Angelic Jewels.
I haven’t had much time to look into the marketing for the company, other than how highly praised their stock is at shows and how successful the online side of things seems to be.
Part of that shine has diminished now that I’ve seen some of the inner workings of the company, but my goal remains the same. Clicking on the ad takes me to the homepage lovingly crafted by Calliope. I’d expected a separate team to be in charge of thewebsite, but it seems to be one of the many things she has a talent for and stays on top of with minimal complaints.
A revolving banner at the top issues an apology for delay in shipments due to the flood, with reassurances that delays past a certain date will result in credit.
Smart.
People are more forgiving with delays if they think they’ll get something out of it.
Just beneath are several of the beautiful Valentine’s Day pieces on pre-order, from necklaces and pendants to engagement rings, Galentine bracelets and more.
Hold on…
The necklaces, engagement rings, and three separate rings are marked as out of stock.
That can’t be right.
Valentine’s orders are marked as rolling orders, so stock will continue to come through, filling all pre-orders right up until the day after Valentine’s. Out of Stock can’t happen.
Refreshing the page doesn’t clear the label, so I click on my emails and double-check the last conversation I had with Jimmy about the stock, confirming that these are supposed to be on a rolling order.
Something’s not right.
The next morning, after an uneasy sleep, I head into the office after checking the website and seeing that nearly all the Valentine’s items have been taken off the website. I swing by Calliope’s office but she’s not in yet. One of her staff membersinforms me that she’ll be in later, then explains that they were ordered to remove the stock because all Valentine’s items are now going to the stores.
This is making less and less sense.
Thanking Jane for her help, I take the elevator straight up to Jimmy’s floor. When I arrive, his office is empty.
“Am I too early?” I ask his strained assistant, who sits at her desk outside his office.
She glances up at me and shakes her head. “No, he went to the bathroom. Shouldn’t be too long.”
“Thanks.” With a wave, I pass her and enter his office, then take the seat across from his desk and wait.
Outside the large windows, the sky grows warmer and warmer as the sun rises, and if I squint, I can almost pretend it’s a warm summer’s day.
Jimmy arrives twenty minutes later with a toothpick hanging out of his mouth and his phone in his hand. “Elijah? We don’t have anything scheduled today, do we?” he asks while striding around his desk and sniffling deeply.
“No. But I saw something last night that concerned me.”
“You should call the cops then, not me.” He chuckles raspily as he sits.
I don’t return the humor. “It’s about the website.”
“That blasted thing,” he mutters. “Look, you should speak to Cal because I don’t deal with any of that.”
“I would, but I checked the assigned hours and Cal is on a half day today. She’s not in until eleven.”
Jimmy frowned. “Who approved that?”
Is he serious? “You did. I saw your signature.”
“Oh.” Jimmy pauses and then shrugs. “Whatever. I don’t know anything about the website.”
“Yes, you do. You instructed them to take the Valentine’s stuff off the website and send all the current stock to the stores?”
