Page 97 of One Indian Girl
‘A company broker will call you. To help with the house-hunting,’ Bianca continued. ‘And here are some other helpful contacts.’
She gave me a file of all the people who would help me in my relocation.
‘Neel will meet you in his office at 9,’ Bianca said and left.
I logged into my computer, arranged the stationery on my desk. I put up a few family pictures on my cubicle walls. At 9, I walked up to Neel’s corner office.
‘Ah, Radhika. Come right on in,’ Neel said.
He wore a white shirt, silver cufflinks and a blue Hermes skinny tie. I had not seen him since associate training two years ago. His office had panoramic vistas of Hong Kong. The sunshine pouring into the room made his skin glow.
He gave me a firm handshake.
‘Thank you for having me in your group,’ I said.
‘It’s our pleasure. We don’t normally get high performers from New York here. How are you settling in?’
‘I am good. Just arrived over the weekend.’
‘Where are you staying?’
‘Shangri-La.’
‘Nice. Hey, did you have any breakfast? Want to step over to the breakout area for a coffee?’
‘Sure,’ I said.
We took the elevator down to the sixty-first floor. The Goldman breakout area is a café of sorts, where the staff often take a break for meals.
Neel and I went up to the counter person. Neel turned to me. ‘What would you like?’
‘Whole-wheat toast. With peanut butter and honey,’ I said.
‘Toast? And what?’ the counter person said.
‘Peanut butter and honey,’ I said.
‘Huh?’ she said.
‘Faa sang zoeng mat mgoi,’ Neel said. The woman smiled and nodded.
‘Thanks,’ I said.
‘No issues. I don’t really speak Cantonese. But learning a few words is never a bad idea,’ Neel said. He ordered a black coffee and bagel for himself.
We took our food and sat at a window-facing table. He briefed me about the group.
‘We are ten professionals here. It isn’t as large as New York. However, we are growing faster than any other Goldman office.’
I nodded and listened with full attention.
‘You will work with Josh Ang and Peter Wu. They look after China and Korea respectively. There may be special deals from time to time you might get pulled into.’
‘Looking forward to it,’ I said.
‘Good. We have a morning team meeting every day at 8. That is when everyone talks about their deals.’
‘Okay.’
