by Debby Mayne
Christina picked up a cookbook and showed it to Mandy. “I found this heart-healthy cookbook with easy recipes, so I don’t think this will be too hard. Dad and I have been experimenting with a few things so we’d at least have something to fix for Mom when she got home.”
“You’re kidding. You got Dad in the kitchen?”
With a nod, Christina chuckled. “Yeah, can you believe it?”
“Now I know he must have been scared.”
They fixed some iced decaf green tea and put everything on a tray that Christina carried out to their parents. “Here’s a snack to enjoy while Mandy and I fix lunch.”
By the time Mandy went back to her own place that night, she was certain that her sister had everything under control. To Mandy’s amazement, Christina had a week’s worth of menus and exercises lined up for their mom. And even more surprising, their mom seemed perfectly content following orders.
The next morning, when Mandy arrived back at her parents’ house to relieve her sister, her dad said Christina had already left for work. “She was pacing and acting all nervous,” he explained. “I figured we’d all be better off if she went on over there.”
“You’re probably right. How was Mom’s night?”
“She was a little restless, and I couldn’t sleep, so we spent about an hour talking.”
“Doesn’t she need sleep?”
“Yes, but I think it was good to get everything out.”
“Are y’all talking about me?”
Mandy and her dad looked up to see her mother standing in the doorway of the living room. She was dressed in a jogging suit and had her makeup on.
“You look nice, Mom,” Mandy said as she crossed over to give her a hug. “Are you planning to go out?”
“Maybe a walk around the block.” She cut her gaze over to her husband before adding, “I need to work up to a couple of miles soon, but I figure the block is all I can handle just yet.”
“What can I do?” Mandy asked.
“Wanna go for a walk with us?”
“Sure, Mom. Let me go out to my car and get my sneakers. I’ll be right back.”
Mandy was pleased that her mother was willing to do whatever it took to get healthy. That meant everyone’s life would get back to normal more quickly. She spent the remainder of the day helping and watching her dad cater to her mother’s whims.
Christina came home at dinnertime. “I am exhausted,” she said as she dropped onto the sofa. “There is so much to learn, I feel like my head is swollen ten times its normal size.”
Mandy took a step back and studied her head. “Nope. No swelling that I can see.”
“How long did it take you to learn how to do all that stuff?”
“Not long. And I didn’t have a manual. I’m glad they have some training materials now. It’ll be so much easier if you can look stuff up.”
Christina’s face suddenly lit up as she straightened. “Tony said I can actually start working tomorrow, since I spent the whole day studying.”
“Working?” Mandy asked. “As in taking pictures?”
“Ya know. . .” Christina tapped her chin with her index finger. “I’m not sure what I’ll be doing. All I know is I’ll be glad to move around a little. My back is killing me from sitting all day.”
“Dinner’s ready. Mom is in the kitchen right now. She and Dad have gone for two walks around the block. She’s gradually working up to her two miles per day.”
“Looks like we’re all learning new stuff.” Christina stood up and stretched.
“God has a way of making us learn what He wants us to know.”
Christina frowned. “You don’t think God actually caused Mom’s heart attack, do you?”
“I don’t think so. But I do think He’s using it to bring all of us closer and showing us how fortunate we are.”
After dinner, Mandy went back to her place. Her parents asked if they could be alone the next day, so she called Tony’s cell phone to let him know she wanted to work.
“That’s fine with me. At least they’re not far, so if you’re needed, you can be there in a few minutes.”
Mandy arrived early on Wednesday, then Tony followed. Christina walked in five minutes before they opened.
Grinning, she looked at Tony. “You said I could start working. What do you want me to do?”
“Remember the phone section in the manual? I’d like for you to answer calls and receive walk-ins.” He handed her a stack of cards. “Between calls, you can file these prospect cards. After you’re comfortable with the reception area, I’ll teach you how to follow up on some of those folks who have called or expressed interest in having portraits done.”
Christina frowned but took the cards. Mandy knew her sister was unhappy, but she needed to get over it. So Mandy left the front desk and went into the studio, where everything had been neatly put away.
“I tried to leave it like you do,” Tony said from behind her. “Does it pass inspection?”
Mandy spun around to face him, and she lost her breath when she realized he was less than two feet away. “Yes.” Her throat tightened. “It looks very nice.”
He closed the distance between them and took her hands. “Mandy, I—”
“Excuse me,” Christina said from the door. “I have a question.”
Tony took a quick step back and turned toward the door. “What do you need?”
“How long do I have to stand at the front desk? I have all the cards filed, and no one has walked in yet.”
Mandy glanced up at the big clock on the studio wall. They’d been there for less than half an hour, and her sister was already bored. She started say something, but she held back. This was Tony’s deal. He needed to handle the situation as he would for any trainee.
“Would you rather go back to the office and study some more?” he asked.
“Um. . .” Christina glared at Mandy, but Mandy looked away. “Would it be okay if I brought my study materials up to the front desk? At least I’d have something to do when I’m not talking on the phone.”
“Sure, that would be just fine,” Tony replied. “Just remember the customer always comes first.”
“I know that.” Christina turned and left them alone again.
When Tony looked at Mandy again, she had to hold back the grin that threatened. His shoulders shook with silent laughter. “I can’t say you didn’t warn me.”
“I never said anything about what she just did.”
“No, but I’m good at reading between the lines. Your sister is sharp, and she needs to be constantly challenged. I’m thinking we might speed her through the management material in the book and move her into some photography a little sooner than originally planned. Are you up to that?”
“Of course,” she replied. “I’ll do whatever I need to do.”
“Do you realize how much more walk-in traffic we’d get in the mall?”
Mandy reluctantly nodded. “I suppose we probably would.”
“Right now, our rent is much lower than mall rent, but the paperwork for renewing our lease just came in this morning, and it’s worse than we thought. Ricco said it’s sky-high—close to mall rent, and they’re not budging because other businesses want this space.”
“When do we have to sign the lease?” Mandy asked.
“The current lease is up in six months, but I think we have another ninety days on a month-to-month.”
Nine months. At least they had that long before they had to move. Besides, it wasn’t like they’d be going far. Ohio Valley Mall was just on the other side of the bridge. Fifteen minutes away. But still. . .
“We’d need to assess other aspects besides the rent, though. Like I already said, we have a solid base of customers, and we need to see if they’re willing to go to the mall. If not, we need to evaluate cost versus income—or at least potential income.”
“Mandy,” Christina hollered from the front. “I need you.”
“Sorry,” Mandy said as she ran toward the front. “I’ll hav
e a talk with her after work.”
fourteen
Mandy braced herself to face her sister. “Whatcha need?”
Christina glared at her. “You never told me how boring this job was. I hate standing here, waiting for nothing to happen.”
“Then don’t just stand there,” Mandy said. “Be proactive. Study your materials.”
“I’ve studied them until my brains felt like they’d implode. Is this what you do all day?”
Mandy thought for a moment then gestured toward a stool. “Have a seat, Christina. We need to talk about this whole situation.”
Christina did as she was told and sat. “Okay, now what?”
“Small World is currently in a transition. Until recently, there were no training manuals. People got hired and trained on the job. They were thrown into a situation, and they had to swim, or they’d sink fast.”
“You did just fine with that.”
“Not really.” Mandy thought about how in the dark she’d been since she’d started. “Once I started working here, I was determined to make it work. I enjoy taking pictures of the children, so I focused on learning everything I could about how to do the best job at it.”
“Why can’t I do that?”
Mandy took her sister’s hand. “You can. But don’t expect this to be an exciting job right off the bat. Tony already mentioned that we need to speed things up a bit with you, and once we do that, brace yourself.”
A myriad of expressions crossed Christina’s face, from consternation to contemplation and then satisfaction. “Okay, I think that’ll be good. I understand everything so far, so there’s really no reason I can’t jump into the next step.”
“Okay. Perhaps Tony will let you come back and observe the picture-taking process. We’ll have to have someone at the desk, though.”
Christina seemed satisfied with that. “Thanks, Mandy. I’m glad I have you going to bat for me.”
“I don’t mind doing it now, but I won’t always be here to deal with stuff like this.”
Suddenly, a look of panic shot across Christina’s face. “You won’t?”
“No, because I’ll be traveling after I start the training.”
“Oh.” Christina frowned. “I guess I’m your guinea pig, huh?”
Mandy laughed. “Yes, but a very cute guinea pig.”
Tony walked up with his hands in his pockets. “Are you two okay?”
“Christina would like to move a little faster in her training, and I think she’s ready for the next step.”
“I agree.” Tony looked at Christina. “We don’t have the photography training nailed down yet, but I think Mandy will know what to do.”
Mandy nodded. “I’d also like to teach her to call prospects who requested more information. She doesn’t like standing here waiting for walk-ins.”
“Did you tell her about the mall?”
Mandy shook her head. “I didn’t know if I should say anything.”
Tony turned to Christina. “We’ve been looking at moving to the Ohio Valley Mall.”
She crinkled her forehead. “We are? Why?”
He explained the rent situation. “Sometimes it just comes down to economics.”
Christina pondered what he said for a moment then her eyes lit up. “Cool! I love the mall!”
“I know you do,” Mandy said as she and Tony exchanged an amused glance.
“I can go shopping at lunch and maybe even get my nails done at the salon.”
Mandy groaned. “You’ll just need to put yourself on a budget, so you don’t spend your whole check in the other stores.”
Tony chuckled as he walked away. “I’ll leave you two to work this out. But do whatever you think about the photography training, Mandy.”
After he closed his office door, Christina made a face. “Am I annoying him?”
Mandy shook her head. “I doubt it. He’s just really busy with all the changes.”
“Okay, so what should I do next?” Christina hopped off the stool and walked back to the front part of the counter.
“Have you gotten to the section in the manual where it tells how to contact people from the mail-in forms?”
Christina nodded and scrunched her nose. “I hate phone solicitation.”
“It’s not really phone solicitation since they filled out the forms and requested information. All you have to do is call, tell them you’re available for any questions, and invite them in. Make sure you have a price list nearby because a lot of people want prices.”
“It’s okay if I quote prices over the phone?”
Mandy tilted her head. “Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”
Christina hung her head. “I guess I must not have told you that I worked as a phone solicitor for a company in Hollywood that wouldn’t allow us to mention price. I hated that job.”
“You definitely didn’t tell me about that. How long did you work there?”
“About three hours. After getting hang-up after hang-up, I finally just grabbed my handbag, marched right into my supervisor’s stuffy office, and told him I quit.” She frowned. “He had the nerve to laugh right in my face. He said I’d never amount to anything.”
An alarm sounded in the back of Mandy’s mind, but she tried to squelch it. “You’ve been with Small World longer than that.” She pointed to the date on the calendar. “It must not be too bad here.”
The color in Christina’s face drained, and she grabbed Mandy’s arm. “I don’t want you to think I’d do that to you. I’d never just walk out of here.”
“I hope not.”
“You mean too much to me,” Christina said. “Besides, before I accepted this job, Dad had a talk with me. He said I couldn’t just think about myself this time. I had to consider the fact that we’re sisters, and anything I do might reflect on you.”
“Dad said that?”
Christina nodded. “And that’s not all he said. It’ll take me hours to tell you everything I had to go through with him before I agreed to work here.”
“I want you to be yourself. If you ever feel like this isn’t the place for you, please let me know.”
Christina shrugged then nodded. “I can see where he’s coming from. After all, I don’t have the best employment history. And I have to admit I hesitated at first. Then I decided to do whatever it took to stick it out, no matter how much I hate the job.”
“You hate it?”
“Not yet.” Christina smiled and playfully shoved Mandy. “Just kidding. No, I actually like it here, even though standing at the counter is boring.”
“All jobs have something not to like,” Mandy said. “It’s up to you to turn that around. I don’t like standing here without something to do, either, which is why I use my time to call people.”
“That makes sense.” Christina glanced over at the stack of cards that had recently come in. “Do you have a script?”
“Not a script, but the guidelines should be in your training manual.” Mandy reached for the manual that Christina had stuck beneath the counter, and she flipped through, until she found the section on follow-up. “Here it is. Read this a couple of times, then we can practice before you place your first call.”
“Is that your job?” Christina asked. “I mean, you’re the photography trainer, not the phone call trainer.”
“I think it’s okay for me to do this for you. Our goal isn’t to stay in some narrow job description. We want to provide the best service and product to keep our customers happy.”
❧
Tony heard every single word between the sisters, even behind the closed office door. He grinned as Mandy helped Christina work through her concerns.
From the moment he saw them interact, he could see the love between them, but he also saw that there were issues, too. Christina had quite a bit to learn about business, but Mandy needed to learn to delegate and not try to do everything herself. She’d make an awesome mom. He quickly dropped that thought and forced himself to concentrate on work.
“I was just showing her some stuff to do when it’s slow,” Mandy said.
“Good idea.”
Christina picked up a card and turned to Mandy. “How about we start now?” She looked at the name on the card. “You can be Mrs. Fielding.”
Tony lifted an eyebrow as he looked at Mandy. “We get to see if acting runs in the family.”
Mandy rolled her eyes as she laughed. “I’m afraid my sister got all the acting genes.”
He hung around and listened as they rehearsed the first time. Christina was actually pretty good at answering the objections Mandy tossed at her.
“You can do this,” Mandy said. “Would you be more comfortable with me here, or would you like for us to leave you alone for your first call?”
Christina chewed her lip for a few seconds. “I’m sort of embarrassed to make a fool of myself in front of you, but if I need help, it’ll be nice to know you’re right here.”
Tony made a quick decision. “I’ll go check some bulbs in the studio. Let me know if you need me.”
He hovered close to the door during the first part of Christina’s call. She stumbled at first, but within seconds, she found her footing. The second call she made came across much more confident.
After he turned on all the lights to make sure the bulbs worked, he joined the women at the counter. “So how’s it going?”
Mandy lifted her hands. “My sister is a natural at this!”
“I never doubted that a minute,” Tony said.
Christina did a pretend curtsy, flashed a wide smile, and nodded. “I’d like to thank all the little people who believed in me.”
Mandy rolled her eyes. “Looks like we’ve created a monster.”
Tony laughed. “I’ve always liked monsters.”
“Such a guy thing to say,” Christina said.
“If it quacks like a duck. . .” Tony wiggled his eyebrows. “Okay, you two. Now that you’re an expert on follow-up calls, Christina, I need to see Mandy in my office for a few minutes.” He turned to Mandy and winked.