With his recent plans to expand into Country R, Alexander had been faced with lots of setbacks. He hadn't expected the expansion to be an easy one, but it is proving to be much more difficult than he had anticipated.
Today, he stayed late at the office, making calls, reaching out to his contacts and acquaintances, trying to find the knot that had been strangling his expansion into Country R.
And finally, he was able to find out the reason behind the polite refusals and half-answers he had been getting. If vendors in Country R refuse to work with him, then their project can only be dropped, and Alexander isn't one to do things halfway.
Ivan Mikhail.
Alexander's lip curled in a mocking smile. The irony tasted like rusted iron in Alexander's mouth. That name that should have meant old favors and shared histories, not sabotage.
His father and Ivan had grown up as friends, although distance separated the two families, they had kept in touch all these years.
