‘Solly. I thought La-dhika-san youl secle-taly. How can lady do dist-lessed debt?’ Arai
continued to laugh. His minions also grinned, taking their boss’s cue.
Neel pursed his lips. He looked at me once and turned to Arai.
‘The young lady here is one of our best distressed debt analysts,’ Neel said.
‘Yes, yes, of coulse. By the way, I lemember a joke when you said lady,’ Arai said.
None of us responded. He continued, ‘You know what they say about lady?’ He turned to Josh.
Josh didn’t answer.
Arai continued anyway, ‘When a lady say no, she means maybe. When she says maybe, she
means yes. When she says yes, well, she is not a lady.’
His colleagues found the joke extra funny and laughed out loud. Peter, Josh, Neel and I looked
at each other.
‘Arai-san, I understand this is amusing to you. But frankly, this makes us quite uncomfortable,’
Neel said.
‘Solly. You may continue,’ Arai said.
I took a deep breath to regain my composure. I spoke again.
‘Yes, so I was saying,’ I said.
Neel stood up.
‘Actually, no,’ Neel said and paused before he spoke again. ‘No. This won’t work out.’
‘What?’ Arai said, his face serious.
‘We look for fit in a partner. Sorry, Arai-san, we won’t be able to do business with you,’ Neel
said.
‘We have billion dollals to invest. Lot of fee for Goldman Sachs on that.’ Arai looked
stupefied.
‘I understand,’ Neel said, ‘but.. .’
‘Actually, it’s okay, Neel,’ I said. ‘Arai-san, if I can tell you about the portfolio.. .’
Neel shook his head.
‘Arai-san, Tanaka-san, Shin-san, thank you for coming. I am sure you will find a great partner.
We will pass. We anyway have a lot on our plate,’ Neel said. Josh and Peter stood up, somewhat
surprised. The Japanese bankers looked at each other.
‘Josh will see you out,’ Neel said and left the room.
‘Hey, Radhika, come on in,’ Neel said.
I went into his office and sat down in front of him. He wore a pink shirt and a red Hermes tie.
His face reflected a bit of pink from his shirt.
‘By the way, happy birthday,’ he said.
‘Thank you for the flowers.’
‘They are from the team,’ Neel said.
‘Bianca told me you chose them.’
‘Oh, she did? She doesn’t understand confidentiality.’ Neel grinned.
He played with his cuffs. He would do that when he was nervous. Or excited.
‘Neel, about the meeting with the Japanese bankers.. .’