With the Potential To Increase
By Serena Aubrey (Copyright, 2011)
Elle was at her post on this Monday morning, happily sitting on the cushioned lounger, poolside, just out the back door of the front office of the Palm Springs, Calla Lily Inn. She could hear the buzzer if an arriving guest came in from the street to check in and she could converse with the guests that were slowly emerging from rooms, stretching in the warm southern California sun, to claim their own spot beside the pool. Elle’s sister, Leslie, owns the inn, and whenever she takes off on one of her world-wide jaunts Elle comes in to fill in for her. It is a mutually satisfying arrangement. Elle is quite aware that one of the main functions of her post is to hobnob with the guests and to ensure that all their needs are satisfied. With her delightful and pleasing personality she finds this no great effort, and the guests come away feeling that Elle is one of the most accommodating inn hostesses in all of southern California. They rave about her to Leslie, and Leslie in turn, rewards Elle handsomely for her dedicated customer service. Of course, Leslie would reward Elle handsomely anyway, because she’s family, but it is very pleasing to her that Elle takes to heart the importance of her expectations.
She was about to knock on the door to announce her services when it opened and the gentleman in question gave her a big smile, “Hey Gabby, good morning. Hey listen, I changed my mind about checking out this morning, I’m going to stay another night, so I just need my towels changed. I’ll go talk to Elle and pay for another night. I’ll get your money for you at the same time. Listen, I sure like that piece. I wouldn’t mind talking to you about commissioning some other pieces for my store. Think you could manage an order of twenty or so different items? Pendants, bracelets and rings, say?”
Gabby’s smile was radiant. She couldn’t believe this stroke of luck, she was struck almost speechless, twenty pieces! She quickly did the math in her head -- $1,000, enough to get her website!
“You bet I can manage twenty pieces. I have ten made up already as a matter of fact, Mr. Bosley. It would take me maybe a week to ten days if I work really hard at it. You want them all silver and turquoise? I have some pieces of amber too, obsidian and pink quartz. I could give you a variety if you like.”
Her excitement was obvious to him, and Mr. Bosley was pleased with that. He enjoyed the fact that he was in a position to offer some one a helping hand, and he knew that Gabby’s talent was probably being held back by the need for a steady, reliable income.
“No Gabby, I think I’ll stick to the silver and turquoise. I sell western wear and that style fits in better with my product line. I’ll let you get on with your housekeeping right now, but I’ll talk to you about the order before you leave today, okay?”
“Okay Mr. Bosley, and thank you so much. I sure didn’t think something like this was going to happen to me today. I am very grateful for the order.”
He patted her on the back, and headed over to Elle beside the pool. He began to whistle, happy to have made the girl’s day. His satisfied attitude was not lost on Elle, who had been watching the exchange, wondering what the two had to talk about. She had seen Gabby’s smile and hoped nothing untoward was going on. She would hate to have to let the girl go while Leslie was gone, and then have to find a replacement. Man, that could be a tough one, she thought, Gabby’s pretty excellent at what she does, how would I find some one as good as her? The thought brought a frown to her face.
“Hey Elle, I’ve decided to stay another day. I hope that’s not going to cause you any problems, reservation wise.”
“Oh? No, the room isn’t reserved yet. I can let you have it another night. Anything going on I should know about, Dan?”
The question puzzled him and he looked at her quizzically. Elle saw his confusion and she nodded her head over in Gabby’s direction, with a question in her eyes. Dan let out a snort of humour at her obvious inference.
“You think I’m leading the hired help astray Elle?” he asked.
“Just wondering? You know I can’t have anything like that going on. Leslie would freak. And I would have to take measures, you know what I’m saying? Let’s go inside and discuss the room for another night, and what all else you need to talk to me about.”
Dan’s smile grew bigger, amused by Elle’s professional handling of what she was perceiving as a problem that could potentially hurt the reputation of the inn. He followed her into the office, still chuckling. As she headed behind the front desk, he moved toward the ATM in the corner and took out enough money for the room for another night and also the cash he owed Gabby for the pendant he had bought off her.
“Elle, do you know that Gabby designs and creates jewellery in her spare time?”, he asked as he came up to the desk.
“Yeah, it’s a hobby of hers. She makes some pretty unique pieces. I’ve bought a couple off her.”
“Yeah, I bought the one she was wearing yesterday. I really like it. In fact I like it so much, I asked her if she could manage an order of twenty, for my store. The silver and turquoise will be a hit with my customers I’m thinking.”
Understanding dawned in Elle’s eyes. As well as a bit of sheepishness at assuming the worst right off the bat. Dan saw the emotions flit across her face, and burst out laughing.
“It’s okay Elle. You were just doing your job, taking care of the inn. That’s what you’re here for, and that’s why Leslie trusts you to do it. She knows you keep a handle on everything.”
Elle kept her head down, adjusting Dan’s registration card for the extra day, and waited for the flush to creep back down her neck.
“Yeah, I should have more faith in Gabby. I know she’s a good girl. Did she take on the order?”
“She sure did. She says she’s got ten made up already, and will have the other ten done in a week to ten days. That’s pretty good time, a piece a day. She must be pretty dedicated to her hobby! Maybe she wants to take it up a level? What do you think?”
“Geesh, maybe. Hmmm, maybe I better start looking for another housekeeper. I wonder if I could ever find one as good as Gabby though. Oh my, this could turn into a problem.”
Dan put the $100 for the room on the counter, and just then his phone rang. He pulled it out of the pocket of his loud, Hawaiin-tourist style shirt and put his finger up to Elle as he took the call out the front door of the office. Elle took the $100 and put it in the till and returned his card to the registration box, and then entered the changes into the computer. She was still pre-occupied with thoughts of losing Gabby, when the locksmith came into the office through the back-door. He had been working on a jammed lock.
“Miss Elle, I’m all done with that lock. I had to replace the tumbler. There was something stuck in there. For the life of me I can’t figure out how anybody got this plastic in there.”
He showed her a piece of tough black poly that had come out of the lock mechanism, and handed over his invoice as well, $100. Elle reached in and pulled out the hundred dollar bill that Dan had just paid for an extra night at the inn. She grabbed the receipt book and filled it out and got Jorge to sign for her. The receipt copy went back into the till and she gave Jorge the top sheet. Elle and Jorge said there goodbyes and she thanked him for his quick response to her emergency lock repair call that morning. He tipped his hat to her and was out the door on his way to his work van. He passed Dan on the way out. He was still on the phone, sitting on the comfortable glide-swing in front of the office, slowly gliding back and forth with an easy toe-push. As he stepped into his van, Jorge remembered that he needed to swing by his supplier’s place and make a payment on his account.
When he arrived at the supplier’s front office, Jorge pulled out the $100 bill that he had just received from Elle for his services. The supplier wrote him out a receipt for the payment, and Jorge was quickly on his way again, off to his next service call. As he walked out , he held open the door for a young woman that was just walking up to come in. They smiled at each other, and the young lady thanked Jorge. He nodded at her and was gone.
“Hola, Papa, I came to pick up the deposit for the wedding cake. Remember, I called you last night and you said I could come get the $100 for the bakery?”
“Ah, mi nina, si, si. No problema. Here it is, mi pocolita. I just got this from one of my long-time customers. He made a payment so I do not need to go to the bank for the deposit money. Are you sure that is enough?”
“Si, Papa, the bakery quoted me $350 for the cake with $100 deposit”. Muy gracia Papa. You are making my wedding so beautiful. I can not thank you enough.”
“Ah, my little one, I only have one daughter to give away. I want everyone to know you are my jewel. Now be sure you bring me back the receipt for my books.”
“I won’t forget, and you are the best papa on the planet, I swear!”
His daughter danced out the door and he smiled indulgently after her. He was saddened that he would be losing her, but happy that she had found herself a decent man. Her betrothed would take good care of his daughter for life, of that he was sure.
Carmelita got in her saucy little sports car and took off towards the bakery. When she got there, her and her friend, who worked the front counter at the bakery store, chatted excitedly for a few minutes about the upcoming nuptials. Then Carmelita pulled out the $100 bill that she had gotten from her father and paid the deposit. Her friend gave her the receipt, and the two parted company with smiles and laughter. On her way out the door, Carmelita held it open for a mat delivery man that was coming in with a load of clean floor mats. He thanked her as he wrestled the mats through the narrow doorway. He stood them up in the corner while he rolled up the dirty mats from in front of the door and the pastry counters. He took them out to his van, before returning to lay out the clean ones. Before he left, he handed his invoice in to the cashier. It was for $100. She took out the $100 bill that her friend had just paid for the deposit on her wedding cake, and she had the delivery man initial his invoice as “Paid in Full”. He thanked her and left, off to his next stop at the Calla Lily Inn. He remembered that his head office had instructed him to refund the inn for an over-billing last week. He was to refund $100 to the inn office and request a receipt.
He thanked her, and accepted a piece of the sweet dark pink watermelon. It tasted as good as it smelled. One of the simple pleasures in life he thought. He reached in to his pocket and took out the $100 bill he had received as payment at the bakery. He waved it at Elle as he grinned around the watermelon in his mouth and the sweet juices that were dripping down the palm of his hand onto the counter. Elle laughed and grabbed some paper towel for him.
“Head office told me to pay you a $100 refund for an over-billing last week. So here it is Elle. Man this watermelon is so good. As soon as I smelled it I was reminded of hot summer nights in my backyard as a kid, with huge plates of watermelon, and seed spitting contests between me and my brothers and sisters. Those were the days man. Life was so simple back then.”
Elle was touched by the wistfulness in Mark’s voice. She too had great memories of her childhood. Her and her sisters had grown up close, and their mom and dad had given them everything they could. There had been love in her childhood. They had been lucky, there were plenty of kids they knew back then whose parents hadn’t cared. With those thoughts in her head she took the $100 from Mark and got busy writing out his receipt. The $100 went back into the till. Meanwhile Mark was trying to deal with the sticky, wet mess the melon had made on his arms and Elle’s counter. When she was finished writing up the receipt she looked up and burst out laughing. Mark had three black watermelon seeds stuck to his chin. She suddenly had a perfect picture of the kid he had been back on those hot summer nights. She flicked the seeds off his face and told him to go into the back and use the office bathroom to wash up. That stickiness would be with him all day if he didn’t use water to get it off. When he came back out, she gave him his receipt and walked him to the door. As he went to the back of his van to get the clean mats, Elle saw Dan getting up off the bench. She held the door as he came back inside.
“Elle, I hate to say it but I got a trouble call, and I won’t be staying another night after all. I got’s to get back to the store and handle a supplier issue. Sheesh, I was really looking forward to hanging out around the pool with you today, and just getting in some R&R.”
“Aw, that’s too bad Dan. That would have been fun. We could have ordered in some sushi and you could have caught me up on what’s happening in the western wear world. Let me get you a refund on the room, hon.”
Elle went back behind the counter and got the $100 bill out of the till. She had no idea that the money she refunded him was the very same $100 bill he had given her earlier. And therein lies the strange nature of money. That $100 bill had been received, had paid off the locksmith, the supplier, the bakery, the doormat company, and the inn refund -- totalling $500 altogether, and yet it found it’s way back into Dan’s pocket, worth the same $100 it started out as. That $100 bill got some major mileage in the space of an hour. It travelled around Palm Springs businesses paying off $500 worth of debt, and yet Dan, the initial payee, was not one red cent out of pocket. Amazing isn’t it?
On the way back to his room, Dan ran into Gabby. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cash. Her $50 bill was folded underneath that magical $100 bill. He happily paid her for the piece of jewellery he had asked to buy the day before and gave her his business card. He assured her that the order was a definite thing and that she should call him when the pieces were completed. For Gabby that $50 was magical too, because it would translate itself into another $1,000.
Here is a link to the Calla Lily Inn:
If you get a chance, be sure to check in and experience a wonderful break away from everyday life.
Let Leslie and Elle show you what relaxing is all about!
Let Leslie and Elle show you what relaxing is all about!
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This story is a re-write of a similar accounting of a $100 bill that I read on the blog of The American Monk. Burt Goldman’s version is called The 100 Dollar Conundrum. Burt is an interesting fellow. He calls himself The American Monk, and he is determined, at the age of 81, to share his particular brand of spirituality with a million people before his time is done. Hmmmm, well he’s on his way to reaching his goal with 169,780 subscribers to his blog. How delightful! I could only wish to have that kind of following. People tune in to his video blogs (I hear tell they are called vlogs nowadays) from around the world, so there must be something of value in his schmoozing (his term). I found the 100 Dollar Conundrum quite thought provoking. I re-wrote it to add a personal slant to it, by including my two cousins, Leslie and Elle in the story and based it out of Lelsie‘s Palm Springs inn. The funny thing is, I went on Burt’s blog this morning to check out the name of his version so I could credit him with it , and I found out he is located in this very same area, Rancho Mirage, in the Palm Springs region. LOL! How synchronistic can it get????? I didn’t even know that’s where he’s at. Who knows, Leslie and Elle may very well be familiar with this fella! Here’s a link to Burt’s blog:
P.S. Burt likes to sing -- I reserve judgement on that (LOL) -- but he gets lots of encouraging feedback on his efforts from his followers!
2 comments:
Great writing! Loved the story - kept me intrigued. So true - it is not about the "magic" money - but how it changes hands.
Thanks Kristin! Be sure to check back often -- I am just in the proces of opening the blog up to inexeperienced would-be bloggers who would like to learn how to create, set up and post to their own blogs. I'm thinking that we shall soon see a lot of new writers contributing! It should be an interesting ride! I am also looking for articles that can be included in the Way-Finder Weekly publication I am getting ready to launch. That is a fund raising publication for single parent students who are experiencing financial hardships. I would like to help them achieve their goals by ensuring that their children have enough to eat while their parent is in the process of obtaining their education. Life should not be that hard, especially when your intentions are noble.
Is this Kristin from Second Act?
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