Chapter 31

“Are you going to hire a guy and break up your ‘harem,’ Richard?” Jenn asked.

“I don’t know Jenn – He sounds nice, He’s Alex’s cousin so he’s bound to be good looking?”

“Do you want me to be there, Rich?” Jenn asked.

“It doesn’t matter to me, you can check your email and check out Steven at the same time.”

We arrived at the office, where we found all of the girls there working the phones. A young man was sitting in the waiting area as Jenn went to her desk, letting Karen stay up front to catch any walk-ins today.

He stood up before I went inside, we shook hands and we walked back to my office. I saw Alex give him a low five on the way. All of the girls watched as we sat down in my office.

“So, Steven – Are you new to the area or what exactly?”

“Richard, except for Alexandra, all of my family is back in either Springfield or Columbus, Ohio. You may have heard of some of my more talented relatives, Charles & Claire, they’re professional dancers and very good.”

“I moved here looking for a more temperate climate. Alex is putting me up at her place until I get situated with a job. She called me and told me about you and your Brokerage. I graduated from Hondros College in Columbus and have my Associate of Applied Business in Real Estate Degree from there. Frankly, I saw coming to California as a chance to get 2,400 miles away from the influence of my family, sort of a chance to ‘find myself.’”

“Good for you Steven – Well, are you looking to do something part-time or are you ready to jump into the deep end of the pool that is known as the California Real Estate Market?” I asked point blank.

“Well, Sir ... Richard, I want to be as successful as possible, and Alex called me and told me to get out here and apply to O’Hara and O’Hara Real Estate? I got my California License by going online – I can start as soon as you want me to, Richard.”

“I see a bit of myself in you Steven, you look like you played some kind of sport, Baseball?”

“You have a good eye, Sir – I was on the Ohio State Baseball Team for two years, before heading on to Hondros College. I was a first baseman.”

I leaned back in my chair and quietly looked over this young man. He seems qualified, eager and ready to get to work, however, adding a guy to my office may cause problems I cannot foresee.

“Steven, this is none of my business, and my office right now is all women as you could see. We seem to have a balance of power right now, and although you could work well here, I’m worried you may be overwhelmed by the rather beautiful women in this office, and I will not tolerate...”

Steven had started to laugh, causing me to stop.

“Mr. O’Hara – I’m gay. Alex knows, but my parents don’t want to have anything to do with me, so they told me to leave Ohio and not come back unless I decided I wanted the traditional man-woman relationship. I had to break up with a long-term partner to come here. My guess is that ‘your girls’ out there have probably picked up on the ‘vibe’ that I give off.”

“Steven, I can’t talk about this with you or I’m in violation of a whole shitload of government policies and practices.”

“I want to focus on Commercial Property, Sir – Are you even involved with that? Alex told me that you have a Commercial Property guy from a different office you have an arrangement with?”

“Just a second, Steven.”

I got up, closed my door and then dialed Jeremy O’Malley, on speakerphone. I motioned Steven to stay quiet.

“Hello Rich, this is Jeremy.”

“Hey – are you interested in a fresh behind the ears 20-year-old young man, who’s interested in working in the Commercial Property side of Real Estate?” I looked at Steven and we both chuckled at my choice of words.

“Sure, he sounds like the kind of young man I could mould, and he sounds the right age for Jennifer to maybe get to know?” he responded.

Steven put his head in his hand and looked worried.

“Actually Jeremy, he told me that he was in a long-distance relationship that he’s working hard at maintaining. Between the two of us, we’ll probably keep him too busy for anybody around here.”

I saw Steven mouth a big ‘thank you’ to me.

“I know you don’t have an office, so I could hire him, and you and I could work out a fair pay schedule – How’s that sound?”

“If you like him – I like him, Rich. What’s his name?” he asked.

“Steven Newman, he’s a cousin of one of ‘my girls.’”

“Oh, which one?” Jackson responded.

“Alexandra, remember the tall blonde at the car wash?”

“Oh, yeah – She’s quite the...”

“You’re on speakerphone, Mr. O’Malley!”

“I remember her, short blonde hair – cute smile.”

Steven was holding back a chuckle.

“Nice save buddy – I’ll write up an agreement for you to co-sign when you’re in my neck of the woods, OK?”

“Sure thing – Bye,” Jeremy said.

Steven leaned forward and said, “Car Wash?”

“It’s a story you and Alex can talk about – here’s an offer to become a licensee of O’Hara and O’Hara. Eighteen months exclusive with Jeremy and me. You’ll get a desk here, but to sell Commercial Property, Jeremy tells me that it’s all about pressing the flesh, shaking hands and meeting the people around here. Here’s a contract. If you find a residential listing in your travels, pass it on to one of ‘my girls’ and you’ll get a $500 spiff from me personally. Sign here.”