Page 100 of One Indian Girl
I closed my eyes. I slept, or passed out, as weeks of sleep deprivation caught up with me.
I woke up as my phone rang. I had a bad headache. I opened one eye and saw the caller. It was Neel.
Damn. Damn. Damn.I switched on the light, ran into the bathroom and splashed water on my face. Only then did I pick up the call.
‘Hello?’ I said, my voice unclear.
‘Sorry, were you sleeping? Is it too late?’ Neel said.
I checked the time. It was only 8.30 p.m.
‘No, no. Just took a nap. I am sorry. I left office early today.’
‘You deserve the rest. Sorry to wake you up.’
‘It’s fine. I needed to anyway.’
Focus, Radhika. It’s a partner on the line.
‘I just called to ask if you could come to the office tomorrow at 7.30 a.m.?’ Neel said.
‘Huh? Yes, sure.’
‘I can brief you on the Philippines deal. Better we talk about it before everyone arrives.’
‘Of course,’ I said.
‘El Casa Seaplane and Resorts,’ I read the tasteful aquamarine-coloured cover of a brochure Neel handed to me.
He took a sip of his black coffee and put the cup aside. He played with one of his blue sapphire cufflinks as he spoke to me. ‘You know much about the Philippines?’
‘One of the Southeast Asian countries, right?’
‘Yeah. Seven thousand-plus islands. Couple of main ones though. Manila is the capital.’
‘Okay,’ I said. I took notes in my notebook.
‘The company is El Casa Seaplane and Resorts. They borrowed too much. Business nosedived due to a cyclone. Trouble. Hence at our desk.’
I scribbled down whatever I could. Neel continued to speak.
‘Palawan is in the south of the Philippines. Often voted as one of the most beautiful islands in the world.’
‘Sure,’ I said, jotting down at a frantic pace.
‘Around Palawan there are tiny, super-exclusive, privately owned islands. El Casa operates ten resorts, each on one of these private mini-islands.’
I flipped through the brochure. It had stunning aerial pictures of the boutique tropical island resorts. The brochure said that none of El Casa’s resorts had more than ten rooms.
‘It says rooms are 1,000 dollars a night,’ I said, surprised.
Neel smiled.
‘Yes, so it is mostly super-rich foreign tourists. Locals can’t afford it.’
‘How does one even get there?’ I said.
‘You fly from Manila to Palawan, and then take one of the company seaplanes to the resorts.’
