Pinstripes (14 page)

“
Yes, darling. I’m a bit
puzzled
by the information you needed. I called Durham University. God, you’d think they were MIS from the way they treated me. Anyway, I told them I was from a law firm and had an issue with one of their ex-students and they bought the story.”

Johnny was standing still trying not to shout. He didn
’t have time for this waffle. “And?”

‘t
hey told me they’d never had an Ella Franke at the university. I got them to check and recheck, but as far as they were concerned she doesn’t exist.” Johnny went hot, then cold. Then he felt like jumping for joy. This was better than he had ever expected. “Claudia, thanks, but don’t worry. I must have got the wrong university. I’ll talk to you soon. “Bye.”

“
Let me know if you need anything else. “Bye, darling.”

He almost ran home. He had never expected it to be so easy. The whore hadn
’t gone to university. She had lied her way into her job. He wasn’t sure how she had done it; normally SFH and places like it did rigorous background checks. They should have made the phone call Claudia had made. He couldn’t understand it, but he felt better than ever about his life. Unless she had a good explanation, which he was sure she hadn’t, she’d be finished at SFH. Not just humiliated as he had planned, but fired. He knew he hadn’t got the university wrong: he had checked that bit of information – it was the only information he had. She had proved so easy to destroy that he was almost sorry. He knew she would be finished, and he knew he had made her pay. He would prove to everyone that no one got the better of Johnny Rupfin.

That night, he went to his club, a private club for discerning members: his father had given him membership as a gift for passing his MBA. It was full of young people, professionals from the right families who enjoyed a drink and a chat after work. He met up with a couple of his old school friends and enjoyed intellectual chat. The girls were pretty and well groomed, and as he was feeling good about himself, he bought champagne. Although none of the girls showed an interest in him, seeming to prefer his friends, he knew it would only be a matter of time. Once he was a big swinger in the City and his dermatologist had cleared up his skin they would flock round him. And he would date only the prettiest, most aristocratic women. They wouldn
’t shun him anymore.

He left at eleven and took a taxi home from Mayfair. He thought he should start going to some trendy places in London as well. After all, he would soon be important, a big man in London, and he needed to be seen in places that befitted his image. He made a mental note to call Claudia and get her to find out where these places were and how he could get membership. That would make him popular and he deserved to be popular. And once he had got rid of Ella, he would be the most popular person around.

Chapter Ten

On Monday, Virginia practically floated to work. She paid so little attention to her normal routine that she was unable to say whether she followed it or not. She reached her desk at her usual time and flicked on her computer. There appeared to be more people in the office than usual, but Virginia paid barely any attention to them. She took out her notebook, and checked that she had finished her to-do list. She had. Her Monday list was still blank. She had time to indulge in her favourite pursuit: studying the markets. She looked through them all and saw the roller coaster pattern that seemed to be the reason for the full office. The breakfast news had said the markets were
‘volatile’, but in fact they were messy. She did not need to participate in the hysteria that gripped the trading floor so she had time to look through, study them closely and draw her own conclusions as to why they were as they were. When her interview came, she would be ready.

Isabelle marched up to the desk screaming about the markets. She demanded that everyone get on the telephone and speak to every client. The emerging markets had taken more of a beating than most others had, and Isabelle hated taking a beating. Once she had finished shouting at the salespeople, it was Virginia
’s turn. “I need coffee – go and get me some. And hurry. My desk needs tidying, I need my filing done, and then I have about a hundred letters for you to type. Go on, what are you waiting for?” she glared at Virginia. The stare that could turn you to stone. Virginia went. Her face was hot, her hands sweaty, her stomach tight. She was on the verge of tears. By the time she reached the coffee bar, she had decided that she would get the sales job whatever it took and then she would shove two fingers up at Isabelle.

When she had finished tidying and filing for Isabelle, she returned to her desk to type the letters. The atmosphere seemed to have relaxed a little and no one was doing much business. Virginia predicted that this was the cautionary period when everyone waited to see what was happening before taking any action. Virginia felt the markets would fall further then recover by the end of the week.

It was nearly 5 p.m. before she got a message from Helena saying she had an interview on Tuesday morning. Virginia sent Isabelle an e-mail saying she would be in late due to a dental appointment and glowed until she had finished her work and could leave.

She sat in her tiny room, studying, researching and glowing. She would no longer be Virginia the Failure. She would be Virginia the Salesperson.

***

Virginia
’s interview on Tuesday was with the manager of the Private Clients sales desk. She felt confident as she asked for Phillip Reid at the reception desk. The first thing she noticed was the difference between her floor and the floor she hoped to work on. It was smarter, neater, quieter, and more comfortable than the trading floor. Virginia felt at home.

The interview went well. Phillip was impressed with Virginia
’s knowledge, he was interested in her aspirations and he seemed to like her. He told her that he wanted her to meet other people and, if that went well, she would need to talk to Isabelle. He understood that Isabelle wouldn’t want to lose her – it seemed that Helena had been very good in explaining things – but he said that as it was an internal move, if it went past the second interview stage Virginia would have to discuss it with her boss as a matter of courtesy. Virginia said she understood and that she was looking forward very much to the next stage.

Virginia didn
’t recognise the girl in the interview. She was confident, she didn’t blush, she said what she wanted to say and she was personable. Not like the Virginia she normally was: the surly, uninteresting girl who no one liked. She was nice.

She went to her desk, where the atmosphere was despondent. She looked at the markets and saw why. They had all taken a battering but Emerging Markets had suffered more than most. She e-mailed Helena and told her how the interview had gone; Helena sent a return message saying how much Phillip had liked her. Virginia was floating. She was so busy in her dream world that she didn
’t hear Isabelle creep up behind her.

“Don’t
you have any work to do? Just because you go to the dentist doesn’t mean that you don’t have work to do when you come in.” Everyone on the desk looked up.

The confident Virginia disappeared.
“I – I only just arrived,” she mumbled feebly.

“Really?
Next time go to the dentist in your own time and get on with some work.” She was shouting and Virginia flinched. Isabelle glared at everyone else on the desk and stalked off. For the first time, the others on the desk shot Virginia sympathetic glances. All she could think of was how much she wanted to be rid of Isabelle. She set to work.

Later, the interview times of her second-round interviews were confirmed for Thursday after work. She wished it was sooner, but she understood that it couldn
’t be. She would just have to be patient. After all, she had waited so long, what difference would a couple of days make?

She had almost forgotten that Isabelle
’s big client lunch was scheduled for that day. She was glad that Isabelle and her bad mood would not be there to upset her and neither would anyone else on the desk. Virginia would enjoy a heavenly afternoon alone. Isabelle told the others that at least the quiet markets meant it was a good day for them all to be off the desk. She said it as if she had arranged personally for the market to fall. Before Isabelle left she instructed Virginia to man the phones, to take messages and not to do anything else. She said that all the big clients would be at lunch anyway, and if any other clients called, she was to explain that there was a conference so no one was available. Isabelle seemed to think it was worth losing an afternoon’s income to wine and dine clients who would give them more business in the long run, but Virginia felt she should leave at least one salesperson on the desk: even if the big clients were with her, some others might want something and it was never a good idea to lose business. Virginia did not mention this theory to Isabelle.

“
I’m sure you can cope, although you’ll probably prove me wrong again. Oh, and get the filing done while we’re out – this desk looks like a paper mountain.” Isabelle was still in a bad mood about the markets and now she was in a flap about the impending lunch. She took out all her frustrations on Virginia.

There was no filing and no paper mountain, so as soon as they left Virginia prepared for her second interview on Thursday. The office was quiet and she was enjoying the time she had to herself. Isabelle was proved right about the phones: It seemed that only mothers, boyfriends, girlfriends and internal people called. She effectively had an afternoon off.

At half past three the phone rang on a client line. She snatched it up, panicking inside. It was a fund that didn’t normally do a lot of business with them and had not been deemed important enough to be invited to the lunch.

‘
SFH” Virginia said, worrying.

“
Hi, I need a price in Griffin,” a gruff male voice barked. Virginia felt her heart stop. It was a sales call, a trade. This was what she would soon be doing.

She bumbled,
“I’m sorry, but there’s no one ...”

“
What? Look, don’t mess around. I want to buy ten million dollars” worth of shares in Griffin and I need a price now. I can always use another bank.” The voice was insistent, and the order was huge. Virginia didn’t know what to do but she didn’t have time to think. Without even realising it, she shouted over to a trader.

If the trader was shocked to hear an order from her, he didn
’t show it. He shouted back a price, which Virginia, voice shaking, communicated to the caller.

“
Fine, you got the order. Call me when it’s complete. John Towers. Got that?”

“
Yes,” Virginia squeaked, and John hung up. She shouted to Mark, the trader, who congratulated her.

“
Nice work, darling,” he said.

Virginia felt sick. She shouldn
’t have done it. Although she had made a lot of money for the desk, she wasn’t registered with the SFA; the official body you had to be regulated by before you could take client orders or trade. She had broken the law. And that wasn’t all. What would Isabelle say?

Virginia panicked. She put her head in her hands and took deep breaths. She kept telling herself she had done the right thing; she hadn
’t passed on an opportunity that would make them money. But she shouldn’t have done it. She wasn’t allowed to. “Oh, God,” she said to herself, as she rested her head on the desk.

“
Trade complete,” a voice boomed at her.

Mark came over to the desk and gave her the prices. He looked at her strangely; she had turned green and was sweating.
“God, darling, you shouldn’t get in such a state. It’s a lot of money, but you need to keep cool, like me.” He grinned and walked off.

Virginia
’s hand was shaking as she called John and gave him confirmation. He even said thank you. Then she filled out a ticket. As she booked the order, she knew she would have to face Isabelle in the morning and she hoped she wouldn’t be horrible about it. The implications of what had happened flooded Virginia’s whole body. “Oh, hell,” she said to herself, and rushed to the ladies” loo to throw up.

She went home and, unable to face her French class, she crawled under her duvet without eating. She didn
’t sleep that night, agonising about what she had done. She couldn’t get it out of her head. She hoped that Isabelle would be pleased and would brush the incident under the carpet. She feared that she wouldn’t.

***

Virginia was at work even earlier than usual. She had given up any hope of sleep in the middle of the night; coming to work was her only escape. She still felt sick. She watched the door for Isabelle’s entrance. For the first time, she willed Isabelle to arrive. Then she did. Virginia marched as confidently as she could, with her legs buckling under her, into Isabelle’s office.

“
Hi, Isabelle,” she said quietly.

Isabelle looked up. She looked ghastly. Her hair was unusually messy, her eyes were swollen, and her skin grey. Virginia guessed that she was hung over.
“What?” she growled.

“
Well, yesterday when you were out ...” Virginia faltered.

“
Get on with it, I’m not in the mood,” Isabelle said.

“
Well, John Towers called, from Mitos. He wanted to buy ten million dollars” worth of Griffin shares. At first I said no one was around, but he said he wanted us to do it and if we didn’t we’d lose all his business. So I got Mark to give me a price and, well, we did it. And it’s a lot of money and I know I shouldn’t have done it and I wouldn’t have done, but it was such a good order and he was really insistent, saying he would never use us again if I didn’t give him a price. So I did.” Virginia’s legs were shaking so much she could almost hear them.

Isabelle looked up slowly.
“You took an order?”

“
Yes.”

“
You took an order and it was big?”

“
Yes.”

“
Give me the trade code,” Isabelle instructed.

Virginia told her and Isabelle typed it into her computer. Virginia saw a flicker of interest in her eyes as she looked at the figures. She knew that, whatever happened, Isabelle would take credit for this. She wanted her to.

“OK. Well, no harm done, I don’t think. But, Virginia, I will have to think about this. What you did could have got the firm into a lot of trouble, and although I don’t think it will, it was still a risk. Don’t worry, I’ll try to keep it quiet and if we don’t tell anyone I can’t see you getting into trouble. I’ll just say you called me on my mobile with the order and I filled it. Which is what you should have done. You should consider yourself lucky. That’s it.” Isabelle smiled coldly at her and turned back to the screen.

Virginia didn
’t know whether to be relieved or angry. Isabelle said she’d take care of it, so it looked as if she was out of trouble. However, Isabelle had told her yesterday that she wasn’t to be disturbed for anything. She had told her not to call her mobile under any circumstances. At least Virginia still had a job and at least she still had an interview tomorrow. Once Isabelle claimed the trade for herself, there was no way she could backtrack and blame it on Virginia. Isabelle would enjoy taking the glory for this, so she would keep Virginia out of it. Virginia could put it out of her mind.

For the rest of the day Isabelle kept
herself locked in the office. Everyone else on the desk looked as grey as she did. Apparently the lunch had turned into a huge drinking fest, culminating at a nightclub. Virginia gathered this from snatches of conversation, none of which was directed at her. As she didn’t see Isabelle, she managed to put herself at ease about the illegal order. It wasn’t such a big criminal act after all, and it had worked out. Instead, Virginia decided to take this as a positive sign that proved she could be a salesperson.