Gemsicuted

Written by Julian Robov

Ten

“Pierre Themiro, called?” Miko reminded Tito.
Tito arrived with a parcel of Vietnamese rubies given to him by Chu. She had to leave for another office for a deal after she received a call from Suree, another broker. Meanwhile, Tito decided to take his time studying the gemological properties of the rubies, so that after cutting and polishing he didn’t lose any money. But Miko had important news for Tito.
“Who?” Tito asked.
“Thomas & Marble!” Miko replied.
“What? I see,” Tito continued. “What did you say?”
“When you are back, we will let them know. They are after the ruby. In fact, they wanted to come here to talk about the deal,” Miko reminded.
“Is that what you said?” Tito asked.
“I said, we will call back in a day or two,” Miko answered.
“You know what? We’re going to play our game. The ruby game.” Tito added, thinking of something else. “We are all like the one-eyed king in the land of blind.”
“What do you mean?” Miko asked, puzzled.
Tito didn’t elaborate. He knew there were several players already in the market wanting to cut them with the mysterious ruby. Some were genuine, while others an obvious bluff. He owed loyalty to only one person, Winston Lord!
And he knew Lord was also playing his game to teach Rubyhall a lesson or two. There was no room for compromise.
Like the Chinese saying, it was the two lions in a cage situation.
“If he calls our office again, tell him to come and see us. Let’s see, how serious he is,” Tito said, holding a cabochon ruby in his palm.
Miko and Tito had no other choice. When Winston Lord gave them the ruby it was on one condition. They could sell the ruby to anyone on earth, except Rubyhall. On that word they collected the 37carat ruby. Bluffing, Lord meant a certain death or a painful visit to a nearby crocodile farm. He meant real business. Raising two million dollars to buy this exquisite ruby looked easy at first. But as time went by, they realized a careless move meant, not only losing the ruby, but also the money and profit. Trusting friends became more difficult when it came to big rubies, because of the locality. There was no permanent friendship or enmity in the ruby business. Everyone worked for one sure thing. PROFIT!

In a big city like Bangkok, everyone knew what was going on when a big ruby arrived in the market. Brokers and dealers hired their own men or women as secret service agents to obtain the latest information regarding the status of such a ruby. Using all sort of proxies, killing the deal with an asking price became their first motive. That’s why Tito and Miko became very suspicious when phone calls arrived at their office offering to become a partner to buy first, and sell at their price and terms. The only persons they could trust were Melvine Sanders and Jeb Singthowala. They had done businesses several times before and they had a good working relationship. There was a chemical match. But at the same time, they knew like any businessmen in town, they also worked for profit. Nothing more nothing less.
“How about Sanders?” Miko asked impatiently.
“Yeah. We have a meeting tomorrow at his office. You never know. He may change his mind in the last minute. He is a busy man. After that we will know the true situation,” Tito added thoughtfully.

A meeting with Sanders wasn’t that easy either. He had a style of his own when it came to bargaining. Somehow he had an instinct to know the cost price of any ruby for sale in advance. Only God knew his secret. Depending on the type of relationship he had with the potential partners, it was he who decided how much profit the partners deserved if he had more investment in the deal. Tito and Miko didn’t care. They knew too well their position. Two million dollars was beyond their reach, at present. Lord had given them ample time to sell. The only thing they were afraid of was a last minute kidnapping by other dealers to force a deal. Then, everyone lost.

Meanwhile, Lam knew what Rubyhall had in his mind when he was called into his office. He had to tell the truth.
“It’s with them. Miko and Tito have it,” Lam replied gently.
Now telling Rubyhall the real truth was difficult. He never believed it in the first place. Rubyhall wasn’t wrong. His instincts never let him down. The 37carat ruby had gone out of his hand. Lam had no other choice. After careful thought, he said what Rubyhall didn’t want to hear.
“Winston Lord is the source,” Lam uttered.
Rubyhall knew too well what it meant when it came to competing with Winston Lord. He was as strong and powerful as him, but in a different way. He had now crossed the border. Rubyhall saw the clear picture. THE RUBY GAME!
Lord too, was good in that profession. Only Rubyhall had the guts and the thickskin to fight one on one with Lord. THE COPPER DEAL!
Lord was cut off from the Zambian deal in the last minute by foul play. Rubyhall pulled the strings from behind using proxies to break up the deal when he realized his profit didn’t look good. Like in any business, friendship and business went separate ways. Rubyhall’s proxies won the deal, leaving Lord’s negotiating team thumbsucking for life.
Now, Lord wanted to use the same tactic. Proxy war. Miko and Tito accepted Lord’s offer, which they couldn’t refuse.
Rubyhall kept staring at Lam. After a while, he told Lam to leave his office.