‘Just picture it!’ Vanessa giggled, her footsteps bouncing off the walls as she twirled through the empty office space. ‘The possibilities are endless.’
‘No, the possibilities end at about 200 square meters,’ I grumbled, kicking at a patch of grime on the floor.
‘Oh, you’re such a spoilsport!’
‘I’m a realist, Vanessa.’
‘Classic spoilsport response,’ she laughed, rushing over to inspect the windows.
‘Do you have any idea how much an office fitout costs? Around Melbourne?’
‘Not a clue!’ she chimed, pressing her face to the glass and peering down at the street below. ‘But we both know that you over-budgeted for this space and the renovation, didn’t you?’
‘Yes,’ I admitted gruffly. ‘But that’s beside the—’
‘Nope,’ she shook her head, wandering back over to me with a smile. ‘It’s exactly the point – we can turn this into our dream, Harry!’
‘I was happy working out of the garage.’
‘And do you think that our next five employees would have been happy there, too?’ she raised an eyebrow at me. ‘The next ten? Fifty? A hundred?’
‘Alright, settle down,’ I frowned. ‘I don’t really want to hire a hundred people.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because it’s stressful enough figuring out which is the best company for office design near Melbourne, I can’t handle the logistics of a hundred payslips at the moment.’
‘In time!’ she smiled at me, kindly. ‘We’ve got plenty of time.’
I sighed and put my hands on my hips, looking around the empty office space we’d just signed the lease to. ‘So, this is really happening, isn’t it?’
‘It sure is,’ Vanessa nodded. ‘Although it does bear a striking resemblance to a dream I had once. If a group of clowns and/or elephants come charging through that wall, it’s a safe bet this isn’t real.’
‘Thanks,’ I rolled my eyes. ‘Sage wisdom as always.’
‘You didn’t hire me for my looks, did you?’
‘I’m actually legally not allowed to answer that.’
She laughed and took me by the crook of the arm. ‘Come on,’ she said, dragging me to the window. ‘I want to point out which car spot is mine.’