Saturday, February 9, 2013

The Client Who Would Not Stop Talking.


She went on and on, talking about the same thing over and over,  not even smart enough to use different words, I guess she had never heard the word “REPHRASE”.
 I was so bored, and it took a lot to keep myself from screaming, I had to keep telling myself, "she is your boss, and she has your pay cheque" 
I said it over and over in my head like a mantra, then the phone rang, her phone…and we had to put an end to the meeting.That was one of our nose in the air, snot faced, old money client in Ikoyi.

At the other end of the table,Poised, elegant and as cold as ice, sat the owner of my firm, for this diary we’ll just call her Nadine, because it’s a beautiful name, and it reminds me of those beautiful, cold, vicious Russian KGB, Mossad type babes in the movies, or better put for those of you who are fans of the series Legend of the seeker, she kinda reminds me of the “mord sith” She is like a cross between those mean little fishes in South America, piranhas? And a graceful eagle, don’t ask me how that works, my imagination can be warped at times.

Moments later, a delivery guy walked in…from my fave pizza spot ,Debonair, he had a delivery for D. That was stran
ge, cos I am D, and I would remember picking up the phone and ordering a pizza, so I asked;
“Are you sure?” 
And to prove how sure he was he quoted my mobile number.
Still a bit surprised, I drilled him a bit more. “What’s the name of the person who placed the order?”
“Madam, he didn’t leave his name, he just paid and said we should take it to you”
Enough with questions already, I quickly grabbed it, said thank you and asked my colleagues to join in the surprise feast before we find out it was a mistake… still curious about the sender though.

I looked at my watch, it was 3pm… asides the pizza, it has been one crazy day, customer service can be fun and exciting, but it also tries your patience, being a manager in an establishment that deals with women and all the crazy frenzy of wedding planning,Yes, we are wedding planners) I have also had to reluctantly double as a marriage counselor! 

People tend to find it easy to confide in me, maybe it’s because I never have the heart to call people off on all their bulls**t, so I have to listen to reluctant brides, happy brides, bitchy brides and anything else that comes my way…and by anything I mean pushy mothers, nosy mothers in law, crazy friends, jealous friends and any of the female species that walks in, not forgetting the impatient groom in most cases who hate being there but have been forced to come in by their brides. It’s a crazy world in our business and for someone who is cynical about marriage, I must say Nadine does an excellent job. Nadine and I are as different as night and day in personality, but physically we could pass for twins, me being the nice one and she…,the b***h.

I think Nadine loves me being with her despite the fact that she thinks I am too soft,( and in a strange way that’s also my selling point), I keep the customers with my charm and sweetness, while she satisfies them with her excellent wedding planning skills. I grew up in Nigeria, while she had been in one of those fancy Swiss finishing school, and has experienced the glitz and glamour of Paris, before deciding to bring all that glitz to the Nigerian wedding Industry, like she puts it.

I will tell you how I met Nadine, and how this all started……

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