The Falcon’s Eye
Abdullah stood every morning for a few brief minutes by the window of his office on the tenth floor, watching the parking lot beneath his company’s headquarters. Not out of love for cars, but because he had learned that everything tells a story.
That day, he noticed something different: the car of the Jeddah branch’s financial manager was parked in a far corner, instead of its usual spot near the main entrance.
Why is he hiding? he wondered.
He went down to the sixth floor, where the Jeddah branch office was located. Casual greetings, a quick coffee, a fleeting glance at the desks. Everyone seemed to be working normally, but something was different in the financial manager’s eyes—a look of someone carrying a heavy secret.
“How’s the new project?” he asked casually.
“Excellent, thank God. Everything is going according to plan.”
But Abdullah noticed how the manager avoided eye contact while answering, and how he suddenly busied himself arranging papers that didn’t need arranging.
On his way back to the elevator, he ran into one of the senior accountants.
“How are things with you, Abu Tarek?”
“Fine, الحمد لله… but it’s just—” He stopped and forced a smile. “Nothing, everything’s fine.”
That “but it’s just” stayed stuck in Abdullah’s mind all day.
In the evening, he called the Riyadh branch manager.
“Khaled, I want you to transfer 500,000 riyals to the Jeddah branch tomorrow morning, to the new project’s account.”
“Of course, sir… but wasn’t the amount supposed to reach them at the end of the month?”
“No. I want it tomorrow.”
The next morning, the Jeddah branch manager called early.
“Mr. Abdullah, thank you for the quick transfer, but we don’t actually need the amount right now…”
“I know. I want you in my office within an hour.”
Abdullah sat in his office waiting. He didn’t open files, didn’t review reports, didn’t request account statements. Sometimes, he trusted his instinct more than numbers.
The financial manager entered, his face pale.
“Welcome, sir…”
“Sit. I want to ask you just one question—and I want an honest answer.”
A long silence.
“Where exactly is the problem?”
The manager broke down.
“The major client… canceled half the contract. The amount we were expecting—” He stopped and sighed. “It’s not coming. And we committed to contractors based on the original contract.”
“How long have you known this?”
“Two weeks… I was trying to find a solution before telling you.”
Abdullah looked out the window at the parking lot below. He saw employees’ cars neatly lined up in their usual places—life going on as normal. But he also saw the car parked in the far corner the day before, the avoiding eyes, and the unfinished “but it’s just.”
“Now we know. Now we can find a real solution.”
He placed his hand on the manager’s shoulder.
“I know you were trying to protect everyone. But sometimes… courage in honesty is more important than courage in silence.”
He opened the file of the group’s other projects.
“We have options… and we have time to think, because we discovered the problem early.”
The manager looked at him in astonishment.
“How did you know?”
Abdullah smiled.
“Forty years in business… taught me that people speak through much more than words.”
