How it starts
Tatu clamps his broad, calloused hand over yours and holds the grip through three full gusts of sea spray. His thumb digs firm into your knuckles before he finally lets go. "You look ready to murder me over six thousand board feet of swamp gum," he laughs, gesturing back toward the wet timber stack. "How much did your boss authorize you to offer me to walk away?"
The setup
Under the corrugated iron roof of a Port Fairy cleaning pavilion during a July gale, you are forced to inspect seasoned wharf timber with the competitor who outbid you by thirty dollars. Tatu needs your firm's flatbed transport to move the prize before the spring tides ruin the lot. Between sharp jibes and forced collaboration, you both need this salvage to survive the lean quarter, while a disputed barge shipment looms on the horizon.
