sheaf of papers pinned to the two walls of the partition. Most of them seemed to be photos of cute cats wearing bows. And naked firemen with strategically placed helmets.
‘Right,’ hollered Mark above the hubbub of conversation. ‘This is Violet. She’s taking over from Felicity. All right?’
A few nods in reply but everyone stayed silent.
Violet was embarrassedat the attention. She glanced at the three people who were seated around her. One of them was the grumpy woman whom she had met the previous day.
‘This is Julie,’ said Mark. ‘She’s our database manager. Don’t ask her about her kids ’cos she’ll tell you. And don’t try to take any of her Maltesers if she’s having a bad morning. You two should get on famously.’
His eyes twinkled at her and Violetfound herself blushing even more at his hint of chocolate theft. She looked at Julie and tried to smile, but Julie didn’t smile back.
‘This is Wendy,’ Mark carried on, indicating the dark-haired girl sitting next to her. ‘She’s good at emails and all things to do with the internet. Just back after giving birth to her very own Messiah six months ago.’
Wendy gave them a weary smile. ‘I’ve alsogot a toddler. I haven’t had a full night’s sleep for two years.’
‘And this is Anthony,’ Mark said, pointing at the young guy who had been playing on his BlackBerry until that point. ‘Fresh out of university, thought he’d gain valuable experience in IT before hitting the big time in the City of London. Poor sod is only now finding out what he’s let himself in for. He covers all the hardware stuff.’
Anthony nodded in greeting before hiding back behind his screen.
‘So?’ carried on Mark. ‘Everything OK this morning?’
‘Corum is up and running again,’ said Julie.
‘Corum is the sales reps’ database,’ Mark told Violet. ‘So no more problems?’
Julie shrugged her shoulders. ‘Probably but that’s what you get for buying a piece of shit software.’
Mark seemed to shrug off her rudeness. Perhaps shewas always bolshy.
‘Much as I’d love to take full credit for Corum, it wasn’t my decision to buy it. Because I’m not that stupid, contrary to what you’re all thinking. Wendy?’
‘Email crashed again overnight but it seems to be OK. The server went down but hopefully we’re all OK now.’
Mark nodded and looked at Anthony. ‘What about you?’
Anthony gave a dramatic sigh. ‘Six laptops to fix. Twohave broken screens, one had Cherry Coke poured on to the keyboard, two have broken power sockets and one was dropped down the stairs.’
‘Accidentally, we presume?’ said Mark, turning to look at Violet. ‘So, that’s it. Any questions?’
She tried to figure it all out. ‘How many sales reps are there?’
His eyebrows shot up. ‘Good question. About five hundred in total. They’re all field-based aroundthe country so you never get to meet them. Some will ring twenty times a day. Some you’ll never hear from. Most of the younger reps seem pretty clued up about computers but the older reps resent having to use anything modern.’
‘So everyone’s got a laptop?’
‘And a printer.’
Violet thought hard once more. ‘And we answer questions on everything?’
Mark nodded. ‘Absolutely. They’ll call if something’snot working or they don’t know how to use or find a certain function on the laptop. But don’t worry. Just pick up the phone and then pass it on to one of the other guys. If they’re busy, take a message and tell them we’ll get back to them. OK?’
She nodded.
He pointed at the black telephone on her desk. ‘That’s the hotline. It’ll always ring at your desk first, although anyone can pick it up.’
Violet jumped as the phone suddenly rang and looked up at Mark. ‘What do I say?’ she asked, feeling panic stricken.
‘“Good morning, Hotline” is normally a good start,’ he said, grinning at her. ‘Go on. Off you go.’
Oh God. She wasn’t ready for
‘Right,’ hollered Mark above the hubbub of conversation. ‘This is Violet. She’s taking over from Felicity. All right?’
A few nods in reply but everyone stayed silent.
Violet was embarrassedat the attention. She glanced at the three people who were seated around her. One of them was the grumpy woman whom she had met the previous day.
‘This is Julie,’ said Mark. ‘She’s our database manager. Don’t ask her about her kids ’cos she’ll tell you. And don’t try to take any of her Maltesers if she’s having a bad morning. You two should get on famously.’
His eyes twinkled at her and Violetfound herself blushing even more at his hint of chocolate theft. She looked at Julie and tried to smile, but Julie didn’t smile back.
‘This is Wendy,’ Mark carried on, indicating the dark-haired girl sitting next to her. ‘She’s good at emails and all things to do with the internet. Just back after giving birth to her very own Messiah six months ago.’
Wendy gave them a weary smile. ‘I’ve alsogot a toddler. I haven’t had a full night’s sleep for two years.’
‘And this is Anthony,’ Mark said, pointing at the young guy who had been playing on his BlackBerry until that point. ‘Fresh out of university, thought he’d gain valuable experience in IT before hitting the big time in the City of London. Poor sod is only now finding out what he’s let himself in for. He covers all the hardware stuff.’
Anthony nodded in greeting before hiding back behind his screen.
‘So?’ carried on Mark. ‘Everything OK this morning?’
‘Corum is up and running again,’ said Julie.
‘Corum is the sales reps’ database,’ Mark told Violet. ‘So no more problems?’
Julie shrugged her shoulders. ‘Probably but that’s what you get for buying a piece of shit software.’
Mark seemed to shrug off her rudeness. Perhaps shewas always bolshy.
‘Much as I’d love to take full credit for Corum, it wasn’t my decision to buy it. Because I’m not that stupid, contrary to what you’re all thinking. Wendy?’
‘Email crashed again overnight but it seems to be OK. The server went down but hopefully we’re all OK now.’
Mark nodded and looked at Anthony. ‘What about you?’
Anthony gave a dramatic sigh. ‘Six laptops to fix. Twohave broken screens, one had Cherry Coke poured on to the keyboard, two have broken power sockets and one was dropped down the stairs.’
‘Accidentally, we presume?’ said Mark, turning to look at Violet. ‘So, that’s it. Any questions?’
She tried to figure it all out. ‘How many sales reps are there?’
His eyebrows shot up. ‘Good question. About five hundred in total. They’re all field-based aroundthe country so you never get to meet them. Some will ring twenty times a day. Some you’ll never hear from. Most of the younger reps seem pretty clued up about computers but the older reps resent having to use anything modern.’
‘So everyone’s got a laptop?’
‘And a printer.’
Violet thought hard once more. ‘And we answer questions on everything?’
Mark nodded. ‘Absolutely. They’ll call if something’snot working or they don’t know how to use or find a certain function on the laptop. But don’t worry. Just pick up the phone and then pass it on to one of the other guys. If they’re busy, take a message and tell them we’ll get back to them. OK?’
She nodded.
He pointed at the black telephone on her desk. ‘That’s the hotline. It’ll always ring at your desk first, although anyone can pick it up.’
Violet jumped as the phone suddenly rang and looked up at Mark. ‘What do I say?’ she asked, feeling panic stricken.
‘“Good morning, Hotline” is normally a good start,’ he said, grinning at her. ‘Go on. Off you go.’
Oh God. She wasn’t ready for
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