The Ship
Copyright© 2023 by GraySapien
Prologue
“Good morning, Mr. Jindae.”
Panit Jindae glanced approvingly at his secretary. Always efficient, always cheerful, always well turned out, she was an asset to any company.
“And good morning to you, Mrs. Stendall! Any phone calls or faxes from our friend this morning?”
“He’s certainly no friend, Mr. Jindae! A right pain he is! I’ve tried to get rid of him, but he doesn’t want to take no for an answer. Maybe he finally got the message, no faxes, no phone calls this morning. So far.” Mrs. Stendall was English, and from time to time her speech reflected her origin.
“We can hope, Mrs. Stendall. Did the division reports arrive yet?”
“No, sir. I’ll check with communications right after I get your coffee. If they’ve arrived, I’ll bring them in. The Jamaican this morning?”
“Why don’t we try the Kenya AA for a change?” Panit sounded hopeful; the Kenyan coffee was his favorite.
“I’m sorry sir, the shipment hasn’t arrived yet. We have the Kona and a new shipment from Costa Rica, if you’d prefer that to the Jamaican.”
“The Costa Rican, then. Newspapers?”
“On your desk, sir. I’ll have the coffee ready shortly.”
Panit nodded and pushed through the door. Hanging up his hat and coat, he sat down at his desk to begin his day.
He scanned through the headlines, then went to the business section. He read several of the articles, concentrating, occasionally making notes on a legal pad. The notes would be filed with others about recent developments in the transportation industry.