Frequent Traveller (Cathy Dixon #1) (14 page)

Nicknamed Big Durian for being the Indonesian equivalent to the Big Apple, New York City this city is currently the most populated city in Southeast Asia and the tenth largest city in the world. Jakarta was previously known as Batavia but Indonesian nationalists renamed it to Jakarta in 1942 after conquering the city from the Dutch. Derived from the word "Jayakarta", its name originates from Sanskrit and can be literally translated into phrases such as "Victorious Deed" or "Complete Victory". While the city still possesses influences left behind by the Dutch who dominated it in the seventeenth century, it was the Portuguese who were the first European influence to arrive here in 1513.

Commanded by Englishman Sir James Lancaster, the East India Company was given provisions to build a trading post which the British steered towards lucrative earnings until 1682. When the Dutch felt threatened by their growing popularity and strengthening economic ties, the port was eventually burnt down and the English were forced to retreat.

Air and water pollution are known to be significant problems in Jakarta. The government continually struggles to regulate and enforce open burning and sewage management. Their efforts are further hampered by lack of enforcement and corruption in the public sector. Another problem that the city faces, are the recent findings that it is steadily sinking about five centimeters, each year.

In a bid to resolve this looming disaster, the Netherlands has pledged $4 million to analyse the option of building a ring-dike on Jakarta Bay to regulate and control sea water. The project also includes improved piping systems throughout the city. Researchers estimate that the project will be completed by 2025.

The International Java Jazz Festival and the Jakarta Fair remain huge tourist attractions, alongside the annual Jakarta International Film Festival and Jakarta Fashion & Food Festival. With more than sixty-eight shopping malls located in one district, it is no wonder that the city continues to thrive on local and foreign goods. MoonStar Jakarta was located on one these busy street corners. Its two hundred guest rooms catered towards business and transit travellers.

“It's amazing what people do when they think they're not being watched," Cathy murmured to herself, as she watched the video files the Security Manager of MoonStar Jakarta had given her.

The issue at hand had been brewing for more than three years, even before Cathy had been appointed as Vice President of Corporate Communications. It was definitely time for this issue to be addressed. Placing a concealed nanny-camera had been the last resort after numerous heated debates about individual privacy.

Melanie Gunadi had joined MoonStar Jakarta as a Public Relations Manager in November of 2003. When the General Manager of the property had interviewed her, he had found her more than presentable in appearance. Besides possessing outstanding credentials, she had executed a series of successful communication campaigns, in previous positions she had held. In addition, her references seemed to have checked out. Each had offered glowing recommendations for her past work performance.

After her appointment, as the months wore on, Cathy who was then the Corporate Communications Manager suspected something amiss and alerted the General Manager of MoonStar Jakarta. Monthly reports were being submitted weeks after the deadline. All things considered, the submission process had been simplified to the point of ticking boxes on an online form and writing text of no more than one thousand words. Public Relations Managers and their assistants were not expected to be rocket scientists but they were expected to be punctual.

Another issue that constantly irked Cathy was Melanie’s habit of refusing to receive phone calls during the day. Instead, she returned and made queries well after 9:00 p.m. Cathy was aware that in any hotel chain, no one expected to finish work before 10:00 p.m. Additionally, she always assured her communication teams they could contact her at any time, regarding their respective properties and departmental issues they were facing. But Melanie called Cathy's mobile with questions pertaining to manuals and charts, knowing full well no one carted them around all day. Even matters easily resolved well within working hours such as press releases were done late at night. Cathy had seen her share of demanding properties. Even high strung Public Relations Managers were able to keep an assistant for six months or more, but MoonStar Jakarta fell nowhere near the category of "demanding", let alone hectic.

Positioned as a business traveller's ideal spot for rejuvenation and meetings, the biggest convention ever held at this property had been for a group of two hundred insurance agents who had attended a one day seminar. The property was usually busy with luncheons, dinners and smaller events but none that required two assistants, as Melanie insisted on having. This was the sole reason Cathy had placed the property on her inspection list.

Melanie's assistants left the property from as quickly as six weeks to three months. Cathy was even aware of two girls who did not show up for work and then refused to come back to collect their salaries. The longest assistant had stayed for a year but had begged the General Manager for a recommendation to be transferred to any MoonStar property in the world, as long as she did not have to face Melanie again.

Two months ago, it had been the Food and Beverage secretary, Atika who had alerted the executive office that a remedy was needed as quickly as possible. Having worked at MoonStar Jakarta for more than eight years, she was used to seeing people come and go for personal reasons or even when they felt their expectations differed about the job they were doing. But she was not at all used to seeing her associates mistreated at any MoonStar property. She had gone to Melanie's office to find her latest assistant, Rini crying while scrubbing the wall and picking up pieces of a broken mug.

"What are you doing?" Atika had probed gently. She knew that in Melanie's office, anything was possible.

"Ummm ... I spilt something," came the soft, shaky reply.

"This isn't where you sit. Tell me what happened. Now!" Atika had demanded. She had instantly recognized the shakiness in the girl's voice was nothing but fear.

"I got careless and I ... I mixed the wrong coffee for Ms. Melanie and she's told me so many times before she hates decaf ... I just forgot, you know. The first button on the machine is decaf and I ... really don't bother about me, it's my fault Atika. I'll be fine," Rini had sniffed and continued to scrub the wall as Atika had looked on and tried to piece the incident together.

Something very wrong had taken place and she needed to know what it was.

"No Rini, wait ... tell me EXACTLY what happened. You brought the coffee to her. It was the wrong coffee. What did she do? I've given Mr. Endy wrong coffee plenty of times. Too much sugar. Too much milk. What did she do, Rini?"

The younger girl broke down as she described what had taken place, earlier.

"She threw her mug against the wall and the coffee splashed on the wall. She said if I couldn't even get a cup of coffee right, I'll never have a good job. Then she asked me to get the stain off the wall, but I can't."

"Here, let me help you clean up and then I'll see what we can do about the stain, okay?"

Atika was exactly the person, Rini had needed to assist her with holding on to her job, for a little longer. The previous two assistants had submitted their resignation letters just before Christmas and Rini had proved herself a useful resource with planning media schedules and marketing plans, on behalf of Melanie.

Cathy knew each time Melanie changed assistants for the simple reason that her proposals and reports differed in tone. Some seemed far more intellectual while others had an amateurish quality but all had Melanie's name signed at the bottom.

When Atika had tipped off the General Manager and his secretary in a private discussion, it was his decision to place the nanny-camera in the Communications Office. Its location was known only to himself and the Security Manager. The less people knew, the more impact the truth would have when it was finally uncovered.

Cathy was informed of the plan. While not enthusiastic, she knew that if any kind of employee abuse was going on, it was their duty to end it, by whatever means they possessed. Confronting Melanie without absolute proof would mean a dramatic session of how "the girls" had too much time on their hands and were concocting stories about her. Either she had become an expert at covering up her actions or she was really delusional about the person she was.

Cathy had arrived at the property the night before, well past 9:00 p.m. She had placed her belongings in her room and she had gone for a quick walk to the office suites of MoonStar Jakarta. A light in the Communications Department had given her the impression that Melanie was hard at work and she had decided say a quick hello to Melanie, seeing that she was already there. However, the only person she had found was Rini, sitting by the fax machine with a stack of papers in her hands looking as though she would drop to the ground at any minute.

"Hi, what are you doing? It's pretty late isn't it?" Cathy had asked. The younger associate had wheeled around in shock.

Every property was advised to keep an organisation chart of all vice presidents and heads of departments for times like these. It took a moment for Rini to realise who had addressed her, but she managed a warm smile as it dawned on her.

"Ms. Dixon, hello ... I, wow ... I didn't know you were coming. Ms. Melanie is not around at the moment. I'm just sending out the press releases for next month's food promotions ... I was busy today and it had to be sent today ... so ..."

"Rini, relax. One more day isn't going to change the response to next month's food promotions. You've already sent some today, send some more tomorrow. For now, go home and get some sleep."

Rini stared at Cathy not sure if she had processed the instruction correctly or if things had finally turned around for her. "But my boss said ..."

"I will talk to Melanie. Go and have a good dinner, sleep well and we'll talk tomorrow," Cathy had reassured the girl.

The walls at the Communications Department had been painted a pale sunny yellow after the coffee incident. As Cathy waited for Rini to pack her things, she had looked around and wondered what other secrets were tucked away between the walls of this office. When she had gone up to her room, the Security Manager had met her with a flash drive that contained the videos from the nanny-cam. He had warned her she would need a strong stomach and had assured her again that other than the General Manager and himself, no one else had viewed the recordings.

Melanie had been busy at the office, there was no doubt about that. But it was unrelated tasks that had kept her at the office past midnight. On the nights she was manager-on-duty, she had enjoyed ‘working’ on her desk with one of the newer associates from Concierge lying on top of her. This was one of the few sexual positions the two of them enjoyed. Two videos showed her in a passionate kiss with a female lover, whom they would later discover, was one of the references on her resume.

Some nights Melanie had come into the office, drunk and unsteady. She would then call Rini after work hours, to pick her up from the hotel and drive her home, which was nowhere in the girl's job description. There were numerous clips of her repeated tantrums, each louder and more harsh than the previous one on the nanny-cam. She had thrown papers and files at Rini. Once, she had even flung a paperweight and another time she had made the girl polish her stilettos while she still wore them. The most revolting of all were the two occasions when she had made the girl sit on the floor, while taking notes.

All through the videos, she was heard screaming for one thing or another. The words "please" and "thank you" did not exist in this person's vocabulary. In the mornings, she screamed for coffee and during the day she screamed for her own work to be carried out faster, while she occupied herself with Facebook, Twitter and entertainment news.

Cathy hardly slept for the rest of the night. Everyday so much was done to protect each MoonStar property from negative media attention. A lot of money and effort was poured into making sure each property outshone their competing properties. And yet, here they were, caught in their own web, tangled in a situation none of them could have anticipated. The next day, the General Manager and Cathy discussed the options that could be laid out for Melanie. She would be asked to stay on a little longer to supervise some immediate changes in the Communications Department. Pending an internal inquiry with Human Resources, Melanie would definitely be suspended but second chances were always available for any hotelier.

A small bit of Cathy wanted Melanie to rot in hell but setting personal emotions aside, Cathy would recommend a transfer to another MoonStar property and a position with less authority, one where she would not be able to throw her weight around as much. Cathy also recommended that Melanie be placed on an extended probation period where she would report directly to Cathy. If all that did not help in making Melanie a team player and treating her subordinates with respect, she would be asked to resign.

Misused power encouraged some people into thinking they were far above others without ever realising that the more power you have, the greater your sense of accountability for your actions.

HANOI, VIETNAM