Antonio

Antonio stood there, his hands close to his sides, his eyes darting from one side to the other. He was surrounded by armed men, something to be expected of course, given where he was. But the armed men weren't what that was causing him to shiver thusly. It was the man that he was about to deal with that made him feel so fearful.

``The Boss says you can come in. No tricks or we will shoot you,'' a gruff voiced thug said as he opened up the door to the office and stepped out of it, leaving barely enough space for Antonio to enter. With bated breath, Antonio gingerly stepped through the door.

``Ah! Antonio! Why have you come over to see me?'' A jovial voice came from the man seated behind the heavy mahogany desk flanked by two armed thugs. Antonio took a gulp of his saliva and made his way slowly towards that man, ignoring the opulence that surrounded him.

``Good... evening, Don. I hope I didn't disturb you with such a late call.''

``Nonsense!'' The Don replied, smiling inscrutably. ``Antonio, big banker of the City, there is always time for you, my old friend! Come! Has the cold evening air made you all weak-kneed? Take a seat and tell me how may I be of service to you.'' He gesticulated at the padded chair in front of his massive desk.

Antonio shuffled quickly towards the pointed to seat and sat down, glad that his fear had a pillar of physical support to keep him steady. The Don made a gesture, and one of the thugs next to him walked over to the table and poured a glass of brandy before setting it in front of Antonio.

``Now, my friend, have a drink to warm yourself a little, and tell me how may I help you.''

Antonio took the shot of brandy in one gulp and felt the warmth emanating from his belly. It steadied his nerves and he began his prepared speech for the Don.

``Don, as you know, there is a new stock offering on the market that is coming up soon. My bank needs to make use of that stock offering to make a killing. We've had... had some cashflow problems, what with the sudden drop in currency that our subsidiaries were holding as reserve.''

``Ah yes, the great Asian stock market crash. I've heard of it. I didn't know your bank was burnt by it, Antonio.''

``We were, a little. It is not too bad, but still bad enough. That's why we want to make use of the new stock offering to get back enough to refinance the lost reserves. We plan to short sell the stock, but lack the capital.''

``And so you come to me for the money, isn't that right, Antonio?'' The Don said as he leant back on his high-backed chair.

Antonio gulped as he waited for the Don's reply.

(Based on an exercise generated by WriteThis - 31-Mar-2014 22:51:26)