Niels Dream Comes True

Niels was in the lobby of the hotel feeling tired with just a few hours of sleep after his night duties in the kitchens. He was looking for a potential tourist he could convince to take on tour for the day. Business was improving and he managed to buy more appropriate clothing to make his appearance professional. That woman and her cousin from the UK had settled with him after each day of discovery in Stockholm and this had given him enough to buy more professional clothing and he’d spruced up his appearance considerably. He’d also learned more about guiding since that first opportunity given him and could see there was possibilities of making this a career. Someday he could move out of the small room at the hotel and discontinue night duties there so he could get more rest.

Amelia sat in one of the lounges pretending to read a newspaper but watching him as he approached. He certainly had cleaned himself up a lot and looked very handsome with his hair smartly dressed and his new clothes. She watched him hustling the tourists as they came into the lobby, but it was handled professionally, and he retreated with grace when he found they were already booked by another tour group wishing them a pleasant day. She knew he was only her age, and she was just turning nineteen, but she was intrigued with his bravery in walking away from a safe though unfulfilling life in the village to try his luck in the city. For some reason she was drawn to him and wanted to see him advance and achieve his ambitions in life just as she wanted to achieve hers.

This time she’d swapped her casual tourist dress for business dress she noted him study her sitting there behind the newspaper but seeing her dressed for business thought she was there for corporate meetings so wouldn’t be interested in a tour. Then there was a period when the lobby emptied so Amelia put the paper down and called his name. He spun around in surprise but did not recognize her at first. Then he smiled in recognition and sped over to stand in front of her.

“I didn’t expect to see you again Amelia. Is your cousin here too?”

“Sit down Niels. I want to talk to you and there is money in it if you spend time with me this morning. I’m catching the evening plane back to London, so I need to have your time this morning.”

For the next hour she probed if Niels would be interested in interviewing for a job in London. There was no guarantee he’d get the job it would be entirely up to him to show his value at the time of the interview. But to facilitate this possibility he’d need a passport and any personal documents that may be necessary. He said he was interested. So, they went to investigate a passport for him. Niels produced the valid identification required and arranged for the photo at the passport office. Amelia paid the cost SEK 350, and Niels discovered his passport would be available at the passport office within five working days for him to pick up.

He was unhappy Amelia was paying all the costs of him potentially making that journey to London for an interview and insisted this money would be considered a loan and he’d pay this back whether he received the job in London or not. Amelia understood his feelings on this and agreed this would be a loan. It further convinced her they were giving a chance to an honest person who’d serve their interests honorably if her father was satisfied with the interview. So, she began to arrange for his travel for him to be interviewed by her father.

Getting into the UK for that interview would not be a problem however if William was interested in employing Niels, that would require a lot more work and Niels would have to return to Stockholm and fend for himself for a while until this was sorted out. With all the unlawful non-citizens flowing into the UK consistently the government was becoming more careful with who they issued work visas to. William had his contacts and knew he could somehow work through the requirements. Niels was to have a confirmed job offer from Thomas Travels approved by the Home Office. Show them a certificate of sponsorship from Thomas Travels and ensure the job was on the list of eligible occupations. Finally, he had to convince them the minimum salary required for the job was on offer.

William was impressed with Niels after his arrival in London and as Amelia had told her father Niels had a photographic memory, he evaluated that during the interview to see if this was true. On impulse he decided to take Niels to their flagship agency in London and throw him in the deep end to see if he was capable of handling sales. Niels spent the morning as an understudy to one of their best operators and his heart sank as he saw how intricate all the processes were of negotiating with airlines, shipping, and local tour operators. This was way out of his league, and he thought he may as well return to Stockholm as this was far beyond his experience. William watched it all and smiled to himself. He’d seen this with so many of the bright young people coming out of school and fancying they could do anything after getting their graduation diploma. They all had to start at the bottom and learn. Only those who learned quickly would survive but most dropped out after a few days. William whispered to Claude Simpson the one assigned to see if Niels had any potential for a future in this business.

“Claude. Put him out on the street to work with all those tourists and locals who pause to look at the offers in our window. See if he can reel them in off the streets and then hand them over to our experienced operators. Let’s see if he can hustle up interests out there on the street. We’ve never tried that but always wait for people to walk in and then work with them from inside of the agency. We’ll see if he can generate business for us.

So, Niels was placed in another impossible situation in this strange city with nothing familiar to guide him. But to the surprise of William and Claude this new hopeful recruit was soon bringing in customers off the street gesticulating and talking confidently with them as he herded them in. William and Claude looked at each other in surprise. The operators at their desk jobs soon had a waiting group outside each interview cubicle and the operators were indicating they needed more support Claude decided to help them out and selected at random to take some of them in turn to his office to work on their travel needs. After a while William realized the office staff were swamped and went out and caught hold of Niels who was working over another couple who’d paused to look in the window.

“Niels, I want you to come with me now. We’re going to lunch, and I’ll have a final talk with you before handing you over to Amelia at home.”

Over lunch William asked more questions about Niels background and philosophy in life and finally satisfied this was a young man who he could train over time to take administrative responsibilities confirmed his interest in offering this young man a job if he was interested in working in the UK. While William would have to figure out a suitable job title to satisfy the government, he made it clear Neils would have to start at the bottom working under experienced people and do whatever support jobs they asked him to do wherever he was assigned and that would probably be in some of the agencies in smaller cities to start his career. He’d have to learn how to negotiate through the computer systems with airlines, shipping and internal travel operators and see each customer had a successful experience. But his main job for the present as he learned the trade would be to hustle people off the streets and into the agency for experienced operators to manage their itineraries. He was obviously good at that and would be evaluated initially in towns where people had less income at their disposal for luxuries like travel. If he were able to boost sales in those marginally profitable cities this would justify Thomas Travels giving him a chance in life. They would review his work in a year to see if he was to be a keeper or not.

That evening a business-like Amelia took Niels to a hotel and arranged for transportation to take him to the airport in the morning handing him a ticket to Stockholm. She handed him a generous fee for his time which Niels tried to give back to her. She put up her hand to indicate he should keep the money.

“You will need to prepare yourself for working in the UK and this is an initial retainer to see you have money for suitable clothing and luggage to bring your things to the UK if we are successful in getting a proper work visa for you. It may take a while to get government approval for you to transfer here so you will have to continue as best you can to generate your own income while you are waiting and knowing you that would your plan anyway. If the government grants you a work visa eventually my father will decide where you will be sent on your first assignment, and you’ll start at the bottom and learn as you go. It will be hard for you but I’m giving you my phone number and you can contact me if you have any problems on the job which we can solve. Dad is giving you a chance and I’ve recommended you highly so don’t let me down Niels. Niels nodded his head gratefully. Thank you so much for giving me this chance. I will not let you down.

Amelia saw him to the hotel room and checked everything was in place then gave him final instructions as to when he should be in the lobby to be picked up for transport to the airport and the flight home.

Niels had the best night’s sleep in a comfortable bed and was on time for the pickup for the airport next morning. Negotiating the airport to deal with immigration and find gates was a new experience for him and he had to ask lots of people for guidance, but he recorded each event in his mind and relished his sudden introduction to the affluent world. He decided not to raise his hopes this job in the UK would eventuate as life had been difficult for him up to now and a real job was just a dream at this stage.

So, he went back to cleaning kitchens and drumming up tour business during the day and the weeks slipped by. Then weeks turned to months, and he had just given up on any hope of a job in the UK when to his surprise he showed up looking for tourists in the lobby one morning and meeting him there was Amelia. She smiled as she indicated a briefcase in her hand.

“How fast can you pack your things Niels I have all the documentation you need in this briefcase and a ticket for the both of us on this afternoon’s flight to London. I’ve come to accompany you and see you through immigration and customs. You’ll stay in the same hotel you did on your previous visit this evening and dad will visit you there in the morning to discuss where you’ll be going and what you’ll be expected to do.”

Niels rushed to take his unused new luggage out of storage at the hotel then went to his small room and packed his suitcases with the limited things he’d accumulated since leaving home. What he’d taken when leaving his ancestral home had been long discarded, but he felt a twinge of nostalgia now that he’d be leaving his beloved country and didn’t know how long it would be before he could afford to return and try and make amends with his family. He’d long ago returned the money he’d taken without permission and sent it with a letter begging forgiveness but there’d been no response from his father or siblings so he assumed it would be a long while before peace could be restored between them, but he wanted to at least try in due course.

He’d send his address in the UK as soon as he was settled in the hope, they may forgive him and respond sometime in the future. He then rushed back to Amelia waiting in the lobby for her instructions after resigning from his job at the hotel. She went to the entrance and had transportation arranged to take them to the airport.  The next few hours enroute to the UK were like living in a dream for Niels and he memorized every moment of it shaking his head now and then to make sure he was awake, and it was not a dream. It was a long process going through immigration, but it was helpful to have Amelia by his side to confirm details on behalf of Thomas Travels.

Next morning William Thomas arrived at the hotel and making sure he’d taken advantage of the hotel complementary breakfast he had him pack his bags and check in with reception before taking him to his BMW. They were headed for Portsmouth seventy-five miles from London on the sea. William had decided on Portsmouth for a couple of reasons. The agency there was only marginally profitable now and had one of his oldest managers heading the agency. Bill Jackson had nurtured many young graduates into the trade over the years and was near retirement and begged William to transfer him there as that was the place he was born, and he wanted to retire in that city.

Bill was firm but fair and if he saw potential pulled out all stops to see the young person became an asset. He’d never nurtured someone from outside the UK before and had been reluctant to take Niels but eventually agreed as he respected William’s judgment just as William respected his. It was also by the sea which Niels would appreciate and not as demanding as a high population area like London. They had most of the big corporates as their clients there, but they needed a boost to make it more profitable or William was considering closing the agency. Let’s see if Niels could rustle up more clients to make it profitable before William closed the agency on Bill’s retirement.

Bill warmed to Niels immediately on being introduced and saw possibilities in this exuberant young man. He’d take him around to meet the client base and see to his accommodation. In the evenings he’d tutor him in dealing with bookings for clients through phone and computer and watch him in action with the clients. But during the day he’d be out promoting among the business community looking for new clients and he schooled Niels in the way to approach the business community in the UK to see there were no cultural mistakes made. The business community looked at value for money when they gave their travel booking business away so Niels would be sorely tested here. Niels also decided to target the student population. Surprisingly the young people of the day seemed to find money to travel around as there were many affluent people in the community who showered money on their children judging by the modes of transportation these students could be seen in.

To be continued.

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