One Day At A Time

Chapter Twenty Five - Bagel & Scone

FOUR YEARS LATER..

November 1997
London, UK

"I think so too, Marky," Arnav said, loosening the Windsor knot at the base of his throat with his long fingers. "It appears there is some truth to Mahathir Mohammed's accusation that George Soros has been instrumental in taking down the Asian markets." He exhaled a tired breath and stared at his drink on the table.

He swirled the single malt in the glass and watched the slow spinning vortex of the liquid as if hypnotised. He intended to savour it and not race it down to the bottom of the glass as he used to for the first few weeks after he had got back from India a few years ago. It hadn't been the best way to obliterate the growing emptiness inside him, but he had been foolish then. Twenty-one and foolish. It had helped him for a while, that constant buzz of alcohol allowing him to dull the unbearable pain in his heart, but no miraculous recovery had followed. He had realised it in good time how utterly pointless and foolhardy his behaviour had been. But that was a few years ago. Four years in a month to be precise.

As the liquid settled, he brought the glass to his lips and took a sip. He closed his eyes as it burned the pipe on its way down, releasing a wave of calm and buzz in equal measures through his senses. He then tuned back into the conversation with his ex-colleague and now a good friend, Mark, who was staring at him with a solemn expression on his face.

"That man.." Mark shook his head. "The asshole did that to the Sterling and broke the back of the Bank of England a few years ago." He pointed out unpleasantly while taking a swig from his pint glass.

Arnav smiled at Mark Slater, a genuinely kind English soul he had met on the first day at work as a Junior Trader in one of the top tier investment banks in London three years ago after finishing his Masters in Finance. His life had been pretty chaotic and disoriented then. It had been Mark, who had introduced him to a world of new friends and sucked him into the whirlpool of pubs, clubs and parties. The chaotic social life had kicked off on day one of his jobs when he had walked down to the nearest pub along with his colleagues for a welcome-drink. Networking in the pubs and the various social meets after office hours and weekends had become a way of life ever since. Once he had gotten back the hold on his life, Arnav hadn't allowed himself a moment of respite as he flung himself into work and eventually drowned in it.

"Yes, I wonder if he had tasted blood then and come back for more. Whether it was him or other rogue speculators, the ASEAN member states aren't exactly having a good time." Arnav said as he waved back at a colleague who was gesturing him to join him at his table at the other end of the pub.

"Good time?" Mark shook his head. "They are fighting tooth and nail just to stay afloat."

Arnav nodded as he emptied the last dregs of his drink in his glass quickly. "Rogue speculators or not, what do you expect when you are living on borrowed money, Marky? Their debt-to-GDP ratio has risen to over 160% in the last four years. This was a bubble waiting to burst!" He said with a slight frown on his face. "It was not a question of "if" but a question of "when". The IMF, in their infinite wisdom, has loaned 10's of billions of dollars to the Asian central banks to prop up their currencies against the dollar. It looks like this has gone down the drain, as the countries have eventually decided to release the peg and float their currencies."

"IMF should have advised them to do that, to begin with." Mark said as he finished his beer.

"How else would the IMF have found borrowers for such huge loans!" Arnav said drily.