Authors: Monique Miller
The Marrying Kind (14 page)
“Oh,” the woman said. “Oh, my.”
“Is there a problem?” Travis asked. “I spoke with a Melanie Shumaker and she said to be here at eight.”
“Mr. Highgate. I am so very sorry.” She turned and extended her hand to Travis. “I am Ms. Shumaker.”
“Oh, hi, Ms. Shumaker,” Travis said. He was just about to be very concerned by the woman's vagueness and actions, but she didn't seem like there was a huge problem, just something interesting or ironic.
“I really must apologize. Did I not tell you that the first day was this Monday?”
“No. You just said to be here at eight in the morning,” Travis said.
“Oh, my goodness. I am sorry about that. It is so close to the weekend that I must have just thought you'd know I meant Monday. So sorry about that.”
Travis felt a bit of relief. For once someone else had made a mistake on the job front. “Oh, okay. Well, can I at least take a look around at the place while I am here?”
“Yeah, hold on a second.” Melanie opened the door to her office and set her purse and keys down. Then she came back out. “We can make the best of everything now. I can go ahead and get your information uploaded into the system and have you fill out the forms you would normally have filled out on Monday. That way you will be one less person I have to do out of the fourteen other people who will be in the training class with you.”
“Great,” Travis said. “All is not lost.”
Melanie took Travis's social security card and ID and gave him papers to fill out. Travis filled them all out and gave them back to her. She reviewed the benefits package with him, which included his sick time information, potential for vacation leave, health insurance, and dental insurance. She reconfirmed that he would be making two dollars more per hour than he originally thought he'd be making. And another bonus that he hadn't realized was that as an employee of Escape Inns, he would get a discount to stay at any of their hotels all over the world.
Once she finished going over all of the pertinent information, Melanie walked Travis to one of the training rooms. “I want to go ahead and introduce you to Kevin. He'll be your instructor for the next two weeks,” Melanie said to Travis.
“Hey, Kevin,” Melanie said to a man who was checking the computers in the training room.
Kevin turned around. “Hey, Melanie, what's up?”
“Kevin, this is Travis Highgate. He'll be in your training class starting on Monday,” Melanie said.
Kevin extended his hand to shake with Travis. Travis shook Kevin's hand. Kevin had a strong, firm handshake. “Travis Highgate. Yeah, I remember that name. It's good to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too, Kevin,” Travis said.
Kevin looked from Melanie to Travis for some explanation as to why Travis was there.
“Travis is here a day early because of some miscommunication from me about his start date,” Melanie said.
Travis spoke up. “I wouldn't mind seeing the center in action to get a better feel for what I'll be doing.”
“Oh, well okay. I can give you a tour of the place and tell you more about what we'll be doing in training next week,” Kevin said.
“Great,” Melanie said. “Kevin, I'll leave Travis in your hands. Travis, I'll see you on Monday.”
“Have a good weekend,” Travis said.
Melanie smiled and said, “Thanks, Travis, you have a good weekend as well.”
“Talk about trying to get brownie points,” Kevin said.
“Huh?” Travis asked.
“I've heard of being the first one to work, but you took it to a whole other level being a day early.” Kevin laughed. “Man, I'm just kidding.”
Travis laughed when he realized the joke Kevin was making. “I hadn't even thought about it like that.”
“Come on over here. I'll show you the computer system you all will be training on,” Kevin said.
Travis followed Kevin over to the computers, where Kevin showed him a portion of the system that he would be training on that next week. Then Kevin gave Travis a tour of the call center, showing him the break rooms, the bathrooms, the outside break area, and the call center floor area where people were on the phones taking live calls.
“This section of people over here is a class that just graduated from training. They have been doing live calls for about a week now,” Kevin informed Travis.
A few of the people on the phones and waiting for phone calls waved and smiled to Kevin when they saw that he was walking around on the call center floor. Kevin waved back to many of them.
When Kevin finished the tour, they ended up back in the training room. “So that is about it. Everything else we will go over on Monday,” Kevin said. “Do you have any questions?”
“Thanks for taking the time to show me around. I know you are probably busy, but is there any chance that you all might have training manuals? I'd really like to do some reading,” Travis said.
“You are really raring and ready to go, aren't you?” Kevin asked.
“I sure am.” Travis was going to attack this position as if he were the CEO of the company. He wanted to eat, drink, and sleep as much information as he could about Escape Inns. If it was possible, he was aiming to be employee of the month in the first month. No matter what it took, Travis was going to make this job work, with no excuses. He wasn't going to give them any reason whatsoever to let him go, either. As far as he was concerned, the only way they would get rid of him was if the company folded and went bankrupt.
Kevin nodded his head. “I like your initiative. Normally we do most of our training on the computer, but we do have manuals just in case our computers malfunction for some reason, or there is a problem with the power, which has never happened since I've been here.”
Kevin went to a cabinet and pulled out a black binder. He handed the binder to Travis. “You are welcome to read over it. You can have a seat at this desk over here. This is the desk I use when I am training.”
“Thanks,” Travis said. He took the binder and sat in the chair that Kevin indicated.
“I've got to go out on the sales floor and help with escalation calls,” Kevin said. “Make yourself at home. You know where the bathroom and break rooms are if you need them.”
Travis took the lunch that he'd brought with him and put it in the large refrigerator in the break room. He pulled out his thermos of grape juice and took it back to the training room with him. Then for the next three hours he sat and read through the training manual, until his stomach started growling.
He took a break, went to the break room, and ate his two sandwiches and chips. Once his thermos was empty, he filled it with water from the water fountain and drank it. Then he returned to the break room, and except for taking one bathroom break that afternoon, he stayed at the desk as if he were working a true eight-to-five job.
At five o'clock Kevin came in to turn the lights off. “Oh wow, you're still here?”
Travis looked at his watch. “Yeah, I didn't realize it was five already,” Travis answered.
Kevin shook his head. “You are pretty dedicated. You must really want this job.”
“I do, and I want to excel at what I do,” Travis said. “I have read through much of the manual, but I sure wish I could take it home to read the rest.”
“Are you serious?” Kevin asked.
“I sure am.”
“Well, more power to you. Take it home. But please be sure to bring it back. Oh yeah, and please be sure not to share the company's secrets with one of those other hotel chains.” Kevin laughed.
“What other hotel chains? Do any others exist other than Escape Inns?” Travis smiled and then both men laughed.
Travis rode the bus home that evening clutching the training binder in hand. He held it like it was the Holy Grail. The information in the binder could help him get to where he really wanted to be. If it took all weekend, he was going to read and reread, and digest all of its contents.
Chapter 19
That Monday morning, Travis again arrived early to work. He was the first one in his training class to arrive. Again he had packed his lunch and had eaten a hearty breakfast. He returned the training manual to Kevin and went through the motions with the class as they were learning about the call center firsthand.
Even though Travis knew pretty much everything about the center's operations, the layout, and even the system for which he would be training, he didn't let on that he knew any more than anyone else. After the orientation portion was over that morning, Travis took his seat at his training computer and applied what he'd learned in the manuals to the actual computer software.
He was glad he'd had a chance to take the entire weekend to review the materials. He had taken one break to go to church. The Lord had been too good to him over the months not to go to church and praise him. The rest of the day he'd put every bit of his mental acuity into learning about his new position. There had been small differences between the manual he'd studied for three days and the computer system. But the differences were not any that he couldn't figure out. He took notes during class and was an integral part of the class, often raising his hand to answer questions posed by Kevin.
Travis knew the answers to about 95 percent of the questions that Kevin asked. Even though he knew as much as he did, he didn't try to show off, especially when he saw so many people struggling with trying to understand it all. Whenever possible he even helped his new classmates work out problems they had with their computers.
He'd worked with people in the past who acted like they were know-it-alls and this gained those people no respect. Travis wanted the mutual respect of his peers and he wanted to be a team player. There was no way he could sit in class and act like he knew it all, trying to impress Kevin to make himself shine, at the expense of the others in the class. He sure was glad that he'd taken the time to do the amount of pre-studying he had done, because as far as he could see, by the end of the first day of training, it was already paying off.
The first week of training flew by quickly for Travis. He was glad that he had a job to work from eight to five and didn't have to work on the weekends. His work schedule allowed him to be able to take on a second job. It was during his second week of employment at Escape Inns that he also started a new night job working for a janitorial service cleaning office buildings.
The first couple of days of working two jobs had been choppy. He'd found himself getting extremely tired during the day and sluggish at night as he cleaned. So he decided to set up a schedule for himself so that he could make the most of his time. He normally made it back into the house just before nine o'clock at night. So at first he devised a nightly routine that consisted of fixing something to eat, taking a shower, reviewing his notes for his next day at the call center, and reading a scripture just before praying and going to bed. He slept hard from 11:00
P.M.
to 5:30
A.M.
P.M.
to 5:30
A.M.
When he awoke each morning he took the time to exercise for thirty minutes in the home gym. He found that his body felt better when he exercised in the morning. After exercising he took a shower, dressed, ate breakfast, and packed a lunch and a couple of snacks to get him through the day.
On the last day of training, Kevin pulled Travis to the side. “Travis, I'd like to speak to you at the end of the day. Please come see me then.”
Travis got a bit of a sinking feeling in his stomach. He'd been on many a job where they waited until the end of the day to let a person go. And he wondered what reasons they would have to let him go. He had been one of the best people in his class by far when it came to retaining information and getting his test calls and quizzes right. Then he also wondered why Kevin would pull him to the side earlier on in the day to give him a heads-up on his termination. Travis put all negative thoughts out of his mind. He was going to continue to work hard and stop second-guessing himself to death.
That evening after everyone else in his training class had left, Travis went to see Kevin. He thought about going ahead and grabbing his backpack and lunch bag first, but wanted to get the meeting over with as quickly as possible.
When Travis approached Kevin, who was reviewing some paperwork, Kevin smiled. “Hey, Travis, great.” He stood. “Could you follow me please? HR would like to speak with you.”
Now Travis knew that if HR wanted to see him, then it couldn't be good at all. He followed Kevin into Melanie Shumaker's office.
“Hi, Travis and Kevin. Gentlemen, come on in and have a seat,” Melanie said.
Both Travis and Kevin took a seat in Melanie's office. She shuffled through some papers until she found the one she was looking for.
“Ah here it is. Travis, I am sure you are wondering why you have been called in to the office.”
“Yeah, I am.” Travis started rubbing his hands together. They were starting to sweat.
“Well, Travis,” Melanie said, “it has come to my attention, through Kevin here, that you have done a phenomenal job in his training class. He confided in me that you took the initiative to read over the entire training manual before you even started your first day of class, and then from there you also excelled in your training class, getting the highest scores out of everyone else in your class.”
Travis smiled. It didn't sound like one of the speeches someone would make to let someone go.
“Here at Escape Inns we give recognition where recognition is due. And due to the recommendation of your trainer Kevin here, we would like to offer you a position as a trainer,” Melanie said. She smiled as she made this offer.
Travis's mouth literally dropped wide open as he dropped his head. “Are you serious?”
“Yes, sir, I am.”
“You think I could be a trainer?” He looked from Melanie to Kevin.
“I've watched you throughout our class. You've retained more information in two weeks than some people do in a couple of months. And I've also watched you take the time to help your coworkers to work out problems they were having with the computer system as well as just understanding the concepts of the training,” Kevin said.
Kevin continued by saying, “You are here early, ready, and prepared for each class, and even though I know you know way more than you let on to your peers, you keep it all in check. You don't showboat to make yourself look better than the others. These are all wonderful qualities, and you are trainer material if I've ever seen it. And I've been a trainer for two years now,” Kevin said.
“So how does the offer sound to you?” Melanie asked.
“It sounds wonderful,” Travis said. “What do I need to do from here?”
“All you need to do is accept and I'll update your title with the job description. Also you'll be pleased to know that your salary will increase as well. To two more dollars per hour,” Melanie said.
“Are you serious?” Travis said.
“Yes,” Melanie said.
“Thank you.” He looked first to Kevin and then to Melanie.
“You are welcome,” Kevin said as he gave Travis a hearty pat on his back.
“Welcome to the training team,” Melanie said. “Kevin will help you become more familiar with what being a trainer entails next week. We have a new training class starting on Monday. I want you to assist Kevin during the class and during down times you can also take calls in the center to continue to better familiarize yourself with taking calls. It is always good to keep your skills up in that department,” Melanie said.
“Okay,” Travis said, taking it all in.
“Then when the next round of trainees comes in, you'll teach your own class,” Melanie added.
“That sounds absolutely great,” Travis said.
“Wonderful. I'll update everything on Monday.” Melanie looked at her watch. “For now, let's say we all get out of here. It is the weekend, and I don't know about you all but I am ready to enjoy these next two days off.”
Travis shook both Melanie's and Kevin's hands and thanked them again. Then he retrieved his book bag from the training room and his lunch bag from the break room. That night he cleaned the offices with record speed as he had extra energy he knew was because of the great news he'd gotten from HR.
He had to thank the Lord for giving him so much favor in his life. It looked as if things were finally starting to fall into place for him on the job front. Now he needed to work on the family front.
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