Chapter 22

Beep, beep, beep, beep

My day began before I wanted it to. I got up and went out to the common area where I had seen a small kitchen area with a Mr. Coffee. I prepared a pot of coffee and went back into the bedroom to wake Jules. She wasn't difficult to wake up, and we enjoyed a shower together with some kisses, but nothing else. She told me, "My monthly stuff has to be today. I'm all bloated and I feel like it's coming. I'll get this stuff started and be better, but I'm kind of a bitch when it first gets here."

I asked, "How about making sure we are packed to leave if we can," when all four of us were in the common area. "It's not a problem if we have to stay another night, but let me try to fix this place in less than a day."

We had breakfast at a nearby diner and then drove to the office. There was a pickup by the Construction trailer and a car in the office parking lot. We went into the office and found a fairly young lady behind the receptionist's counter. She broadly smiled, and asked, "Can I help you? We really don't open until eight-thirty."

I introduced myself, "I'm Brad Johnson, the new Regional Manager for the West Coast region that you are now included in. I'm here to see how I might be of help. The receptionist turned red, and asked, "Are we that bad off that we need help?"

"The home office asked me to come to see how I could help. I'm going to visit with the Construction Supervisor and leave Kelly and Jules with you. I'll be back in a few minutes."

I'm sure the two women picked up on the woman's hesitancy to talk to me.

The man in the Construction trailer was sitting back having a cup of coffee with a very fragrant cigar. He sat up straight and wanted to toss his cigar when I walked in, but I told him, "Relax, I just wanted to have a few words with you. Let's leave the door open so the cigar smoke goes out that way."

The guy said, "Sorry about that, but I do smoke cigars and this is my time for a morning cup of coffee with a good cigar. I'm not supposed to start until eight, but always come in right at seven. April comes in early every morning too, but I think that's to get away from her husband. He doesn't work and is very abusive. She won't get rid of him, so everyone sort of soft shoes around her. She'll learn."

I told the man, "I'm Brad Johnson, the new Regional Manager for this area, and you are?"

The man answered by sticking his hand out but not putting his cigar down, "Oh yeah, I'm Tom Maniscalco, the Construction Supervisor. Glad to meet you, Brad."

Tom seemed sane, so I asked him, "What kind of problems are you having here, Tom? The home office wanted me to come here to see what I could do to help."

Tom said, "The office would be doing fine if you can figure out a way to make the Manager take his meds every day. I'm not sure what his problem is, but he goes nuts and fires people and cusses everyone out when he doesn't take his meds, which is very often. Most everyone ignores his rants, but some can't take it and leave. He can't keep a secretary, and some of the department people have quit, so we're short of people in departments most of the time. You'll have to replace him, but it's a shame since he's wonderful when he's okay."

"Thanks for being open with me, Tom. I'll see what I can do, but he might have to leave. Being abusive to employees is a no-no, and has to be stopped."

"Yeah, I know, and also knew that this day would come. His wife can't control him, but she has the money to do it if she could. He won't go hungry if he loses his job."

"Thanks again, Tom. Let me go see who else is in this morning."

There were several more cars parked in front of the building and one was parked in the Manager's spot. I knew the problem before I went inside the building. I could hear a man screaming that no one listened to him and everyone was trying to get him to go away. He was right about that, at least. Jules and Kelly were standing to the side of the receptionist's counter as the screaming man was walking back toward Sales when I went in.

The receptionist was on the phone, and I heard her saying, "Please come get him. He's really out of it this morning. I know he doesn't want to, but you have to make him leave or he's going to be arrested and probably put in an asylum. Just get here."

I asked the receptionist, "How soon will his wife be here?"

The woman answered, "Her business is just down the road. His problem is getting worse by the day. He doesn't even come in sane lately. He needs to be someplace where they can help him."

A woman with a worried look on her face came in a few minutes later. She looked around, and then focused on me, "Are you from Mooney?"

When I nodded yes, she said, "I knew this was coming, and he should have given the office up before now. I'm taking him to the doctor right now so that he can give him a shot to calm him down. He won't take his meds and is slowly slipping away from me and the rest of the world. I'm sorry you had to come."

I patted the woman on the shoulder and told him, "Mooney will help you and him because he has been a successful Manager here. We're not ogres and we don't abandon our own."

The woman almost cried, and said, "Thank you for helping. I love him more than is reasonable, but I need help now that he's gone so far. Let me get him out of here. I'll come get his car later today."

The woman went to the rear of the building where Sales is and came back leading her husband who was docile and had a very blank look on his face. I watched as they left, and the receptionist said, "I think he's out of it for a while this time."

I smiled at the receptionist and asked, "You are April what?"

She said, "I'm April, the receptionist."

"Okay, good morning, April Receptionist. How about directing Yori to where a bakery is for some treats this morning?"

"I'm really April Downing, and there is a bakery on the other end of this mall area. Take a car though, as this is a long mall."

Yori took the keys to the rental car I offered and left to get treats.

I asked, "Who else is in this morning, April?"

She smiled and said, "The Finance Manager, the Accountant, the Title Manager are here, and I'm sure the real estate Sales Manager is still hiding under his desk. Go get him so that he knows the coast is clear."

April at least had a sense of humor.

I told her, "Call everyone in the office to come to the lobby area so that I can talk to them."

April used her phone to broadcast throughout the office area, "Please come to the lobby to meet our new Regional Manager. I like him, so you should too."

That made Jules and Kelly laugh.

When the people in the office were gathered, I told them, "I was sent to find out what the problem was. It was quickly presented in a rather stark manner, so we'll be able to fix this just as fast. I have the perfect Manager for you, and will try to get her here pronto. She'll need time to move here, but I'm sure you all will want to help her to guide you to success and big bonuses."

"Listen to me for just a minute. I'm bringing a female Office Manager here. You will all be supporting her."

That raised the heads of the two men standing together who I figured were Finance and Accounting.

This woman has been training in Indianapolis for the last two years, and is the product of a lot of people who were experimenting with her. I actually have her babysitting the Seattle office until a new Manager can get there. She has already instituted several company methods of doing business that have brought the office some sales success. She'll want to do that here, and that means more sales, which are what has to happen to begin our process. I'll try to get her here today, and she will be yours by tomorrow morning.

That seemed to satisfy everyone, so I let them go back to their offices.

I called Seattle and eventually got hold of Sheila. "What do you think of the man who's going to take over the joint you've been mothering these last couple of days?"

Sheila said, "I like the guy, but I'm jealous that he gets a shot at an office, and I don't. He'll be a great asset and is already putting your insurance project into the office so that he can watch it."

"Good. Come to me in Salt Lake City. I want you to manage this office for a while to see if you like being the boss."

There was a pause before Sheila asked, "Do you mean that? Are you serious? Are you really going to let me manage an office?"

"You are officially being invited to fly to Salt Lake City to manage this office. Let me send the airplane to get you. Be at the airport in a couple of hours and fly back here. I'll work on this office to see what needs to be done."

Sheila was squealing over the phone to get that airplane up to her.

I called the pilot, and told him, "Go to Seattle, and pick up the new Manager for the Salt Lake office. Get her back here, and you can fly us back to LA later today or tomorrow. We'll have to visit all three locations again next week, but we'll finish this week in LA."

The pilot told me, "I have a place there, although I don't get to stay in it often. I bought a condo back when everything was being sold for pennies on the dollar. The only thing I owe is the monthly condo maintenance fee, and I'm current with that. I have a studio in Indy. You can keep me in LA all the time if you want to please me."

I began to go through the office to see what needed to be done.

The real estate Sales office was in shambles. The Sales Manager looked like a beat up dog. He looked at me and asked, "Is he alright today? He's been getting worse by the day. I hate this, but also knew him when he was well and we were a productive office."

I asked, "How many salespeople do you have?"

The man looked me and said, "None, right this minute, but I can get some of them back if he's gone."

I smiled at the guy and said, "Get on the horn, and get as many of the good ones back that you can. Also, let me look at your advertising folder to see if anything needs work. I'll be back."

The decorator's office looked unused, which was probably the result of the sick manager's abuse. The Title Manager was a woman who told me, "I haven't been able to keep a clerk because of the poor man, but bless you if you're replacing him. I'm going to try to get my former clerk to come back. You are improving sales everywhere you go according to the company newsletter. Am I going to be busy again? I can market our Title Company again now that we won't have the Manager abusing customers."

"Call your favorite clerk and get her back. Then begin calling banks and other loan organizations for work. You're an integral part of this office, so let's make some money."

I went up to the front to talk to April for a second. She was now smiling and appeared to be happier than she had been in a long time. Jules was sitting with her when April blurted out, "My husband has done it to himself. He went out and threatened the neighbor with his rifle. The neighbor called the police, and he actually threatened a policeman who shot him, but didn't kill him. He'll be gone for a long time, and I can now get a divorce without feeling guilty or worrying that he's going to beat me up some more."

Jules was rolling her eyes because she would never tolerate abuse like that.

I asked April, "If you and the Sales Manager liked the decorator you had, call her to see if she'll come back. I'd love to meet her to assure her this office is going to keep her busy."

April instantly had the receiver off-hook, dialing a number she obviously knew well. I went upstairs to talk to the Finance Manager and Accounting while she did that.

The Finance Manager was ready for me with a copy of his contract on his desk. He became alarmed when I asked how his sales were. "I don't have sales. I make loans. What do you mean by sales, Mr. Johnson?"

I looked at the name on his desk plate. "You're responsible for having outside entities use us to finance new or pre-owned homes, Randall. Each one of those loans count toward your bonus, so they are 'sales'. You won't make bonus money from what's sold in-house unless the dam bursts, but you might if you were to sell loans to several people trying to buy a house and get them financed. You've done all that before, so do it some more. Sell some loans."

Randall looked at me for a long time before he realized that I had put the ball in his court.

I went to Accounting from Finance, and was met by a warm smile of a lady in her early thirties. She stood up when I entered, and greeted me with her name and a hand stuck out. "I'm Flori Gettling, and I'm a brand new CPA after acing the state exams about a month ago. Mooney helped me finish my CPA, and I want to show them my gratitude. Connie in LA says you like numbers, so ask me for some so that I can shower you with them."

"Thanks, Flori. I don't need as many numbers as much as I need results. There will be a young lady taking over the Office Manager's position here beginning this afternoon or in the morning. Help her. Befriend her, and show her how to find answers in the numbers you manage. She's doing well, but you know that it takes a while to learn how to read what's going on and how to gauge people."

Flori hugged me before I left to go back downstairs.

April was standing in the doorway to the Manager's office, talking to Kelly. She said, "Our decorator is coming back to work this afternoon, when she saw me. She said that she can get a lot more work if she's a part of Mooney. Isn't it exciting how we are getting people back?"

I went back to the title office and looked in. The one woman was working on some closing documents. I startled her when I said, "I'm Brad, the new Regional Manager. We didn't have a chance to talk before. Do you have any other employees?"

The woman was immediately wagging her head back and forth. She told me, "I won't be hiding now that that poor man is gone if you want to see me. I'm the only person left in the title office now.

I repeated, "I'm Brad Johnson, and you are?"

"Sorry, I'm Barbara Monterey. It's nice to meet you, Brad. Will you get us more business?"

"I will, Barbara, but I also want you to be calling banks and other loan organizations to both sell loans, and to handle the closings. You're going to need more people to do that."

Barbara got a sort of blank look as she stared out past me to the mountains east of Salt Lake City. "I used to have one of the busiest title offices in the country, and had four, and sometimes, five clerks. I'll get one or two back if they aren't working. Randall and I used to sell each other's services, but we sort of lost interest. I'll bet we can do it again."

I was hungry, but Kelly had anticipated me this time and had Yori running around the office to get orders. April called the order in and was surprised that we weren't getting money from those ordering. I told Yori to get at least four extra sandwiches because there potentially were salespeople coming in.

April was bouncing around the reception desk because she had the opportunity to get rid of her abusive husband. She had already called an attorney, and was given to a group of pro-bono attorneys who handled abuse cases. She was going to get free help to get free of the guy who had been abusing her for so long.

I talked to the Dan and Dot at the home office while eating lunch to let them know that I was stealing Sheila. Dan was uncertain, but Dot was ecstatic. I assured them both that the choice was a good one, and we would see some immediate results. They were compassionate when they found out the severity of the Manager's infirmity, and told me to make sure the wife knew we would help as much as possible. The wife told me that it was some kind of rare vitamin deficiency that could be fatal when I called to find out how the man was doing. Damn, that is some startling news.

Kelly ran out the door with my rental car keys about two thirty, and was gone in a cloud of dust. I continued to circulate among the departments to make sure that everyone was pushing toward making some sales progress. The Sales Manager came to me, and said, "Another real estate office just signed an order for an inventory home. I think this is a first. Do I handle it any differently?"

"Nope, dance around in circles and make sure the credit app is done right, and then get it upstairs to Finance. Have the receptionist has contact the decorator, get them together and then write your sale on the board. Come on, you have models for inventory as well as for custom homes. Go get some listings and sell some of those too. The weekend will be here tomorrow, so let's get moving."

I think the real estate Sales Manager had been ducking the Branch Office Manager so much for so long, that he didn't remember how he did business before. Sheila needed some size 12 boots to get him in gear.

I had just walked in the Manager's office when there was a commotion at the front door. I heard someone yell, "Alright, all you pussies, come meet the momma who is going to make you all some money. Let's get this show on the road." She apparently had the receptionist hand her the handset and push the page button. Sheila repeated what she had yelled, and hollered for everyone to come to the lobby to meet the new Mistress of the office.

Jesus, Sheila had listened to Rose for too long. I went to the front and found Sheila and April hugging. Someone I didn't expect to see was Rose standing back to watch Sheila, and smile. Rose saw me, came over to give me a hug, and put a lip lock on me that had Jules coming from the behind the reception counter. Rose grinned when Jules stood in front of her, and stated, "You do know that guy is mine, don't you? You have to go through me to get at him if you want to use him."

I was about to roll on the floor laughing, but Rose took it in stride and stood back with her legs apart, and her hands on her hips, "Well, Pilgrim, I'm a gonna give it to ya straight. If I want a piece of tail, I takes it where I finds it. That tail can be used by whoever else wants some if I don't use it all up. Now be careful or my pointy nipples will poke you in the eye."

Jules just stood there at first then broke up laughing. Rose was exactly what the office needed for some comedy relief. Jules hugged Rose and told her, "If you're a good girl, I might let you sample him."

What a mess, with two totally unrelated people, or at least non-Mooney employees, facing off in the lobby of the Salt Lake City office.

Yori had witnessed the whole thing and was trying to hide his face because he was so tickled.

The people in the building were gathering in the lobby and some had witnessed Jules and Rose, so there was a lot of laughter. Sheila looked around and said, "There aren't a lot of you right now, but this group is going to grow. I want to see if we can create something special here. Brad has shown me ways to make a lot of our operation grow, and he's been quick to institute changes in operations that weren't working. Please tolerate my friend and sister, Rose, who is here to help celebrate a babe getting her own office. Help me show the rest of the country that a woman can be as successful as a guy. I'm going to be charging hard to make us successful starting tomorrow morning. If you need help, ask. I'm going to need help too, and I'll ask. Go back to work and I'll be by to get you in gear with my whip in a minute."

I think everyone in the building was smiling at how Sheila had won them over. Kelly took Sheila to her office and began briefing her. Sheila held her hand up, and said, "Brad told me to meet everyone as fast as possible, so I'll be right back."

Sheila grabbed my hand and we went upstairs to talk to Randall for a few minutes, and then next door to talk to Flori. I think Flori wanted to be Sheila's mother by the way she was so happy to have her there.

We went back downstairs and immediately went to the Sales office. Sid Carpenter, the Manager, stood up straight and said, "I have six of our former people coming in tomorrow morning to beg for their jobs. They will all be on the new straight commission contract and love the idea, so you won't have to worry about draws against sales. I had to meet a customer out at the old development model. He bought an inventory home and ordered a custom home for his parents.

"There it is, Sheila, you walk in the door and sales come in with you. You'll need to work with him on advertising, but they have ads planned. You can find out what radio stations you want to get the message out on during the week, and keep in mind that you will have to staff the models when you advertise."

I took her by the empty decorator's office and told her to fill it up. "Use the people here in the office to get some leads so that you can have a decorator as fast as possible. The receptionist made a call to the former decorator, so that might be in the works. I want you to consider April for the secretary's position, as receptionists usually have a hand on the office's pulse. Have her train her replacement if you make her your secretary.

We stopped in to see Barbara, and she was on the phone to someone in what sounded like a call to a bank to get some closing business. Sheila and Barbara quickly shook hands, and Sheila was smart to quickly back out to let Barbara focus on the call.

"Let's go out to construction and meet Tom Maniscalco, the Supervisor. You'll like him and he'll help you with decisions of what and when to build. Tell him about the custom home Sid sold."

"Tom, meet Sheila Summers, the new Office Manager. I think you two will have a good time together. Keep her pointed in the right direction."

Tom said, "Come by for a cup of coffee if you get in early. I usually have some fresh by a little after seven. April comes in early too, but you'll get a nicotine boost while I have my cigar in the morning."

Sheila laughed, and said, "Just like my dad. He sits out on the back porch and has a cigar and coffee whether it's eighty or minus eight. You cigar junkies have some silly habits."

Sheila told Tom, "Sid just brought a couple of orders in. One is for an inventory home, and the other is for a custom, something to welcome me with." Tom was all smiles.

The two us went back to the office and spoke with April a second. Sheila asked April, "I need a secretary and thought you might like to try out at that position. Help me find your replacement if you want the job, and you can begin training immediately."

"Can I really be your secretary? This is like the best day in my life since I graduated from junior college. The former Manager is getting help, I get to dump a guy who isn't worth a hoot, and you offer me a chance to be a Branch Office Manager's secretary. I might know a few girls or women who would be perfect as our receptionist."

Kelly was at the secretarial desk, with Yori and Rose sitting at the conference table when we went back to the Manager's office. Rose got up and hugged Sheila. She said, "Sheila, the commuters are not running later tonight, so I need to be on the one to home in the next hour and a half. Congratulations on this great promotion, Sweetheart. Dad is going to be so proud of you."

Aha, so Rose and Sheila shared parents. No wonder Sheila was almost as gregarious as Rose. Yori stood, and Rose said, "Yori is going to run me out to the airport to catch a plane. Call me if you get in trouble, and I'll be here in a flash. I need to go keep my new man happy and act like a lawyer meanwhile." Rose gave a hug to everyone, including Jules, but didn't include me. She waited until Jules was standing next to me, and then wrapped herself around me and attached her mouth to mine. Wow, that was a knock your socks off kiss. She repeated the same kiss on Jules when she stepped back. Any more, and Jules would have had her on the floor. Rose just stepped back, winked, and said 'Later'.

Sheila just shook her head. As Rose and Yori drove away, she told those watching, "She's so much like our mom that it's amazing. I'm not as crazy as she is."

I had to wonder about that.

April spoke up from behind the receptionist counter, "I have Millie Holsenmeir coming in tomorrow morning to be interviewed as the receptionist. She's a sweetheart, and I'll bet she will be a great receptionist."

Beep, beep, beep, came from my phone, and the battle charge melody played by a bugler came from Sheila's. She looked at me and said, "See, I learned something from you."

We were going to have to wait for Yori, although it shouldn't be but a minute.

It took until almost ten after to get everyone thanked for a great day and out of the building. Sheila asked, "Do you have a room for me? I've already started to have my clothes shipped out here. I'll find a furnished studio to begin with, and get something more in time. I really want to be busy here to learn everything about our company and how others do business. I think I'd love to go to LA to be one of Brad's Assistants, but I'm making the leap to Manager now. Find me an Assistant to train, Brad. I now feel like I need to be giving back."

Yori drove up, and the three women got into the back and I sat in the front seat with Yori. We were at the hotel in minutes. Sheila checked in on the same floor we were on, and we all agreed to meet in the bar in ten to fifteen minutes. Jules and I just dropped my laptop and briefcase in the suite, and went down to the bar. We were enjoying one of our favorites when Sheila came in. She looked at what we were drinking and said, "Okay, I'm game. Is that vodka?"

When I said Beefeater on the rocks, she said, "Do all you hotshots drink that paint thinner? That's what my mom and dad drink all the time. They have olives at least." We had also ordered an assortment of snacks in order to buy liquor.

The bartender came back from his preparation station with four long toothpicks filled with olives. Sheila laughed and told the man, "Okay, give me the same with a load of olives too. No more sissy drinks for me."

We each had a couple of drinks before going to the same restaurant that we went to the night before. I used the time to constantly give Sheila pointers for each department, and to convince her that she could be a bully sometimes to get someone to do what they should, but never be physically or verbally abusive. She kept saying, "Like Mom did with us kids all the time. Dad was easier, but no one got anything past Mom."

I think that Sheila was ready to spread her wings and take on her first big assignment by the time we had eaten and gone back to the hotel bar for a nightcap. That she did so well babysitting the Seattle office was special, and the manner in which she came into the office here was also special. I was going to be able to report that all three of the offices were now going to be operating the way they should be. This weekend's sales were going to tell the story. I was anxious about leaving the three on their own, but I knew each of them had someone who wanted them to be a success directing that outcome.

I asked Kelly, "Did you hear from Rebecca today?"

Kelly smiled as she said, "Let me give you the summaries. LA sales were at a record pace once again. The staff there should have cooled off, but they are still bringing in more sales than we have homes. Rebecca said that Julio was in the process of building one of the new models in the exclusive development. It's going to be about eight million, so it will be something special."

"All the crews are busy, with half doing custom homes, and half building upgraded inventory homes."

"San Diego has experienced a record week after an exceptional weekend. You're going to have to review their construction payroll. I had Connie advise them what kind of reports you would want, and they will have them by tomorrow. Reno is running high test because their sales have picked up now that Tas is back to being himself. Maybe he's even more so than he was before. Las Vegas is trying to outdo everyone by having seven and eight sales a day this week, after a nice ten sale weekend."

"The last item is something that you were worried about. The Oakland office has cut its sales staff from thirty to twelve. The Manager gave the home office the reason was the people let go weren't making their numbers. There are only three other Foxworths on staff besides the Manager. He has obviously heard from others that you don't put up with any off the wall stuff. According to their accounting staff, the number of sales staff is more appropriate for the sales volume. He lost most of them when they wouldn't agree to the new straight commission sales contract he thought that you mandated."

I was now sitting in the bar with my group, including Sheila, smiling at how the region was coming together. A few more weeks and all the offices would be producing in the manner they should be. I would now need to review each of them for Assistants. My thoughts were that some of the larger offices should have at least two Assistants in training so that there would be a constant supply to support management attrition, and for new offices.

Sheila asked if I was going to abandon her and throw her to the wolves over the weekend. "I did that last weekend and you ended up with some decent numbers, Sheila. The sales today exceeded what the home office probably expects, but you and your people are going to show that there is more to you and your staff, than they think. You don't have to go to the models, but it might be educational and give you an idea of how to work them in the future. I haven't had an opportunity to check on the land purchases for Salt Lake, but I'll bet Mooney owns property for new developments in some of the better areas. Check your property files and see where they are to know what is intended for them. Mooney is really trying to build the higher value homes, so the property they own is going to be in or near the more exclusive areas. Learn about the local culture and use that knowledge to market our product."