R89: Trick
Title: Trick a Country
Characters: Pearl, Giovanni
POV: N/A
Notes: I keep getting the feeling that this story is vaguely familiar....
“Naturally. What do you suggest we do?”
“Withdraw everything,” Pearl suggested. “They’ll have to pull out of all their other investors’ investments to pay us back, with all the lending and investing they’ve been doing. They certainly aren’t expecting us to want everything back so soon. They think they have more time. Ooo, look at this necklace! Isn’t it something?”
“We can’t wait any longer? The interest rates they’re offering… Oh, that necklace? Piece of junk.”
“Pocket money compared to what we’ll snatch up when the whole bank comes crashing down.” She looked longingly at the photograph file before flipping to another. “Oh, what a cute little ring!”
“And the investors with them, and we know who they will come to balance their losses. That ring? We’ve already sold it.”
“Oh, what a shame!” Was she speaking of the plight of the bank or the selling of the ring? “Our… Support policies are generous, Boss.”
“To us, anyways.”
“Hey, it’s a dog-eat-dog world. Everyone’s gotta eat,” she replied lightly. “Isn’t that why most of the members are here? We’re mollycoddling them. The government’s mollycoddling them. I don’t recall anyone helping me put food in my mouth. Not even my old momma, the old whore.”
“And I myself don’t recall ever receiving anything for less than exceeding their impossible expectations. Never had a handout.”
“If the bank went down it used to go down and all those people in a basket with them. Now with the government coming and snatching them up… As long as they don’t interfere with our schedule we’ll let that government be, won’t we, Boss?”
“This is a mutually beneficial program, Pearl. Really, we don’t need to worry about it. They get their economy back on track and we get our take of the interest. I don’t quite understand why you’re so busy fussing over the government.” he added.
“I don’t like it. What if they try to start helping in other ways?”
“Then we stop them, like we always have.”
“Which reminds me. One of the senators, forget which one excuse me they all look the same, is asking for more… Support.”
“Unless she is Senator McLaughlin or he is Senator Williams, politely warn them and decline their ‘offer.’”
She scribbled the reply along with an unhappy smiley face down on a memo. “Got it.”
“It’s important that our senators continue blocking the emergency grants to those banks.”
“Of course. Hey, are we planning on reselling that ruby pendant?”
“Cheap trinket. I haven’t even considered putting it in the inventory.”
“Well, I’ll take it then.”
“Go ahead.” He finished writing and put down his pen. “How does this sound, Pearl? ‘Even if unemployment rates stabilize, many companies such as Potter Brothers Inc. are considering changing the status of their full-time employees to only part-time. Other companies are cutting paychecks by as much as 15%…’”
“Scary enough, I think.”
He looked over the newly-written article again. “Yes. It’ll do, I believe. Executive, go and send this to the editor of the City Times, won’t you?”
“Of course.” She snatched up the letter and carefully accidentally left a long papercut down his hand.
“Ouch! Pearl!”
Pearl shrugged. “Oops. Well, in every case of pain, there’s someone benefiting from it.”