1.
My feet were killing me. Served me right for wearing new shoes – high heels too – on a day that I had to investigate five MaxiS Superstores. Why, you might ask, do I need to visit and investigate so many stores? Well, it is my job. My job requires me to go into the chain of MaxiS Superstores as an ordinary customer and pretend to be shopping. In fact, I am scrutinising the operation of the store, its contents and the employees. I am the KGB, super spy of MaxiS Superstores. How did I land up in a job like this? I know you're curious to find out.
I worked in the buyers' department at the head office of MaxiS Superstores and after being treated appallingly by our local store during a lunch break one day, I stormed into our large office and threw a hissy fit of note. Boy, did I throw a tantrum! Unbeknown to me at the time, one of the directors was in the building and within earshot of my performance. A few days later I was called to a meeting on the top floor. Usually, when an employee got summoned to the top floor something seriously bad had occurred, and you undoubtedly got fired.
As I rode in the elevator, I sweated and tried my hardest to figure out what I had done wrong. By the time I was ushered into the director's office, I was shaking like an earthquake. Mr Bartlett indicated with a friendly smile and hand gesture that I could sit on the chair in front of his desk. I sat and held onto my legs trying to assess the situation. He was not angry, so perhaps I was not in trouble. I had never had anything to do with the big bosses before so why now? He picked up the phone and told whoever was on the other end to join us. My nerves were in shreds, how many more people did I have to face and why? A few seconds had passed before three more gentlemen joined. Fainting was a distinct possibility for me.
'Miss Asbury, thank you for joining us.'
He thanked me. Why would he thank me? I remained silent, too afraid to speak and so he continued.
'A few days ago I happened to hear your rant about the service at one of our stores.'
He stopped and probably took a few moments to gauge the horror-stricken expression on my face. I had no thoughts; I only knew that I was waiting to get fired in anticipation and in the next sentence he spoke.
'Well, it got me thinking as to how we can circumvent this sort of service in our stores.'
He motioned with his hand to all the men in the room.
'We put our ideas together and have come up with a possible solution.'
I was not sure if he expected a response from me when he paused but he didn't get one and so carried on.
'We have created a position in the company called "Investigator". This person will be employed as an investigator and will go to all the branches under the assumption of being a normal customer.'
I listened, fascinated, as he explained that the person fulfilling this position would be given a credit card to enable any purchases, a company car, a clothing allowance and an expense account. A report, which was still to be designed, on every store visit was to be completed and emailed to him every day.
'This position is subject to absolute secrecy. We do not want anyone to know about it, in case it leaks out to the stores. They are not to know that they are getting scrutinised. The only people that will know about this will be the five of us here in this room.'
I had to blink, my eyes were bulging from their sockets in surprise, and my mouth hung open.
I took a short intake of air, refocusing on the man in front of me and hesitantly asked, 'So, you want me to take this position?'
He smiled and said, 'Absolutely. We think that since you are so passionate about the quality of service, we will get honest feedback from you.'
'Of course, you will have time to think about it,' one of the other men added.
I shook my head. 'No need to think about it, this is a fantastic offer, I don't know what else to say but thank you.'
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and for the first time, I relaxed, still overwhelmed by the prospect of this interesting offer. I resigned and entered into an agreement with the directors as a freelance agent. My colleagues in the buyers' office were horrified when I told them I had resigned. The directors and I had made up a story that I had been told off for my tantrum which led me to resign. Shoo! My colleges were upset with management and begged me to sue, complain, strike and who knows what else. I wanted to laugh and fill them in with the truth so badly.
And so I spent my days shopping – literally. The feedback I provided helped immensely and in some stores, I was able to see the improvements. But others, well, they were difficult, firstly to accept the criticism and secondly to implement the changes I recommended. Naturally I loved going to the upmarket stores in the more affluent areas, and when I had to go to the stores in the downtown dodgy parts of town I dressed accordingly and held my breath almost the entire time.
***
On that point, it would be unfair to assess a store like the one I was entering now in the Doonside Mall as I would, in let's say Umkomaas where there were different logistics, different criteria; and, in the end, it all made my job so much more interesting. The only downside – that I was forbidden to let anyone know what I did for a living. Doonside was my last store for the day. It was only three in the afternoon, and usually, I'd investigate the store and go directly home to begin with the reports but today I felt like browsing through the other little shops in the mall. It was not a very big mall in comparison to the major city malls, but it had a quaint family feeling about it. The first store I went into was a shoe store, and I purchased a pair of flat sandals and left them on my feet immediately after trying on them. Aaaah, that certainly felt so much better!
From there I stumbled into a bookstore. I loved to read but never seemed to have much time for it these days. I looked along the shelves at the vast number of books that all required the time to read them, and my heart yearned to have the time to do just that. I pulled out a book, read the blurb and the bio of the author and replaced it, repeating the sequence as I slowly passed along the shelves. I sighed as a particular book appealed to me, reaching out for me to read it and possess it. I kept it in my hands and continued with my inspection of the varied genres. The store was so welcoming, peaceful and relaxing; it had two leather chairs in a corner where I chose to sit for a few minutes and flip through the magazines on the table in front of me. There was a coffee machine against the wall next to the chairs with paper cups, and I helped myself to a cup of delectable smelling coffee and sat in the chair again.
'If you need any assistance, please let me know,' a young lady, very pretty, said to me.
I smiled and nodded, sipping the hot beverage at the same time. She went back to her counter and her computer. These were such an odd few minutes for me; chilling in a bookstore in the middle of the afternoon. I was familiar with the slow pace. The door suddenly swung open and a man probably also in his thirties, like me, burst in. My heart stopped – I was sure it was out of fright – and he greeted me and walked behind the counter until he stood next to the young lady. By young I mean probably mid-twenties. They conversed softly for a few minutes then he disappeared to the back of the store, and I presumed his office. Perhaps they were dating, neither wore any rings, not married I thought to myself. After some contemplation, I decided actually to buy the book. I went to the counter, handed it to the lady and got my purse out.
'This is a good choice, you will not be sorry, it's a wonderful story,' she said with a bright smile.
'Oh, that is good to hear, this is such a lovely store, I regularly shop at the MaxiS but have never been in here. What is your store called?'
I realised this probably sounded stupid and quickly added, 'I just walked in without looking at the shop name.'
She giggled, 'Readers Rest.'
'Well that is a perfect name,' I smiled, and she giggled again as I took my book and my receipt from her.
'I'm sure I will be back for more.'
I walked to my car not bothering to visit any other shops in the mall. I was eager to get home, finish the reports and start reading my new book. While driving home, I tried to remember when last I had read a book, and I came to the conclusion that it was three years ago – just before I started my job with MaxiS. The reports took me a little longer than usual as I'd had a problematic time in the first store of the day and this therefore involved more descriptive information. The email to Mr Bartlett finally flew through cyberspace three hours after I arrived home.
I had a shower, a leftover pasta salad to eat and then snuggled on the sofa with my newly purchased book. I became completely engrossed in the story I was reading. It was about a young lady who had lost her father and fiancé in a car accident, her struggle to overcome her heartbreak and how she found a support system in her family and mostly God. I hadn't realised that Christian Romance could be so enthralling and captivating, and I battled to put the book down to get some much-needed sleep. Tomorrow was only a few hours away, and I required sleep. Reluctantly I switched off the lights of my townhouse and fell asleep.