Gemsicuted

Written by Julian Robov


Twenty Five


The more Lam thought about the 37carat ruby, the greater it became obvious that Lord was out to cut Rubyhall into several pieces. Lord was a master manipulator. He never forgave Rubyhall for what he did to him in the Zambian copper deal at the London auction. Lord had bait, and that was his 37carat ruby.

Eye clean, untreated, well cut, and a top color Burmese ruby with an origin report from Switzerland. Since the market and the people knew each other’s goods, and if they had an exquisite stone out in the market, then everyone knew without doubt the owner of the stone. There were only a few who could afford to buy and sell such qualities.

Lord had a special relationship with Tito and Miko for one simple reason. He just liked them, and they never disappointed him when doing business. FACE AND TRUST. That’s what Lord saw when dealing with people in the Bangkok market, because he could very well afford to sacrifice profit if it brought a future deal. On the contrary, Lam wanted the same ruby at Rubyhall’s terms. Bringing Tito and Miko to his den became difficult as days went by. Whenever he called for a meeting, the reply obviously became familiar. They didn’t want to sell, which wasn’t true. Due to the wide rift between Rubyhall and Lord, Lam had only one option. Tell Rubyhall to make his peace with Lord. Even though he knew the proposal had a remote possibility to materialize at this stage given the strength and unity among his opponent’s camp, the only trump card he had was Rubyhall’s preemptive strike with a peace deal. Though the idea looked simple, putting both ferocious lions in a peace cage was the difficult part of the equation. Despite Tito’s refusal to confirm the status of the ruby, Lam kept calling their office just to remind him that there was a genuine offer.

The tricky part was the price tag. Lam couldn’t figure out their asking price, even though he had a rough idea about rubies of similar size. But, Rubyhall had already done his homework. He was awaiting other players to fall into his orbit so that he could drag their knees in different directions making the eventual transaction price obviously unaffordable. Lord had known this tactic well ahead, and Tito and Miko had all the time in the world to sell it to whichever entity, except Rubyhall, even if he used proxies. The deal was specific. NO to Ris Rubyhall!

Time was running out and Lam needed ideas to break the deadlock. Even though he had broken several hard to crack deals during the course, this one looked like more time. Money wasn’t a problem. It was the games these big guys played which made issues difficult to solve. Rubyhall and Lord had their egos scaling sky high while the second level players such as him, Tito, and Miko had a different game to play to get into the big guy’s orbit.

Gradually events began to turn against him. He hated coming to work at Rubyhall’s office, because Ris had taken away all his assignments and powers. He had only one thing to do; find the 37carat ruby. He was still undecided whether he had been demoted to an inactive post. The only difference this time was his pay and perks remained the same, but for how long, he had no idea. It was getting boring all the same.

Once upon a time, buying a ruby or the arrival of a parcel of rubies from the mines was always such big news, and of tremendous joy to hold them in his hand, and rubbing them. There was special feeling and experience going into it, till it was sold to some collectors to enjoy their beauty in privacy. Now with this unusual experience, that emotional feeling was getting sucked out of his mind forever. He hated rubies and even the mention of them. Like a sitting duck, he kept searching for some kind of divine intervention. He became desperate. Before friends used to pass by to say hi, but not anymore. He didn’t know why. He thought of blaming only two sources. The ruby and, of course, Lord. Since Lord was too powerful and influential in the gem community, doing anything crazy only added to the misery, and then the elusive Tito and Miko. They too were playing their games, in fact, a good one.

He couldn’t do anything against them. Anyway, the ruby was with them, and he couldn’t think of any workable idea to convince them to change their mind. He began to do the same exercise he did at home. Writing the names of Rubyhall, Tito, Miko, and Lord on a piece of paper several times. He couldn’t think of anything meaningful other than memorize their names. It was a disgusting experience but the more he wrote he seemed to enjoy reading their names. A kind of madness began to permeate his normal thoughts. Before, he couldn’t even think about it, but now that thought began to disappear. It was only a matter of time before he could take anyone’s life the way he wanted, but then the question of when began to evolve. He wrote again and again feverishly like crazy, till he got physically tired. After a few minutes break, he continued the same exercise. Lam was enjoying the experience. A sort of wicked smile rushed to his face, as the victim’s faces became transparent.

It was noon, time for lunch. He debated whether to go to Mcdonalds or Sizzler. He couldn’t decide. Rubyhall walked into his office with a serious look. The thought of going for lunch disappeared immediately. He wondered what Rubyhall had under his sleeves this time.
“How long do you think you want me to tolerate this situation?” Rubyhall said without even looking at Lam’s face.
“You know the truth. What do you want me to do? All my efforts seem to bear no result. Now, it’s your decision,” Lam answered frankly.
Rubyhall sat tight-lipped as to how to handle Lam, and his future position in the company. He had several decisions in his mind, but the timing was important to him.
“Do you want me to set a deadline? This can’t go on forever. I am paying you all the benefits when you are doing nothing. Think about it. It’s not fair. Tell me now, what’s your decision?” Rubyhall said seriously.
“Do you want me to quit? Is that what you mean?” Lam asked, raising his voice.
“I didn’t say that. All I want is the ruby. You know what I mean, don’t you?” Rubyhall continued. “Okay, I will give you some more time. You have less than a week, and then I will let you know my decision,” Rubyhall said angrily, and stormed out of the office.
“That’s it,” Lam said in disgust.