It was almost midnight and my husband had not returned home. He would usually call with some excuse about working late but tonight he did not even bother with that pretence.
I felt trapped in this loveless marriage as I looked over my son who was asleep in his bed. I walked back to my bedroom and thought about how I had let myself become trapped in this relationship.
It was then that I saw my phone ring and I thought about scolding my husband. But as I picked it up I realised it was Anand, my boss. I answered the phone in a professional manner, "Sir, why are you calling at this late hour?"
I tried to maintain a professional relationship but I always fell for his temptation. But thankfully he was now well behaved at work but sometimes I liked to encourage his attention.
He seemed panicky and this was different to his normal demeanour, "Meera, we have an urgent meeting in Tokyo. We must leave tonight. The future of the firm is on the line. My driver will be with you within the hour and bring you to the airport. I have no time to explain."
I became worried, "Sir, my husband is not home. I cannot leave my son alone."
He became exasperated, "Surely you have a maid that can look after him until your husband returns. This is not some game. You need to step up for the company or leave your job."
I could not believe he would speak to me like that. He was going to fire me just like that. I took a deep breath and calmed my nerves before I said something I would regret. Anand was not behaving his usual self and it must be something serious, "I will get my maid and I will be ready for your driver."
My maid was asleep downstairs and I awoke her and had her look after my son. I quickly packed somethings and left a note for my husband about an emergency at work.
The driver picked me up and took me straight to the airport. I met Anand and he looked dishevelled and sweaty. I went over to him and asked what happened. He waived a piece of paper at me. I felt like slapping him to calm him down but I took the paper and read it.
It was a fax from Takumo Finance and it only had one line:
"Upon a review of lending, your credit is immediately suspended."
It took me a few moments to realise but now I realised why he was in such a panicked state. The company would be facing closure by the weekend if the credit was not re-instated.
We were on the next flight to try and sort out this situation. We had no scheduled meeting but Anand had a good relationship with the director and he hoped he could talk him around.
He asked me to read the agreement and try to make an agenda for a meeting. I was reading the agreement with TF and the company reports. I was already familiar with the company finance reports but this was the first time I was looking at the agreement with TF.
Once we were in the hotel I was able to get to work on the points to be raised. The equipment was not like the office but I had to make do with a laptop and small printer.
I created a portfolio for the meeting and the reasons why the credit should be maintained. I had not slept and I was feeling lightheaded. I turned to Anand and presented the portfolio, "Sir, I have set out all the points for the meeting."
He said, "Meera I can always rely on you. We need to go now."
We went to the office and Anand tried to get a meeting with the director. The receptionist informed him that the director he was familiar with had retired and that the new director Mr Takumo would see him for no more than 10 minutes.
I could see Anand was already flustered and I was worried how he would handle this. Mr Takumo was a young gentleman and looked no older than 25. He was on the phone as we came in. He put up a finger in a way to ask us to wait. He seemed so rude and arrogant and I could already see Anand getting worked up.
We were already 5 minutes into the meeting when the phone call ended. He looked up and said, "Ah, so you must be Mr Chaggar. How can I help you?"
Of course he knew why we were here but he seemed to be toying with Anand and it began to annoy me. I felt like slapping the silly grin off his face. He seemed to only have this job because he was the son of the owner.
I could see Anand trying to keep his composure but he was too frazzled and he blurted out, "We had an agreement. We have never been late with our payments and now you send this bloody fax with no warning."
He smugly replied, "Mr Chaggar you must calm down. You see your company is what we consider medium to high risk borrower. We have re-assessed these borrowing agreements and they are simply no longer in our long term view."
I could see Anand go red with rage and I tried to step in and stick to the talking points I had set out for him, "Sir, I think you will find..."
Anand stuck out his arm in front of me in essence telling me to shut up as he raged, "Who do you think you bloody are? I had an agreement with you and I have not broken this agreement. You bloody upstart."
He grinned, "This 'bloody upstart' is the new director and you had no agreement with me. Now please see yourselves out before I call security."
I grabbed Anand's arm to stop him from becoming physical in that moment. We went back to the hotel and I had never seen Anand in this way. It hurt me to see him this upset and dejected. He was pacing the room and I stopped him, "You should have let me explain the points. I am going to go back to the office and explain the reasons to him again."
He said, "It will not change his mind."
I looked at him and said, "I must try something as this Friday the company will cease to exist."
I took my portfolio and headed towards the office. I knew I would not get another meeting so I snuck into the office. It was empty and he had left for the day. I could not help but snoop around as I could not let the day end like this. I found a letter addressed to Mr Takumo and it had an address on it. I had to find a way to convince him one way or the other.
I went to his apartment that evening to try to convince him. He opened the door in a robe and he seemed exasperated as he saw me, "Oh god. Do not tell me the idiotic Mr Chaggar is around the corner."
I did not like the way he spoke about Anand but I had to win him over for Anand, "He is not here. I just want the 10 minutes to explain why you are mistaken about our company being medium or high risk. I will then leave you alone."