Frequent Traveller (Cathy Dixon #1)

by Pandora Poikilos

"I want my first picture to be of you." He had clamoured into her house and snapped her picture as she opened presents.

  Looking up, Thomas caught her gaze. He returned the smile with similar memories in his mind.

  "Stop taking my picture, Tom Tom!" she had screamed at him when he had insisted on taking a close up of her first pimple.

  A special treasure formed when love and memories brought two individuals together. He was certain of this and knew she felt the same way.

  He walked up to Cathy, gently squeezing her elbow as discreetly as possible. "I was really, really hoping you would be here, Sweets," he whispered.

  She nodded and smiled, it felt so good to have him close to her. "I wouldn't have missed it for all the fruit loops in the world."

  Thomas laughed, "You remembered."

  At the age of eight he had smelled Cathy's long, thick red hair. It smelt of oranges and it had made him laugh. At that age, he never understood why someone would want to walk around, smelling like a fruit. He had teased her mercilessly as she had pursed her lips and cried buckets of tears.

  He had tried everything to calm her at the time, even offered his favourite blue bicycle to her but she wouldn't stop crying and then he had said, "Cat, I love you more than all the fruit loops in the world. Please stop crying."

  Her tearful eyes had sparkled as she laughed and her red locks had bobbed up and down when she had raced off on his bicycle. Now, they were older and laughing about different things but it was the same smell of mandarins he looked forward to. Eight or twenty-eight, she would always have his heart.

  "You know, I'd love to grab you, give you a massive cuddle and have everyone in this room see how much I've missed you," he whispered to her. "Really? And I'd love to see you try ... Did you get my note about tonight? And the cap, please don't forget to wear it so the cameras won't realise who is coming into my room," she said as she turned around and offered him a cheeky smile.

  "Yea, I'll be there. No way I'm going to miss having dinner in bed with you or wait was that tomorrow's plan?"

  "Stop it Tom Tom. You're going to make me laugh and then people are really going to start noticing us. Right now, I'm the Vice President of Corporate Communications for MoonStar, congratulating you on your excellent work and to thank you for joining us on this special project."

  "No, tell me really ... what do you think about it?"

  "Tom, it's out of this world and I'm sure there'll be loads of good publicity about it."

  She paused as they both glanced around the room, sipping in the various shots of people and memories. "You've captured raw emotion and I think people can relate. And the amount of research, fact finding and attributions to previous photos. None of the others had come up with such an idea. Most of them wanted to go with a current perspective like Iraq, weapons, fighter jets but a tribute ... this is something else."

  "Call it the ‘60s spirit or whatever but I'll never understand the necessity of war, Cat, how some people can undermine a human life or in some cases just ignore its value to kill and get a point through. It's rubbish. Like the My Lai massacre in 1968 when more than four hundred unarmed Vietnamese were raped, tortured and then murdered. The decision of life and death does not lie with us."

  The rage in him was obvious and she knew this was a project he held close to his heart.

  "War, weapons ... it's all a combination of man-made complications ... Hey, Tom Tom I think there's another reporter looking for you. I'll make a dash for it but don't forget tonight. I'll be waiting," said Cathy hastily. She moved away as quickly as she could, uncomfortable at the thought of getting caught with a reporter and Thomas, at the same time.

  ZANZIBAR, UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA

  June 2009

  Singing sensation Freddie Mercury and fashion designer Farouque Abdillahi are recognised the world over for their talents. One was the lead singer of the legendary band, Queen while the other designed fashion apparel that were literally fit for royalty. Although, they may seem worlds apart the two personalities have a common link, they were both born in Zanzibar.

  When translated from the Persian language, Zanzibar means "Iron Coast". It is also referred to as Spice Islands, with its economy largely dependent on produce such as cloves, cinnamon and pepper. Located in East Africa, Zanzibar consists of numerous small islands and two large ones known as Unguja and Pemba. Due to its size and popularity, the main island Unguja is known as Zanzibar or Stone Town.

  Historically, Zanzibar was infamous for its slave trade. More than seventy thousand slaves a year had been sold to other countries in the mid-eighteenth century. Towards the later part of the nineteenth century, it was ruled by the British. Zanzibar gained independence from British rule in 1963.

  Independence in Zanzibar meant more bloodshed. Its left wing party rallied for support towards a larger African majority in Parliament, in comparison to those of the ruling Arab party. Within only a month, tens of thousands of people were killed and expelled. Some managed to escape to other parts of Africa and other countries.

  Over the years, economic growth has been a great challenge for this city. On more than one occasion, large parts of the islands have been without electricity for more than a month due to bad maintenance. Its main port is in such bad state that no repair work can improve its functionality. In an area where a working person earns an average of $200 a month, Zanzibar's people are used to hard times. Tourism has only just started to play a key role in developing communities, offering better jobs for the locals. Foreign hotels and restaurants are now a common scene in the city.

  It was on one particularly hot afternoon that a couple was seen sitting at the far end of a dimly lit restaurant. Their conversation hushed, their intimate mannerisms provided onlookers the impression that they were passionately involved in a marital affair or in the midst of a sneaky rendezvous during working hours. The man appeared to be in his late forties while the woman was in her mid-twenties. Both were dressed in formal working attire with the woman's short skirt, catching the interest of many a male eye when she crossed and uncrossed her legs.

  "Sometimes I really think it's not worth it ... if anyone were to find out what I was up to, I would be in so much trouble and it's not at all worth the effort. But when I think of the money and all the times they have screwed me over," he murmured nervously.

  "I don't even know what's the big deal. You know I deserve the special treatment, you're more than well compensated, plus the hotel gets their room nights. It's a win-win situation for everyone," Neema said.

  Russell nodded and chuckled.

  "You bet. The next group is arriving on 15th July, correct?"

  "Yea, I'm charging them $880 each, US Dollars of course. For every person that shows up, you'll give me $100 each and you'll get $100 each. What are you going to tell the hotel for you to get the money?"

  "Same as the last time, entertainment or expenses. Corporate's around so if I don't answer your calls in the next few days, it's because I'll have someone breathing down my neck."

  "Any particular reason?" Neema asked as she sipped her wine.

  "The usual, dollars and cents plus that PR lady wants to check if we're staying close to the MoonStar brand guidelines. Pain in the ass if you ask me but I can't get away from it. Although, I wouldn't mind looking at her ass for as long as I can," he joked.

  "You're such a man! You're talking about the redhead right? I remember her from the annual dinner two years ago," Neema said.

  As they rambled on about local happenings, the ambience intimate and their tone merry, a different atmosphere was building up in the conference room of MoonStar Zanzibar. Cathy sat with Nigel the fuming General Manager, Dave the boiling Vice President of Finance and a bustling executive secretary.

  The table was filled with thick box files and stray papers. Cathy and Dave had arrived late the night before. Only a handful of people were aware of their trip but none, except the General Manager, knew of their intentions. They had gotten to work early t
his morning and had made one shocking discovery after another.

  Nigel had worked with the MoonStar Hotel chain for about ten years. He had first joined as General Manager for MoonStar Nigeria and was then transferred to MoonStar Zanzibar two years ago. In recent years, he was riddled with serious health conditions such as chronic diabetes, breathing problems and even had one of his toes amputated. It was obvious that the long hours of managing the property was taking its toll on him and an upcoming scandal was bound to see him handing in his resignation. But whether the current incidents were entirely his doing or someone taking advantage of a General Manager's failing health, it was yet to be seen.

  Dave was the Vice President of Finance, and had worked with MoonStar for close to twenty. With greying hair and a cheery smile, it was easy to mistake him for a laid-back retiree until you got on the wrong side of him. He was known for his demanding ways when it came to making sure every detail on every report was accurate. Any person attempting to belittle this effort was in for a nasty reminder of who was boss. Six months ago, finance executives at corporate, had started to notice severe discrepancies in some of MoonStar Zanzibar’s reports.

  They had been persistent on digging as deep as possible, before pointing fingers. Every time a particular group booking was confirmed and payment was received, large sums were withdrawn and used for gifts and entertainment. Completely normal, except that all these transactions revolved around one particular travel agent from Wonder Travels. This was one of Tanzania's biggest travel agencies who provided MoonStar with many room nights, in the South African and Middle Eastern regions.

  Because it involved gifts and customer satisfaction, three departments were placed on the suspect list, Sales and Marketing, Communications and Front Office. When Finance was questioned, the Financial Controller had insisted the cash allotments in question were set aside upon request of these three departments. His only demand which he had followed up on, was that all relevant receipts were given to him, so he could account for the expenses.

  The handwritten receipts were from various gift outlets and restaurants. When one of the finance executives had called the travel agent in charge of the bookings, she had casually mentioned that her guests liked receiving gifts from the hotel, even if the items were packaged elsewhere. She insisted that she sold "holiday experiences" that had to be packaged with tokens of appreciation for guests to make them feel special.

  This of course brought everyone back to their main suspect, the Communications Manager. The General Manager had drilled her for more than an hour and she had insisted, she had made no purchases from the shops. She even pointed out that she rarely went out to make purchases, because she presented guests with MoonStar gifts.

  The weeks wore on and it wasn’t long before Corporate Finance discovered more discrepancies with the mileage claims from the Sales and Marketing Department. Two managers reported various trips to one particular company, with claims amounting to $1080 each, for a duration of three months. They acknowledged that the company was slow in giving the property room nights, but failed to mention that the company had closed down, one year ago.

  This set the course for a fresh angle. The fact remained that all these payments and claims had been approved. Either someone was being negligent or all these schemes were known, and the heads of departments involved were ignoring the issue, because they were benefiting in some manner.

  As part of the inspection, Dave had asked Cathy if she could check on the Communications Department. If she made sure all their expenses were accounted for, while he got to the bottom of the entire situation, it might prevent any further damage.

  The associates at the property's Finance Department were least thrilled by their visit. But Cathy knew, a surprise visit from corporate usually indicated trouble and set off red flags more than it offered welcoming red carpets. Ready to question each associate, they got all their answers just by talking to the Financial Controller's personal assistant, Lisa. As soon as she was called in, she broke down and begged not to be fired.

  She insisted that she was innocent of any wrong doing and wasn’t aware of what her boss had been doing, until Corporate Finance had started to make inquiries, asking for trace files. It was only that she started to connect the dots. In the last year, her boss, Russell had met with Neema from Wonder Travels, a lot. Lisa claimed it was beyond what was needed for payment issues. Sometimes, Neema, personally brought him receipts for gift items, she had purchased for her guests.

  Two weeks earlier, she had been working late and had heard hushed voices from his office. She was uncertain of the exact conversation but had gathered that at least two of the sales associates had given Russell a percentage of their ‘false’ claims. She wasn’t sure how far long this had been going on for or how much he had made on the side. Lisa informed them that Russell was certain he had covered his tracks well and that corporate was only making a random visit.

  It was one thing for an associate to be caught cheating, but when a Head of Department was the culprit, the ramifications were far more serious.

  "All this while, he has been playing me for a fool. When I first asked him, if he suspected anything amiss, he looked me in the eye and said that as far as his department was concerned, they had nothing to do with this," Nigel said, his temper all set to lash out at anyone in his path.

  "I just want to be clear about how this was done. Russell worked with Neema to pull off this scheme. She'd pay him what the guests paid her or accept payment directly from the guests in MoonStar’s name. He then gave her some cash and kept some for himself. These transactions were then written off as entertainment expenses as she went around, accumulating receipts and brought them back to him, correct?" asked Cathy.

  "It looks like it, but if he was carrying out this scheme with Neema, there must be other travel agents or transactions we have not spotted," Dave said, thoughtfully.

  "And I always wondered why our property was that far down in the annual MoonStar rankings," said Nigel, his tone varying from anger to bitterness.

  "If he wanted a raise, he should have just asked for one. What about the Sales Department? How many associates do you think are involved in making false claims?" asked Cathy.

  "Well, the only way to be sure is to dig it all up. I'll have some of my executives make a trip here. The associates here are going to be defensive but I want nothing more than to get this sorted quietly and quickly," Dave said, his mind already calculating each move they would need to make.

  "For the Sales associates involved in this fiasco, I'll have HR type out their suspension notices. I'm pretty sure they are all out for lunch at the moment. We can have them called up when they get back. One by one they can come up here, that way they'll have less time to get rid of papers or evidence and Security can escort them out. Dave, thank you for taking the time to sort this out," said Nigel.

  He knew there was much to be done and his mind was already cluttered with the various negative situations that could arise from this affair and the effects of it on him. He was certain he felt an ulcer already forming on the one side of his cheek.

  Dave and Cathy watched him leave, his head hung low.

  "That's why you have a Corporate Office," Dave said slowly.

  RABAUL, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

  August 2009

  One of the least populated and yet one of the most culturally diversified countries in the world, Papua New Guinea is believed to be home to more than 780 traditional communities and tribes, each with a speaking dialect of its own. It is the world's fiftieth biggest country and is a vast mixture of islands and highlands, located on the Pacific Ring of Fire between several tectonic plates. This has made made Rabaul an unpopular choice for development. Between immense volcanic activity, earthquakes and tsunami waves, the locals remain acquainted with hardship, a testament to the nation's anthem "O Arise, All You Sons".

  Poverty is so rampant, the average income is not above $30 a month. The country gained its independence from Australia
in 1975 and has continued to be influenced by its other colonial rulers which included the Spanish, Portuguese and the Germans.

  The country is also said to be the first in practicing and passing on, traits of cannibalism. The extent of this practice is yet to be determined, with some studies pointing out at least twenty thousand people have been affected in the past, while others indicate it is still practiced amongst smaller, religious tribes.

  In 1937 and 1994, two volcanoes Tavurvur and Vulcan erupted leaving behind a trail of ash and destruction. After the first time, the town was rebuilt in a span of two decades but was completely condemned after the eruption in 1994. As a result, the entire town of Rabaul was relocated to an area less than twenty kilometers away. Now, popular for its enchanting harbour, several tour operators within the new Rabaul, offer adventure seekers a once in a lifetime trip exploring rare marine life.

  A new venture which had started operating more than a year ago, MoonStar Rabaul stood tall in an area literally spewing with volcanic uncertainty, making marketing and promotions a continual challenge.