The Ball. Erik Pethersen
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I smile staring at the screen, save the address in my favourites and I think I will submit the matter to Teresa as soon as I get the opportunity to see her.
2.2 LIFE - FOUR
It’s 10:35 am: I’m going, otherwise I will never get back.
I have to collect all the checks for the story of the unlucky building. It was Amedeo who brought them here, those people from that hateful company: since he began to hang out with them, his career as an agent has plummeted.
The idea he had about four years ago of starting off his own business was really appreciable. He had freed himself from the real estate agency for which he had worked for some time. At the beginning he had sold a few offices quite easily on behalf of some considerable companies and then he had begun to deal with several residential properties: some sales had allowed him to evaluate with some satisfaction the path taken and to look positively at the future of his sole proprietorship.
Then, I think I remember between 2014 and 2015, Ciapper arrived, with that cursed tower: twenty floors of offices to be rented, according to the phrase that I was told so many times, at prices suitable for the prestigious property. According to Amedeo, the building was well done as for the way it looked and for the purpose it had been built, but the required standards bordered on madness and, as he said some time ago sarcastically, before isolating himself in a depressive silence, no one could understand the choice of the name, Banano, which caused potential customers some sort of bewilderment, lexical as well as geographical: it reminded of a tree not really widespread in the Brescia area.
After getting the exclusivity for the office lease mediation, Amedeo not only did not make any deal, but he did not even get interested people to visit the offices: only a strange voluntary association, some time ago, wanted to visit the building to rent part of a floor, without then follow-up their visit. As the months went by, which then turned into years, he managed, with great difficulty, to convince Ciapper people to give up the exclusive and unsuccessful leasing idea and to put the offices up for sale too.
However, the change in the contract did not change the interest of the market in the building. So, what is the moral of the story? For Amedeo, the whole affair has turned into a real fixation. On numerous occasions, I tried to get him out of his deteriorating state of mind, but I always got the same answer: «We have to place all of that fucking Banano».
The unfortunate building over time has been taken over by the companies of the group: from construction to real estate companies, also passing through other corporate misadventures which I can’t even recollect in my mind. During the meeting organized by Amedeo which took place here in the office, the senior manager explained in brief for me the last, desperate, operation to be carried out: to give Banano back to the company that had built it.
The chairperson’s sad recount also made me aware of how even the construction company is not having a good financial situation, considering that the banks, according to what he was saying, have lending money.
In short, the dramatic account of Mr. Gustavo Ciapper, chairperson and shareholder in each company in the group together with the other brothers who are members of the Board of Directors, ended with the request to find willing financial institutions, in any way possible, to raise the amount necessary to give the building back to the construction company: ten million euros to get from somewhere.
I asked my colleagues for some advice, including Umberto and Giorgio, who turned out to be incredibly helpful, and I managed to put together six banks willing to finance the operation. They are not real loans: no bank has accepted Banano as a guarantee and not even taken into consideration that the construction company could act as a valid unsecured creditor, so any type of mortgage has been ruled out. We therefore had to resort to six lines of credit: pure madness.
Each institution requested a restricted current account with a deposit equal to the amount of the granted credit limit, thus forcing the brothers to open joint accounts with the six banks, for a total of ten million: I am not aware about what percentage of these amounts is taken from their personal assets; however, what the chairperson said made me think that the restricted amounts can be almost all of the savings set aside during a good part of their working life.
My success in finding the necessary funds for the operation, which I describe as self-destructive attitude, turned Amedeo’s face into a smirk which reminded of a smile. He then turned the instinctual expression on his face into a short sentence: «It wasn’t that difficult after all».
Try and raise ten million at the blink of an eye then, instead of staying in bed until ten in the morning... that is what I am thinking while I am staring at the desk. I also remember that the sale agreement of the property will take place in the afternoon and that someone from Ciapper, following yesterday’s agreements, will pop over around 15:30 to collect the checks.
So now I have to go and collect the cashier’s checks from the various banks and then I will leave everything with Serena before leaving the office. I put the pc on standby and take a nice folder with a hard cover from the drawer to collect all the bank securities. I leave the bag in the drawer, thinking that it can only weigh me down, since I don’t need either the office keys or the car keys. I quickly take out my identity card from my bag, struck by the idea that some meticulous bank employee might want to check my identification, and then I close the chest of drawers.
I get up, a little doubtful. Although I have just remembered that two banks are a little more far away than the others, I discard the idea of taking the car and look for an alternative solution.
«Lavinia, why are you standing still in front of your desk?» Maddalena asks.
«I was rearranging the route in my mind in order to collect some checks: I’ll get going now» I reply quietly, thinking that today she wants to piss me off. I bend down, I open the drawer again, then take out the prepaid card for public transport from my bag, and I then push the handle back to close it.
«Okay: I was just wondering why you are in front of the ray of sunshine that is filtering through the window and the rays of the sun this season and at this time are good for my poor health.»
«Sure, Maddalena, sorry, I’ll move right away» I reply, taking two steps back and slipping the card into my jeans pocket. «Sorry again, I am off, see you later.»
I reach the front office and smile at Serena, busy with what appears to be a complicated telephone conversation. She looks at me a bit puzzled, while I point to the wardrobe with one hand and then shake my arms, pretending to put on an invisible jacket.
She smiles and then nods.
Borrowing Serena’s fur coat, which can be recognized by its slightly eccentric synthetic fur, allows me to avoid a stop at the garage and save a few minutes.
When I get to the lift, I look at myself in the mirror: it is black and reaches down to mid-thighs; the synthetic fur is about ten centimetres long and is all ruffled. I feel the lining that touches the bare skin of my forearms: I get a sensation of synthetic heat all over me, while my nostrils are filled with a pleasant scent of cyclamen, which I recognize to be the same one that I often get off my colleague.
This fur coat is really nice.
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«Hello, I’m Lavinia from Sbandofin, I need to collect some cashier’s checks for Ciapper ltd.»
«So, you are Lavinia» replies the employee. «Hi, I’m Maria. I’ll go get them and I’ll be right back» she adds, getting up. After two minutes the girl comes back holding an envelope in her hands.
«Here they are. Can you sign here, please?» she says, sitting back down. I sign, grab the envelope, open the folder, put the envelope inside and close it.
«I’m off, then» I say looking