Do you mind if I open a window?’
Glen didn’t think it was hot at all, but Mr Swinton did appear flushed. He told him he had no objection and tried not to shiver as an icy draught blew through the open window, seeming to make straight for him.
Back in his chair Reg Swinton said, ‘Right, what I’m looking for is someone who’s capable of fixing the machines in the factory when they break down and seeing to all the other maintenance work in the place, down to changing light bulbs. Question is, are you the man I’m looking for?’
Glen responded without hesitation, ‘I’d say so, Mr Swinton. There’s nothing I can’t tackle, from unblocking toilets to sweeping up if the cleaner is off for any reason. And there’s nothing about the machines in the factory that I don’t know about and can put right.’ He could have kicked himself for adding that.
Reg looked at him sharply. ‘I haven’t shown them to you yet so how do you know that? Have you worked here before? If you have, it was before my time as I pride myself on knowing all my employees.’
Glen blustered, ‘No . . . no, I haven’t. I was just assuming the machines were the same as I looked after in my old job for a shoe firm. Made by the British United Shoe Machinery Company on Belgrave Road. But, of course, one machine is not unlike another when it comes to repairs.’
‘Well, I can’t repair machines so I wouldn’t know and will have to take your word on that,’ Reg told him. ‘You say you worked for a company similar to this?’
How Glen hated lying but it was so important to his cause that he landed this job. ‘Yes, in Northampton. Ten years I worked for them. They made bespoke shoes but didn’t import from other countries like Rose’s does.’
Reg looked impressed by this. ‘You have done your homework, knowing we import shoes as well as make them. So why did you leave your last post?’
Glen couldn’t help but notice that his prospective employer was sweating profusely now, had taken a large handkerchief out of his jacket pocket and was wiping beads of moisture from his face with it. He wanted to enquire of him if he was all right as in truth it was really quite cold in here now and he should by rights be shivering, as Glen was trying hard not to do. But that could be seen as impertinence and he didn’t want to risk losing the job because of that.
‘Had no choice, Mr Swinton,’ he said. ‘The old man who owned the firm died, and with no one to take over the reins it just folded. That’s why I can’t give you any references, I’m afraid.’
‘Well, I’m not sure references are worth the paper they’re written on myself. Any boss can write down that the employee he’s referencing is the best he’s ever had, trustworthy and reliable, when in fact they are nothing of the sort. It’s just that they’re wanted rid of, and sometimes the best way to do that is to try and help an unwanted worker get taken on somewhere else.’
Glen sighed inwardly with relief that he seemed to have passed that hurdle, then held his breath and crossed the fingers of both hands in the hope that the question he feared he would be asked next didn’t come: whether he’d ever been in trouble with the law.
Reg Swinton obviously thought he looked honest enough not to insult Glen by asking him such a thing. Instead he asked, ‘If you’re from Northampton, what brings you to Leicester?’
Glen hadn’t anticipated that question and his mind went blank for a moment before he blurted, ‘Oh, er . . . just a change of scene.’
Reg seemed to think that reason enough. ‘Well, I need to fill this vacancy as soon as I can as my last man left yesterday without warning. Got an engineering job elsewhere with an immediate start. He was a good man and I didn’t like losing him.
He studied Glen for a moment. ‘I like the look of you, Mr Trainer. You don’t seem to me like a man who says he can do something when he can’t. I really should show you around the place before I ask you to make a decision, check that you’re happy with what you see, but I haven’t got the time right now. Other people to interview for the jobs we have