by Simply BWWM
“This is an amazing car.”
“And it’s all yours. You have a good day. And be careful; the engine is very powerful.”
She got in, setting her laptop and phone on the passenger seat and closing the door. When the door sealed, everything went silent, and she realized that the yard had been filled with the buzzing of insects in the trees, and birds calling to each other as the world awakened. The silence in the car was deafening. While she’d become accustomed to the relative silence in the cabin of luxury cars, this was far more profound.
She had no doubt that withstanding hand grenades and automatic weaponry was just the tip of the iceberg.
She eased the car onto Bayshore Lane and headed north, deciding to stop at the gas station first thing to see if her theory was right. If the bulk of the traffic was going north this morning, then the gas station should be extremely busy, which would give her a chance to see the property in action.
It would take a little longer to go through the new software with their cash office clerk since they also took care of customers at the gas station, but she was willing to take that chance. Seeing the business running at capacity might give her a better feel for the business as a whole, and once she had everyone working through the new system, she would be able to generate reports that Alex could use to streamline his business.
She was starting to feel giddy as the possibilities ran through her mind. It was all so exciting, and she couldn’t wait to see how her expertise lent itself to improving the overall business model and making Alex more money. He was going to be thrilled.
She fought her way through the heavy traffic, the sleek car turning heads as she maneuvered down the 395. She took the exit when her phone prompted her and pulled into the familiar gas station.
It was completely empty.
Maybe it’s just a lull, she thought, parking next to the employee’s car on the side, just in case the station suddenly got busy. When she entered the store it was equally quiet, and the clerk didn’t appear for quite some time after the doorbell chimed to announce her presence.
“The pumps are broken and—” the man was saying as he walked down the aisle, then stopped abruptly when he saw her. “Miss Nina, I didn’t know you were coming today. Is everything alright?”
“Just came to walk you through the new accounting system.”
“I’m sure I can manage,” he said warmly.
His obvious dismissal irritated her.
“There are certain aspects that are completely different from the old software. Part of my job is to make sure that everyone has inputted their information correctly so the process is smooth. It’s not about what your location does anymore, it’s about the whole business. Surely, you can understand why making sure we’re all on the same page is important.”
He looked like he was going to argue, but she stood her ground, crossing her arms and raising a single eyebrow in challenge. The man stared at her for a second, as if he couldn’t believe that she was for real, then his shoulders slumped ever so slightly and he motioned with his head toward the cash office in the back.
“Let’s get this over with so I can get back to work,” he grumbled.
“Aren’t you going to lock the front door so we don’t get robbed blind while we’re in there?”
Her question caught him off guard, then he nodded and did as she asked.
Nina shook her head, using her phone to make a note that would sync automatically with the files on her laptop. This note was for her eyes only, and she quickly wrote down the manager’s complete lack of common sense and poor work ethic, then made a note that the store should be audited for shrinkage.
She had a feeling more merchandise was stolen from this store than purchased.
She followed the man to the office, taking out her laptop and setting it on the rickety table they were using as a desk.
“Where is the computer that’s supposed to be in here?”
“We use a laptop.”
“Alright, but where is it? I can’t really show you how to do this without the computer in front of you.”
“Aren’t we just using the old software?”
She sighed.
“Look, I’m not going to look at your browser history, so whatever you were looking at before I walked in, I don’t care. It’s up to you whether you dick around all day on the internet of get some actual work done, because as the store manager, any dip in profits come down on you. So, whatever it is you’re trying to hide, I’m not even looking for.
I’m uploading the updated version of the software, syncing the old files with the new software, and showing you how to input new information. I’m trying to do all twenty-two properties this week, and you’re slowing me down. I’m not here to play games, I’m here to get stuff done. So, please, get the laptop, shut down whatever you were looking at and then bring it here so I can update everything and be on my way. You can waste your time, but I’m not about to let you waste mine.”
Her words must have had some effect on him, because he finally quit arguing and left the room, coming back almost five minutes later with the laptop in hand, giving it to her after unlocking it with the password.
Updating the software while they spoke, she gave him a quick rundown of how the new system worked, including the features she was most excited about. As she went through the list and the software finished loading, she synced the old program with the new, then went into the settings menu and scrolled down until she found what she was looking for.
She found the single credit card machine on the dropdown menu, right-clicking on it and pairing it with the laptop.
“There, now you won’t have to come to the cash register unless there’s a customer.”
“Okay?” he said, clearly confused.
She clicked on the icon again, then ran the reports. It generated a saved file almost instantly, naming it the current date and time.
“You’ll have to run reports again tonight, but I wanted to show you how it works. You choose run reports, then when this little file pops up, you drag it to this area right here, and drop it. It automatically inputs your reports and updates the file. It’s probably the easiest thing you’ll do all day, and that’s saying a lot.”
“I don’t have to do anything else?”
“You will have to count the cash drawer and note any discrepancies, but otherwise, the system does most of the work for you.”
She checked her laptop, making sure that the information synced in real time as it was supposed to, thrilled to find that everything she’d done on his laptop was already on hers.
It worked exactly how she thought it would, and she was delighted. This was going to make keeping track of twenty-two separate businesses doable. Alex was going to be so happy when he saw what she’d done, and how she’d taken initiative. Everything was already looking better, and by the end of the week, she would have every penny Alex spent and earned at her fingertips. Only then would she show him what she’d managed to do, and she hoped that he was surprised.
She set her computer to sleep and packed it up, thanked the manager, then followed him to the door so he could let her out. The parking lot was still empty, though traffic on the freeway was still packed. She’d been there long enough that there should have been several customers, but there hadn’t been a single customer. It was weird, but she’d only been there about an hour, so it was possible that she’d just found a lull in an otherwise steady day.
If not, and this was par for the course, the reports she would generate every quarter would make it clear that the gas station was not making the money it should, and Alex would likely sell the place if he didn’t want to deal with the hassle of making necessary changes. Either way, she’d be making a difference, and that made her feel like she was doing more than just crunching numbers to justify her allowance. She was earning her salary and it felt good.
The morning air was already warm when she stepped onto the walkway that led around the side of the building to
her car. She almost thought she heard the manager lock the door behind her, but he was probably just removing the key. Dead or not, there was no way he was going to just lock the doors and give up for the day before it was even eight in the morning. The store manager didn’t strike her as the brightest star in the sky, but no one was that stupid.
She looked at the map of properties, picking the next one down the line. She’d already broken them up into mini territories, so each day she would visit between four and six properties, depending on how close they were to the others. Today, she was hitting a cluster of six, then heading home to go through the files and make sure she’d worked out all the kinks before doing it again the next day. Even though the gas station manager had dragged the twenty-minute process out being difficult, the next five properties were all within a few minutes of each other, and she would finish before lunch. Her first paycheck had already hit her bank, so she would treat herself to a nice, early lunch out for a change, then finish her workday in her office. By the time she was done for the day, it would still be early, and she could take a swim and relax until Alex came home.
The next five properties went just like she expected, and unlike the lazy store manager at the gas station, the clerks greeted her with warm smiles, ready to learn about the new system, and interested in how it was going to make everything run smoother. She was in and out of each property in less than thirty minutes, and as she expected, she was done well before lunch. At this rate, she would have everyone on the same page by Friday, which was exciting.
You’re such a nerd, she thought, still laughing. But she loved what she did, and a position like this was almost unheard of for someone fresh out of college. What could have been the biggest mistake of her life had turned out to be so much better than she could have imagined. She had a great car, a well-paying job that she could use as a stepping stone to a lucrative career, a baby on the way, and a good man that really got her like no one else ever had.
Nina couldn’t have planned a better life for herself, and she couldn’t wait to see Alex tonight to tell him everything she’d accomplished. Life was good.
Chapter13
Nina stepped out of the shower, toweling her straight hair dry as she stood in front of her closet and tried to decide what to wear. It was almost five, and she had enjoyed a good swim, finished her work for the day, and her day was done. She had already reviewed the properties she’d visited that day and merged them with her Masterfile. Everything was working exactly as it should, and when she’d checked the point of sale hardware for each property, they were still synced in real time and available for Nina.
This time next month, she would only be making property visits for random audits, making sure that the employees knew that there would be accountability and Nina wasn’t just going to assume that the computer-generated reports were correct. They were accurate, and almost instant, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be affected by human error or design. Even the most sophisticated systems could be breeched and Nina knew that being subject to random audits was a huge deterrent.
Alex had called right before she’d showered to let her know he wouldn’t make dinner and not to wait up for him, just in case. She usually wore something cute to dinner, but tonight, she was thinking simple and comfortable. Skipping over the sweatpants and opting for her favorite pair of jeans, Nina paired them with a loose-fitting tee and a pair of athletic shoes with just a hint of pink.
When she turned to check herself out in the full-length mirror, she couldn’t believe how different she looked. It wasn’t just the fact that she was starting to get a baby bump, though this was probably the last time she could comfortably wear these jeans. She could see the change in herself, and it wasn’t just physical. She was confident, and the stress of making grades and wondering what her future held was gone.
She couldn’t remember ever being this content with her life, even though she’d always been a very happy, positive person. This was different. It came from a life without surprises, where everyone was assured everything they needed and more. Their child would never know the stress of parents sitting at the table until the early hours of the morning, trying to squeeze another dollar out of what they had left, yet somehow making it work.
Her baby would never skip high school parties in favor of extra credit that would ensure another scholarship. Nina had worked so hard in high school that her college was paid for entirely through scholarships, including a monthly stipend for necessities and a meal plan. She had even won a scholarship that had paid for her textbooks and laptop. But she had given up so much of her childhood for those things. She would never regret it but knowing that her child wouldn’t have to do the same felt good.
That profound security and contentment was written all over her face.
Pulling herself away from the mirror and all that soul-searching, Nina looked at the clock and decided she had time to check the six accounts from today one more time. It was five, and they would be running at each of the properties even though Nina had run them once today. There was a five to ten second delay on each report, but that was nothing. If she hurried and everyone did their job, she could do a quick reports audit and make any necessary tweaks before dinner.
Excited, she fired up the laptop on her desk and logged into the system. As she expected, two of the properties had already begun to manually upload their reports from the point of sale, creating a new file for Nina to approve before it was merged with the Masterfile.
Surprisingly, the gas station had already run its reports and they were ready for her to review. She clicked on the file, opening it up and staring at it, dumbfounded.
The gas station had pulled in a couple grand in sales in just a few hours.
“Maybe this morning was a fluke,” she said out loud, shocked that any place that could be so dead during peak hours could still more than make up for it in the middle of the day.
She saved the file, leaving the merging for later. She was eager to see how the other properties had faired throughout the day, and merging the files took a bit of time, so it was better to merge them all at once at the end.
The next property was one of the larger hotels, and it was no surprise that they’d done over a million dollars in business since she’d been there. The clerks had been extremely busy the entire time she’d been there, and only the cash office clerk had been free long enough to watch her use the system. Even then, he’d been distracted and obviously ready for her to leave so he could go out and help the others. Like Fontainebleau, this hotel was right on the water, and there was really no “off-season.” With the summer looming, it was only going to get busier.
She saved the file with the name of the hotel and the date, then moved onto the next one. This one was the small one that she and Alex gone to first. Like the week before, she hadn’t seen a single customer at the desk to check in, and the hotel lacked the constant bustling of smaller hotels. She was pretty sure it was completely empty, at least on the first floor.
The report had just been pulled from two out of the three points of sale she’d synced with their computer. She watched as the third one began to upload its numbers, then opened the file before the clerk had even saved it. It wouldn’t affect the clerk on her end, and she wouldn’t be able to see that Nina was in the file. That was one of the perks of the system she had left out. Alex’s cash office staff didn’t need to know that she had unfettered access to everything, and she could pull a screen shot from the file in real time if she needed to, in addition to the screen shots the program did automatically.
Everything had been created with high-volume sales in mind, which kept people from skimming a few hundred here and there, thinking that it would never be missed amongst the millions. If Alex hired anyone who turned out to be a thief, Nina would be the first to know.
The report loaded, and Nina found herself shocked yet again. The hotel had cleared an astounding amount of money for its size, and it had been the last property on Nina’s round that
day. How it made even a tenth of that in just 5 hours was beyond her, but the amount they made would have raised a brow even in a full day’s report.
“Those are some expensive ass rooms,” she said, opening the web browser and typing the hotel name into the search bar.
It took her forever to find the property, and once she did, she discovered that the physical address was wrong. Really wrong. She wasn’t even sure if the street it was listed on existed in downtown Miami. But the phone numbers matched the ones she’d saved to the file, and the pictures of the property were correct.
Furrowing her brow, she clicked through the site until she found the place to make reservations, which wasn’t readily available on the main menu. When she pulled up the prices and pictures of the individual rooms, she couldn’t believe that a regular hotel room cost that much. It was almost five hundred dollars a night for a one-bedroom suite with a kitchenette.
Nina was floored. There was no way this location warranted that price. Opening another tab on the browser, she searched hotels in the vicinity, using the correct address as a starting point. There were five hotels within two miles of Alex’s hotel, some of them in much better locations. And all of them were under two hundred a night.
“What the hell?” she said, thinking back to the outrageous price the gas station was charging for a gallon of gas compared to the place across the highway.
How were any of these places staying afloat?
Curious, and feeling a little uneasy, Nina tried to book a room, but there was a glitch on the website that wouldn’t allow her to book. She called the number on the website, setting her own number to private before she dialed by pushing *67 first.
Her call was answered on the first ring.
“Mirada Extended Stay, how can I help you?” a cheery voice answered.
“I’m trying to book a room but your website isn’t working. And I have a couple questions about the amenities.”
“Confirmation code?”