Executive Affair (16 page)

‘Yes.'

Linda sensed a lie in her abruptness. ‘It's winter over in Sydney, right? Does it get cold?'

When she was faced with a difficult patient, like Julia, she often broke the ice with some friendly but irrelevant chatter. Anything to get the conversation going. Julia's response was a shrug. Sydney was clearly a sore spot.

‘Are you planning on visiting him while he's there?' Linda persisted, staying pleasant.

‘We haven't fixed a date yet. He's been busy … same old problem. Amtech always comes before his wife.'

Some emotion at last. Linda was pleased with the breakthrough.

‘Are you being fair? It's understandable that he would be a little preoccupied with this new role he's taken on.'

Julia allowed herself to get angry. ‘This role in Australia is just a hobby for Robert. He's a vice-president, for heaven's sake, not a finance director in a far-off subsidiary. But it doesn't matter where he is or what he's doing, as long as he's with that company, he'll have no time for me. Our only chance is if he leaves … then we could be happy.'

Warning bells were clanging for Linda. She tried to diffuse Julia's hatred for Amtech. ‘Julia, listen to me, this fixation on Robert's company isn't healthy for you. You can't hang all your hopes on him giving up his job.'

Julia didn't reply. There was a confidence in her smile that Linda didn't like. The session finished. Linda had an uneasy feeling when Julia left.

Claire's spirits were not dampened by the drudge of early check-in, mandatory for the International Terminal, or the delays before take-off. She was in a holiday mood and had to keep reminding herself that she was going to Hong Kong to work.

The flight took nine hours and everyone was glad when the pilot started their descent. As they broke through the dense cloud, she caught a quick glimpse of the imposing mountains that surrounded the steel waters of the harbour. Then, with no warning, the plane dropped violently. She lurched forward in her seat. As it levelled, the pilot's voice boomed over the intercom.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, I apologise for the sudden drop. We're experiencing some very bad turbulence which will make our landing quite uncomfortable. Please ensure your belts are tightly fastened.'

Claire fought her way through the thronged airport, shaky from the landing, intimidated by the crowds. She was relieved that all the signs were in English as well as Chinese – it was easy to find her bags and make her way outside to the taxi rank. The taxi driver didn't speak English but when she wrote down the hotel name for him, he seemed to understand where he was going. As the taxi sped towards the city centre, she was mesmerised, trying to take everything in. The office towers were lit up in an array of electric colours, and conveyed a city that was an unusual mix of East and West. The traffic was fast and heavy, zipping impatiently along the maze of freeways and flyovers.

The hotel was luxurious by her standards but probably nothing out of the ordinary in such an opulent city. Her room had a view of the harbour and the lights from the buildings glowed through the dusk and reflected on the water. She moved away from the hypnotic view and sat on the bed. It was only six o'clock but it was already getting dark. It was a daunting prospect, going out on her own in a strange city at nightfall, but it would be a dreadful waste to stay in her hotel room. The phone rang, intruding on her thoughts.

‘Claire?' The voice was American.

‘Yes, speaking,' she answered cautiously.

‘Hello, it's Tony Falcinella. I'm glad you arrived safely. Welcome to Hong Kong.'

‘Thank you! I've just got to my room and I'm trying to decide what to do for the rest of the evening. Do you have any recommendations?'

‘I certainly do. I was calling to see if I could show you some of this wonderful city.'

‘Great, I'd like that. I need about an hour to unpack and have a shower. Is that okay with you?'

‘That's fine. I'll see you in the lobby.'

She arrived at the lobby within the hour. Tony wasn't there. About five minutes later she saw his short, stocky figure approach.

‘Claire, it's good to see you again.' Tony was a formal man – he extended his hand for a firm shake.

‘It's no problem. It's a welcome break from the humdrum routine of my job back in Sydney.'

‘Where would you like to go? You're the tourist – you say and I'll lead,' he said as they walked from the very cool lobby to the very humid street.

‘I'd like to take a walk around the city and get a feel for it.'

The horrendous rain of the previous week had abated and the evening was sticky but dry. The chaos was charming, too many cars and too many people competing for limited space. They wandered for two hours before Claire announced she would faint unless they went for something to eat. They chose an American-style steakhouse.

‘This isn't very adventurous but I'm so hungry that I can't take the risk of not liking what I get,' she said, sitting down gratefully and studying the menu without delay.

‘You're right – you do have the rest of the week to sample the local delicacies – like cat and chicken feet.' Tony kept his face straight as he waited for her reaction.

‘Cat! You can't be serious? I'm not so sure I'm hungry any longer.'

The waiter came to take their order, interrupting the unsavoury conversation.

‘It's nice of you to give up your family time to show me around,' she said, breaking off some bread to nibble.

‘My wife is very understanding. I would have liked her to
come along this evening to meet you, but being seven months pregnant is uncomfortable for her.' He tucked his napkin into his shirt collar. ‘I haven't told her yet that I'll be working tomorrow. She won't be pleased. Sundays have been the only quality time that we've had together for the last two months.'

‘Do you want me to go in to the office tomorrow?' she offered, sensing that he did.

‘I would be very grateful if you could.' He sounded humble.

‘No worries.' She moved the subject of conversation away from work. It was clear that he was under enormous pressure. ‘Is this your first child?'

Tony looked proud. ‘No, I have two other children, ten and four years old.'

She guessed he was tempted to show her the photos he undoubtedly kept in his wallet. She knew he hailed from Amtech in San Jose and she was curious about his wife.

‘Is your wife American?'

‘No, she's Hong Kong Chinese. I met her when she was studying art in California. I was working in Corporate Finance, for Robert. My wife wanted to come back to her family in Hong Kong after her graduation. We waited for almost five years until the right opportunity came up with Amtech. Robert took a risk putting me in this role … Looking back, I wasn't quite ready for it. For a man who doesn't have a family himself, he is extremely supportive of those of us who do. How about you?' he asked. ‘Do you have a partner?'

She didn't mind telling him about her woeful love life, he was so easy to talk to. ‘Not at the moment. I was seriously involved with someone in Ireland but we split up – he needed space. He's getting married to someone else now. I still don't know how he changed his mind about his freedom so quickly … Then, I met a
guy in Australia who was the exact opposite, very full-on. I ended up begging for
my
space. I can't seem to strike a happy medium.'

They chatted some more before the conversation inevitably returned to what was at the forefront of Tony's mind. ‘I'm very glad to have you and Brian here. I'm only sorry that I didn't ask Robert for help sooner. I thought we could manage alone. I was very wrong – I completely underestimated the effort.'

‘It sounds as if you have all the right people on board now.' Her tone was reassuring.

‘Everybody except Frank. He's on vacation, I believe.'

She didn't know that Frank was away. ‘Brian's an impressive operator and outsourcing is more up his alley than Frank's. You'll be all right.'

It was after midnight when they made it back to the hotel.

‘I'll pick you up tomorrow on my way to the office,' he said as she waited for the lift. ‘What time would you like to meet in the lobby?'

‘Whenever you like – I'll fit in with you.' She could do with a sleep-in but knew he would appreciate an early start.

‘Let's say nine, then.'

‘Okay, goodnight. See you in the morning,' she said, giving him a little wave as she got into the lift.

The combination of the journey, the heat and the late hour were taking their toll. She yawned. As she walked into the darkness of her room, she noticed the red light flashing on her phone. Turning on the lights, she picked it up.

You have one message, taken at 8.15 pm. Press one to listen to the message or two to delete.

She followed the directions but the caller had hung up without speaking.

Jimmy Yu was the services manager for Amtech Hong Kong. He was impeccably dressed, his trouser creases dangerously sharp. His English had a faint American accent, suggesting that he had been educated in the US. Tony left Claire in Jimmy's hands. He was passionate in his welcoming and made very detailed enquiries about her journey and her hotel.

‘This is the engine,' he said as he led her into a stuffy room that had three others in it. The bid team hardly noticed her – they were totally engrossed in their work. She could see why the room had been called ‘the engine'. It was stifling, the airconditioning struggling to circulate sufficient cool air. Jimmy prised each team member away from their job to make leisurely introductions. Claire was starting to understand why the tender was running close to the wire on time.

‘We have set up some desktops for our visitors over here … Brian is using this one … you may have your choice of the other two.'

There was no sign of Brian. Or Robert.

‘There will be a lot of people coming and going. I hope they will not distract you too much.'

When Jimmy finally left, Claire sat down at her chosen desktop and logged into her email. Brian came in about two hours later, pale and unshaven. Robert followed him shortly afterwards.

‘Tony said he met you for dinner last night.' It was a reprimand.

‘Yes, we had a nice time.'

‘I presume he updated you on where we are at?'

‘Not in any detail.'

Robert frowned. He looked different, almost foreign, fitting in with the foreign city. ‘Cathair extended the scope last week,
with no notice. Whilst we're happy with the increased scope of work, we need a miracle if we're going to get the pricing done by Friday.'

She didn't often see this abrupt side to him. She supposed he was tired and had only a gruelling week to look forward to.

‘Okay, what can I do to help?'

‘The due diligence must be done by tomorrow – we can't let it drag on further than that. Have you read the guidelines?'

‘Yes, I read them while I was waiting for you this morning.' Her response to his sharp question was calm.

‘Good, you know what to do then. I'll take you over to Cathair's offices tomorrow morning.' He seemed to relax a little.

‘What do you want me to do for the rest of today?'

‘How are your spreadsheeting skills?'

‘Pretty good, I think.'

‘You can do some of the financial modelling for Brian.'

She kept her head down for the rest of the day, working silently through the tender's worksheets, updating the changes for Brian and running some sensitivity tests. Robert was locked away in Tony's office but she was still unsettled by his presence.

The next morning she met Robert in the hotel lobby.

‘We'll catch the train,' he said. ‘It's the quickest way at rush hour.'

The station was a short walk and a train pulled in to greet them. They squeezed into the packed carriage.

‘The main thing I want you to look at today is the software maintenance contracts.' His hand touched hers as they both held onto the post to keep their balance.

‘Is there a particular risk with them?' Her voice was weak – his proximity was making her heart skip beats.

‘Software maintenance is always something to watch for in deals like this. They have given us a register of the contracts, we need to ensure nothing has been left off the list. This deal has already got tight margins and we can't afford any material errors.'

He was only talking business but the depth of his experience and knowledge made him even more attractive to her.

‘Do you want me to get copies of the contracts?'

He nodded, looking down at her, his eyes penetrating.

‘Is there anything else you want me to pay close attention to?' she asked quickly, trapped by his gaze.

‘No, just one last piece of advice: always remember that we're selling a solution to Cathair. Even though we need to perform this due diligence, I don't want it to be painful for them. I want them to be impressed by our professionalism … It will be another reason to choose Amtech over the competitors.'

The rest of the journey passed in silence and she was able to savour his closeness: the smell of his aftershave, sandalwood and musk; the whiter skin on the underside of his wrist; the razor nick on the curve of his jaw; the small things that amalgamated to make him who he was.

‘Let's get some dinner,' said Robert.