Banking on Tom

  BANKING ON TOM CHAPTER 11 THURSDAY   Morning had not broken all sweetness and light in the Osborne household. Diana had arrived the day before unannounced. She despatched Michelle the au pair on the spot. Michelle had proved too pretty and too French. She had paid Michelle two months’ salary and bought her a one-way ticket to Paris. She sent instructions for the agency to find an ugly au pair to start in two weeks’ time when the girls returned from holidays. Diana was spoiling for a fight but Ben didn’t have the time or the interest. This infuriated Diana even further. She hurled a tea cup in his direction as he closed the door behind him. The cup caught closing door and smashed into pieces. Ben smiled. With Michelle hors de combat Diana would have to tidy up the house herself. He reflected that Diana was perhaps taking their marriage more seriously, This surely had to be a good thing. He wondered.   He took the tube into work even though he had use of a gleaming top of...

  BANKING ON TOM CHAPTER 10 THURSDAY   In a sparse warehouse in the East of London Tom’s younger brother Mike was having a business meeting with a tough looking type from Eastern Europe. Mike was wearing his signature three-day stubble. In his line of business it helped to look the part. London had become his home fifteen years ago after his final business in Dublin failed, leaving money owed everywhere and leaving Tom with a guarantee to honor. He reckoned his business ideas were good – just a few years ahead of their time. The first American explorers had got killed by the Indians, it was those who followed behind succeeded.   Around this time his marriage to Miriam failed also. Too much alcohol and too little money. He returned home late one evening to an empty house. Miriam left a terse note. She had returned to her native Sligo. She was going to forge a new life.   Mike did however learn a valuable lesson. Society was full of people with secrets they wanted kept...

  BANKING ON TOM CHAPTER 9 WEDNESDAY   Across twinkling Dublin Bay in the prosperous suburb of Howth, Jim O’Sullivan and his wife Maureen had been in deep conversation. After the management meeting in the Bank Jim had left the staff in the more than capable hands of Tom. Maureen made Jim a cup of strong tera and listened to Jim’s account of the evening. Maureen once had been an economist with a leading Irish newspaper. She continued to take an interest in all things financial and particularly in the progress of the good ship IBB and who sailed on her. Over the years Jim had come to value her insights and judgements.    He had been surprised by the proposal advanced by Tom. It was so untypical of him. Tom who had always been so measured now seemed happy to roll the dice and risk everything on February 28 th .  Jim could see the logic. One way or another, the IBB of old was dead and gone. Jim and Sebastian had spoken to the Central Bank of Ireland who listene...

  BANKING ON TOM CHAPTER 8 TUESDAY   Janet was surprised to receive Tom’s phone call from work around midday. 'Could she make time to meet in the neutral grounds of the Killiney Hotel for a coffee on Saturday to discuss a few things?'  Janet was intrigued. In the early years of their marriage he called from work two or three times a day. The habit annoyed her. He was treating her like an adolescent, or so she thought. And so she told him. One day she bawled him out. She was due to meet some other mothers from the twins’ class and she was running late. Over the years the calls decreased in number. Now he never rang. She regretted her outburst and thought of apologizing many times. But the longer she left it, the more difficult it became. Both retreated behind walls of hurt and rejection. It seemed easier to ignore each other than to fight. Now they rarely spoke except to agree finances. She could not fault him for his generosity. There was nothing she and the girls wanted ...

  BANKING ON TOM CHAPTER 7 TUESDAY   Over lunch Steph thought of buying a smart new business suit for the upcoming Management Meeting to be held later that evening. But she reasoned that might call attention to her. She should probably keep a low profile over the next two weeks until Project ‘Tom’ was over and buried. She had informed Tom she was completely behind his project.   She popped home to find her father in his business suit. She had intercepted him in the morning on his way into an office which had closed a decade previously. Tom had warned her that this situation was unsustainable.  Steph would have to find him secure sheltered accommodation. She was reluctant to accept reality. She was all too familiar with nursing homes and their smell of boiled cabbage and disinfectant. The rows of chairs in the ‘activity room’ where the inmates spent their afternoons watching television without understanding what was going on. The cruelty of old age she reflected....

  BANKING ON TOM CHAPTER 6   THE PLAN TAKES SHAPE TUESDAY   Tom had taken the early flight to Heathrow. He sat in the back of the black S Class Mercedes as it purred along the M4 into London. In the centre console there were chilled bottles of Perrier mineral water and in the side pockets the day’s newspapers including the Financial Times and the ubiquitous Daily Mail. He could make out through the tinted windows the familiar sights of office blocks as he approached the City. Traveling through Hammersmith they arrived to the fashionable Cavendish Square where Arturo had his offices.   After some small talk the men got down to business. Tom had faxed Arturo an outline of his trading plan. There were two areas where the Fernandez family could help and make a lot of money. They might consider investing equity into the scheme that would extend the Banks ability to maximise profits. They might also find an insurance company to underwrite the risk. They would be paid a han...

  BANKING ON TOM CHAPTER 5   A CUNNING PLAN     MONDAY   Steph was enjoying the interest she had aroused in young Brian in accounts. She was aware of Brian’s eyes wandering towards her blouse. He had never seen her out of her navy blue uniform other than at the Christmas Party. He had got very drunk very fast at the open bar. He had attempted to give Steph a messy kiss on the lips. She was partly amused, partly annoyed it had taken him alcohol to get some courage. She explained she was old enough to be his mother, or at least his mother’s younger sister. Brian insisted she was the finest woman in the office, a real woman if she knew what he meant.   She caught his eye and smiled ‘Now young man, more focus on the figures in your spreadsheet’ and she gave him a playful push. He smiled bashfully. ‘Why does everyone call me young Brian?'  he enquired. 'I’ll be twenty-two next birthday.' ‘We’ll call you old Brian once you hit that milestone, she offered ‘bu...

  BANKING ON TOM CHAPTER 4 BLOOD ON THE BOARDROOM FLOOR     MONDAY   The IBB Boardroom was distinguished and dark with mahogany wood panelling. Twenty people could be seated comfortably around the table. At the top sat the Chairman Sebastian Shackleton and at the other end sat Jim O’Sullivan. The non-executive directors sat together to the Chairman’s left. These men, and they were all men, were typically retired heads of business, well regarded in the community. Their role was to take an independent view of the Bank and where necessary sound a note of caution. The Central Bank liked to feel there were a second pair of eyes watching over the financial institutions for which it was responsible. In truth the non-execs did very little. Rarely if ever did they voice a criticism and they were promised committees if there were outstanding matters. Some liked to hear the sound of the own voices. Rarely did they spot the ice berg approaching the Titanic. They had the impossib...