Recession… austerity… downturn… crash. Such words invaded his dreams and dominated his waking hours. He had married Nadine in the eighties on the cusp of a recession and now they were divorcing on the cusp of another one. Paul Rowan from Brass & Strings, who had been trying to buy Tõnality for years, was no longer interested. He had invested everything in property and had a dead-man-walking expression when he met Jake for lunch. Flushed cheeks and red veins on his nose, an ominous sign. Susanna Cox from HiNotes Music Academy had also changed her mind. Contraction, not expansion was the only way to survive the recession, she said. Her offer to buy Tõnality was off the table. A third buyer – who had once made a derisory offer for Tõnality – was approached. This derisory offer would now be welcomed with open arms but since Tõnality lost the STRUM contract the buyer was looking elsewhere to expand. Jake contacted an estate agent, a smooth-talking young woman, who convinced him their house would sell easily.
