‘Stop ruining my romantic vision with your smut,’ I tell her. ‘Now get your things and I’ll see you at Charlie’s. And if you dare mention christening rooms…’
‘Cross my heart,’ she replies and does a tiny little x across her chest.
I hug her again as she leaves. Deliriously happy that the people I love most in the world are back together again, I head upstairs and turn the radio up full volume. Jefferson Starship’s ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now’ fills the room and I dance along as I flick through the wardrobe deciding what I’ll wear this Saturday. Glam and gorgeous calls for a cocktail dress with masses of bling. I rout through my jewellery box and pull out every costume piece I own. I’ll probably end up looking like Zoe when she used to dress up as a little girl but, hey, I’ll probably feel just as good, too. I find an old lipstick that I never wore because it was just too glossy and leave that out, too. I doubt anything will be too glossy tomorrow. Jefferson Starship are now telling me, ‘We built this city’, and as I bellow along with them, I feel invincible. With the business going well, my best friend back and the perfect moment yet to come, this is going to be a good year, I can just tell.
Sometimes it Snows in April
When I wake up, I’m still high on life and the prospect of tomorrow night’s party. These things alone would have had me leaping out of bed with the gaiety of a Disney princess anyway but when I open the curtains, the change in weather delights me just as much and I’m giddy with excitement.
‘Rain, hurrah!’ I cry out to no one at all.
Good old Mother Nature has blessed all travel agents by giving us the cold, wet Manchester we know and love just before the Easter bank holiday. In fact, if we’re very lucky, that grey marl sky might even turn to a little flutter of snow. I get dressed quickly and head straight for the shop, picking up a coffee en route. Weather like this reminds people that they need to go abroad for their sunshine guarantee and will mean an absolute bumper day for sales. I positively skip up to the high street and see that the shop over the road now has posters up declaring that they’ll be, ‘LAUNCHING SOON ’.
I must let Charlie know. He’s out visiting new hotels first thing this morning, so I get into the shop as quickly as I can and fire up the computer screen. Josie walks in, flicking the raindrops off her brolly.
‘Knew you’d be in early with this weather,’ she says. ‘Have you seen the sign over the road?’
I nod, not being able to talk through a mouthful of cappuccino and a foamy moustache. I lick the chocolatey milk off my lips and then say, ‘It sounds quite exciting, doesn’t it? I can’t wait to find out what it’ll be.’
I swirl my computer screen round to show her what I’ve been doing – reviewing all the last-minute break options that are still out there. Customers will be coming in soon looking for somewhere to escape the wet conditions and we have to give them enough ideas to get the sale, but not so many that they still keep shopping around – people like easy decisions.
‘Lisbon or Marrakech for city breaks then,’ Josie reads the availability, ‘and maybe still the Canaries or Greece for a week of lying on the beach?’
‘Of course, you know where the best beaches are,’ says a voice. I look round and see Michael entering the shop with some coffees.
‘Northumberland,’ he continues, ‘remote and beautiful.’
‘I agree but we’re not going to sell many north-east breaks when it’s like this,’ I tell him, happy to see him and smiling at his idea of a good holiday. He does love that wild Heathcliff vibe and I can really see him on the windswept coast even if I can’t see my customers there. ‘What brings you here?’
‘I came round to your house to take you out to breakfast but you’d already left,’ he says, holding out bakery bags to us, ‘so I brought breakfast to you, both of you obviously.’
‘That’s so sweet,’ says Josie taking one of the pastries.
‘It’s lovely,’ I say getting up to give him a peck on the cheek. ‘I might have to keep you.’
He blushes then sits on the edge of the desk sipping his own drink.
‘So how’s the cricket season going?’ asks Josie, knowing full well that the England team is being tanked by Australia this year – or so they both keep telling me.
Michael perks up ready for some banter about his favourite subject. No matter how lovely the gesture, I can’t have Josie distracted and risk missing this morning’s potential sales. I invested in Mercury Travel last year and became a partner alongside Charlie, but it’s not just my livelihood: it’s my absolute passion. As I told Patty last night, I do love this business and I know we’re going to have a bumper day, selling lots of trips and having a good laugh with all of our customers. I’m on a high just thinking about it.
‘Guys, we really need to get on,’ I say as calmly as I can. ‘This is going to be such a busy day.’
Michael jumps up, apologises and starts clearing up the paper bags and cups.
‘I’m sorry,’ he says, ‘and I have to be getting to work, too. See you tomorrow gorgeous.’
He’s too nice and I instantly feel like the wicked witch of the west; nevertheless I really want to get on. I blow him a kiss and then get straight back to my screen.
The day is every bit as frantic and fantastic as we imagine, with customers coming in wearing big coats and a weary look. We’ve turned up the heating so when you walk in here, you don’t want to leave. We’ve got hot chocolate on the go and a little bit of music in the background. This shop is oozing charm today. Charlie taught me all this. Customers aren’t just booking a trip – they’re taking a break from the stresses of the day. If today’s stress is extreme cold and wet, then we have to be the antidote. I make them comfortable and then take time to understand what they’d like – culture, luxury, great food – there’s always something that would just make the trip perfect and if you listen to people, they’ll eventually tell you. Josie always says she can look at a couple and tell what sort of trip they’d like even before they know it themselves. I’ve heard her wheedle information out of people on many occasions.
‘Is that the new Apple? Wow, you’re ahead of the curve,’ she might start off like a would-be mentalist. ‘You must like a great buzz then? Well I’m telling you, South America is THE place right now, especially Lima. Not many people going there yet but come next year, everyone will want to go. You should get in first while it’s still pretty raw.’
Whether customers book up just to get her to stop talking or because Josie has been spot-on in her analysis, I couldn’t say, but she’s got a great hit rate. She’s at it now selling Lisbon as a destination, not that it needs much selling – culture, wine, sun and sea – what more could you want? I notice the customers who are waiting to be served listening in on the sales pitch and sure enough, when it’s their turn to be served, they ask to hear about the same trip. If the whole of Manchester turns up in the Portuguese city next month, I think it may be our doing.
The morning is every bit as lively as we expected and after lunchtime, as the early afternoon rolls in at a more sedate pace, we relax a little. Charlie comes back from his hotel visits and starts telling us about all the deals we’ve been offered. They look fabulous, so later this afternoon we’ll get back on the phone to let people know about them. Today is a good day. Charlie puts on his happy music (he actually has a list on Spotify called Charlie’s Cheery Chunes – we’re currently being serenaded by Bill Withers doing ‘Lovely Day’) and we have a little bop around the office.
We’re stopped in our tracks by an extremely smart-looking man who walks through our door and stands in the shop taking in the décor without uttering a word.
‘Oops, sorry. Can we help you?’ Charlie asks gasping for breath.
‘I’m Lorenzo,’ he replies holding out his hand. ‘I’m opening the shop over the road.’
‘Oh hello,’ says Charlie genuinely happy and welcoming. We each take turns to shake Lorenzo’s hand. ‘Good to have you aboard. We’ve been tryin
g to guess for weeks what kind of shop it’ll be.’
‘I’m surprised you haven’t heard by now,’ he replies. ‘I’m opening a travel agency.’
Mercury Blues
Lorenzo is mid-way through a handshake with me when he makes this announcement and I swear as my hand goes limp, he tightens his grip as if he’s performing some mind-reading act.
‘This place is nice. I love what you’ve done with it,’ he continues as if he hasn’t just told us we’re fair game in his mind. ‘You’ve really ignited independent travel around here.’
‘Thank you, we’re doing really well,’ I croak trying to sound elder-stateswoman-ish and failing completely. I can see that the others are still dumbstruck. For some reason I need to assure him of our success; it’s as if he’s the school examiner and we’re getting a performance report. I look him up and down. He’s one of those men with an impossibly slim body. From his chest to his pointed shoes it’s just one straight line of black jeans and black shirt, only interrupted by a slim snakeskin belt.
‘We may even be doing too well,’ laughs Charlie. ‘We didn’t plan to attract any competition.’
‘Don’t worry,’ replies Lorenzo, nodding at our racks of brochures. ‘From the look of things we’re going for rather different target markets, and anyway, I firmly believe there’s plenty of business for both of us otherwise I wouldn’t be here.’
‘So when do you think you’ll be opening?’ I ask, trying to work out whether he’s mocking our shop or being very genuine.
‘I had hoped it would be this weekend,’ he replies, ‘but the builders tell me what I want is impossible in that timeframe. So it’s looking like the beginning of May if you can believe that. Still, you have to trust the experts, don’t you? I’ll pop in with an invite to the opening when I know.’
With that he leaves. Charlie’s smile is far too broad to be convincing as we watch Lorenzo slither off the premises. As soon as he’s out of sight, Josie declares that she needs to go and wash her hands. I join her. Charlie huddles us all together when we get back.
‘What do we think?’ he asks.
‘He seemed quite harmless,’ I offer half truthfully and half hopefully. It’s beyond any level of comprehension that I can muster up that he’d actually try to compete with my magnificent Mercury.
‘Bollocks,’ says Josie having no problem expressing her views. ‘“Going for rather different target markets” – garbage. I know his type and he’ll be out to get us all right. So if that’s what we’re up against, we have to make damn sure he doesn’t nab any of our customers.’
Charlie nods. ‘I hate to say it but I think Josie’s right. We have to make sure our customers never want to travel with anyone else, starting with these hotel offers.’
I think they’re overreacting but I’m now fired up by the thought of working with the other two musketeers to defeat the new upstart. We’re on fire, certain that we’ll emerge as the unequivocal champions of travel as we email the hotel offers that Charlie has just secured to customers we know can take advantage of last-minute breaks, and we post everything on our social media channels. The office is buzzing and as expected, within the hour our phones start ringing, yep – we certainly know our customers.
I answer mine cheerfully. ‘Hello there – Mercury Travel, where can we take you?’
Josie always cringes at this cheesy line, which is probably why I still use it. I look over at her as I’m saying it but she’s deeply engrossed in her own call.
‘I was just wondering if there’s any chance of cancelling my booking,’ says the person on the end of my phone. ‘Or if not, could you match this offer?’
The caller tells me that immediately after our email he received another with a voucher. Lorenzo’s new travel agency are offering new customers £200 off any booking in their launch week. And by the way, that’s what they’re going to be called: ‘Launch’. Funny, he didn’t mention these vouchers as he was standing in our shop not that long ago.
My inbox starts filling up with similar requests. It seems that the whole town has received these vouchers and because of them all the good work of this morning looks as if it might unravel. Josie has her hand over the receiver and I can see from her expression she needs me to make a decision.
I respond to my caller loudly enough for her to hear and copy, ‘We really want you to stay with Mercury, so we’d be happy to match that very short-term offer. And we’re sure you’ll have a fabulous time.’
I’m not sure that giving so much money off is the best thing to do but it feels as if my beloved Mercury is undergoing a surprise attack and I have to do something. Just then, a customer comes in with a printout of one of the vouchers.
‘I got this this afternoon,’ he tells us.
We smile at the customer and tell them that there’s no problem, we’ll match any offer. We manage to save his booking.
‘It’ll just be a temporary promotion,’ I say to the others when the customer has left. ‘He thought his shop would be open by now so he bought an email list and sent out an offer. All the supermarkets give you vouchers when a new competitor opens up but they only last a few days then it settles down. He’ll probably feel really stupid that he sent them out when he wasn’t even open.’
‘I hope you’re right,’ replies Charlie.
So do I; I always go and try the new store when it opens but then go back to what I know, so perhaps that’s what will happen here.
‘I feel quite sorry for him in a way,’ I continue, trying to lift the mood to where it’d been before this news. ‘He obviously doesn’t really know what he’s doing – sending out offers before he’s even open, underestimating the building work. Let’s just get on with the job – what do we need to sell next?’
Josie nods and puts her determined face on. ‘Niagara Falls still has loads of capacity,’ she tells me, ‘but on such a rainy day, I’m not sure I’d want to book a holiday near a raging flood.’
‘Have we committed volume on it?’ asks Charlie, and Josie nods that we have. We all know there is a chance we’ll lose money on this if we don’t sell the spaces.
‘Right then, team,’ I say, ‘let’s show this guy what we can do and if anyone asks about that discount then we honour it – OK?’ Charlie nods. ‘Great – so what angle shall we take?’
‘Have we said things like “majestic”, “wonder of the world”, “bucket-list destination”?’ I ask. Charlie and Josie both nod as they’ve done all of that. We pull up the website for some inspiration.
‘This looks terrifying,’ says Charlie pointing to a jet boat that seems to be heading straight into the rush of the falls while a zip-wire soars over the top.
‘You could do a helicopter ride, too. Although that looks as if it gets a bit close to the cliff edge for me,’ I add. ‘In James Bond films, the baddies would probably catch the blade just slightly against the falls and the chopper would go plummeting into the water.’
‘So the marketing campaign reads, “Come see Niagara then die a horrible death”?’ says Josie. ‘You two are a real inspiration.’
‘You do better then,’ we tell her, and a contemplative silence falls over the shop.
‘Boo!’
We don’t need to turn around as we all know who’ll be standing in the doorway.
‘I thought you should know about these,’ says Patty handing us a Launch voucher, ‘but from the look of you all, I’m guessing you already know.’
I’m not sure a visit from Patty is quite what we need right now but she’s here and she offers to help.
‘We’re stuck,’ Josie tells her. ‘We’re trying to find a new way to sell Niagara Falls.’
Patty looks through all the pictures. They’re full of couples embracing against the spectacular backdrop. She picks up some of the pictures and starts creating a collage of daredevil stunts alongside romantic couples.
‘How about this,’ she says: ‘Film poster-style advert using the man in the tuxedo like James Bond, and the h
elicopter over the falls. You use the headline: “View To a Thrill starring you”.’
‘I like it,’ says Josie. ‘We focus on the extreme activities you can do but also there’s a casino we can take customers to as part of the trip so if zip-wires and speedboats aren’t your thing, you can go for the whole glamour experience. You’re not just a pretty face, are you?’
‘Obviously,’ she graciously replies.
With the campaign theme agreed, we work until the early hours of the evening getting our marketing message out to customers. Patty keeps us supplied with coffee until we’ve done all we can and then as our spirit is starting to fade with exhaustion, we agree to lock up the shop and be in early tomorrow to continue the good fight. I take a slow walk home letting the stresses of the day dissolve into the cool evening air. The rain has stopped leaving an indigo sky and a dying orange streak where the sun is setting. The town looks washed clean as the street lights start to flicker on and reflect in puddles below. After the ups and downs of the day, I need some fresh air and I’m in no rush, so I take my time.
The day had started so well. Josie knew me well enough to be in the shop early on a rainy day and we’d had fabulous banter with the customers. Michael was lovely and thoughtful even if I did have to chivvy him out of the shop, but then Lorenzo and his vouchers took us by surprise. Charlie and I dealt with it; we didn’t argue or panic, we just got on with the job. Then Patty came up trumps, too. I have some good people in my life but there may be a snake in the grass now. I wonder how long it’ll take before he’s open. He said a few weeks but he might be lying. Zoe knows about refits but I can hardly just pop round and ask her advice. I usually Skype her on a Sunday night but my mum joins in those sessions and I don’t want her putting her penny’s worth in. I’ll make an extra call to Zoe tonight and ask her.
By the time I get home, have a bath to unwind, and microwave some supper, it’s quite late. I decide to wait until midnight so that I won’t be disturbing Zoe at work. I’m trying to be considerate but she’s worked out the time here and this unscheduled call from me has her worrying at first.
The Heat Is On Page 2
