Clouds Below the Mountains

by Vivienne Dockerty

  She bowed her head in capitulation, while her supervisor continued to rain down angry words upon it.

  “You were supposed to be on duty all day on the rep’s desk and I take a dim view of somebody ignoring my instructions and doing what they want to do. And the fact that you included one of our clients in your deception, won’t go down very well when the office hears about it.”

  “Well, she paid for her ticket. In fact the money’s in my handbag.” Lucy rummaged in her purse to show Kath that she had the money to prove it, but also to hide the fact that panic was beginning to grip.

  “So, what made you take it upon yourself to go to Santa Cruz and pretend you were the courier?”

  Kath looked sternly at Lucy, waiting for the rep’ to answer.

  “Okay. It was because I didn’t get a proper day off on Sunday. I felt resentful that I was called upon to see to that stupid woman and her lap dog husband. It isn’t my fault that she was idiotic enough to throw £3,000,00 at something, that would be too good to be true to any normal person.”

  “Explain,” said Kath, looking hard at Lucy, who had gone a bright red with self righteous anger. “ I really don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”

  Lucy gave Kath a potted version of what had gone on with the honeymoon couple.

  “But that didn’t take above twenty minutes Lucy, surely? So you were resentful that you had to give up twenty minutes of your time?”

  “It wasn’t just that, you always get the best trips. I’ve never been to Decades, the Medieval banquet, nor Santa Cruz of course, but every Sunday you go to Raffles, which I think is very unfair to me.”

  “So you decided to continue your day off into Monday and enjoy a trip out at our expense?”

  Lucy nodded, beginning to tremble inside, now that her anger had ebbed away.

  “Well, I’ll tell you what I’m going to do with you, young lady. You have had one verbal warning off me up to now and you should have had another one for leaving that family at the San Lorenzo desk. Oh yes, nothing escapes me. This time I’m going to ask Head Office to give you a written warning. We won’t tolerate a rep’ carrying out their own agendas. If you ever step out of line again, Lucy, you’ll be out on your ear with no glowing reference. Have I made myself clear?”

  Kath looked at her watch to see if they had time to get their coffee and felt most put out when Lucy stood up and glared at her.

  “Here take Jenni’s money,” she said, holding out a wad of pesetas. “You can also stick your job, ‘cos I don’t want to work for a company that’s mean and petty. I’ve done my best, put in the hours as I was supposed to do, but I’m not going to walk on egg shells until the end of my contract.”

  Lucy made her way to the Ladies, holding her head high with indignation at her superior’s threatening words. Well, Kath could stick her tin pot firm. How dare she point out that it was only twenty minutes lost? Bet no one disturbed her precious day off. She thinks she can hold a sword over my head for the next few months. One more mistake and I’m out, she said. Well, she can stuff it. When I’ve had a wee I’ll go to a travel desk and book myself a ticket home.

  ***

  Kath stared ahead worriedly after Lucy had stalked off and thought of the meeting she’d had with Robert, the boss of Periquito Travel earlier that morning.

  “Ralf Sanchez is talking about asking other travel companies, if they’d like to reserve a few bedrooms at the Valia.” His face had been creased with anxiety, as his dream of greater things began to crumble and the fact that Ralf Sanchez had already been in talks with a German travel company to increase his trade.

  “Ralf mentioned that the small and friendly element of clientele may be attracted, with the Valia not being a big hotel. I don’t know why we’re not attracting more online bookings in greater numbers. It’s cheaper, as it keeps the costs down, we’re sharing ‘plane space with the larger companies instead of chartering one ourselves and we managed to get a good deal with Sanchez. I don’t know why we’re not expanding, Kath. Maybe I got it wrong. Perhaps not every household has a computer yet or perhaps people like to sit in a travel agents.”

  “So will this affect our jobs, Lucy and mine, I mean?” Kath had asked, thinking she was getting too old to trawl around looking for another job with the larger travel companies, though maybe she could be a senior hostess for J.M.C or Saga.

  “Oh, I think your jobs are safe for the moment, we’ve plenty of bookings in the pipe line, it’s just a down turn until Easter I’m sure. I’ll see if I can increase my web space and cost out an advert’ in the Daily Mail, but we need to be more circumspect in our out goings, and I’ll let you know if there are to be any cut backs.”

  Cut backs, thought Kath, that could mean that everything would land upon her shoulders. No one to share the load of the meetings and the manning of the rep’s desk and no more eating out at the company’s expense. All the perks she’d come to take for granted might be pared down because of cut backs. So to go back to her boss now and tell him about Lucy’s behaviour, would only give the poor man something else to worry about and could reflect badly on her, as it would look as if she couldn’t supervise the people she was in charge of. And was Lucy any worse than the girl she had replaced? Such a scatty girl who had forgotten to pick up that poor passenger from his hotel?

  Lucy in comparison was an asset, with her ready smile, her professional manner and her smart appearance. Perhaps she’d been too hasty, too sharp, too over bearing. Wouldn’t she have walked off in a huff when she had been younger and hadn’t she taken risks, made mistakes and taken gambles on not being caught?

  Meantime Lucy had sat on the toilet, wondering what her next move was to be? She was in between a rock and a hard place. Did she want to go home and lose face with her friends and family, especially her doubting mother, or should she go back to Kath and apologize? Could she face the next few months under Kath’s authority, having to watch every move she made? Well, sitting here isn’t going to solve my problem, she thought, her common sense beginning to return. Just continue on as if nothing has happened and leave it to Kath to take the lead.

  ***

  “Are you alright, Lucy?” asked Adam, as they nearly collided with one another when he walked towards the coffee bar and she lost in thought, headed in the same direction.

  Oh, Adam,” she smiled, “ twice in one morning. I was just on my way back from the Ladies to join my supervisor over there.”

  “Pity you can’t come and have a coffee with me,” he said wistfully. “ It doesn’t as look as if I’ll ever get to know you, the way things are.”

  “You’re right,” Lucy said, suddenly making up her mind. If Kath wanted to talk to her she would know where to find her.

  Kath looked over to where Lucy and Adam were sitting. She felt worried and nibbled on the end of one of her perfectly manicured finger nails. What had Lucy been doing at the desk of Fortuna Villas anyway, could it be that she already had another job lined up? She sipped her lukewarm coffee, then checked her watch again for the flight arrivals. Surely Lucy would join her to escort the new passengers to the Mini coach?

  “Must go now, Adam,” said Lucy, after ten minutes of listening to a young man full of woes. How he’d had a lot of different jobs before seeing this one in the paper. “ I’ll ring you, I can see from the monitor over there that the aircraft we’re expecting have just landed. I need to look at the lists to see who I’m responsible for.”

  “I’ll await your call,” said Adam flatly, as Lucy pushed back her chair and took a last gulp of her coffee. He could tell he hadn’t impressed her, he should have listened to what she had to say instead.

  “Lucy,” said Kath evenly, as she and her rep’ both made their way to the monitor at the same time. “We’ll just have time to check the lists while the guests are waiting at the carousel.”

  ***

  Ralf Sanchez, liked to have a wander around the grounds of his hotel most mornings, before he had a word with his staff the
n settled down to his paperwork. It was satisfying to see the contented faces of his guests, listen to the children singing as he passed the kiddies club, see his grounds men working hard at their chosen tasks for the day and watch the maids, as they diligently carried out their duties.

  It was going to be a pleasant day, he thought, as he looked up to see the clouds being blown away above the horizon and felt the sun gathering heat in the sky. So Ralf was quite taken aback when he rounded the corner of the hotel by the tennis courts and saw a young man staring bleakly into space, as he lounged against the wall.

  “Good morning, Senor,” he said in greeting, intending to pass him by and go in search of a coffee.

  “How do,” said Gary morosely, moving aside, as the pathway was narrow for two of them to be there.

  “Why the long face young man, I cannot help but notice your downcast look. You should be happy to be staying at my wonderful hotel and feeling the warmth of the sun on your face?”

  “Oh sorry,” said Gary, aroused from his unhappy thoughts and suddenly noticing that the speaker was a Spanish looking gentleman, dressed in a smart pin striped suit. It sounded as if he was the owner of the place, from what he had just said.

  “ I am happy to be staying at your hotel, Sir, but I seem to have few problems.”

  Ralf thought longingly of the cup of coffee that could be his in only a few minutes, but also thought of his eighteen year old son who looked a little like this young man, when something was troubling him. He had a duty, didn’t he?

  “I’m just on my way to get a cup of coffee, why don’t you join me? As they say in England, “ a trouble shared is a trouble halved.”

  “That’s right,” agreed Gary looking hopeful, “ but I’m sure you have other things to think about though, without me troubling you.”

  “Nothing that can’t wait,” Ralf assured him, hoping that the young man’s problems could be solved easily, as he had a meeting with the housekeeper at eleven o’ clock.

  ***

  “Mum, Dad, final rehearsal this afternoon at three o’ clock,” said Sonya, as she joined her parents on the sun loungers after putting Evan into Kid’s club. “ Gosh it’s quiet in that place today, there’s only a handful of children. Anna’s helping Tina out because she only had Annabelle.”

  “I dare say they’ll be another influx of kids later,” said Kate. “ I wonder what Paul and Cheryl are doing this morning?”

  “I don’t think it would be wise to ask,” said Greg, turning a page of his book over. “ I suppose we’ll have to think of something to amuse Evan, Sonya, if you’re going to be busy after lunch.”

  “I’ll make it up to you, Dad, I promise. I know we said we’d share the baby sitting but somehow you always end up doing it. As from tomorrow, I promise I’ll do my share.”

  “It’s not a problem, is it Kate? We love looking after the little chap and as long as you’re enjoying yourself, that’s all right with us.”

  Kate nodded in agreement, but couldn’t help thinking that it would nice if Greg would love her company as much.

  ***

  “Darling, how much longer is that washing machine going to go on for?” asked Cheryl, getting really fed up having to sit on a wall up above the public launderette, waiting for the last load of their washing to finish.

  “Ten minutes I think, my love, its gone on final rinse,” shouted Paul, from the basement room where he was standing watching the washing machine. “ Why, do you need a drink or something, because I can watch over the dryer if you want to go to the supermarket?”

  “I’ll go and get us some cokes. You know I’m staggered that the owner hasn’t got a washing machine in his private apartment.”

  “A man that hasn’t got everything then,” Paul shouted back amusedly, “ but why would he need one, his villa is only up there in the hills.”

  “You know after lunch, I think we’ll all go for a ride in the Espace,” said Cheryl, checking in her handbag that she had enough pesetas for the drinks. “ I quite fancy having a look at how the other half live.”

  ***

  “So, that’s pretty much it, Mr Sanchez, we didn’t really bother to check the contract as we believed all his lies.”

  “Are you sure they were lies, Gary?” Ralf Sanchez asked gently. “ Maybe misunderstandings on the behalf of you and your wife.”

  “Well possibly,” Gary said hesitantly. “I must say we got quite carried away when we saw the amazing apartment and the way it looked out to sea, but you would think for the three thousand pounds we paid, we would get two weeks in that place, not up a mountain in Switzerland.”

  “I believe Switzerland is a very nice place to visit,” said Ralf. “ But yes, I agree you probably feel rather cheated.”

  “And then there’s the maintenance money that we have pay annually and on top of that of course, there’s the flights. I said to Tracy, for the money we’ve paid we could have had a new three piece suite, a change of car and another holiday this year.”

  “And that didn’t go down too well with your wife, Gary, after you had both just signed the papers?”

  “No,” said Gary forlornly.

  “Well, I must get on my way,” said Ralf, standing up and proffering his hand to Gary. “ I’ll make a few inquiries about this company on your behalf, but mean time I’m sure you’ll be hearing soon from the credit company. Rome wasn’t built in a day young man. If I was you I would go and sit by the ‘phone with your wife.”

  ***

  Lucy and Kath walked together to the coach park. There was a coolness between them, neither of them up to now had met each other’s eyes whilst communicating. Though there hadn’t been a lot said in the twenty minutes they’d had, before the first arrivals had come through the automatic doors.

  “Periquito Travel?” Lucy had asked, as a man pushing a lady in a wheelchair came up to her.

  “Yes love, Mr. and Mrs. Walsh. Is it far to the coach from here?”

  “I’ll take you over,” said Kath, glad that she could escape for a few minutes from the tension between her and Lucy. “ I can show you where the ramps are and push the trolley for you, that should make things easier. Lucy, direct everyone to the mini coach, it has number 27 on the window.”

  “Periquito Travel?” asked Lucy, as a woman in her early forties and a girl in her twenties pushing a baby in a fold up pram’, arrived through the doors.

  “Yes, Mrs. Reilly, Miss Reilly and Chantelle Reilly bound for the Hotel Valia,” the woman informed her.

  “Oh yes,” said Lucy, consulting her list then smiling at the baby girl. “ If you go to the coach park, which is a right out of the door, your coach is number 27.”

  Lucy continued directing the clients until every name on her list had a tick against it, then Kath arrived and told her that she would be going back to the office and Lucy would be escorting the coach alone.

  “I have quite a few things to catch up on after my day off yesterday, Lucy but I’ll ring you later on.

  As for your behaviour, I think for the moment we’ll draw a line under it and hope that in future you will be more circumspect in your thoughts.” She walked away to the visitors car park, leaving Lucy in shock at her supervisor’s words.

  Lucy stood outside the mini coach, taking a breather before she got on and wondered what had changed Kath’s mind over giving her a written warning? She had been so sure that her job at Periquito Travel was under threat, that after she had dismissed the idea of booking a flight back to Manchester, going home with her tail between her legs as it were, the thought had crossed her mind that perhaps Fortuna Villas might have a vacancy? Escorting clients to a variety of rental properties on the island seemed quite exciting, if it meant she only had to drop them there and there was no welcome meetings or rep’s desk to man. Though she had back tracked a little in that idea, after she had listened to the lack lustre conversation of Adam Bradshaw, there were other villa agencies that might have taken her on. Still, now it seemed she had a stay of exec
ution, providing she kept her nose clean until the end of the season.

  ***

  “Are you comfortable, Betty?” asked Norman Walsh, known as Nobby to his friends. “Everyone’s been very helpful, haven’t they? From the chap at the airport who escorted us to the plane, to that nice woman at Arrivals.”

  “You’re right, better than I expected, Nobby. It’s just a pity I’m still having to use a wheelchair, three months on from my accident.”

  “A week in the sun will see you right, love and we can still have little walks together as long as you take it easy. You had a nasty shock, Betty and the nerve ends in your muscles are still recovering.

  You see, in a few more months we’ll be able to go to those dances classes you’ve been on about.”

  ***

  Lesley Walker, a woman in her mid thirties, sat in front of the couple and couldn’t help but overhear their conversation. To have a husband who treated her so lovingly, well, just before Christmas that is what she thought she had. Geoff had been the perfect husband, attentive, kind, sad like she was that they hadn’t managed to conceive a baby, but looked at the positive side, saying that at least they could pay off their mortgage on their large rambling Victorian house. He had a good job as General Manager of a transport depot, while she was a teacher of Year 3 kids. Life had seemed good for both them, but then he dropped his bombshell, just as she had begun to talk to him about who they would invite for their usual Boxing Day open house; quipping happily over inviting Aunty Marion and who would be picking her up from the Old People’s home.

  ***

  Anthea and Brian held each other’s hands romantically, pleased that they would soon be on their way to a week relaxing in the sunshine. It was hard work running a small guest house in Bournemouth and when Brian had seen the Periquito Travel website, extolling the virtue of online booking after he had uploaded the week’s takings onto his Sage Accounting software, he decided there and then that he and Anthea would take a break. Mandy, who was Anthea’s nineteen year old daughter from her first marriage, and lived with them while she was taking a course in hotel management at the local college, was quite able to look after the place with the help of their part-time general assistant. Now they could enjoy a little socializing with people they wanted to keep company with and not have to play the part of genial mine hosts, as they usually did.