Speak to the Man Called Hope. Lawrence Hall

to maintain the current pace.

      The message from Roland was that John Ruth, the highly regarded GM of Software Development at Atkins Robertson had turned up at Oakbank. Oakbank is a much larger corporate and much more professional than Atkins Robertson. His role is Head of Design in the Digital suite of the bank. Ro wonders if he will be involved in the discussions between Mason Thompson and Oakbank next week.

      It was dinner time. Ro had missed the dinner served on the plane and was keen to stop off on the way home and get something to eat; maybe pizza, no a nice turkish garlic chicken kebab. He would divert the driver to the regular haunt not far from his home. His mum answered the door with Ruby jumping up at him excited to see him. His mum could immediately see that he was tired. She let him know she had fed Ruby dinner and had taken her for a walk. She grabbed her car keys, gave Ro a kiss and left the house. Ro switched the television back on, slumped onto the couch and sipped on his beer. He would be asleep in bed by 9pm, wreaking of garlic.

      Ro woke about five thirty in the morning and was wide awake. He still wasn’t feeling great but at least he’d had a good sleep. He was conscious that he needed to get his report done and over to Sam. He’d probably start to deteriorate as the day went on so he would make a start as soon as possible. First, he’d ride down to Coffee Bothy and get a strong coffee from his favourite barista, Jack. He’s come to know Jack quite well over the last few years. Jack doesn’t own Coffee Bothy but is the chief barista in the mornings. He’s been doing a personal training course the last 12 months and is now a qualified personal trainer. To look at him one would immediately guess this was his occupation. He’s trim, solid, muscly and tanned. However he is not vain, not at all. The Coffee Bothy is predominantly geared towards serving take-away coffee. The regulars bring their glass CB coffee cup with them. There are three four seater tables outside on the pavement with Coffee Bothy black umbrellas standing over them. Inside the door is the shining, brassy coffee machine squirming away brewing another coffee. They do not roast their own, not yet but Jack maintains the relationship with Giga roasters. The Giga brothers, Giga is short for the full last name Gigopoulos, don’t make large batches and their product is widely sought. Luckly their roasting factory is not far from here. To the right of the entrance is the glass cabinet containing some small pastries and cakes, further right are several couch type seats built into the wall. Jack just charges Ro without asking what he wants and proceeds to make the coffee. It's the hit Ro needs. He reads the financial newspaper outside while sipping the black coffee and golden cream slowly. As soon as he rides back home Ro immediately seats at his desk and tucks into his impending report.

      Chapter 8 The Stakes are Going Up

      This time Ro books his flight for late Sunday night. He’ll get a good night’s sleep and be fresh for the meeting with Oakbank on the Monday and Tuesday. The gentleman at concierge in the hotel comments on his quick return and proceeds to grant Ro a room upgrade with water views. The bathroom includes a bath, the bed is king size, there is a couch and dining table. Not that Ro will really need all these perks but it may be nice not having to eat room service with the tray balancing on one’s legs. Ro drops his bags and hangs his suit in the shower and runs the shower on full hot. He turns on the bath deciding to have a soak before eating dinner. He packed a bottle of Syrah from the Rhone Valley in France and now was the time to drink it. With the bathroom door closed the steam completely fills the room and restores his suit to its creaseless best. Unfortunately it means the television at the foot of the bath is fogged up. Ro dries his hands and picks up his blackberry. It has a detailed email from Sam with clear instructions on the plan for the Oakbank engagement. This was a different deal to Project Hercules, the takeover of the Jonathan Forest broking business. This was a mutual consented arrangement for the two banks’ broking businesses to get together and see if there was any opportunity to join forces. It would be similar in the way that they would break into forums for product insights, people and compliance, technology and strategy and business case. Ro was back in the product insights forum.