At around 6 pm already, I probably will start thinking about the lift going down and maybe stopping on the 7th floor. Maybe she finishes working at 7 pm too. She has made a big impression on me: a glow blended with a touch of melancholy which does not overshadow her light but it makes it brighter.
I leave the window and I go towards my burial recess. The purple light shows that the computer has been switched on and Windows is loading... the working day is about to begin. User ID and password: I am ready.
Registering corporate deeds is one the tasks I carry out in the office, among many others. It is quite a repetitive job but after all it is also soothing and relaxing because I dont need to interact with other people directly and it doesnt imply any online verbal conversation.
I open the list made by Tamara: last week several companies were registered, some statute regulations had been modified, there had been a merge and five share transfers. It comes to a total of fifteen files to submit to the Board of Trade and this amount doesnt brighten up my negative thoughts from earlier on, making me take into account the possibility to finish my work before the evening, including all the breaks.
As I usually do, I start with the share transfers which are not too technical and they take me less than half an hour each.
The first one concerns a company owned by several people from the one family whose founder is now in his seventies and is trying to leave the business. I fill in the fields concerning the new capital stock, I grant the father a smaller share and the daughter a bigger one, I check their personal details and I consider the first file already done.
Check. Sign. Send. Amend. Sign. Check. Send. File registered: I will be sent the receipt shortly.
While waiting, I type Sbandofin Brescia in the search box and I press enter: the name is fascinating and I have always noticed it on the plates placed in front of the reception desk. Who we are, where we are, what we do, loans for your residential home, for your holiday home, debt consolidation, business funding, consumer credit, liquidity problems consulting. I stop midway through the page: the company does financial mediation for every need.
I stare at the screen. That girl, or woman, could persuade a penguin too from the Antarctic to purchase an air conditioner: she could manage to grant loans to people looking for cash to pay off other debts. Despite its name, I think that the company is a trustworthy mediator. Maybe she carries out a very boring job dealing with central credit register inquiries, looking for better spreads, filling in request forms to send to the banks. Considering that the first hypothesis is too fanciful and the second one is too sad, I just go for somewhere in between, which I cant focus on precisely.
The receipt has arrived: I save the pdf file. I can go on with the next share transfer.
I hear a loud clacking down the corridor and I saw a head of fair hair coming through my office.
«Hi Bra, are you doing okay?» Tamara says.
She cheerfully glanced at me and she walks to the window, beyond my desk, holding a cup in her hands.
«Hi Tammi, all is great» I reply. She looks through the glass panes and sips her coffee, with her back to me. Her wild hair fall down on a purple jumper. She has a pair of very tight black leather trousers and she wears a pair of quite high stilettos.
«According to you, why is my car remote control not working anymore?»
«What do you mean, Tammi?» I asked, turning to her. «The battery could be low!?» I tried to imply.
«You sound like my husband: I am not stupid, you know! I have already tried to change it but its still not working.»
«Well, I guess there is something else wrong with that.»
«Great. What would I do without you, Bra» she replied sarcastically. She turns around, she leans her back against the windowpane and grumbled. «I think Ill go to the car dealer» she added then.
«Good idea» I stated.
«Bra, do you think that these trousers are too flashy?» she asked all of a sudden stroking her leg with the palm of her left hand.
«Well, they dont go unnoticed, I think.» Like the jumper, the shoes, the bleached blond hair, virtually transparent.
«So, you too think that they are too flashy?»
«What do you mean by you too? Did anyone by any chance stopped you on the street to tell you?» I was being sarcastic.
«No, no-one. Anyway, I just walked through the underground car park» she answered with a smile. «My husband said that they make me look a bit tarty.»
«Really? Maybe just a little, but not that much. Well, it depends...»
«So, you feel the same too» Tamara interrupts me. «I think that you men have a problem with leather.»
«I dont have any problem with leather. Those trousers are nice, they suit you. They look a bit... now, I mean, they look refined... like an upper-class escort girl...»
«Well Bra, thats enough» she interrupts me. «I go back to work, thank you for all the compliments.»
«But I said that I think they are nice, Tammi.»
«Yes, I got it.» She gets to the door, she turns around and says: «Have a nice day».
«You too» I reply. I hear her heels clacking on the ground and going off.
I look back at the screen. I smile.
I complete my file: check; send; filed.
Now it is the two nice buddies turn: they are friends and they are the notarys friends. They seem to have come out of Wheelers Dealers. They have been business partners since kindergarten, they own a small business buying and selling second-hand cars; they fix them and sell them; beside that, they also fix cars and do the tuning.
The partner who is an expert in fixing cars, Ermes, has always had 40% of Anyauto Ltd. And now he bought 10% off his partner, Antonio. Now they eventually own 50% each, this makes sense after quite a few nonsensical changes within the partnership.
On Wednesday, while taking care of the deed, Ermes asked for information regarding the notarys old Porsche. His request was so detailed that well supported my convictions regarding the disappearance of 911 in 2005. Alessandro, when asked about the new arrival, he replied hastily but that was enough to confirm the actual existence of his beloved car which was replaced about two years ago by the Ferrari he has now.
Tax codes, shares, sum of the shares. Send. Amend. Check. Send. Filed. Still two share transfers to go and Ill be finished; it is 10:55 am and at 11:30 am I am meeting up with the notary to take care of the merge. A quick visit to coffee room, I said «get the hell out of here» to the bleached head of hair with black high heels underneath, standing in the middle of the corridor and I am ready to go ahead with the work I have to do. I do two easy transfers quickly due to the unstoppable enthusiasm with which my hands fly around the keyboard moving the mouse pointer all over the screen. I just got some time to go over the consumer credit draft by Sbandofin to whom I could turn to borrow rates ranging from 7%, with a GAPR amounting to 8,6%, payable also in case of liquidity needs without asking for any warranty.
I stare at the page and I consider such conditions misleading rather than interesting.
Red light, the notary is calling: «Tamara said that the merging companies have arrived: can you go and get them in the hall and bring them in the deed room, please?»
«Sure, Ill pick them up and well be right over.»
1.2 LIFE - TWO
The two managers are there for the merger. First thing, there is a recap of all the projects followed by all the assets to be merged. The whole matter has been agreed upon months before so everyone looks really bored, including Alessandro the notary who is thoroughly reading all the bulky minutes and seems to be the only one still alert.