Gemsicuted

Written by Julian Robov


Thirty Three


Rubyhall became restless. Now that Rubin had gone to his hotel in peace, the missing 37carat ruby kept haunting him. He had several appointments with various government agencies instead he called his secretary to cancel them all till further notice. His mind was now totally focused on this one piece of 37carat ruby, and at whatever the cost he had to get the piece for Rubin. Otherwise, he would be losing his face. He had never disappointed the Rosenberg family. He waited patiently for Lam at his office, an unusually rare gesture. He could have called Lam to his office. Instead, Rubyhall sat there weighing several options. As Lam entered his office, he got the surprise of his life. Ris Rubyhall!
“Where is the beef, Jay?” Rubyhall exploded.
“I’m trying my best, Mr Rubyhall,” Lam answered politely knowing Rubyhall’s temper.
“If you don’t get that 37carat ruby, you are tattooed first, and then fired. My patience has reached its limit. It is exasperated at your incompetence and lack of foresight. I can’t tolerate this nonsense anymore. Do you have any idea how much it is costing me to employ you? I don’t want to talk about that now. My credibility is on the ropes. You understand that, don’t you?” Rubyhall said angrily.
“Mr Rubyhall, it’s just one telephone call,” Lam reasoned. “That call will make all the difference. He controls the whole situation. Not me nor you.”
“What are you talking about?” Rubyhall asked, staring at Lam, puzzled.
“I’m talking about Winston Lord, “said Lam, “your one time partner. Just a friendly call, the whole saga will come to an end. The ruby belongs to him. Tito and Miko are just proxies. It’s just as simple as that.”
“So are you telling me to go and kneel down in front of Winston, and beg for pardon, and the 37carat ruby? Do you think he will just hand it over to me at my request? You are crazy and out of touch. I don’t know why I had to ask your help. You are talking like a kid out of school. This is not what I expected from you, Jay. Pathetic performance! I can’t believe my ears,” cried Rubyhall. He knew something was going wrong and he needed a guinea pig.
“Mr Rubyhall, having said that, I’ve to remind you of one more thing. You are out of your mind, and out of touch with the real world. I don’t care what you think about me. As I said, I don’t fucking care about your ruby. Anyone with a developed brain can guess from a distance who is right and who is wrong. You are wrong, Mr Rubyhall. A hundred percent!” Lam swiftly shot back at Rubyhall. He knew the risk of losing his job for such an outburst, but he had no other choice.
“Watch your words, Jay,” said Rubyhall. “I’ve a name, but you haven’t. You will pay a hefty price for this arrogance and disrespect,” said Rubyhall angrily.
“I don’t fucking care about your name and respect. I did respect you once upon a time. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, for giving me the best facilities during the earlier period of my job with you. But now you have dragged my reputation to the level of a street cop, forcing me to chase some stupid ruby dealers. You have an ego problem. I’m sure that the 37carat ruby belong to Winston Lord. You might have done some stupid thing to make him hate you like a Satan. And now, I’m sandwiched between you two giants, for what? Do you want me to kill him and bring the ruby to you? If you guarantee me that you will take care of my family and kids, then I’ll do the extreme thing. What do you say, Mr. Rubyhall?” Lam could have done better, but that’s all he could say.
Rubyhall sat silently listening to Jay’s emotionally charged lecture. He just couldn’t answer Jay’s torrential questions.
“I may be wrong, but the boss is always right,” Rubyhall said bluntly.
“What the hell does that mean? You are not accepting your responsibility by any means. You used me like a donkey to drag the issue for a long time. If you really didn’t like me, you should have told me a long time ago, the dignified way. If you have any convincing reasons to prove a lack of confidence in my work, I would have accepted that, but not this way. This is a cheap shot for a man of your status and respect as you claim. You threatened me a few minutes ago that you will tattoo and fire me if I don’t bring the 37carat ruby back, right? I’m telling you again if you want me to be a gangster blowing off people’s heads in the guise of professionalism, sorry guys wrong number. Maybe, I’ll not work in the same business, but I’ll do something else which gives me more peace of mind and less of a drag like now. If I find one such job, I’ll be happy. So when do you want me to leave? Now? Tell me. I’ve nothing more to care about. I’ve had enough. You dragged me to the end it in a rough way. So be it,” said Lam unrepentantly. Rubyhall was silent.
You could have heard a pin drop. His mind was elsewhere. He was least interested in Lam’s gospel. Rubyhall was brewing with some other ideas.