Chapter 5 IX

  Madrid, Spain, June 22, 2009

Sketch of the Building complex

The in between jobs time was approaching its end. My holidays were running out and I had to officially start  working again.  The news from Cologne were a little discouraging, as not everything was ready. Yet it was moving forward. 23rd was my first working day and I was somewhat nervous

That evening, while discussing the next recruiting action with Jesús, I realized I was getting used to all that. We poured over the maps of London. We used tons of pictures and maps and I felt my confidence grow.

The following day, at the new job, I took on the task of meeting people, introducing myself and find out where the bog was. The most exciting part was a telephone call with Silke, my person of contact in Cologne.

On the computer there was a load of documentation from Green Island on relation to contracts and processes, how what was done and by whom and when... Bureaucratic porn. There was also a sketch of the building on Cologne and it's layout.

It was a complex of two adjacent buildings, built on a relative wide lot. The first of the buildings was right next to the street, yet there were a couple of meters between the main entrance and the sidewalk. It was 3 stories high and contained the main entrance. From the entrance hall, the lift and staircase were accessible, the latter went up, to the upper floors or down to the basement. It was through the basement that the first building communicated with the second building. The second building was only accessible through the first, Although not specifically mentioned, I knew that the ground floor on the first building had a reception for Special Developments and a few meeting rooms. There was no direct connection between this part of the building and the second building proper.

The second building pproper was a rectangular plan, four stories high. It was attached to building #1 through the longest side of the rectangle and sported windows on the opposite side of the building to that which faced the street, that is on the back.

Conceptually, the idea was that each story would be accessible on an access base The first floor was for InGnio InGnieros and the tip for Green Island.

The complex was close to Frühlingsee, on the north part of the city of Cologne and north from the vast Ford complex, in a smaller industrial complex, where many small companies thrived under Ford's far reaching warmth.

Sunrise over the Frühlingsee

After a briefing regarding the status of the ongoing renovations, Silke and I spoke about my lodging and eventually a place for me. Housing in Cologne, and in Germany, was at the time not the easiest thing. Her suggestion, in order not to delay further my arrival, was to take a hotel for a few days or even a couple of weeks. She was not to know that Jesús and I had found a secure flat in an old un-renovated building  close to the train station in Mühlheim, on the east side of the city. It was somewhat too close to the tracks, but it was supposed to be a reserve place. I would not use it and blow the cover, so I really needed a place there. Silke suggested a small family-run hotel close to the central station, to which I had no complains. Regarding our safe flat, It was dark and not really a first floor, as it was too close to the street level. However there was no street but a small unkempt yard where no sun ever touched and just some lichen dared to grow between the cracks of the old cobblestones. The only sight of the century we lived in was the plastic rubbish bins. Inside, in the two rooms it was musty and dark, but also relatively quiet, when the train was not passing by or the neighbours were not throwing the porcelain at each other.  A small kitchenette and a tiny bathroom  .

So, once the hotel was sorted out, I felt a bit better. Silke will make reservations for me from July 10th and the company was going to pay half of it



Since Silke would kept working for InGnio InGnieros, I had to find a "secretary" for SD, but it was not about being an assistant and brew coffee. I needed someone that could elp me with logistics, but eventually someone who could deal with "a client"

I actually knew the perfect person. Susana was working for BOSCH in Madrid and we knew eachother since University through a common friend. I called her Su, because she had told me to. Su had studied manamgement and worked for the purchasing department. She had a two year contract, of which not much was left. Su was a solid candidate in my opnionon. She was a little hippie sometimes, but nontheless a very mater of fact person. Su was of German origin and she looked like it a little. Although not too tall, she was blonde and white as buttermilk with the typical hue on her cheeks and enormous blue eyes.


Jesús and I had talked about this mor than once, but he had some reservations. He was unsure whether she was emotionally sound, he said. Jesús said that from everyone anyway, but he promised to look into it.

It was also true that Su and I had had... a thing I guess, a romantic affair, if you wish, but it was years back and we kept a discrete friendship, We talked to each other a few times a month and a couple of times a year we sat together and talked about our lives.

Jesús would never get around telling me what the committee decided, but he went on to recruit her without me.


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