All Alone - 3. Alo Chapter 3

Back in the main passageway, just 5 metres from the doors to the staffroom and store room, there is a closed door, marked “Private – No Entry”. Jeremy unlocked the door and we stepped into a furnished lounge room, leading off this is a large modern kitchen, including a pantry, and a door that leads to a utility room, with washing machine, dryer, sink, and two extra freezers.

Back in the lounge room, there is another door that leads to a short hallway, with a bedroom on one side and a study opposite, just past the bedroom there is a bathroom, with an adjoining door to the master bedroom at the end.

Back in the lounge room, Jeremy opened the outside door that leads to a semi enclosed patio, which includes a barbeque, comfortable outdoor furniture and even a fan in the roof for the hot and humid nights, and Jeremy sat down in one of the chairs and smiled to me.

Once I had settled into a chair nearby, Jeremy cleared his throat to speak. “Well what do you think of this setup, pretty impressive eh?” he said, as I sat there feeling a bit stunned at all there was in the building, far more than I had expected.

“If you accept the position of Hospitality Manager, this accommodation unit is yours rent free, the pay will not be much at first, but if it all goes the way I expect it to go, with you at the helm, you will be getting a commission as well, after the first three months. The office behind the reception is yours to use, as is the new buggy, I will let you move into the unit right away to let you think about it, but I want a reply within 24 hours please”.

I still didn’t know what to say, and didn’t really get a chance too, as Jeremy stood up and left the building to return to work. After remaining in the patio area for another half an hour, I stood up and headed over to my accommodation room in the buggy, and gathered my camera and I headed down to the beach to take some sunset photos, standing knee deep in the water to get some shots of the sunset at a low level to the water.

I was caught quite by surprise when I felt a nudge against my knees, pushing me off balance, and making me fall onto my backside with a splash, some-how I had managed to hold the camera up high to avoid it getting wet, and a dorsal fin soon revealed what had caused me loss of balance, and I laughed as my dolphin friend came up beside me for a light hug, before starting to swim away a short distance and rolling onto her side, flapping her fin across the water.

By now I was kneeling up and had my camera ready to take some photos of her as she was playing in the water, it was such a delight to watch, and she came up to me to receive a light stroke of my hand across the top of her back. As the last of the sun’s rays set into the horizon, the dolphin made a few jumps into the air before disappearing into the night, and I remained there for a little longer before stepping out of the water and returning to my backpacker room.

Once I had showered and changed, I went into the hospitality office, and sat at the desk, booting up the computer the screen came on and a message on it read, “Welcome to our station, we hope you enjoy your time here as Hospitality Manager”. I couldn’t help but laugh at the message on the screen, especially when I still hadn’t decided, although I really wanted to take up the position, I still had a job waiting for me down in the city.

I clicked on emails and typed in the stations email address, in the subject box I typed “Hospitality Manager position”, and in the text box I typed a short message, “Jeremy, I wish to thank you for the very generous offer for me to become a staff member at your wonderful station, however I cannot accept this position immediately, as I have commitments still in the city, and I cannot make such an important decision in just 24 hours.

I estimate the earliest that I would be able to accept the position is in four months-time. So, if the position is still available at that time, I would be happy to accept”. I paused for a moment before hitting the send button, and closed the computer, once the email had been confirmed as being sent.

I had a very restless night in the backpacker accommodation; I had decided that I would be leaving in the morning to return to the city, so I didn’t accept the offer to spend the night in more luxurious accommodation in the unit. After getting about 5 hours sleep, I woke up just before dawn, packed my bags, and loaded them into the car.

I grabbed a small amount of food to get me through the long drive back to the city, so as not to spend too much on Roadhouse food, which is always very expensive, and I headed down the driveway just as the sun was beginning to raise over the horizon in the east.

Thursday January 11th

It was 5.15 am as I drove past the first roadhouse, located just after getting back onto the main highway, as I continued south towards Carnarvon, and nearly two hours later my mobile beeped, with a missed call and a SMS message.

When I stopped at a nearby information bay on the edge of town, I looked at the message. “I received your email last night, and was hoping to speak to you this morning, to try and convince you to stay on; I’m very disappointed that you chose to leave so early without saying goodbye”.

I sent a quick message of reply, “Sorry, but as I explained in the email, I have other commitments and must return to the city, I am in Carnarvon now, leaving shortly to continue the journey south”. After sending a quick message to my boss in the city, that I would be back at work on Monday, I decided to turn off my phone for the next stage of the journey and placed a CD into the player to listen to some music as I drove on.

When I arrived in Geraldton 5 hours later, I was quite tired, although I did stop a few times to get out and stretch my legs a bit. Since I had been driving for 7 hours almost non - stop, I decided to stay overnight and rest before making the last 4 ½ hours of the journey, so I went in search of a hotel.

Once booked in, I showered and changed, before heading to the restaurant for a well-earned dinner, and when I returned to my room, I remembered to turn on my phone. I had a text message from my boss, “Thanks for letting me know, look forward to seeing you back onboard, your deputy is not very good at taking charge of running the office”.

I gave a bit of a smile, agreeing that my assistant manager was indeed a bit wet behind the ears, and not quite ready to take on such big responsibilities.

There were a number of missed calls from the station, with no messages left on voice mail, but there were two SMS messages from Jeremy, “Mate we have been searching for someone to take on the duties of building up the hospitality side of the business, and you seemed just the perfect person for it.

I am sorry that I was a bit pushy, but we are starting to get a bit worried that we have over committed ourselves with new changes, without having someone already in place to manage it all, and we are getting some pressure from the bank and our accountant. Please reconsider the offer, Jeremy”.

The second message was similar in nature, “Our accountant saw you drive through town this morning, and he had a chat with the bank manager before contacting me, both of them have stated that they are disappointed that I have not been able to secure a hospitality manager, and have now given me 60 days to get one in place, please reconsider our offer” I decided to send a reply instead of ignoring him.

“I am in Geraldton now, still heading to Perth, I will think about it, but I have to speak to my current employers first, so I need time”. I received a text message back soon after, “Ok, please let us know your decision, as soon as possible” and I smiled as I put the phone on charge and prepared for bed.

Monday January 15th

My first week back at work, after taking just one week off work, was very hectic, trying to clean up the mess that the assistant had done in my absence, and check up on the work that he had been able to do. On Friday afternoon, I was still in my office, well after most of the staff had left, and I was startled, when my boss walked in, “Working overtime to catch up on everything I see” he said to me with a smile, which made me chuckle.

“Yes sir, I think we should give this young man a chance in a different area of the firm, and find someone else, who can do a better job, preferably someone who is already within the company” I replied.

“Very well, I will get personnel right onto it in the morning, the place runs a lot smoother when you are here, so I would prefer that we put some plan of action into place for when you need to go bush again in the future” the boss said.

I knew that this was probably not the best time to bring up the subject, but I really did want to find a way to take the job on the station and let this company down. “Well sir, there is a matter I need to discuss with you, if you have a little spare time now” I said nervously, and the boss sat down in the seat opposite me.

Ten minutes later, after I explained everything about my visit to the station, the boss crossed his arms across his chest, and I could see he was thinking about this carefully. “I have this outrageous idea, and with a little of planning it just might work…” the boss began, and for the next ten minutes he told me his idea. When he had finished, I was stunned, it was a very unusual idea, but one that just might work.

In these modern times, a lot of people actually work for a company in the city, but do all of their work from home, so as to have more family time, and although I had no family, in Australia, I could be able to move to the station, and work as the Hospitality Manager there, and still work part time for the Law Firm, as long as we found a suitable replacement to be my Deputy.

After a meeting with the executives the following Monday, the idea, received everyone’s approval, and work began to find me a new deputy, and to start planning for my relocation, which would include, installing a satellite communications dish at the station for high quality communications services, so I could stay in touch with the firm at all times, whether it be by telephone, fax or internet.

By the end of the second day of my second week back at work, I sent an email message to the station boss, “Jeremy Dalworth, Station Manager, Subject; Hospitality Manager Position. Hello Jeremy, I have had a chat with my bosses here in Perth, and I have permission to work part time for the firm, while living and working on the station.

I am required to do a minimum of 16 hours per week, and that approval is given to install a satellite communications dish on the station, pending your approval, to allow for improved phone, internet and fax services. I will be able to move up to the station in about 3 ½ weeks’ time, if the satellite dish is in place by then. Regards Lloyd Templeton”. After reading it to check for any errors, I sent the email, and after it was confirmed sent, I closed the computer down for the day.

As expected, there was a return email, when I arrived at my office the following morning, “Lloyd, that is wonderful news, and yes I give approval for the satellite dish to be installed. My bank manager and accountant were also pleased to hear the news, as their firms have had business dealings with the law firm you work for, and they have seen your profile on the company website. Let us talk later this week about the logistics of the Satellite dish, and getting you settled into your accommodation, Regards Jeremy”.

By lunch time the following Tuesday, after a public holiday long weekend, I had received news from the boss that the satellite dish was ready, and currently in transit up to the station, with an estimated day of arrival being this coming Thursday from Perth, with overnight stops in Geraldton and Carnarvon, and I decided to call Jeremy to let him know. “Coral Coast Station, how may I help you” came and unexpected female voice, when the call was answered.

“This is Lloyd Templeton speaking, may I speak to Jeremy please” I asked, “Oh Lloyd, it’s wonderful to speak to you at last, I am Angela, Jeremy’s long-suffering wife” came the ladies reply, which made me laugh, “It’s a pleasure to meet you too, and I am sure Jeremy isn’t that bad” I replied, and I could hear Angela chuckling.

“No, he isn’t actually, I just getting a bit frustrated with this Station office computer that is all.

Jem is out doing a stock check and water run, with Matt, and our newest employee – Greg, who is Matt’s younger brother” Angela explained. “Can you let Jeremy know that the Satellite dish is coming up later this week, the truck should arrive about lunch time on Thursday, the men will install it over the weekend.

If you could provide some meals for them, dinner for Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, and breakfast for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and lunch for Friday and Saturday, which the Law Firm will pay for of course” I said to Angela, “Ok, will do, I must go, thanks for the call, bye”, Angela said and she ended the call.

Although I said that I would be up in 1 ½ weeks’ time, I was already packed and just had to load up my new vehicle, and be on my way, I had already discussed leaving early with my boss, now that we had Victoria as my new deputy, and she was a pleasure to work with, due to her efficiency with her duties. The twelve-hundred-kilometre journey could be done in two days, with just one overnight stop, and that is what I was planning to do.

I just hoped that my 3-year old dog – Angus, would be able to cope with the long journey and the hot weather up there. Being a short haired Jack Russell, I was sure that he would be, but he had not been on such a long journey before, just short trips to the beach every weekend. He was very annoyed with me for days, after abandoning him at a dog kennel for a week, and I did not want to go through that again.

I had arranged with my boss to leave this Friday early morning, so I would arrive on Saturday evening, in time to see the last of the installation of the satellite dish being done. It meant that I would be driving long days, for both days, which will be exhausting, but I knew that I could do it, as long as I took regular breaks, so as not to get over tired, and I planned to stay overnight at a roadhouse accommodation, which is 705 km’s from Perth, leaving just 505 km’s on the second day.

By Thursday, I had the vehicle and trailer loaded up with most of my possessions, as I had sold all of the furniture in my rental apartment, keeping only a few valuable pieces that I wanted to keep, and my dog Angus began wining from Wednesday morning sensing that I was moving, and I guess he was getting worried that he was about to be sent to the dog kennel once again, so I tried to reassure him that he would be travelling with me this time.

My boss informed me at lunch time on Thursday, that I had the rest of the day off, to finalise my moving to the station, so when I arrived home half an hour later, Angus was thrilled to see me. Once I had changes out of my business suit, I grabbed Angus’s lead and connected it to his lead and we set off to have some lunch at a café, that is dog friendly.

While I had a slight meal, Angus had a small steak and a bowl of water for his lunch, and just as we had finished and paid for the meals, my mobile phone rang with an unknown number. “Hello, Lloyd Templeton speaking” I said into my mobile, “Ah good afternoon Mr Templeton, my name is James Phillips from Banks and Phillips Law Firm” the caller said, and I immediately tensed up.

“Yes, Mr Phillips, I remember you, when you came to the farm once, how can I help you?” I replied, “Mr Templeton… Lloyd, I have had a heck of a time trying to locate you, I am sorry to inform you that both your mother and father, were both killed in a car accident in Northern Scotland, two weeks ago, while returning from your Grandmother’s funeral. I only had an old phone number for you, and I had to call the police to try and locate you” the lawyer informed me.