I looked at Neel. It was time for him to speak.
‘We need a new buyer. However, nobody will buy a company with a fifty-million-dollar loan
on it. We have to settle the banks at a discount first.’
‘They will settle,’ Marcos said.
‘But we want them to settle at a low price. We have to paint a terrible scenario for the banks.
Say the business is worth almost nothing. You will have to play along,’ I said.
‘Really?’ Marcos said.
‘Yes. So they will sell the loans to us cheap. We will then find a new buyer. From our profit,
we can give you 20 per cent,’ I said.
Marcos’s eyes widened. He looked at Neel.
‘She’s good,’ Marcos said.
‘Only my best people for you. Any other issues, Marcos?’ Neel said. Marcos turned to me
again.
‘Will the new buyer fire people?’ Marcos said.
‘Depends on the new owner,’ I said.
‘I don’t want that. No firing people. They are my people,’ Marcos said.
I looked at Neel. We had a deadlock. The value of the company would drop if the new buyer
had a no-layoffs clause.
‘No firing anyone for five years. Okay?’ Neel said.
Marcos looked at me. I pursed my lips.
‘Fine. We can build that in. But if we do, do we have a deal?’ I said.
‘This girl is a quick one,’ Marcos said to Neel and grinned.
‘In my group, we like to close deals,’ Neel said.
Marcos extended his hand.
‘Let’s do it,’ Marcos said.
We shook hands. We had an in-principle agreement.
‘I’ll send in the term sheet tomorrow,’ I said.
‘Is she always so obsessed with work?’ Marcos said. ‘No urgency. Send it in a few days. This
is the Philippines. There’s more to life than work here.’
There’s nothing else but work in my life, I thought. I smiled at Marcos.
‘Try my beer. Number one in the Philippines,’ Marcos said as he opened the fridge behind his
desk.
‘Okay, this is a little scary,’ I said as I tied the flimsy seatbelt around me. Neel and I sat next to each
other in the compact four-seater El Casa seaplane. The seats were tiny, our heads inches from the
roof. The pilot gave us a thumbs-up sign, indicating take-off.
‘What plane is this?’ Neel asked the pilot.
‘Amphibious Cessna 208 Caravan, sir,’ the pilot said. The plane could take off and land on
water as well as land. We took off from the local airport at Palawan. The turboprop noise made it
difficult to talk. Neel saw my petrified face.
‘You okay?’ he screamed so I could hear him.