One Indian Girl(53)

‘My sister,’ I informed him faintly, looking around rapidly. ‘Keep your voice low. How did you even get here so fast? Weren’t you in some copper mine in Sri Lanka?’

‘I just. . .’ he said and paused. ‘I took a chartered flight. Doesn’t matter. Can we talk?’

‘You chartered a plane to come here?’ I said. Neel did not meet my eyes.

The waiter brought me whole-wheat toast.

‘I have to go,’ I said.

‘I know,’ he said.

‘You can’t come here. This is our private family dining area.’

‘I know.’

‘Neel, look at me.’

He looked at me finally then, and I remembered those eyes. Those eyes and a lot more.





Hong Kong

Two Years Ago





22


‘This is your desk,’ said Bianca, a secretary in the Distressed Debt Group. ‘Look outside, you even have a Hong Kong harbour view.’

It took me a while to adjust to my new surroundings. Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong is located at the Cheung Kong Centre skyscraper in Central, occupying the sixtieth to the sixty-eighth floors. The distressed debt team is located on the sixty-seventh floor. From the floor to the ceiling windows of the glass-and-steel building, one can see the Hong Kong skyline and harbour towards the north. In the southern direction, one has views of the Peak, the top of the green hill on Hong Kong Island.

Hong Kong is an ex-British colony, now under Chinese control. The British exited in 1997, but left behind one of the most modern, developed and efficient cities in the world. Consisting of the Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon peninsula and New Territories, this city of seven million inhabitants is one of the busiest global financial centres. Compact, brightly lit and buzzing, Hong Kong overwhelms you upon arrival with its insomnia and beehive activity.

‘A company broker will call you. To help with the house-hunting,’ Bianca continued. ‘And here are some other helpful contacts.’

She gave me a file of all the people who would help me in my relocation.

‘Neel will meet you in his office at 9,’ Bianca said and left.

I logged into my computer, arranged the stationery on my desk. I put up a few family pictures on my cubicle walls. At 9, I walked up to Neel’s corner office.

‘Ah, Radhika. Come right on in,’ Neel said.

He wore a white shirt, silver cufflinks and a blue Hermes skinny tie. I had not seen him since associate training two years ago. His office had panoramic vistas of Hong Kong. The sunshine pouring into the room made his skin glow.

He gave me a firm handshake.

‘Thank you for having me in your group,’ I said.

‘It’s our pleasure. We don’t normally get high performers from New York here. How are you settling in?’

‘I am good. Just arrived over the weekend.’

‘Where are you staying?’

‘Shangri-La.’

‘Nice. Hey, did you have any breakfast? Want to step over to the breakout area for a coffee?’

‘Sure,’ I said.

We took the elevator down to the sixty-first floor. The Goldman breakout area is a café of sorts, where the staff often take a break for meals.

Neel and I went up to the counter person. Neel turned to me. ‘What would you like?’

‘Whole-wheat toast. With peanut butter and honey,’ I said.

‘Toast? And what?’ the counter person said.

‘Peanut butter and honey,’ I said.

‘Huh?’ she said.

‘Faa sang zoeng mat mgoi,’ Neel said. The woman smiled and nodded.

‘Thanks,’ I said.

‘No issues. I don’t really speak Cantonese. But learning a few words is never a bad idea,’ Neel said. He ordered a black coffee and bagel for himself.

We took our food and sat at a window-facing table. He briefed me about the group.

‘We are ten professionals here. It isn’t as large as New York. However, we are growing faster than any other Goldman office.’

I nodded and listened with full attention.

‘You will work with Josh Ang and Peter Wu. They look after China and Korea respectively. There may be special deals from time to time you might get pulled into.’

‘Looking forward to it,’ I said.

‘Good. We have a morning team meeting every day at 8. That is when everyone talks about their deals.’

‘Okay.’

‘I want you to speak up. I encourage people to raise questions so we challenge each other,’ Neel said.

‘Of course.’

‘Feel free to come into my office. Josh is your immediate boss, but we don’t really believe in formal roles here. There’s some peanut butter on your lip.’

‘Oh, really?’ I said and wiped my lip with a tissue. ‘I am sorry.’

‘The other side.’

I shifted the tissue and felt my face turn red. Neel smiled. He looked even more gorgeous when he smiled.

‘Welcome to Hong Kong,’ he said.



‘We have a Bank of East Asia distressed debt auction coming up. There are fifty loans, sold as a portfolio. Bids due in two weeks,’ Josh said at the morning meeting.

‘Two weeks? That’s tight,’ Peter said.