As soon as he left, I called Lewis to pick his brain. He explained the best way to set it all up, and promised to email all the paperwork over. With that issue dealt with, I grabbed my bag, and zipped down to Smollenski's for lunch with another prospective client. The afternoon saw yet another meeting, this time with
Steve Robbins, who, on seeing the projections from Deloitte, had decided to go ahead with the flotation. Matt joined us, and set everything in motion, with the date set for early July, to give everyone time to complete the necessary steps. Steve left happy, the prospect of several million quid, and a change of pace, in time for his wedding in August, was enough to put a huge smile on his face. Matt was to actually handle most of the work for the float, with me sitting in to learn how he managed it. He promised to update me daily on his progress.
I gulped down another cup of tea, while I checked, and replied to the day's emails. The next time I looked up, it was half six. I switched off my screen, and pulled my bags onto my shoulder. I was overjoyed to see Roger waiting outside. It was only five minutes’ walk to the flat, but I was late, and my bags were heavy.
Back home, I had a super quick shower, applied fresh makeup, and dressed in five minutes. I hopped in the lift, and knocked on Oscar's door at precisely half seven.#p#分页标题#e#
I felt a momentary pang of regret on seeing him again. He still looked like my Oscar, as he smiled, rather nervously, at me. He was wearing a dark navy suit, with a dark blue shirt, and matching tie. He looked great. I mentally slapped myself to remind me that he was no longer my boyfriend, and was a secret homosexual, who felt that women were either brood mares or playthings.
"Hi Elle, you look lovely. I booked us into Nobu. Hope that's ok," he said.
"Super, thank you. Shall we set off? Our car is waiting downstairs," I replied.
In the lift, I tried not to breathe in his cologne, knowing the effect it used to have on me. I could feel the tension radiating off of Oscar in waves, as if he was nervous of our meeting.
Roger hopped out of the Mercedes, and opened the door for me. Once we had settled into our seats, and set off, I pulled out my notebook. "Shall we make a start on the governance issues you want us to take over?"
Oscar seemed to relax a little, as he outlined the work that the bank would require. As it was a privately owned bank, it wasn't as heavily regulated as a PLC, but still had to comply with banking codes, and general company law.
"Are you contributing to the LIBOR figures?" I asked.
"Yes we do. Each day a team member sends the calculation. We are the banks bankers, so we also calculate the overnight rates." I gaped at him.
"I thought the Bank of England did that?"
"No, they are the lender of last resort, we are the day to day bankers for NatWest, Barclays etc. The only other comparable banks are Rothschilds, and Goldman Sachs."
"I see. Are your reporting procedures transparent on that? What I mean is, could there ever be an accusation of price fixing?"
Oscar frowned, "well, yes, I suppose we could be accused of it, but they'd have to prove it went on. If that happened, we'd just deny it."
We arrived at Nobu, and were shown to our table. Looking at the menu, I had no idea what to choose, so I asked Oscar to order for me. He picked a starter I couldn't even pronounce, and black cod for my main, with a bottle of white wine that I'd never heard of. We carried on with our discussion, me making copious notes, and Oscar listing out the points confidently and knowledgeably. We finished just before our main courses arrived.
My cod was gorgeous, I groaned slightly as the flavours hit my taste buds. "Nice?" Oscar asked, smiling at me, "it's their signature dish."
"Fabulous," I replied, pleased that he'd ordered it for me. He put down his knife and fork for a moment, and looked at me.
"Mother came to see you."
"She did. Why did you tell her what happened? You should have kept it quiet. She didn't need to know the nasty details."
He sighed. "She was so sure that you were at fault, that maybe you were just a gold digging little social climber after all, and a few other nasty comments. I flipped out and told her exactly what had happened. Ruined her illusion that I could never do any wrong. Also changed her perception of you somewhat. She thinks you walk on water now."
"It doesn't matter what she thinks anymore. Anyway, if she hears what happened to Marion Smith, she may well just start hating me again." Oscar looked quizzical. "I uncovered a huge fraud at Ivan's firm when I was doing some work there. Hauled her in front of Ivan who frightened her so much, she wet herself. It wasn't good." To my surprise, Oscar started laughing.