by Ian Fox
John embraced her for the last time, cupped her face in his hands, and gently kissed her on her mouth. “Bye, Emely, I’ll always be thinking about you.”
These were his last words as he turned around and locked the door for the last time. She still could not believe that this was real and not a dream. She wanted to call him back and tell him to wait a bit. She had not even said goodbye to him. She stared in complete confusion at the door that had closed so many times before. This was to be the last time. Tomorrow, the police would come and take her away from this cursed house. But was it really that cursed? She had grown to like it a little recently. She shook her head, trying to banish these thoughts that made her angry. Tomorrow I’ll be free, free.
She knew a long and strenuous night lay ahead. How could she close her eyes after news like that? If only I had a sleeping pill.
She felt alive, not ready to sleep, her head full of mixed feelings. She was happy, so happy she wanted to scream, but at the same time she was missing something and this was making her stand there without moving. He said that they’d come to get me in the morning. What does that mean: eight o’clock, eleven o’clock? I’m going to go mad.
Her thoughts returned to John. She could still feel his last kiss. She touched her lips lightly and when she thought of never seeing him again, she felt a pang in her heart. He made me suffer, but I will miss him.
She looked at the door that would open the next day. I’ll miss him so much. She dropped her head low and her eyes stopped on the red bag. Why didn’t he take the damn money? She should have insisted.
Emely lay on the bed and forced her eyes shut. The burning pain in her eyes announced a new wave of tears trying to emerge. Tears of both happiness and sadness.
Chapter 15
_______________________
“… She’s not a woman who would spend her time in the kitchen, she wants more: success, independence …” Robert Miles lifted his head, wondering what else he could say about the heroine of his story. He was writing about a person he had never actually seen, but about whom he seemed to know more than most people did. He had interviewed all her friends, acquaintances, neighbors, and anyone else who knew anything at all about Emely Donnovan. From them he had learned mainly good things about this woman. The walls of his small office were covered with various photographs and sometimes he felt that he was obsessed with Emely. She was constantly in his head; sometimes he even dreamed about her. These were not normal dreams but erotic scenes. He’d wake up sweating, breathing rapidly, and hoping that one day he’d meet a woman who would at least vaguely resemble Emely.
He took a sip of cold coffee that was poured an hour earlier. He spent a while longer in thought, and then he closed his laptop, indicating that he had had enough. Besides, he had a meeting with Lara Paris, a former Donnovan Corporation employee. He had promised her a small payment and the woman agreed immediately to answer a few questions.
“When did you work for Ms. Donnovan?” he asked as they sat down in a shabby bar.
“Oh, a long time ago, must be eight years or so. I think it was my third job. Yes, that’s right.”
In front of him sat a mature woman around thirty-five. She was badly dressed and her hair was a mess.
Miles nodded encouragingly. “Tell me, what did you do there and why did you decide to take the job?”
“Oh, there wasn’t much choice back then. I was happy to get a job, any job. Ms. Donnovan seemed nice and I was glad to be able to work for her.”
“So why did you leave?”
“My husband started his own private company and wanted me to help him, that’s why I left.”
Miles lit a cigarette. “I see. So what did you do there?”
“I started off looking after all the contracts and other important documents that are a part of every stock exchange deal. I remember the first few days when I was rather absentminded. Ms. Donnovan was always nice to me ….”
*
“Lara, you mixed up the Kruger & Co. contract with the one for MTC. But never mind, it could happen to anyone. Just be a bit more careful in the future.”
Lara shrugged, then started on some other contracts.
“Mike, please buy twenty-five thousand lots of Zone Mider shares.”
Mike Rider gave Emely a surprised look. “You mean two thousand five hundred, don’t you, Emely?”
“No, Mike, I meant twenty-five thousand. Quite a bit of money came into our account today and I have a feeling those shares will go up tomorrow.”
“But Zone Mider is nothing special. They made a loss twice in the last five years and only a small profit the other three years.”
Emely’s eyes showed impatience. “Whatever, just do what I say.”
Mike nodded and immediately entered a purchase order into his computer. He couldn’t know that Emely had secret information about this company. She knew that their profit report would appear in the papers the next day, showing a 40 percent growth, which was bound to influence the price of their shares.
“Lara, have you finished those contracts? I’d like the registration forms for the following three companies.” Emely put a list on Lara’s desk.
“OK,” Lara said.
“Then we’ll be finished for the day.”
No one heard her. It was five in the afternoon and the last rays of sunshine were illuminating the office. The twenty-one brokers working there were all concentrating on their work. Some brokers only traded in bonds on the American market, while others worked with shares on the European market. Then there were those who dealt with other securities that had no connection with shares and bonds. Everyone had their own special area. Emely knew how to motivate her employees and some often stayed in the office as late as she did. Their basic monthly pay was low, but they got a bonus for each individual deal. The more successfully they traded, the more they earned. The ones who were not so good received such a low salary at the end of the month that they soon left. Of course each broker only had limited amounts of money at their disposal. The more experienced they became, the higher this amount. Every morning they all met in Emely’s office.
“Alex, you get one hundred thousand dollars today, George, you can have four hundred and fifty thousand ….” In this way she determined the limits of everyone’s trading, while she made all the decisions regarding large deals.
“At the moment, there’s a great demand for shares so we must make good use of it. I estimate that this will go on for about two weeks. You know what you must do after ….” This is how she spoke at the morning meetings, preparing her employees for the day and giving them guidelines.
*
The next day, what Emely had predicted actually happened. Zone Mider published good results and the price of their shares grew by 4 percent by the end of the day.
When Emely went out for a while, Mike said to one of his colleagues, “The boss got it right again. I don’t know how she does it.”
George looked at him with a dour expression and took a deep breath. Ever since he had worked there, he had been in love with Emely. He admired her beauty, but was even more attracted to her desire for success and the way she thought. As he looked at the computer screen, he imagined her returning his kisses while he held her tight.
“What’s happening with bonds?” Lara asked him.
“Oh, nothing special, there’s no point in buying anything at the moment. Everyone has gone mad over shares, so the demand for bonds is way down.”
“And when will all the changes take place?” These were stupid questions asked by someone with nothing better to say. Lara was not really interested in what they were talking about, but she had liked George ever since joining the company, whereas he wasn’t interested in her.
“I don’t know. I have a feeling that everything will drag on for another month or so.—No, hang on a minute. Emely said this morning that it would be two weeks. We’ll see.”
“Shall I bring you a coffee or something?” Lara offered.
�
��Thank you, Lara, I’ve got everything I need.” He gave her a friendly look. Except Emely, he thought with bitterness. As soon as Lara set off for her desk, he began thinking of his boss. That body … she’s so smart … so beautiful ….
“George, sell the Royal Chicken bonds. Remind me again, how many do we have?” He shook when he heard Emely’s voice.
“Hmm, unless I’m mistaken, we’ve got four thousand five hundred lots.”
She smiled, showing her perfect, white teeth. George felt a lump in his throat that was stopping him from breathing.
“Look at the file. I’d like the exact number.”
“I’m on it. OK, it’s five thousand five hundred. I don’t know why I thought it was four.”
Emely smiled once more and he could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks. Damn it, I’m such an idiot. Only yesterday I saw how many there are. I always say something stupid.
He immediately carried out the transaction as ordered. He knew she needed the money in order to buy the securities that would bring in more money at that particular moment.
When at lunchtime the brokers went to lunch together, Mike said, “I really don’t know how she knows exactly which papers are worth buying. As long as I’ve worked here, her predictions have very rarely not come true.”
George wisely remained silent. He had been working for Emely from the beginning—as her first employee—and had experienced her good and bad forecasts.
*
At that time, he was not in love with her yet. He could still remember seeing her for the first time. She was waiting for him in a shabby office which held only three desks and one computer. A strong smell of old furniture hit him as soon as he entered.
“We’ll remodel the office soon,” she told him encouragingly when she saw the horrified look in his eyes. “Please, sit down.”
He sat on an old chair and looked at her leaning on a desk. Her appearance was nothing special; she was wearing a pair of slacks and a white cotton shirt. He liked her face, but he admired her body even more.
“I’ll be quite open with you. May I call you George?”
“Yes, no problem.”
She put her hands on her knees. “I’ve not started trading yet, I intend to begin next week. I’ve got quite a lot of experience in trading and decided to set up on my own, after having worked in a stockbroking company.”
“I see,” he said.
“I need someone who will take care of my contracts and later sell and buy for me.”
“Aha.”
He was looking at her symmetrical face and reddish-brown hair, at the same time noticing the moldy patches on the walls which hadn’t seen paint for at least ten years. The office disgusted him and he found the thought of working for a company that hadn’t even begun doing business less than attractive. He had had a few interviews already and been rejected everywhere. He was in his last year at college, studying economics, and was interested in becoming a broker or something similar. Everywhere he had applied to, he was told to come back when he had finished his course. But he needed work urgently since he had had an argument with his mother, packed his clothes, and left the house where he had grown up without even saying goodbye. Nothing in the world could make him go back.
“It’ll be a bit hard at first because I don’t have much capital to play with yet. In about a year I should be able to apply for a bank loan. So, are you interested at all?”
“Of course I am,” George lied.
In fact she hadn’t told him anything that he would find attractive, but he knew he’d have to take the job. Nothing else was out there for him. Whatever the job, he needed it. Anything was better than going back home.
The next day they began organizing the office. Emely bought some paint and brushes and they painted the walls first and then the window frames. Next, they varnished the desks and in four days they were in business. Emely bought a big plant, which added some refreshing scenery to their working environment.
At the beginning, there was not much work. They bought a few securities and then waited, doing analyses. The stock market was going through a quiet phase. But only a month later, things changed. The price of the shares they had bought began going up drastically, which meant the company’s capital was growing proportionately.
“Shouldn’t we buy some bonds, too?” George suggested.
“No,” she said, “can’t you see we’re doing alright.”
“That’s true, but having all our capital in shares could be risky. Just like prices go up, they may fall again.”
Emely knew he was right, but her desire for money was blocking her. She knew they should invest a part of what they had into more secure papers, but she didn’t do it, relying on the thought that she was smarter than others and would not make mistakes. She needed to increase her capital and didn’t want to wait for years to do that. I’ll be more careful later, she thought, a little bit of risk at this stage can’t do any harm.
“If you think so. I do hope these prices keep going up for a while longer.”
And they did. The prices went up for a few months and Emely took advantage of this. As soon as the value of a particular type of shares fell by over 20 percent, she sold them and bought others. In a few months she managed to treble her capital. These were days—and nights—filled with tension.
Emely often couldn’t sleep. So much money invested in shares worried her and often she woke in fear that she had lost it all. George noticed it every morning as she sat down at her computer. He was tense all the time also, but the money was not his, lessening the burden for him.
I’ll stay here until I find another job, he thought at the beginning, but later he got so engrossed working for Emely that the thought of working somewhere else never entered his head. His salary barely covered the rent, and he knew that Emely was unable to give him more. The knowledge and experience he was gaining seemed much more important. He admired her as she drew the diagrams, explaining to him why she thought the price of certain shares would grow. She told him things you couldn’t learn from books. And yes, her forecasts did come true, usually. Until that dark day.
*
Emely was the first to come to work and when George entered the office, it already smelled of coffee. He never found it difficult to go to work and was always pleased to be able to spend a day with her. But this morning she seemed absentminded. As if she was sensing something terrible. And it really was terrible. As soon as she turned on her computer, she gasped. All the share prices were falling rapidly, by 6 percent at first, but within the next half-hour, by 8 percent. It was clear there was a general panic on the stock exchange, something that hadn’t happened for several years. Emely immediately entered into the program a demand for specific shares to be sold, but the problem was that everyone else was doing the same. Everyone wanted to sell their papers immediately and no one was buying them. This could only mean one thing—a catastrophe.
Emely was still hoping that it was just a short crisis so she didn’t sell all the shares. She believed that she had bought good companies that would not be affected by this crisis. With horror in their eyes Emely and George stared at the computer monitor and the rapidly falling numbers displayed on it. Emely was in a panic. George had a stomachache, watching her going through this agony. He would have done anything to be able to help her. But nothing could be done and they both knew it. It was like watching a house burn down with no firefighters in sight.
Those were terrible days. Two weeks passed before Emely was able to sell most of the shares. She had to admit she had made a big mistake. She looked as if she had spent two weeks on a lonely island with no food and water. She came to work without makeup and had no will to live. Only a quarter of the money left to her by her mother remained. She wondered if there was any point in going on.
She decided to close the office, but this time it was George who insisted that they had to persevere.
“But I can’t pay you,” she said.
“It doesn’t matter, yo
u’ll pay me when you can.” He kept it to himself that he had to pay his rent; otherwise the landlady would evict him.
“No, George, I think it’s best if I start working for someone else again. It’s clear I’m not fit to run my own company.”
“Of course you are. This was just a very useful experience. All is not yet lost.”
He kept telling her this every day and after a while she recovered. Together they decided on the proportions of money they would invest in secure papers, the proportion set for low-risk shares, and the proportion for high-risk ones. And so they created their investment portfolio and laid the guidelines for future investments.
“Profits won’t be quite so high,” Emely said, “but at the same time we won’t be able to lose most of our capital.”
“Yes, slow and secure is better,” George agreed.
*
During the next few years they slowly and securely increased their capital. George bragged to his friends about the Internet investments he was making with his boss. “Since I’ve been working for her, my capital has grown all along.”
After a while he saved up some money and began investing it like Emely did, simply buying the same securities she bought, only a smaller number of them. This was his capital and all the profits were his.
“In a year,” he told his friends, “the increase is 30 to 100 percent.”
“What? You invest one thousand dollars at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year, you have two thousand. Is that right?” asked one of his friends.
“That’s right,” George said proudly.
