The Conditions

By Brian Black

Gregor knew that the UK was on the brink of bankruptcy with infrastructure crumbling around him and People Against Greed stoking the fires of anarchy. Could this harebrained idea work, save the country and give him the biggest deal of his life? Fortunately the Conservative Prime Minister was a very ambitious man who would stop at nothing and knew the pound was mightier than the sword.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brian Black
• Release date: Jan 22, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301186655

Book preview

The Conditions

— by —

Brian S. Black

The Conditions

Copyright 2013 by Brian S. Black

Smashwords Edition

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Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 1

Gregor woke up late and realised that he had drunk far too much last night, again, but at the moment that went with the territory, he reasoned. He and Fiona had sat up last night worrying about their future and where this massively unsteady global economy was taking them.

Fiona and Gregor met some years ago and have had a very strong bond between them, but the times they were in at present were testing every aspect of their relationship. Gregor loved the complete support that Fiona gave him but this was a double-edged sword as it put massive personal pressure on him, which all in all he did not mind, in a funny kind of way. If he failed, Fiona would support him and if he succeeded, she would support him just the same, so it was a win-win situation. But still, the pressure not to fail remained!

He went down to the kitchen, poured some water and took two aspirin pills to cure his hangover. He thought about the whole situation that was playing out in front of him regarding his finances, job, career, and his future. It reminded him back to his early childhood when he lost his father, and his pledge never to have his own family in the same situation his poor mother had been when the absolute love of her life died in her arms, and Gregor knew nothing about it back then.

Outside, the rain was falling steadily. As he gazed out the window, he remembered the day he came running along the path to his house and noticed that the blinds were all closed. His aunt from Glasgow came to greet him at the door. He had thought it very strange that she should be there at lunchtime on a Tuesday, then it all dramatically unfolded as his mother came in the kitchen.

As it turned out, his dad had been suffering from stomach cancer for some time, and his mum had put on a very brave face for Gregor and his brother Sandy, telling them that Dad was just a little bit unwell.

Dad has gone to heaven, his mum had told him. This was totally out of the blue and the kindest way of telling him that they were now three and the future was very bleak. His mother Effie never worked during the boy’s childhood up to now. The reality was that after her husband Alex was laid to rest she would have to find work to clothe and feed the two loves of her life.

It is always later in life that we understand the reality of situations that happened in our past. Here was a woman who met her true love late in her life at the age of forty and decided they would immediately have a family. And now her whole life had just collapsed in a big way. She knew from the second Alex was diagnosed that her life was going to be a struggle. Gregor could still remember the old guy who turned up at the door some two weeks after the funeral, asking his mother to give him the small amount of money Alex’s colleagues at the foundry had collected.

That image startled Gregor back to today and the situation that was unfolding in his life, and the determination he had from all those years ago not to let his own family suffer the same fate under his leadership.

Today, he had his dreaded appointment with his boss, whom he had feared for some time and was the major talking point over the excessive drinks he and Fiona shared last night. Jeff was a good guy, and they had worked together for years through lots of good and bad times, however lately it was a lot more of the bad times. The business in the good old days had been great fun and some of the deals they had completed together made both of them very comfortable financially, but lately they were very thin on the ground.

Shanks Investments was a specialist company looking at various small and large businesses globally who decided one way or another to expand, purchase, invest, or just need pure cash to keep them afloat in the developing crisis. Lately, opportunities had been very large on the latter but the financial institutions – who up until six months ago had been throwing their funds about like a drunken sailor – were now towing the corporate line and the underwriters were all worrying about their own jobs.

Gregor pulled out from the driveway in Fiona’s car. His company one had gone long ago in the company’s vain attempt to cut costs and keep the trusted team that Jeff had built up over the years. As he drove along the ring road he noticed how the volume of cars was dropping on a daily basis, even the quality had dropped.

This was going to be the worst day of his life and Jeff’s. They had to go through the formalities but it will still be emotional and tough.

* * *

Jeff had been in very early and was already on his second black coffee. Come in, Jeff shouted to Gregor from his office.

Gregor knew this was not going to be easy, a big difference from eighteen months earlier when they had celebrated the Kamata deal, which had paid a very handsome commission when they brought the Chinese company together with Caledonia investments to help them fund their European expansion program. He did notice how the share price of Kamata had dropped over the last six months due to the poor developing European economic situation and wondered if his contacts were still there at Caledonia. Or had they been swept away in the massive redundancies tidal wave that was sweeping the UK at this time.

Sit down, Gregor. Well, unfortunately the day has arrived and I am so sorry, I do wish it could be different but to be honest I do not know how much longer we have in this business. The banks are getting nervous and asking for cash flow forecasts every two weeks, and quite frankly I cannot take the stress of having to answer to the anonymous giant for every penny this company brings in or hopes it does. How is Fiona taking this? Is she pissed at me!

Absolutely not. Fiona is a realist and she understands the situation. She has applied for another evening job just to keep the wolf from the door, although the Visa bills are building up…but what can you do? We are in the same situation as the majority of the British population.

Well let’s get it over with. Here is your letter with all the usual blurb on it and here is your cheque. Sorry it is only the legal statuary payments. Shanks can’t even afford that, but we do respect the job you did for the company and I had hoped things would have turned round. But unfortunately we cannot control the external factors that are affecting the economy.

Jeff continued, Things could be worse, I suppose. Do you remember Rob from Zanxel investments? He was found in his garage yesterday with the old hosepipe in the window. He could not take the pressure and the humility of it all… He will not be the last, and who knows where it will all end.

As he sipped his coffee, Gregor thought about his early days with the family when they went to the Gospel Hall every Sunday, and the preacher talked of the end of the world. Maybe this was how it would all implode for the great sins of the greedy financial world, for which – if truth be told – Gregor had been a key player, up until now.

He could see no end to the financial problems. The world would slowly collapse as its wealth is drained away, and then we would all be called to task by the big man upstairs for our contribution to the demise of the previously wonderful material world, never mind our worldly sins.

Gregor looked at the cheque Jeff gave him, £2564.00 in total. What a joke! But he was grateful. Several of his mates who left their employment had no final payment at all.

Gregor left Jeff’s office for the last time. He tried to remain professional and not show too much emotion, but inwardly they were both hurting, knowing things would never be the same again, ever!

Gregor went to his desk and collected his bits and pieces that had been the fabric of his career. The business card holders that held all the cards from when he moved from Scotland to his new career; he had cards from several contacts that had helped him to establish himself as one of the most successful deal brokers Shanks had ever had…but if there is no market for your product it does not matter a jot how good you are. He picked up the little Do-Do bird with the baby inside its stomach that sat on his desk, to remind him there is no bigger fool than a salesman falling for another salesman’s spiel. When he and Fiona were married in Mauritius, Gregor had bought this for a stupid price which he had blanked in his mind. The beach hawker had told him the virtues of how he had hand carved this beautiful object and of its unique unit and design. After giving the guy his cash and setting off into the sunset, Gregor congratulated himself on making a shrewd investment as he ordered another two glasses of champagne for Fiona and himself.

Later on that holiday whilst visiting the local market, the Do-Do bird purchase folded out in front of him when he noticed a stall selling similar hand carvings of which there must have been fifty of exactly the same unit as he had bought on the beach for some twenty times the market stall cost.

He and Fiona completely fell about laughing when all the birds sat there in a row staring out at the happy tourists, and Gregor realised that as Rabbie Burns said a Man’s a Man for awe that. Meaning, he had been caught out by a very credible sounding salesman, who after all was working smart exploiting the supposedly very streetwise business executives who drank the expensive champagne, and slept and ate in some of the best hotels in the world. Gregor realised that given Rabbie Burns’s quote, he had been doing the same thing in supposedly a more sophisticated way himself for lots of years, just like the beach hawker, trying to keep a roof over his head.

He placed the Do-Do bird in his case along with the other items he was not sure he would ever use again, given the new life he would walk into as he left the threshold of Shanks’ door.

He shouted in a very normal way to Jeff he was leaving and he would speak to him later, not knowing if he ever would. Fiona’s car was parked in Gregor’s usual parking place and all of a sudden he realised that all the things that used to be normal would never be the same again.

As he drove home thinking about the future he went to call Fiona to let her know he was leaving the office, and suddenly realised his phone was gone along with his computer. All part of the modern toolkit for his job that he took for granted, and now he will have to start purchasing these items if he was going to have any chance of making a living, or at least keep up with the outside world.

Chapter 2

Gregor arrived home to his very pleasant London townhouse, for which he and Fiona had worked so hard to initially buy and then furnish. He collected the morning post from the floor that consisted of the usual brown envelopes and laid them on the table, thinking he didn’t have the energy to open them right away. He collapsed onto the settee and thought back on leaving Shanks that day and the emotion in Jeff’s face and voice.

Fiona was still at work, her fragrance filled the room. Gregor thought of how strong they were together and how she had constantly believed in him and his abilities, but here he was in complete alien territory. Sitting at home at eleven a.m. in the morning, on a workday, wondering where it would all go from there.

He looked around the room thinking this could all be gone soon. And then what? He had heard the horror stories of the repossessions that were going on among his friends, and the chaos this financial crisis was causing with lots of mates moving back with their families, which brought its own issues. Well, no chance on that one for him, given both Alex and Effie were now happily reunited upstairs, watching down on their oldest son feeling sorry for himself. He had just lost his job after all!

He admired his mother’s drive that had brought up the two boys through tough times. Much worse than Gregor was experiencing right now for sure, and that startled him around to get the mail and start opening the daily bad news.

The mortgage was now behind three months and the letters were getting more and more demanding. Up until now because he had his job it was controllable and they were reasonably happy with his verbal explanations that he would sort it out, only a blip. But now if he’d let them know the job is gone they would want to foreclose on him.

Fiona worked in the city in a large American bank. However, the market they had been enjoying since