Insomvita. Oleksandr Dan

December 2011. 18:35 London, UK

      Robert was in his hotel room looking through materials related to a contract. In an hour he was to meet Mr. Zimme, a gemologist, for dinner at a restaurant, and so he wanted to examine the details of the deal one more time.

      Morgan Lawyer & Co. was acting as intermediary in the acquisition of a large lot of diamonds and had provided documentation and legal support for the deal. The seller was a billionaire from Russia living at One Hyde Park, a luxury residential complex in London, and the buyer – a sheikh from Saudi Arabia. The Russians wanted to remain in the shadows, so he involved an offshore company from the Virgin Islands for the sale and acted through representatives. All negotiations between buyer and seller, without exception, however, involved Robert.

      The firm usually had him support these kinds of deals worth hundreds of millions of euros. So, this wasn’t the first transaction of this sort for Robert.

      The day before, there had been a meeting at the office of the firm’s director, where Roland said to Robert: “I understand your concerns about the rush. I know Christmas is just days away, but the buyer wants to spend the money before the year’s end. You know, for tax purposes. Besides, the buyer is a Sunni, and for them our Christmas doesn’t really exist. Everything will be ready by December 16. No later. Brink’s Incorporated, the shipping company, has already delivered the diamonds to the bank, and I was notified today that the buyer’s money has been transferred there too. Here’s the SWIFT transfer confirmation."

      “Roland, the rush is not a problem. Rather, I'm concerned about insurance liability and possible consequences. I told you the diamonds' sales contract clearly specifies a strict deadline for completion of the deal. If the deal falls through, the default party will have to pay a penalty of five percent of the value of the deal.”

      “Well, what’s bothering you there?” asked Roland, surprised. “The bank already blocked this amount on the accounts of the parties to the contract.”

      “That’s not what I mean. I am suspicious that the payment of the penalty and insurance indemnity to the seller under the preliminary agreement and at the request of his representative are transferred not to the account, where the funds from the sale of the diamonds are transferred, but to an offshore account. The buyer, meanwhile, makes the payment through a top bank, and the possible penalties and insurance indemnities are also transferred there.” Robert paused and took the contract in his hands. “The fact that the buyer agreed to that is what is most suspect. These kinds of contracts take at least a month to prepare and we have only slightly over a week. By the way, December 16 is the last day. I'm not used to being so pressed for time. What if the deal does not go through on the 16th? We are really short on time,” he said.

      “Listen, if the buyer does not object, what can we do? I offered, but the Arabs did not focus on this at all. Also, Robert, why do you think that the agreement will fall through? After all, the insurance indemnity is paid only if nothing happens. I think your suspicions are groundless. Both parties are serious about this and nobody will risk their image for some five percent. No, that’s just silly."

      “Roland, the penalty is nearly fifty million dollars! You think that’s silly?"

      “Robert, maybe the seller wants to evade taxes this way.”

      “You mean the taxes he would pay on the principal bothers him less than a possible loss from the penalty?”

      “Well, that’s why we are sending you, Robert. You have to make this deal happen, so that nobody has to pay any fines.”

      In the evening, Robert and Kenan Zimme, who worked at the laboratory of HRD Antwerp, were dining at one of London's oldest restaurants.

      Mr. Zimme was an active, sociable and nice seventy-year old Jew, a native of Odesa. At the beginning of the Second World War and German occupation of the city, his family fled to Palestine. Shortly afterwards, due to the constant conflicts inside the newly created Israel, the Zimme family moved to the United States, where his father opened a jewelry store and a pawnshop.

      That’s what he told Robert during dinner. Mr. Zimme joked a lot, and he shared funny stories from his life. During the conversation, he remarked several times that a smile made him feel like a twenty-year old young man and that as luck would have it, he was sick only once in his life – he contracted epidemic parotitis, the mumps, at the age of four.

      Zimme was reciting all this with great humor, typical of those who are fully content with their life and fate.

      Robert was noticeably concerned about the contract, but Mr. Zimme cheerfully reassured him: “Young man, believe me, from an old perch that's swum in different waters in this life, you need not worry. Everything that is bound to happen will happen, and everything that is not meant to happen will not happen, regardless of your concerns and your actions. So, is it worth being nervous or anxious then? Today, when you go back to your hotel, don’t worry about anything. Just lie down and sleep tight. Trust the rest to God. He will take care of everything. As for our object, I must tell you that it is wonderful. It’s been some years since I’ve seen something like that. I reviewed everything thoroughly and I am confident there won’t be any trouble.”

      But Robert was still concerned. He could not understand the reason behind his doubts and anxiety. To distract himself a bit, he decided to call Chloe.

      It was just after 9 pm. Chloe did not answer. Robert dialed several more times, but got the same result. A waiter approached him and asked Robert to take a call from the restaurant’s phone. Robert immediately thought about Chloe, but how could she know the phone number of the restaurant?

      “Right,” remembered Robert. “I left the details at the hotel’s reception.”

      “I suspect, young man, that a certain young woman is tired of waiting for you in your room while you entertain an old man here.” Zimme smiled. “Go, because as a talented fellow countryman of mine once wisely wrote:

      Love, love, because time does not wait for you.

      It takes away your days and nights.

      Love for as long as your body is young and thirsty.

      Because when you are old, you will only love with the eyes.

      “No, my girlfriend is very far away now, but it could be her calling.” Robert smiled at Zimme’s wit and headed to the bar.

      When Robert picked up the phone, he could only hear short beeps. Robert replaced the receiver and waited for a couple of minutes, but nobody called back.

      As he was returning to his table, Robert noticed from afar an unknown man of Middle Eastern appearance stop near the gemologist. As soon as Robert approached, the man excused himself and went to another room of the restaurant.

      Zimme was still in a good mood and joked: “Well, Mr. Blanche, it seems like we keep getting interrupted.”

      “Was that someone you know?” Robert asked, disregarding Mr. Zimme’s comment.

      “You mean that guy? God forbid, Robert, he had me mistaken for somebody else,” Zimme said indifferently and continued to thinly slice the large piece of meat on his plate. “I’ve been mistaken for others many times. Once, I was even mistaken for Sir Anthony Hopkins and asked for an autograph. What do you think I did? I gave the autograph! And this one time in Israel…”

      He continued to tell funny stories, and from time to time the old man would laugh so hard tears came to his eyes. Robert thought he had never met a more cheerful person in his life.

      In the morning, Robert was awoken by a call from Mehmet, the sheikh’s aide. In a troubled voice he informed Robert that Mr. Zimme had had a heart attack and been taken to the ER, and so they had to quickly find a new gemologist. He also said that all the documents where Mr. Zimme was mentioned as an expert needed to be revised.

      At that moment, Robert felt a suspicion that someone wanted to disrupt the deal. He immediately called his boss and reported the incident.

      To keep the deal on track, the Arab side tried to get a gemologist from Israel. However, he was too busy and had to decline. The same happened with a