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There were several visitors that afternoon that looked more like they belonged at the financial company Sophie had just left. They introduced themselves as being from Northern Capital Asset Management and when she called back to Andrew, the account executive that was meeting with them, he and two others, all in similar conservative suits, came into the lobby to welcome them. They walked back to the conference room and a moment later Brooke walked over.
“That is a super important meeting. They are a potentially huge new client. They are visiting our agency and a few others before deciding who to go with. Hold all calls for Andrew and don’t let anyone else head to the conference room. They have it booked for the next few hours.”
In her down time, between calls and visitors, Sophie glanced at some of the marketing material that was sitting in a binder on the front desk. It was a portfolio of some of their recent client work. She flipped through the pages, at their creative ads for soap, laxatives, insurance and mutual funds. It was hard to make any of those things sound exciting, but the ads tried, proclaiming the products were the best ever. She wondered if they worked with any fun clients, with products that would be interesting to create ads for?
When Brooke stopped by at the end of her shift, to let her know she could go ahead and leave for the day, Sophie asked what kind of clients the agency worked with.
Brooke made a face. “Nothing super exciting I’m afraid. We don’t get the fashion brands or hot technology products here. Our focus is on consumer goods and financial as that is where the demand is.”
“What time do most people leave?” Sophie asked, thinking of the many who didn’t arrive until around ten.
Brooke laughed. “It’s all over the map. But a lot of people come in later and quite often they work really late, depending on if they are preparing for a pitch. The workload is pretty intense. But we turn the main phones over to voicemail after five and most visitors come in before that. So, when you come in tomorrow, the first thing you’ll do is listen to the general mailbox for any after-hours messages. See you tomorrow!”
Sophie’s next two weeks were uneventful. Working at the ad agency was better than the trading floor, but she wasn’t sorry when her time there was up. She had a new assignment booked for the next week, another receptionist role at one of the hottest real estate firms in the city, Fulton Real Estate. She looked them up online and their website was impressive. They focused on residential real estate sales in Manhattan and their average listing was over two million dollars. Sophie had always been mildly interested in real estate—she loved watching the television shows where they showed property renovations, and how they could transform a house—so she was curious to experience what it might be like to work in a real estate office.
Chapter Five
The offices for Fulton Real Estate were impressive. The building itself was four stories high and sat on a corner in one of the best areas of Soho. The ceilings were high and there were floor-length windows that let in tons of light. The walls were bright white with lots of colorful artwork and sculptures scattered throughout the reception area.
Sophie’s job for the next three weeks was to fill in at the front desk.
“Our regular girl, Mollie, is out on maternity leave. You’re the fifth or maybe the sixth person that has covered, so far. No one has lasted more than two weeks,” Andrea, the office manager explained. Andrea had a sleek auburn ponytail and wore an elegant black dress. She was a few years older than Sophie—and she looked like a sophisticated New Yorker.
Sophie immediately felt concern at the thought of so much turnover. And Andrea seemed to immediately regret over-sharing. “It’s really not a bad job at all,” she said hastily. “Mollie has worked here for several years. It can be fast-paced at times, but nothing out of the ordinary, I don’t think.”
Sophie hoped not. She’d been hesitant to take on a three-week assignment, but Kara had assured her that it was a beautiful office and she was sure that Sophie would like it.
Andrea showed her how the phones worked and the office intranet so Sophie could easily reach people either by phone or email if they were out of the office.
“Here at Fulton, we are all about luxury. Rick wants everyone that comes through these doors to have the Fulton experience,” Andrea explained. “Most of the homes that we represent are over five million, and many are well over ten or twenty million. People expect a different level of service when they are able to spend that much on a property.”
She showed Sophie where the Nespresso machine was and the refrigerator that had chilled bottles of imported sparkling water. “Offer all visitors a beverage while they wait,” Andrea instructed.
“Oh, and every Monday morning, you’ll type up notes from the sales meetings. They’re all in the conference room now. Rick always records the meetings, and they quickly go over everything new and pending. Do you know how to transcribe from dictation?”
Sophie nodded. “Yes, I did that at the law firm regularly.”
Andrea looked pleased to hear it. “Good! That will give you a leg up on the others. I think the dictation was an issue for some of them. If time permits, we’ll have other projects for you as well.”
“Great. I’m happy to help however possible.” Sophie liked keeping busy. If the phones weren’t busy or there wasn’t a lot of foot traffic coming through the door, she didn’t want to just sit around waiting for something to do.
“The phones probably won’t be too hectic as all the agents have direct lines or cell phones. But we do get a fair amount of people responding to ads or just calling in from internet searches and you’ll round robin those calls. Here’s a list of all the agents, just start at the top. When everyone is in the office, put the person on hold for a moment and check to make sure the agent is free to take the call, then put it through.”
“What if they can’t take the call?” Sophie asked.
Andrea laughed. “Oh, they almost always will as it could mean a sale for them. But if they are tied up on another call, they will tell you and then just go to the next person in line. Once everyone heads out of the office, those calls will go to the agent on duty for the day.”
Once Andrea had walked her through everything, she headed back to her office which was right around the corner. “If you get stuck, just give me a holler,” she said.
The reception area was quiet except for some soft jazz playing in the background. Sophie pulled up the office listings and browsed through them. She was impressed by the number of high-end properties and the prices. No wonder the rents in the city were so high—the prices to buy were astronomical. There were some beautiful homes though. And besides the high prices, many also had five figure monthly charges for maintenance or common charges.
Fifteen minutes later, she heard a flurry of activity—voices and footsteps coming down the hall. A tall, striking man with light blond hair was flanked on either side by two attractive women about Sophie’s age. One had short caramel brown hair and the other had long blonde wavy hair. The man looked to be in his late thirties. They all stopped at the front desk and the man raised his eyebrow and held out his hand.
“Rick Fulton, you must be our new temp?”
“Yes, Sophie Lawton.” She shook his hand. His grip was strong.
“Sophie, these are two of my top agents.” He glanced at the blonde woman first, “This is Tessa and Caroline.”
