The Merger

Eleven

First sat calmly waiting. He didn't fidget, he didn't fuss, his eyes focused on his office door, waiting. His exterior was calm, confident.... unlike his inner thoughts. His mind was in turmoil. His thoughts ran in circles, much like a hamster on an exercise wheel. Round and round and round with a dizzying speed becoming more confused and chaotic by the second. Why was she here ? What is happening right now? What does she need from him? The questions kept coming. First wasn't scared but he was worried. This visit is completely unexpected and was he supposed to keep it secret? Was it a secret? More questions. The female visitor was finally shown into his office. The receptionist offered her a cup of tea which she declined. First motioned for his staff member to leave and he made sure he and his visitor was completely alone. First walked back to his desk after making sure nobody was hanging around outside his office. He not only shut the door , but locked it firmly. As he sat down the woman looked him over from head to toe, nodded to herself once and greeted him warmly. Sawadee-ka Nong First. First was so stunned, he couldn't even speak leave alone return the greeting. Her warm voice was completely at odds with her appearance. The outfit completely puzzled First. Big hoop earrings, yellow fish-net stockings, red spotted mini skirt, neon green Tshirt and cardigan two-piece topped off with a bright red beret worn over very long blond hair. The woman smiled as she took in First's expression, his expression of shock and something like he ate something foul tasting.

"I apologize for my disguise," she said with the smile still tugging at the corners of her mouth. "This is not how I expected my first meeting to be with my future son in law ." Although First knew who she was the moment he laid eyes on her, the outfit still threw him for a loop. This woman was currently missing and her son, whom First missed dearly, was out there searching for her. How come she was sitting in his office right now was a question that was foremost in First's mind.

"I know Khao is searching for me and I know he's staking out the offices where he thinks I'm about to collect my missing passport but that's not the exactly the truth nor the whole story. I can clarify some of it for you but there are parts you'll have to accept on faith and there are other parts which can be proven. Firstly I love my son and I would do anything for him. I came to you because I sense you would do the same. I thought I could handle this matter for Khaotung but it seems I cannot do it alone. I'm at my wit's end and I'm not sure what to do next, if anything at all. Will you help me First?..... No, will you help Khaotung?"

Despite his apprehension there was only one thing First could say. "What do you need?" For Khao First would do anything.

"Could you tell me, from the beginning, what is going on. I was waiting for Khaotung to tell me when he was ready but I'm worried...very worried." "Months ago, a little over a year ago" she began. "Just before the merger, Tungmeow was in trouble. Company secrets, highly valued contracts and top secret new company developments were practically walking out the front door so to speak. Khaotung's staff was selling valuable company information in lieu of gambling debt and Tungmeow couldn't survive. It was compromise or loose the company. " Khaotung's mother diligently explained to First. "I already know all this " First replied. "Khao doesn't know I know it but I do. It was the reason I suggested the merger in the first place. Mainly because I knew he was a good businessman and he had a really awesome future. I knew Tungmeow would eventually surpass Firmeow if given the opportunity. By that time I was already so in love with him I couldn't stand the thought of him believing himself to be a failure, so I suggested the merger. I had thought that saved his company. What is it I don't know?" First asked bluntly.

"What you don't know is that it was a set-up, a trap for Khaotung using me as bait," answered First's visitor without hesitation. " I had borrowed money to help Khaotung set up Tungmeow. I sold heirlooms, I did what I could but it wasn't enough. I borrowed money without telling Khao. He has no idea where the funds came from. I kept working to repay those loans and I did well at first, until my loan marker was sold. Sold to someone neither Khaotung nor I had ever heard of, but he knew us, or rather he knew Brave Bean Industries ." The name sounded familiar to First. At first he couldn't place where he heard it but something jogged his memory. " Was that not the company involved with the scandal of stolen pensions and fake documents?" asked First. "That's the one," his guest replied. " The owner gambled, he misappropriated company funds and tried to skip the country with his staff's pension and other severance packages. Khaotung worked for him at the time. After the owners's arrest and the investigation was completed the company was left an empty shell. Good workers with no money, no prospects and no future. The staff got together and tried to make a diamond out of the lump of coal they were stuck with. They formed a partnership, each staff member buying one share in the business and banding together to work towards at least earning enough to eventually step away without debts or regrets. Khao was the only one with the necessary qualifications to manage a company and they urged him to take the reigns. Khaotung and I raised enough money to purchase fifty five percent of the shares, of course the shares at the time were practically worthless and cheap. In the partnership they spent a few years building up the company, changed its name, it's profile, they changed its essence and Tungmeow was born. They were finally able to reap their successes when the trouble started. It started with me,"she said. 'I still had a few thousand to repay on my loan. I had managed thus far with paying a small monthly amount and suddenly the installment tripled. I was told that either I pay immediately or they would break my bones. So much for being a legitimate operation. I didn't care about my bones but when they threatened Khao .. They gave me one week, then changed it to twenty four hours. Then they told me if I brought them new customers they would forgive my debt. What could I do? I brought everyone I knew. I couldn't let them harm Khao. It turns out they were planning on me doing just that. I brought so many of Tungmeow's people, because I knew they were all still paying of loans etc. They used these people to get a foothold into Tungmeow and started destroying it from the inside. Khaotung at first thought he could use company funds to help everyone pay off what they owed and use the support of the merger to pull the company back up. That didn't work because the person masterminding all this was in fact the son of Brave Bean Industries's owner, the guilty and now dead CEO. He wanted nothing short of the company and he would drive Khaotung onto a cliff and force Khao to jump so he could take this company back." She continued. First was stunned that he had not known any of this and for a second he felt anger that Khaotung had used him and Firmeow like this. That the merger was simply for the benefit of Tungmeow. When he glanced at Khaotung's mother he realised that Khaotung had done all this for his staff and that now his life was in danger but he only worried about his mom, about First and the people of Tungmeow. First knew he wouldn't forgive himself if something happened to Khao and so he forgot all about the merger and it's problems and asked only one thing more, "How do I make sure Khaotung comes out of the unscathed?"

"That is why I came First. Everything gets even more confused from that point. When Khaotung couldn't save the company and it's people with his plan he made a new one. He approached the police, he became an informant and made sure Mr Brave Bean Industries got arrested. Khao was supposed to remain anonymous, his identity hidden but he was outed. I'm not sure if Tungmeow harboured a spy or if the police did or if they were just inept. Either way, Mr Brave Bean has a brother and he is now targeting my son saying this business is his birthright and he wants it back by any means. Along the way he intends to avenge his older brother. Khaotung is in serious trouble and I think he's been forcefully taken, ... Again."