Cathy smiled, hoping that she was finally able to divert the topic away from Claudia’s sorrow but the talk of marriage only brought fresh memories for Claudia.
“I really didn’t know he was married. We used to live together and we even went for long holidays together. I lived in Frankfurt but he used to go to Stuttgart a lot, he said it was work. Maybe that’s where his wife lives.”
Claudia was lost in her own thoughts now, recollecting each and every sign she might have noticed that would have spared her the betrayal that was shredding her to pieces at the moment.
“Claudia, sometimes it’s really hard to spot these things. When we love someone, we don’t see their weaknesses and we choose not to see their deception,” Cathy said. “Come now, let’s have another cup of coffee or tea, if you’d like,” Cathy continued.
“You’re right, tea would be better. Coffee is just going to make my mind work more than it should.”
Cathy smiled and signalled for the waiter. Even as he poured tea for both of them, a Front Office associate interrupted to say he had a special delivery for Cathy which needed to be given in person. Cathy acknowledged him with a smile and took the brown envelope.
Deep inside, she was dreading the fact that the CI-7 would mar the beauty of Bodensee with an assignment. But what needed to be done had to be done and she would see to the contents of the envelope once she finished with Claudia.
“Do you work for this hotel?” Claudia asked as Loren’s fingers continued to pry Cathy’s name tag off her jacket.
“Yes, I work at the Corporate Office in Las Vegas.”
“Now, I get what you mean when you said you had to travel. That’s very far. We were supposed to visit the US, Stefan and I. I still can’t believe how he planned all of this,” Claudia said.
A few tears streamed down as Claudia recollected the past week. There didn’t seem to be as much pain as there was earlier, but Cathy knew that it would be a long time for the tears to completely stop. She was not the person who could demand this from Claudia, especially when her own tears came at night in the midst of feeling trapped, lonely and overworked, all at the same time.
“He had seemed so happy when I told him about the baby. He said that the divorce would be final in six months ... then he said it would take one year. Last week he said he had planned a holiday for us. I thought it was finally a proposal. Apparently, he only wanted a public place so I wouldn’t make a scene. He said the holiday was his gift to me for all the years we had been together. Three years I loved him with everything I had and then I find out I am only worth a four-day three-night stay in a five-star hotel.”
“Claudia, I really can’t tell you anything to make you feel better at this very moment but you have the most amazing gift right here,” Cathy motioned to Loren as two little fingers made a quick dash for her hair, enjoying the attention she was receiving.
“I know. He said he didn’t want anything to do with her ... that it was my last chance to ask him for money. After this, he would deny everything.”
Claudia shrugged.
“I wished so many bad things for him last night when he left. But this morning I saw her and I knew I had to move on. She needs me and I cannot spend my time crying over someone who has pushed me away.”
“It won’t be easy but it will be worth it, Claudia. I would think it’s better he leaves now than when she is older or when he has found worse ways to hurt you. One step at a time, one day at a time and you will get there, that much I can promise you.”
Loren gurgled and put her hand out as though calling for Claudia.
“You’re right. Thank you so much for listening to me. I have to go feed her now. Hmmm ... she will learn to walk and so will I,” said Claudia as she bundled Loren in the pram.
LONDON, ENGLAND
October 2009
One of the few cities in the world that require no extensive introduction, London is best described in the words of Samuel Johnson, “You find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” Discovered by the Romans and named Londinium, this city has been the backdrop of many a war, love story and worldwide event.
It is currently the most populated city within the European Union and home to at least eight million people. It is also ranked fourth place for the most number of billionaires in the world. With more than three million foreigners, London has become a melting pot of cultures, religions and various minor ethnic groups. The London Heathrow Airport is said to be the busiest international airport in the world and boasts at least thirty million tourist arrivals every year.
Where the Arts are concerned, London is home to numerous artistes who have set the stage for a different tune, book or stroke of the paintbrush. Abbey Road Studios, a landmark in Beatlemania, was where the group had recorded most of their best-selling hits. The name carved itself into history books when it was used as the title for the band’s eleventh album.
One of London’s upcoming achievements in 2012 will be as the first city in the world, to organize the Summer Olympics for the third time. Previously, the city hosted the games of 1908 and 1948.
However, being one of the oldest and biggest cities in the world does come at a price. In 2005, the city suffered at the hands of terrorists, who vented their anger at the country for showing support to the USA for the invasion of Afghanistan. One double-decker bus and three underground trains were bombed leaving a significant mark on the oldest underground railway network in the world and making way for significant changes in security management in London and other major cities around the world.
“I need to know where the bloody hell you got my number from? This is my personal line!” Donald screamed into his mobile, his temples were throbbing and his face was flushed a deep red.
Gently, his wife Maggie placed her hand on his arm as though to comfort him. Out for their usual Friday night meal at the local pub, he had received a call on his mobile. The caller insisted she was doing a product survey but had wanted to know personal details such as home address and children’s ages. When Donald asked where she had got his number from, she had become evasive and he had gotten annoyed. Now, the entire crowd at the pub bore witness to the insistence of a data collector who did not understand the meaning of the word “no” and an irate customer. Donald stomped out of the pub and returned a few minutes later.
“She just wouldn’t tell me. I’m going to get to the bottom of this! That number is not on my business card and I have never received any phone calls like this until three weeks ago since we were at ... Oh my God. Do you think it’s possible?” Donald’s voice trailed off as he recollected his whereabouts for the past few weeks.
One week later, in a conference room at MoonStar Kensington, this matter would be the turning point at uncovering a further trail of intrusion. MoonStar Kensington was one of the three London properties owned and managed by MoonStar Hotels and Resorts. Currently, the morning briefing was in full swing. Each Head of Department was engrossed in issues related to his or her respective associates and departments.
“The guest claims that he has had the mobile number for more than two years. He had kept it private and didn’t have any problems with it until a few weeks ago after his stay with us. He and his wife had won a voucher to be our guests which has given him the idea that we have been giving out the vouchers to bribe guests into giving us their personal information. I can’t really place him but I do know that he had stayed with us during the Notting Hill Carnival. I’ve looked at his check-in form and he did provide his personal number,” said Susan, the Front Office Manager.
“And then what? The form magically took a walk with some data collectors? What are you getting at, Susan?” interrupted the Engineering Manager, Simon. He seemed peeved at Susan for bringing up an issue without offering any kind of solution or definite reason.
“I know it’s just one guest and he’s only stayed with
us once but something stinks about this scenario and I would rather Security or IT take a closer look. Just to be sure that we are not at fault,” said Susan, doing her best to ignore Simon’s sarcastic tone.
“Do you think one of our associates is selling guests’ personal information to outsiders?” inquired the General Manager.
“Yes ... all of us know how it works. A guest checks-in and if the booking system shows he’s a new guest or that he doesn’t have a MoonStar Privilege Card then his check-in form is set aside and passed to the night operator, for his information to be included into the database. From that point, the Sales Department as well as the Communications Department has access to the details. Just maybe, someone in between is trying to make a quick quid. I’m just uncomfortable and would rather be sure, that’s all,” Susan explained.
“Fair enough, I see where you’re coming from but let’s keep this as quiet as we can. What have you told the guest?” asked the General Manager.
“I told him, Mr. Donald Benson, that’s his name by the way, that we would look into it. I apologized and said he could contact me for any further follow-ups on the issue. I also gave him some dinner vouchers which he was happy about so he will be quiet for a while longer.”
It would be more than another week before Cathy arrived. She made a noticeable entrance as she walked towards the check-in counter, her face was as red as her hair. It was almost 6:00 a.m. and she did not bother going to her room first. Instead, she had Concierge send her luggage there while she made her way to the Churchill Meeting Room which was bustling with activity.
“Are you absolutely certain it was an inside job?” she barked at the IT Manager, Rodney.
Rodney nodded, fully aware that Cathy was in no mood for “ifs” or “maybes”. She wanted definite answers and whether he liked it or not, he was in the line of fire.
“It has to be either someone from Housekeeping, Sales or Front Office. They are the only ones with access and the only departments with more that one master key to the guest rooms.”
“What about the furniture supplier?” Cathy asked. As much as she tried to be patient and not blame the Heads of Departments in the room, she was fighting the strongest urge to reach out and slap whoever was responsible for the current mess they faced.
“I thought about that but I checked with Mrs. Barnaby from Housekeeping and all furniture is delivered and sent to the guest rooms with the plastic wrap intact. It is Housekeeping that removes the plastic wrap, while adding the items to the inventory,” Rodney responded.
“Great, just great!" said Cathy. "Let me recap just so I’ll know what to tell the media and Legal. One of our associates has had the time and taken a lot of effort to fit button-sized cameras into the chairs and mirrors of our guest rooms. These cameras have been used to film the guests, been uploaded on the Internet and where possible, personal information such as phone numbers and home addresses that were visible have been sold online? Have I got it all?”
“Ummm ... Yes, that’s about it ... for now. I’m still trying to figure out how far back it goes. After Susan reported the incident about Mr. Benson ... I surfed various pirate websites and online forums that buy mobile numbers and email addresses. There were two or three sites that had our guests’ information which had been sold by a user known as MaxCake8812. When I tried to locate the user that was when I found the videos he had sold or posted on other sites. So, I’m really not sure how wide or for how long he has been doing this. His IP address is bogus or he’s using someone else’s connection because it changes every time.”
“If the media has one whiff of this, they would crucify us,” moaned the Director of Sales and Marketing, his head buried in his hands.
“Currently, Mr. Benson is happy with his one year supply of hotel and dinner vouchers. Legal has assured him that it was a one time incident by a new associate and he was forgiving enough to agree on never making the issue public. Legal is set to do the same for every guest we can identify or who approaches us about this issue. However, we have to get to the bottom of this,” Cathy remarked, her tone softening as she looked around the room, each face more harried than the other.
“Cathy ... Ms. Dixon, I’m not really sure if the cameras are placed for a specific reason other than to spy on the guest and to take opportunity of whatever information can be obtained and sold. The videos online show couples having sex, others have been edited to show a guest picking his nose or women applying makeup ... getting dressed, it’s a whole new take on voyeurism,” Rodney said.
So far only the General Manager and Security Manager had seen some of the sites. Corporate had insisted that the sites must never be shown to the other departments, for fear of someone leaking the information to the press, making it public. While the people were not identifiable, the guest rooms were. The MoonStar logo was seen on the menus, the television trailer and in one video on the bathrobe.
A long silence settled on the room as each Head of Department remained uncertain and terrified about how deep this issue really was.
“I know it’s going to be hard figuring out which floor and who the guests were but can we try something else? Can we look at the earliest video you found and look at the main security logs to find out who had accessed those floors at that time? The master key is assigned by department and employee number, correct? And your department prints out these logs and hands it to Security on a quarterly basis? I know its going to take a while but it’s worth a shot, I think,” Cathy said.
“Sure, we can do that. My department stores the master log while Security keeps the back up. Whoever put the cameras in had to go back to take them out. When Security checked the rooms yesterday, only the rooms on the thirteenth and seventeenth floors still had the cameras. Either the idiots recycled their spy gadgets or knew we were suspicious about something,” said Rodney.
With Cathy at the property and the Heads of Departments in a bad mood, most of the MoonStar associates knew that something was brewing but very few suspected that it was an employee matter. Most of them assumed it was an advertising or budget problem and most certainly never suspected such a big issue, as intrusion of guest privacy.
After the meeting at the Churchill Room, it took Rodney more than two days to finally have a clue as to who was behind the spy cameras. After going through employee and security logs, three names kept popping up frequently. All female. All employed with the property for less than a year.
One of them had entered a particular room with the Housekeeping master key four times and as early as 7:00 a.m. Housekeeping only started doing their rounds for daily cleaning at 10:00 a.m. All three girls were fresh school leavers, hired as interns and the last one had left the property two months ago. They might be involved or not, but their employee files showed they had barely passed middle school, let alone possess enough skills to master-mind an illegal data collection operation.
What was strange about the situation was that all three girls had listed the same emergency number and person. Cathy looked at it several times before she could even acknowledge it.
“Well, we’ll have to lodge a police report to protect the property and they can deal with him however they like. The Corporate Legal team will speak to them on whatever charges they want to pursue and the property will issue a termination letter for misconduct. This was his act and his act alone and our job is to make sure that people will know this, if it ever goes public. I don’t get it though, as the Engineering Manager I’m sure Simon was getting paid enough,” Cathy said as the Security Manager and Rodney informed her that Simon had admitted to placing the cameras when confronted by the General Manager and IT.
“Maybe it wasn’t the money. I think it was just the thrill of it. Sweet talk the school leavers into doing his bidding. He can have fun with them while making a quick quid or two at the expense of our guests,” Rodney suggested, still reeling that someone could have been so bold and reckless.
“Yes, and look at where that has landed him,” Cathy said.
DUBLIN, IRELAND
December 2009
With history that dates far back into prehistoric times, “Black Pool” or commonly known as Dublin has evolved into one of the fastest growing cities the world has seen. To date, it has been voted as the third richest city in the world and the tenth most expensive city to live in, by European standards.
Centuries earlier, it had been well-known as one of the cities who had most of its residents fall prey to the Yersinia Pestis plague brought on by rat fleas, otherwise known as Black Death and responsible for reducing Europe’s population by millions. Conquered by the English in the sixteenth century and duly incorporated into the English crown, the city suffered religious conflict when it was forced by Queen Elizabeth I to become a Protestant city instead of continuing as a Roman Catholic state.
Even as the city attempted to recover and make significant progress in linen trade, it was dealt a series of setbacks, in the form of the Irish War of Independence, the Irish Civil War and social unrest which tore at the city’s development in various stages from 1922 to 1999.
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