The Force Majeure

- Something wrong must have happened to our business partner. I haven’t heard from him ever since he checked in at the Metropol.
- You mean to say for three days in a row? You are right, something has definitely gone wrong. Today is Tuesday. Well, Tuesday morning. And it is at the party on Friday that I saw him last. We all were a little drunk when we parted. I wonder if he ever made it back to the hotel. But look, Kitty, you should have told me earlier. How come everything you do goes wrong? You know that we are supposed to have an important meeting today.
- Please, Nickolai Petrovich, don’t start finding faults with me. It seems to be an emergency. Nothing I can do about it.
- You should have called John on Monday to make sure he was OK.
- So I did. He wouldn’t answer the phone.
- Oh, God damn it! Why me? Why does it all have to happen to me? If we don’t sign this contract, we will all be in deep shit. Try to call him again, keep calling until you get in touch, and remind him that we should meet in our office at noon, today.
- But it is almost eleven o’clock now.
- Blast me if I care! Call him at once! God only knows what could have happened to him in this God-forsaken place. Haven’t I warned him he couldn’t behave here the way he is used to. It’s not California, far from that. Better to stay in the hotel at all times, and never go out after dark. Haven’t I told him? You got him on the phone? You are not kidding? Thanks God! Let me talk to him!

- Hi, John! Thanks God you are alive! Are you OK? You don’t sound your usual self. No, no, wait a second. Don’t you remember that we are having a meeting at 12 o’clock this morning? I have sent out invitations to our shareholders. The agenda is ready, the interpreter is lined up for. Yes, of course we can talk in private. I’ll go to my office right away and you can dial my direct number, there will be nobody in the room. If you have some problems, we'll sort them out in no time at all. All right, call me back in a minute.

Hello, Nick, this is John again. Sorry to have kept you in suspense for such a long time. I know I should have called you. But now, I simply must tell you about something very important and explain to you why … that meeting…it will never take place. I … err… we are going back to California tonight, the air tickets, everything has been arranged. Unfortunately, I have no time to come to your office to explain everything properly, I mean, in detail. All I can say is that I have changed my mind to do business in Russia. No, no, let me finish. I can’t afford taking such risks now that I have everything to lose. It’s not your fault at all. On the contrary, I am grateful for everything you’ve done for me, Nick, all the way. Yes, I can imagine what you can feel now and how upset you are. But I think you will understand me… with time. I will write you a long e-mail as soon as I come back home. I pray to God that we should stay friends. We can settle the damages, if I owe you anything, you know, up to you. Me, I will be thankful to you all my life for having invited me to Moscow. It is a wonderful city. What’s more, it is thanks to you and that party on Friday that I met Svetlana. She is the kind of girl I have dreamed about since I was a student. Yes, your receptionist. I am hopelessly in love with her, my friend, I am sorry to let you down – you and your shareholders. You can call me a brute, a bastard, anything, I don’t care. She is an angel. I know it is not wise of me. But, Nick, I am a rich man as it is. I am not going to take all my goddamn fortune into the grave. I know I am no longer young. But Svetlana, she is young enough to make it up. She wants to go to Frisco with me, she can speak excellent English, she is free, and she will make an excellent wife for me, too. I would give half of my savings for her smile, and you know she smiles all the time. We are going to get married as soon as we arrive to the States. Yes, Nick, this is beyond my control, you can call it a force-majeure, if you like. The only thing I can say now is that all those years I invested in my career have not been wasted. I have never been so happy in my life. Sorry again. Bye, Nick.