I generally hate summer mornings. But today was the worst morning in days for me. I had already been stressing about the big, fat recession for almost a month now and counting on my days as to when it was going to strike my company. The scale made me believe that. I knew it would come – perhaps harder than I could imagine. I was still rather unsure. But it finally kissed me... yes.

So, it's been almost a fortnight now that the value of our shares has been dropping fast. It was time now for me for regular blood pressure check-ups at Dr. Steve's. "You need to get rid of the blubber" – is what he said to me. Well honestly, I don't think at almost two hundred pounds I needed to care that much (also being a hundred and eighty-five in height) but yeah, the old man cares for me and he does want me lose weight. It was not until I mentioned about my stakes to him that he understood my worry. Anyways, why am I talking this shit? It's a week now.

Coming back, when I woke up at seven, Aly was already awake and was busy in the kitchen chores with the maid. I knew I had to get to office early and I had already woken up late (I had to reach by eight; an important meeting as I had mentioned the other night). Never mind, I slept at three the night before after coming back late and completing yesterday's diary.

I decided not to bother Aly. The past few days had been harsh on us. So was I on her, I could understand. I can't even recall when was the last time I had taken her to a dinner also. With the enterprises growing up and then the hit, I was badly busy and messed up.

As soon as I got up, I rushed in to the bath, got my teeth brushed, got two muffins from the fridge, dressed up, and collecting half a dozen of folders from my work-table and stuffing them into my bag, rushed out of the bedroom. First, I went in to Nancy's room. Realizing that she was still asleep because of the holiday, I decided not to sneak in and slowly closed the door behind me. I flighted downstairs and walked over to Aly in the kitchen. She was chopping some veggies while Martha was washing dishes at the sink. She gave me a sharp, impassive look as she saw me. She had already been asleep last night when I came back. "You okay, hon?", I asked her. She nodded lightly while never stopping on her errand. She didn't seem to be in any mood to talk. I kissed her on the forehead and then checked my watch. 7:29 – it read. Bidding her a goodbye, I rushed out and got seated in my car as the driver started pulling it out.

I was not that worried anyhow by the time I reached office. The meeting was in the Conference Room on the fifteenth floor. As my chauffeur dropped me off at the building entrance and drove away to park, I saw Adrian, my employee, in the lobby. He looked worried. He was sitting on a couch in the sitting area before the reception. I walked over to him and asked him if he was alright. "There has been something big, sir. They are not telling us".

"Big? What happened?"
"I don't—".
"Yes, yes. Relax", I patted gently on his shoulders.

Then I walked up to the reception and asked Rachel if everything was alright. "Whatever it is, sir, it has been confined to the fifteenth floor. There was a maddening rush this morning but now there's silence". I was terribly worried now. I rushed to the elevator.

As I reached up, my secretary, Rosie, jog-trotted at me and told me that the meeting had started early, at seven. I gasped a little and looked at my watch. 7:54. So I wasn't six minutes early but almost an hour late. I was still amazed though. Being the boss, I should have been informed!

As mentioned by Rachel, the office really looked off. It seemed like there was no elan anymore. I asked Rosie what was it. And she did have the answer. "There has been another plummet, sir. And your officials in the Room say it is concerning". I was triggered now. 'Another plummet' and 'concerning'. I almost ran to the Conference Room right then. You finally got me, you got me, you—

As I reached the room, I pushed open the doors and what I saw was silence. Nothing... Just. Utter. Silence. Two of my senior employees were sitting at the corner with their fist in their mouth. One was just slowly sipping at his coffee while his mind seemed to be lingering miles away. There was altogether a dozen of people in the room and all of them just looked – dejected. The sound of the opening of the doors didn't appear to bother them anyway. Panting, I put down my bag on the nearest chair and that's when they noticed I was here. The second in business after me, Alex – he came to me and asked me why was I late. I replied I was asleep – the truth. He scoffed and then asked me to look at the projector screen. And as I did so, I was shell-shocked.

The recession did hit us! All I could see was red lines and red graphs on the screen. Graphs going down menacingly. The market was down by a whooping four hundred and six points! Our stocks had bombed. My company, The Brown Shoes, had just taken the biggest hit since its foundation. I gasped and sat down on the chair nearby.

"What the hell am I gaping at?", I asked Alex.
"The worst hit, George".
"Why didn't you call me sooner?"

"It was early morning. I had texted you", he replied. Shocked, I realized I hadn't checked my phone since waking up. I pulled it out of my pocket and then there it was – nine notifications from Alex. Time – five in the morning.

And then the meeting started – officially. Discussion on what must have gone wrong, what would have caused such a big fall, why the rates got flipped-over and the biggest question – What now?

Well, Alex pulled his hand up. "I don't want it to be closed, Alex", I said to him. I was frustrated now. "You know how much pain we had taken to set it up. I just can't. Please don't say it".

"Cool, cool, okay. Calm down". He got up and gave out a sigh. He silently walked up to the projector and then gave out a long sigh.

"What am I supposed to make out of that?", I asked him.
"I think, uh, we might be having an option".
"What?"
"What if we shift our enterprises?"
"Wait, what?", I asked, surprised.

"Yes. See... We know our company is down. Okay... But we are still not finished yet. We are indebted, but we aren't into the deep sand yet". His words were somehow convincing but I was still bemused. "Enlighten me better", I said to him. He looked at me and asked, "Dude, you remember I had told you about our branch in Singapore?"

"Uh-mm"

"Why not we shift our business up there?... I mean, as you look down upon the market there, there hasn't been any sharp decline in recent times and they are going well. We can pay off the debts, sell or mortgage this office alongwith just some extra property and then start afresh. We already have a branch there, remember. All we need to do is shift our base and start our business there... A new beginning at a new place with a new agenda."

And now I could pretty well get what he was trying to say. It was not a bad idea after all. I could do anything to save my name and company. "What about the people who work under me?... Am I just gonna walk out among them and then announce, 'Heyya fellas, it was some great working and now you all are subjected to a mass fucking lay off'?", I asked Alex.

He sighed again and retraced his path back to the seat against me. "Well, you have to choose between the company or the employees. You have to, my friend. That's business, you know it... better than me. I know it will be difficult to tell them. Some will understand. Some will not. But that's the only way it has to be done. I will try to get us new employees in Singapore. In fact, I will start the process now".

"No, don't worry about that. I will arrange it", I said to him.

"Alright. But we have to do some property dealings up there and we will be needing more space for a bigger office. That I will handle. Let's divide it among us, hm?"

I nodded. And yes, I was selfish enough not to put my trade at stake – even if it meant the ouster of some of my trusted employees. If some voluntarily wanted to join us, I would not protest that but I can't take all of them. It is a huge work when you have to shift to another country. The Brown Shoes is my reaping and I cannot part with it. But you cannot sacrifice your home, and perhaps family, and live among insecurities when you are asked to shift to another country as an employee.

"The Head Office is in Tiong Bahru, right?", I asked Alex.
"Tiong Bahru. Yes".

The meeting went on for another seven hours. So, it was eventually finalized in the favour of transfer. And I can already approximate that it's going to take us almost a year to settle down completely. It was decided that the company will be closed in coming weeks and all of the major employees were to move to Singapore within two months at best and start working on establishing and stretching a new line of work.

Rest of the day didn't go that well for me as I have already been in tremendous stress now. I returned back home just as the meeting got over in the evening. Aly and Nancy were at the neighbours at that time. I could hear the giggles of Nancy as she had been playing with Jimmy. I knew I must be looking dejected but I decided against telling Aly about the fall. I don't want her to be worried. I will tell her when the situation demands; according to the circumstances.  

She came back home at eight. I was watching T. V. right then when they returned. Both Nancy and her mom were surprised seeing me at that hour. While Aly gave me a smile and strolled into the bedroom, Nancy joined me and we watched the T. V. together till dinner.