The offer from the seller was actually quite beneficial to him. It kind of seemed like the seller just wanted to get it sold and move on, not arguing too much over the specifics. Because of this, Ensen was confident that there would not be much trouble once an agreement was arranged.
Ensen thought he could definitely manage to negotiate a better price for him, but that would take a few days. Although he had been debating in his mind if it was worth it throughout the night, he eventually decided he would rather pay just slightly more to get it sooner.
So after much thought, Ensen decided to agree to the conditions. He laid in bed for little while longer, thinking over his reasoning to ensure he wasn't making a huge mistake. While mistakes were definitely unavoidable in his journey to founding a renowned private Academy, he could still try his hardest to minimize them as much as possible.
Satisfied with his logic and reasoning, he rolled onto on the bed and gripped his phone that was resting on his old wooden nightstand. With a little more confidence than usual, he began typing the confirmation message to the seller, asking to discuss the more specific aspects in-person.
After sending the message, Ensen decided to get out of bed, putting on black jeans, a white t-shirt, and a zipped-down grey hoodie. He proceeded to leisurely make breakfast for himself, just in case the seller would ask to meet him later today.
While finishing eating the new recipe he made, a fried egg with peanut b.u.t.ter on top he checked his phone for a message. Surprisingly, there was a notification indicating he had received one. Quickly reading the message, he smiled in excitement. The seller had asked him if he was available for supper at a local restaurant to discuss matters, and that she would book a table under her name if he was. Looking at the sender of the message, he noticed her name was Jennifer Moore.
Quickly replying with a confirmation, Ensen cleaned his dishes and began doing miscellaneous tasks around his apartment.
After a few ch.o.r.es, he checked the time on his phone. Noticing it was approaching 3 pm, Ensen decided he would end his ch.o.r.es for the day. Opting to review the information in preparation for later instead. After nearly an hour he was confident that he firmly knew the information about both the plot of land and their negotiation and deal.
Deciding to clean himself up a little bit before he left, Ensen went into the bathroom and promptly began shaving. Ensen couldn't grow facial hair by any measure, but he did have a faint five o'clock shadow that could be noticed if grown out long enough. But the problem was, it didn't fit his look and facial structure well.
Finished shaving, he rubbed some after-shave on the area affected before grabbing his keys and walking out the door. After heading down the elevator, he quickly arrived in his car. After comfortably resting on the driver's seat he began to drive to the local restaurant a bit early like usual.
After around 20 minutes, Ensen pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. There were about 15 minutes left until their agreed on meeting time arrived. Deciding to go inside early and sit at the table, Ensen exited and locked the car before walking over towards the entrance.
The first thing Ensen noticed when approaching the front entrance was that the building was unexpectedly pretty small.
Nearly the entire front wall of the restaurant where large panes of gla.s.s, giving a nice view to the interior. Ensen opened the door and walked inside.
To the left when Ensen entered was a nice black-stained wooden bar that extended from the wall out a few feet before making a sharp corner and then extending to the back of the restaurant like a reversed L shape.
There were quite a few stools lined up against the bar. While there were a few people sitting at the bar, the restaurant was relatively empty at the moment. It would most likely increase in customers soon though as it was about to turn to 5 pm.
To the right side of the room were smooth black mahogany tables with four matching white cushioned chairs.
In the center was a small counter to check-in. Behind the counter stood a young woman with golden blonde hair wearing the uniform for the restaurant, black pants, and a shirt with a brown ap.r.o.n tied in the front. Ensen walked up to the counter with confident steps.
"Good evening, I'm here for the reservation under Moore," Ensen said confidently. He was trying to get himself in the right mindset for the upcoming conversation.
Upon asking for a second, the hostess opened a nearby hefty book, seemingly checking through the recommendations. Upon finding their reservation, she grasped a nearby pen and put a checkmark next to it before grabbing two menus from a pile of menus under the counter.
"Please follow me." The hostess said in a respectful and gentle tone. Ensen was quickly led to a nearby table. The table was quite nice, it was at the front of the building and had a good view of the surroundings.
The hostess softly put down the menus on opposite sides of the tables before saying to Ensen that a waitress will be with him soon. Afterward, she promptly returned to the counter to greet guests entering the establishment. Sitting down on the chair facing towards the front wall, Ensen patiently waited while trying to resist the urge to pull out his phone.
Deciding to check the menu, Ensen spent the next few minutes absent-mindedly browsing until a girl around 19 years old approached him wearing the restaurant's uniform. Her brown hair was in a bun, and she held a pen in one hand and a little notebook in the other.
Arriving next to the table, she slowly said "h.e.l.lo, I'm Amanda and I'll be your waitress today. Would you like to order now?"
"No thank you, I'm waiting for somebody right now," Ensen said in a polite voice.
With a nod of understanding, Amanda went to check in on one of her other tables. After a few minutes, she returned with a gla.s.s of water with many ice cubes in it.
Just a few seconds later, a middle-aged woman with light brown hair walked into the restaurant. Upon approaching the check-in counter, she quickly asked a question and made her way over to Ensen's table.
Seeing the woman arrive, Ensen found her slightly familiar. But he did not know where he recognized her from. Straightening his posture, he attempted to put a relaxed face on to seem more confident. After a few seconds, the middle-aged woman wearing a cream-colored cable-knit sweater and black jeans reached the table and greeted Ensen.
"You must be Ensen, right? It's nice to meet you." She said courteously, slowly sitting down as she was speaking.
Ensen responded in-kind, trying to come up with things to talk about.
'So, she's obviously Jennifer Moore. I just can't shake the feeling that I know her from somewhere.' Ensen pondered in deep thought.
It seemed like Jennifer recognized him as well, as she was staring at Ensen in confusion.
With curiosity filling her tone, Jennifer asked: "Do I know you somewhere by any chance?"
'She recognizes me too, it couldn't have been too long since we met then.' Ensen reasoned with himself.
"I'm honestly not sure. I do have a feeling like I've met you before, though. I just can't put my finger on it." Ensen said, becoming increasingly curious about the current predicament.
The table became silent for around 30 seconds before Jennifer's eyes went wide and she let out an awkward smile. "Oh, I see. You were the person my daughter ran into at the park."
Right as Jennifer said that, Ensen vividly remembered her harshly lecturing her kid before forcing her to apologize to him. With amus.e.m.e.nt in his eyes, Ensen responded. "Oh that's right, I remember now. It really wasn't a big deal."
"I'm glad to hear you say that then. I saw you landed on your hands pretty hard. By the way, are you a teacher?" She said, becoming increasingly curious about Ensen.
Slightly taken aback by the sudden question, Ensen was about to answer that he was out of impulse. But he caught himself before he managed to do so. "I was until quite recently. Why do you say so"? He spoke.
"Oh I just overheard your conversation with her, and you seemed experienced. So you were either a teacher or a parent." Jennifer responded in a joking manner.
With a light laugh, Ensen spoke humbly "I mainly taught students 16-18 actually. Just picked up some things from some of my co-workers."
With the ice broken between the two, they began discussing random subjects to pa.s.s the time until their waitress came back. After a few minutes, Amanda returned with two cups of water. They both placed their orders after scanning through the menu. Ensen already had a dish picked out from when he was browsing earlier, so he ordered first. Ensen ordered the pan-roasted cod dish whereas Amanda ordered a seafood platter.
After their order was taken, they simply continued talking lightly while waiting for their food to arrive. After about 15 minutes Amanda carried over two plates, placing each of them in front of the corresponding person.
With a slight smile, Amanda said: "Enjoy!"
