Layers of Deception

by Leo James

  Steve yawned. 'You're gonna be spending a lot of time over here if all goes well tomorrow. Are you going to be OK?'

  'I love Kuala Lumpur – the buzz, the people, the food, the bars, the sun, the women and the nookie. Everything except for the traffic. It’s mad.' Glen smiled at a waitress as she delivered the drinks.

  'You make me laugh,' Steve smirked.

  'Makes sense to rent an apartment. No brainer. The Concorde Hotel rates are much higher. We can get a two-bedroom apartment in downtown Kuala Lumpur for less. Lloyd's pad is fantastic, bloody great value. Mad eh? ' Glen had met Lloyd Dodd at Goldman Sachs in Chicago a few years previously. He sold a solution to Lloyd's company. Goldman Sachs had transferred him to a new role in Kuala Lumpur, six months before, as part of a new investment fund.

  'I tell you what.' Steve raised his cup. 'If we get revenue in the next few months from Q7, we can go for a two-bedroom apartment near Petronas Twin Towers. Deal?' He can have what he wants if we get out of this mess.

  'Yes. Deal! No brainer.' Glen clicked his glass against Steve's cup. 'Cheers… Ah, hi Mark.' Glen looked up as Mark strolled into the lobby. He ordered a drink at the lounge bar, shook Glen's hand and sat next to him.

  'Are we ready for tomorrow?’ Steve said, segueing out of the small talk.

  Glen looked to the floor. 'We still need to fix a glitch with the demo.'

  Fucking Hell! Why didn't he tell me straightaway? Glen, you're such a tosser. 'What the… We've only got until tomorrow morning to get ready.' Steve felt sick.

  'We know that. Chill.' Glen laid his laptop on the table and opened the lid.

  'What the hell's wrong? We've spent weeks preparing for this. Over three years' effort, creating the solution. The investors pumped millions into the company.' Anger churned in Steve's chest. Keep calm. Need them on my side. Keep calm.

  'We'll sort out the problem before the meeting. Cushty.' Glen spoke into his coffee cup before taking a sip, his voice suddenly lower.

  'This is the big break we've been waiting for with one of the major companies in Asia. We're all in deep shit if we don't get this deal.' Steve pulled himself to his feet.

  'So, no pressure eh? Chill.' Glen threw up his hands in resignation. 'Calm down, calm down, we'll fix it.' He lifted his shoulder in a half shrug.

  Steve sat back down. 'What's the problem?' Vomit bubbled inside Steve's stomach. We don't need this.

  'We're waiting for the right parameters to work with the Q7 system for the live demo. Anil will email the information this morning.' With a flick of Glen's wrist, he waved away the question.

  You tosser. 'What caused it?' Steve glared at him without blinking.

  Glen shifted in his seat, eyes fixed on the laptop screen. 'Q7 upgraded their software. Old settings on our commerce system. We'll set-up the right data today and test the demo again before we arrive. I'm sure we can show complete demo of both the smartphone payments app and the smartphone loyalty app. We'll use an Android phone.'

  Steve sighed. Calm, confidence, encouragement. Stay calm. 'OK. Let's push Anil to get the info as soon as possible. Make sure he understands we are not at fault.'

  'I'm sure he understands. He's working with us. No probs.' Glen tugged at his earlobe.

  'What about the presentation? You added the new images of the Payments Gateway and included the patent references?' Steve said.

  'Yes, I loaded them over the weekend. Cushty.' Glen nodded.

  'Good.' Need to make sure Farid knows it is not our fault.

  Glen pointed to the slides on his laptop as he flicked through them. ‘It’s over eighty meg. I can't email the slides to you, the bandwidth on the hotel Wi-Fi is shit. Drops in and out. So I'll copy the presentation to a USB stick.'

  David joined the group and sat down next to Steve. His casual fitting shirt and trousers covered the majority of his pale skin, and a bushy beard emphasised his geeky appearance.

  'Ah, David.'

  'Sorry, I got caught up with emails.' David chewed on a cuticle.

  'OK, we're waiting for info from Anil at Q7,’ Steve said.

  'Yes, I know.' David shoved his hands in his pockets.

  'We'll do a fantastic job tomorrow.' Steve slammed his hand on the table.

  David jumped and smiled. 'We will.'

  Steve opened his notepad. 'Mark, you got your mind map completed?'

  'Yes, I'll cover the patents and vision.' Mark folded his hands in his lap.

  'For you David, technical and support questions.'

  'Fine by me.' David nodded.

  'What about the competition?’ Steve pointed his pen towards Glen. 'Did Farid or Anil give you any hints?'

  Glen breathed in deeply. 'No real hints. Nought really.'

  'What do you mean? Not really?' Steve tapped his pen on his pad.

  'I can usually find out something. Some hints. But in this case, nothing. It’ll be OK on the day.' Glen slouched.

  Steve wrote a quick note. 'Can you listen to their private discussions during the meeting? Might get a few clues. Probably Malay?'

  'Should be. Depends on who attends. I'll keep my ears open,' Glen said.

  'Malay for sure.' Mark raised his eyebrow.

  Glen waved at him dismissively. 'In government circles sure, Malay. Otherwise could be Tamil, Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka, Teochew or Mandarin.'

  'Sounds complicated.' David frowned.

  'OK. Looking forward to knocking them dead tomorrow. Let's grab breakfast. Then we'll do a dry run of the agenda for tomorrow.' Steve thrust his chin forward. Calm. Stay calm, tired.

  'Let's use the business centre on the twenty-sixth floor. We can run through the presentation.' Glen pointed to the mezzanine.

  'Great. Give Anil a call. Push him along. We're fucked if this doesn't work,’ Steve said.

  'Will do. Cushty' Glen nodded.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Tuesday 10th February

  THE SEGURO TEAM ARRIVED ten minutes early to Q7's air-conditioned head office on Jalan Tun Samahon, in the centre of Kuala Lumpur. The tall building which Q7 occupied, Wisma Bernama, was as impressive as the adjacent building, The National Theatre, but both were dominated by the famous Petronas Twin Towers. They moved from the taxi straight into the building, with no adverse effects of the humid climate.

  Great. Anxious but not too bad. The double hit of Valium is working. Let's hope the rest of the day goes well.

  Anil Krishnan greeted the Seguro team in the lobby. Above average height for someone from Malaysia, his thinning, dark hair and tanned complexion made him appear much older than his mid-thirties.

  Steve's hands were sweating and shook as he signed in at Q7's reception. He took a deep breath and followed Anil.

  Calm, relaxed, assured.

  An elevator arrived, and they bustled into the confined area. After a short period of silence, Anil announced, 'Farid will not be attending the meeting today, but will join you for dinner later.'

  Steve figured Farid would need to go through the Seguro presentation and demo before they could reach any decision. Farid made all the decisions in Q7. Another month's delay at least. He feared the end for Seguro and his marriage.

  Disastrous! He felt his sweaty neck with a clammy hand.

  They got off at the thirty-fourth floor and Anil escorted them along a lavish corridor which led to the boardroom. David set up the connection between the laptop and the projector. Glen connected both the Samsung Android mobile and the Apple iPad to the Wi-Fi in readiness to show the Seguro system.

  Various members of the audience arrived until Steve counted eight people from Q7 and four from Seguro. Once everyone was seated, Anil announced, 'Everyone is here. Shall we start?'

  Steve raised the palm of his hand. 'Yes, we’re ready to go, Anil.' He gripped the arm of the chair.

  'OK, I am Anil Krishnan, Chief Operations Officer at Q7, and this is Anthony Suppiah from Finance.' He pointed to Anthony, a large man with glasses and greying hair, who nodded in response. 'From our Marketing team,
Kim and Hapsah, the Technical team, Boon and Rakesh, and from Logistics, Suni and James.'

  'Thank you, Anil. Thank you to you and your colleagues for shortlisting Seguro. Team introductions: I'm Seguro's Chief Executive and Founder, Steve Roussos. Over twenty years' successful track record in the financial services and mobile telecoms industry.'

  The door opened, three men came into the room and sat in the audience. Anil said something to them in Malay. They stood up, bowed and left the room.

  Anil nodded towards Steve. 'Carry on, please.'

  Steve shot up an eyebrow and smiled. 'I love new and emerging technologies, specialising in digital and mobile financial services. We as a team have a strong collective history of successful implementations of large, complex programmes. In summary, our mobile app is a secure wallet to send money to friends and relatives, pay online or quick and easy international payments to merchants. It can store credit cards, debit cards and bank details protected. Simple, safe, and quick.' He coughed, his throat dry. 'Glen.'

  Glen smiled, cleared his throat and said, ' Namaste.’ He nodded. ‘Glen Lewis, Sales Manager for Asia. My career started in banking, based in London. I'm now focused on Telecoms, Internet and Media sectors in Asia Pacific. Many years' experience working in East Asia, South Asia, South-east Asia and Oceania.'

  'David.' Steve said. He tried to ignore the distractions of the phone beeps as the Q7 audience received messages.

  'David Morris, Chief Technical Officer. Overall responsibility—‘

  Suni's phone rang. David paused. Suni answered the call. He talked in the local language. David waited. Suni finished the call.

  David continued. 'Overall responsibility for software development, engineering, implementation and support. Many years' experience working on life-critical and projects including Trident Nuclear for the UK Ministry of Defence and NATO. Focus over recent years has been sonar systems and security infrastructure.'

  Steve nodded to David, then Mark.

  'Good morning everyone.' Mark smiled as he scanned the audience. His usual trick to engage their attention.

  Suni and James chattered to each other.

  Mark hesitated.

  The noise level annoyed Steve. Other Q7 people received pings on their phones. A few of the team typed and sent messages. Suni stood up, followed by James. They bowed and left the room.

  'Mark Farrell, founder and author of our worldwide patents. As Chief Scientist, I bring the vision and strategy to Seguro. I headed up m-commerce and security for the Mobile Data Association, creating the initial framework to address specific issues around application deployment, privacy and content management. Also, in the early days, I headed up the “mobile-futures” activities for the Mobile Association's Security Forum.'

  'Thanks, Mark.' Steve stood up. ‘Some examples of our collective achievements over the years…Worked on the ApplePay programme within a large bank’s digital division, leading to a successful launch; Helped produce digital payments product strategy for one of the largest credit card issuers; Defined the mobile wallet product suite for a European mobile operator’s financial services; Part of the design and launch team for one of the world's first mobile wallet and micropayment systems with another large European mobile operator; Created a large mobile commerce account, generating millions in revenue.'

  Steve coughed and swallowed hard. 'We are going through the UK certification process. Our certification gives companies and the UK Government an absolute line of defence against cyber-attacks and data breaches for financial transactions. You know what government agencies are like. We are unique, so it takes time, but we are very confident.'

  Mark looked away and delicately pinched the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes.

  Steve spotted Anthony reading something and yawning. This deflated Steve. Kim and Boon peered at their phones. Hapsah sported a fixed smile and Rakesh peered at his laptop. 'Mark, can you talk about our vision?'

  They should switch their mobiles to "Do Not Disturb". Sitting on their arses playing with their phones. Give me a break.

  Mark leaned forward, his fingers laced before him on the table top. 'Thanks, Steve. Seguro's mission is to become a leader in secure mobile online payments, Wallet Transfer and Forex Integration. Our expertise lies in the ability to help Q7 create a true mobile commerce and payments’ ecosystem. Users can send amounts either online or from a mobile phone to anyone, anywhere in the world, using only their phone number. Seguro solutions will enable Q7 to generate mobile financial transactions and payment services from electronic top-up to airtime share to wallet-based fund transfers. Within and across international borders to a variety of players including mobile operators, banks, micro finance institutions, retail merchants and international remittance agencies.'

  Steve stood up, walked to the head of the boardroom table, hands at his side in clenched fists of tension. He turned on the projector and used the presentation as a prop to deliver many compelling reasons for Q7 to award the contract to Seguro. He hated the fact that he depended on this deal happening, certain he would do a much better job if this deal did not matter so much.

  Glen and David showed the system on an Android mobile phone, tablet and PC before passing the devices around the audience to try for themselves. The demos worked well. The Q7 team showed great interest and asked many questions. Although deflated by the constant chattering and interruptions, common experiences in Asian culture, somehow Steve was consoled.

  Let's hope they give Farid the thumbs up so we can move fast.

  ######

  Steve and Glen arrived at the restaurant. A friendly waitress escorted them to a group of tables on the veranda, overlooking the busy street. Although after seven PM the evening air was almost tropical with a pleasant breeze; the two men sat and ordered two beers, followed by a further two beers.

  'I'm tired, hungry and the drinks are going to my head.' Steve pressed his palms against his cheeks, elbows on the table.

  Glen's large frame relaxed back into the chair. 'I'm fine. This is so nice. Chill.'

  Steve rubbed his eyes. 'Did you pick up any comments in the meeting?'

  Glen shook his head. 'Nah. No helpful comments. The three guys who came into the room and left had already booked the room. Also seemed to be a problem with their Wi-Fi hub. DDOS problem, hence the constant interruptions.'

  'I hate interruptions. Anything about us?' Steve's jaw clenched.

  'No, but they all liked the demos. Worked well. Cushty.’ Glen ordered two more beers.

  'Are they messing us about?' Steve proclaimed and stood up. 'He's late. Where the hell is he?'

  'He'll be here. Chill.' Glen ushered Steve to sit back down.

  Steve reached into his pocket, pulled out a strip of pills, popped one into his mouth and swallowed it.

  ‘What you taking mate?’ Glen said.

  ‘Just something to calm me. Doc gave me some Valium. Just to calm the stresses, you know. Just temporary.’

  ‘I can get you something stronger than that. If you want. You can get anything here. It’s mad.’ Glen smiled.

  ‘No, just temporary. I haven’t told Beth. Or anyone. Just need something to de-stress me. So keep this to ourselves,’ Steve said.

  ‘Cushty mate.’

  'We need this deal. We're fucked if we don't close this,’ Steve said.

  Glen jolted upright. 'Now you're worrying me. We've won small deals with NetTel and Airnetiq. The Monetary Authority of Singapore shows promise, or at least the trials do.'

  'Still not enough money to grow the company. We've raised our own money and taken family loans to keep the company afloat. So, it’s dire.' Steve shook his head. Fuck. Confidence. Don’t panic. Shit.

  Before Glen had a chance to ask any more questions, Farid Razak arrived and sat down at the table. Although wearing his usual expensive suit, shirt and tie, his small frame supported a large gut due to many extravagances over the years. The thinning hair on the crown of his head and dark black stubble made him appear
much older.

  'Sorry, I'm late gentlemen. Women problems,' Farid said with a wry smirk.

  Steve wanted to wipe the smile off his face but held his nerve. 'Hi Farid, how are you?' Fat, bald bastard. Give us the deal!

  'Good meeting today?' Farid ordered a large whisky from the waitress.

  'Yes, although you need to ask your guys to give their feedback,' Steve said.

  'Do not worry. I always do.' He took a sip of his drink. 'Time for food. Let's order, I am famished.'

  Farid ordered a selection of Vietnamese dishes for the table, without asking what Steve and Glen preferred to eat. Since Farid was their potential customer, Steve showed lots of enthusiasm for his food choices. They smiled and nodded through the various business and social exploits Farid described in great detail. They added inane laughter on cue to support his pathetic locker room stories.

  Farid paused for a few moments, studied the amber liquid rolling around his glass as he swirled it. 'You are our chosen partner.'

  Startled for a moment, Farid's words brought up the hairs on the back of Steve's neck. He glanced over at Glen, who smiled from ear to ear. 'Forgive me Farid, but did you say we are your new partner? Are we successful in winning the contract?'

  His eyes narrowed as his eyebrows pulled together. 'Yes, but I am telling you now, this must be a success as I overruled my Finance Department. You are high-risk. I like you guys but if you fuck up, I will come down on you like a mountain of stones and I will make your lives a misery. Are we clear?'

  Steve's palms became damp, his mouth dry, his stomach tight, and his throat clogged. 'Yes, Farid. You made the right choice. We will not let you down.' He stretched his hand towards Farid, to seal the deal with a handshake.

  Thank God, thank Allah, thank everyone!

  Farid clasped Steve's hand. 'Enough of this for tonight. Let's get the paperwork completed in the morning.'

  'Bloody marvellous!' Steve’s cheeks blushed. He could see the attempted upper-class accent amused Glen.

  Farid made a call on his mobile, then placed the phone in his inside pocket. 'OK gents, meet at my offices at noon tomorrow to complete the agreement. I bid you good night.' He shook hands and left, leaving Steve to pick up the restaurant bill. They waved as he departed in a waiting limo.