Just Business (8 page)

Often Niamh would replace Tom in her memories of their
first day in Sydney. It would be her dad immediately in love with the harbour and Opera House. It would be her dad running into the sea at Manly only two hours after touching down. It would be her dad proudly telling real Australians about his daughters' names and what they meant. Aisling meant ‘dream-vision' and Niamh ‘brightness'. He often said his girls were everything to him. It was heartbreaking to think of him without his ‘vision' and ‘brightness', alone in the cold of the garage. Dead.

Malcolm burst into Niamh's office, his outstretched hand thrusting a sheet of paper in her face.

‘Neeeve,' Malcolm was one of those people who could not get his head around her name, ‘can you tell me what the
hell
this is all about?'

‘It's Niamh,
Nee-uv
,' she said, his rudeness goading her to correct his pronunciation of her name for the hundredth time. She took the sheet of paper from him and wrote
Nee-uv
on the back. Holding it up so he could see, she said again: ‘Nee-uv.'

‘Neeee-uv,' he repeated.

It was close enough and she turned the sheet of paper the right way around so she could read it. It was an email from Denis Greene, addressed to Malcolm with a copy to Yoshi Murasaki.

 

Niamh was calm as she put the document down. ‘I hadn't read this before now but, yes, we do have an issue with Denis. I got a letter from his solicitor only yesterday. I'm surprised he saw the need to send a message like this in addition.'

‘Why didn't I know about this until now?' Malcolm asked, the red veins on his cheeks brightening. It was embarrassingly obvious that the map of veins was induced by his fondness for whiskey.

‘You already informed me that it was too early to brief you on the details of the legal issues that resulted out of Black Monday,' Niamh responded, her tone matter-of-fact. ‘But I did give you a summary of the issues, remember?'

After her discussion with Yoshi, she had prepared a brief memo outlining the basis and status of the three lawsuits against the company. Yoshi, Malcolm and Lucinda had all received copies of the memo. There had been no response from the latter two.

‘You should have come to see me,' Malcolm reprimanded, recovering the page to wave it in the air. ‘I'm a busy man. I can't read everything that comes across my desk and I expect you to use your common sense if the matter is important. I should have got some warning of this.'

Malcolm didn't reveal that he had just come from a nightmarish meeting with Yoshi Murasaki. The Japanese liaison director had ruthlessly dissected their phone conversation last week. Malcolm had been out to lunch at the time and could barely recall it. Yoshi had no such problems with his memory, listing a tirade of complaints against the CEO: socialising in inappropriate places, not knowing the names of the people who were suing the company, not alerting Japan to the threat the lawsuits posed to the Australian profits. It had gone on and on and, even though Malcolm had fought his corner, the message was clear. Yoshi, the Japanese spy, would use his influence to get rid of him unless he reformed.

‘I had no idea that Denis would send you a message,' Niamh
shrugged, unaware of the intensifying power struggle between Malcolm and Yoshi. ‘And I don't see how this case is any more critical than the other two we have.'

Her logical answer took the wind out of Malcolm's sails.

‘He copied Yoshi on the message. He's made me look like a fool in front of him,' he said, somewhat petulantly.

‘I think you're overreacting. Denis is doing whatever he thinks is necessary to make you pay attention to his “circumstances”. He copied Yoshi for impact, not to make you look like a fool.'

There was a pause. Outside Sharon cleared her throat to alert them to the fact the door was open. Malcolm moved to shut it and sat down with a sigh.

‘Niamh, let me be honest about things for a moment. I'm new and still trying to prove my value-add. Yoshi undermines me at every turn, looking over my shoulder, letting his disapproval be felt. He's dangerous, Niamh. Not just to me, to all of us. He feeds his version of events back to Japan and,
bingo
, our whole future gets decided … Are you with me?'

Niamh gave the smallest nod, dispassionate as she watched him.

‘You must help me. Anticipate his actions and cut him off at the pass. Don't give him the chance to complain to Japan about us. Don't let emails like this one here fall into his hands. Soon I'll get the company back in the black and I'll be in a strong enough position to boot him out …'

Niamh's last shred of belief in Malcolm dissolved when she heard his words. He had it all wrong – Yoshi would never go. It was the Japanese way of doing business; Yoshi was their eyes and ears on the ground. If Malcolm didn't understand that, he would not last the distance.

‘Now, tell me, how do you think I should respond to this email?'

‘Just say that you believe his lawyer has already communicated with us in writing therefore it is inappropriate for you to enter into any dialogue on the matter at this point in time.'

‘OK,' he nodded, relieved to have a spoon-fed response. ‘I'll say that … now, before we go any further, is there any way we could take Greene back?'

‘I've talked to Bruce and Denis is not the kind we want working here. Bruce is perfectly prepared to wear the cost if we lose the case.'

Malcolm stood up, his voice regaining its authority. ‘I support Bruce … and this rubbish about TV – no current affairs programme would waste their time –'

‘There's a chance they might,' Niamh warned him. ‘But we shouldn't let ourselves be threatened by that.'

‘Certainly, that's what I'm saying,' he said in a no-nonsense tone. ‘If Greene's trying to threaten me, he'd better think again.' He opened the door and left on that note.

Seconds later, Sharon appeared at the doorway. ‘Everything okay … Neeeeve?' she grinned.

‘Very funny,' Niamh said, handing her assistant the email. ‘As you're here, can you send a copy of this to Lucinda?'

If the dispute made it to national television, Lucinda would need to have a statement on the company's position ready for the journalists.

Yoshi Murasaki put through a call to his boss in Tokyo as soon as he read the email from Denis Greene. It was midmorning in Japan and lunchtime in Sydney. Yoshi usually had lunch at his desk. With most staff preferring to eat outside the office, he
found it a peaceful opportunity to catch up on his work. It was also a convenient time to call Japan. However, on this occasion his boss, Nishikawa Shacho, wasn't there to take his call and Yoshi had to leave a message with his secretary.

He read the email from Denis Greene again. It would undoubtedly save the company both embarrassment and legal fees if they could reinstate him. Yoshi knew that Bruce Knight would also be working through lunch hour and he called his extension.

‘Bruce, it's Yoshi.'

‘Yes?'

‘This employee of yours, Denis Greene – he sent me and Malcolm an email.'

Bruce took a sharp, angry breath. ‘I've already been through this with Niamh. I'm not taking him back.'

‘Why?'

‘He's rude to customers, rude to colleagues, rude to management.'

Yoshi was a company man and could not tolerate employees who weren't appropriately respectful and professional. ‘Okay. I fully understand your reluctance.'

Bruce hung up with an unnecessary crash and Yoshi sat back in his seat, his lunch forgotten. Sometimes Bruce was abrupt to the point of being offensive. Yet there was an appealing honesty to the man. He had ethics he didn't compromise and Yoshi respected that. The Japanese liaison director gave a deep sigh. The Australian executive team needed an overhaul and the problem was squarely on his shoulders. There was bickering, rivalry and division amongst the directors. It wasn't surprising that the quarterly results were falling short of the targeted profit. And with Malcolm at the helm, it didn't look as if the issues would be
resolved any time soon. Malcolm had come on board with a formidable reputation but it was becoming obvious that he was a man well past his prime. His style was outdated, his enthusiasm was jaded and his instincts were unreliable. Yoshi was resigned to the fact he would have to discuss it with Nishikawa Shacho on his next visit to Tokyo. His boss wouldn't be happy. He had spent a lot of money getting Malcolm Young on board and he was waiting expectantly to see a return on that money. Yoshi was scheduled to go to Tokyo in the new year and he would have to be extremely diplomatic in the way he communicated the issues to Nishikawa Shacho.

To be truthful, Yoshi was not enjoying this assignment to Sydney. He was of the opinion that the Australians and the Japanese were simply not compatible and liaising between the two was almost impossible. He made a conscious effort to stop the spiral of negative thoughts and made another lunch-hour call, to Lucinda. He expected her to be in her office and she didn't disappoint him. Lucinda worked longer hours than any of the executives.

‘I'm forwarding you an email that I received from Denis Greene this morning. He's threatening to take the story to national television.'

‘There's no need. Niamh already sent me a copy.'

Yoshi waited for a few moments, hoping she would elaborate with a legal opinion on the issue. When she didn't, he found himself asking the obvious question. ‘Is there anything we can do to stop it?'

‘Not really. If he wants to go on TV, that's his right. The last thing we should do is panic about it and let it influence our decision.'

The call ended and Yoshi sat back in his seat again. He was extremely annoyed with Lucinda's nonchalant attitude.

Yes
, he thought,
there's no doubt that the Australian executive team needs an overhaul.

Lucinda was becoming desperate to find a secretary. She was literally drowning in a sea of administration and Yoshi wasn't the only unhappy customer. She blocked out the mess around her and concentrated on the letter she was drafting to Denis's solicitor. She thought carefully about the wording, and when the letter was ready she sent it to Malcolm, Niamh and Yoshi for their comments.

Yoshi was first off the mark to call her. ‘I do not understand your reference to the Department of Immigration. What obligations do we have to them?'

‘We must inform them of any change in the employment status of a sponsored employee,' she replied. ‘We are obliged to give them the employee's name, notice period and last day of employment. They cannot take action until twenty-eight days after the last day of employment.'

‘What do you mean by “action”?' Yoshi questioned further.

Lucinda's beautiful teeth gritted together – she found Yoshi's obsession with detail very irritating. ‘The department will request Denis take the first available flight out of Australia.'

Niamh's phone call was hot on the heels of Yoshi's. ‘Are we going to get an external firm of lawyers to review this letter?'

‘No!' Lucinda's patience was hanging on by a mere thread. ‘We don't need an external firm at this point. I'm quite capable of handling it myself.'

‘I wasn't questioning your capability. Employment law is a very specialised area and I thought it would be good to get an external opinion. But if you don't see the need, forget I said anything.'

‘I will – anything else I can help you with?'

‘No.'

Lucinda had just dived back into her enormous workload when Malcolm called.

‘Read the note,' he said. ‘I've no changes to recommend … good job.'

‘Thanks.'

Lucinda was surprised. Malcolm rarely gave feedback on her work. But then she wasn't aware that the CEO had recently had his fingers rapped by Yoshi and was showing a cursory interest in all matters he believed the bosses in Tokyo expected him to be conversant with.

The phone was ringing as Niamh came in but it stopped before she could pick it up. Intuition told her it was her mother. The house was eerily silent after the ringing and Niamh switched on the TV. She had no intention of listening to the presenter of the current affairs programme; his sole purpose was to drown out the silence. Then, when she should have been making a start at dinner, she sat on the couch and thought about Chris.

She had made numerous attempts to resume their ‘talk' but he refused to be engaged. She'd got frustrated and angry, but he seemed too indifferent to retaliate. If she was totally honest with herself, a part of her was indifferent too. She hugged a cushion to her body and tried to remember what she had felt when they first met. It had been a whirlwind romance, accelerated by the fact they were both approaching thirty and wanted to settle down. Chris was attractive, charming and successful, and at the time she had thought she loved him. Now she wasn't sure. For a start, she hardly knew him before they raced down the aisle. Two years later, she didn't
know him any better. And it was hard to imagine that the indifference of today had once been love.