a small notepad.
"Then, if that is all, I will leave you to it. I look forward to seeing the finished product!" Conor said cheerily.
Tuesday
Spice shop day
Tuesday evening was a breath of fresh air for Conor as he set up for Spice and Salsa night. These evenings were becoming a tradition for the Spice Emporium every Tuesday and Thursday as the street vendors all gather. Just as he finished setting the salsas out, Cara wandered down the street and stepped over.
"Got room next to the heater for one more?"
"Cara! Good to see you!" Conor hugged Cara catching her a bit off guard but she hugged him back and hopped onto the stool, which has quickly become her customary spot.
"So what is new with you since the scavenger hunt?"
"Well, Peter has been showing me all about cameras. He has some really amazing equipment."
"I should hope he does."
"Yes, I know, you paid for it. Anyway, he has me memorizing all the parts of a camera. It's like an anatomy lesson."
Conor smirked, finding it hard to suppress lewd comments.
Cara playfully slapped his arm, blushing, "hush, you. Anyway, he said he has something planned for us tomorrow, a real opportunity to get some good photos of high society. I can't wait."
"I am really happy for you. Seriously, I am glad you two are getting along. Peter has been a good friend to me, even in the short time I have known him and he has contacts everywhere. If you still want to travel, I think the opportunity is right around the corner."
Cara beamed.
A couple walked up and started sampling several of the spices. "Do you have anything for red sauce?"
"Do you mean seasoning for a tomato-based sauce for pasta and such?"
"Yes, ours has just been very bland."
"Try this one, with a bit of garlic," Conor handed over a Spice of Life bottle. "Cara, can you go grab a can of the base tomato sauce from GrizlHut?" He handed her a few copper dragons.
"Sure. Are you thinking of making sample cups?"
"Yes! I think this will really send it home."
A few minutes later Cara was pouring out small samples of standard pizza sauce next to samples mixed with Spice of Life. When the couple tried the two side by side, their eyes lit up. "Now that is what I am talking about! Yes, I will buy that for sure! How late are you open? My friends need this too!"
Conor smiled, "Don't worry ma'am, the Spice Emporium is open every day but Sunday, and we are going to do these sampling nights every Tuesday and Thursday so all of your friends are welcome!"
*
Wednesday
Conor came home from Jackson's to find Yuri's door wide open and his mom, Miss. Lockmen, moving boxes out into the breezeway.
"Moving Miss. Lockmen?"
"Oh, Conor! Yes! Now that Yuri managed to get that deal for his game, and I have a new job working for AperturePhoto, we are moving to Avalon Square."
"Really? That is a nice part of town! Peter must be treating you well then!"
"You know Mr. Miros?" Miss. Lockmen said surprised.
"Peter and I are friends. Be sure to say hi for me when you see him. I need to check in with Jess, but if I get free in a bit, I will come help you all pack!"
"Thank you, Conor!"
Inside the apartment, Conor found Jessica pouring over documents from work. "Things going well after the scavenger hunt?"
"Huh? Oh, Hi, Conor. Sorta. The mall had a great weekend for sales but things are just getting weird. One of our franchise supplies decided to quit working with us. It's probably nothing but it's just odd because they had worked with my father for almost fifteen years now."
"That is odd. Anything I can do?"
"Just make sure we have a steady income so any slowdown from the malls doesn't affect us too much. That would be helpful."
"Hey! I do have some good news then! I found a new job!"
"You didn't get fired from Jackson's too did you?"
"No, No. I will still work there in the mornings but when Mr. Matthews doesn't have shifts for me, or I have time in the afternoons, I will work at Vokrizin."
"Volkrizin? I have never heard of it."
"It's in the Dreadnaught Law Firm Building. I will be doing some marketing and networking for them. The job comes with a good raise, and possibly even a company car."
"A car? Really? I have never even heard of this company and they are going to offer you a car as soon as you start?"
Conor hesitated, "Well, that didn't say it was a guarantee, only a possibility if I worked hard."
Jess pursed her lips, "Hmm, well, work hard then. A second car would be good for us to have. You will have to tell me more about this Vokrizin later, but I really have to go. Oh, I have a dinner meeting tonight with some people from the bank so I will likely be late. Don't wait up."
*
Thursday Spice day
As was becoming custom, Cara joined Conor at the Spice Emporium around 4 pm to set up for the evening public tasting.
"Conor, You don't understand what you are missing out on!"
"Ok, I will bite. What's up?"
"Have you been to High Street for dinner?"
"I have been to High Street but I wouldn't say it was under the best of conditions"
"Well, if you get a chance to take Jessica, you really should. It was amazing. We sat out on one of the street-side tables and watched the couples walk by. Everyone was all dressed up in their fancy gowns. Peter set up a small sign offering photos, and so many people stopped! We had this whole little impromptu photoshoot! At one point a waiter tried to run us off, but when the couples all scolded him, I think he realized he was getting more customers because we were there and thought better of chasing us away."
Conor laughed, "Well, that sounds like quite the date."
"Date? Well, I guess..." Cara blushed, "He is rather cute."
"He is a good match for you, Cara. I am glad to see you so happy."
"I hope things are going better with you and Jess."
"Well, they are not worse at the moment. My mother-in-law has not been around as much so that has helped."
"How about business? Am I going to see you in the news anytime soon? 'Big CEO makes grand appearance' or anything like that?" asked Cara in mock humor.
"Well as long as you don't rob me of Peter and completely distract him for his work, I think things are looking up. Though I don't plan to make the news, I may be able to start coming down here for the fun of it instead of work. Who knows maybe Peter can join us some time. I bet these jars would make for some great shots."
"I want Peter to myself... but I guess I can share for work from time to time," Cara giggled playfully.