Universally Challenged

by Anna Bell

  She wondered what she was going to do all day to fill her day. It was Thursday. She should have been giving a keynote presentation at the conference. Instead, according to Jake, Patricia was delivering it and she couldn’t face going to watch her present it. That would rub far too much salt in the wound. Which meant that she’d have another day in the city by herself.

  Then she remembered the ball that night with Jake. After her wardrobe disaster of the drinks reception, she decided to at least try on the dresses in her wardrobe to see if she had anything suitable to wear to the ball. If not she was going to have to do some serious shopping.

  Thinking about the ball made her think again of Jake and she decided to send him a text message.

  Jessica

  Morning, thanks for last night. Looking forward to later on, J x

  She sent the message, then almost immediately cringed inside, wondering if she should have sent it. She looked at her phone and willed an instant reply, but it didn’t come. She told herself off for being disappointed. He probably had his phone off at the conference, and he was probably knee deep in presentations on Chinese utility companies.

  She got out of bed and made herself a cup of strong coffee, now that she understood how the fancy coffee machine worked. She turned on the television and flicked on MSNBC. She laughed at herself as she knew she didn’t have to still watch the business news, but she couldn’t bring herself to watch some cheesy programme. It was like she was programmed to watch it; she still couldn’t accept the business part of her life was over.

  She watched the news ticker at the bottom of the screen and scanned it for the investments she’d made for the company, and the ones she’d invested in personally. She calculated the losses and gains and then she saw SinoDam’s share prices.

  Her heart panged first at the loss that she’d be unable to take the glory for her big deal tomorrow. The fact that Patricia was going to sign on the dotted line for the multi-million dollar deal was enough to make Jessica feel instantly sick. But there was more to her uneasy feeling. She remembered the words of the Clarity weasel and his talk of publishing. He’d mentioned a Chinese energy company that he’d been investigating. Again she wondered if it was SinoDam?

  She wondered if Jake had managed to get hold of his former intern who now worked for them, but he wasn’t answering her earlier text. Jessica wondered if she could try and figure out the man from Clarity’s riddles. He’d mentioned Google Maps. She looked around the apartment for their laptop and fired it up. Making sure that she poured herself another coffee as the laptop buzzed to life. She also helped herself to some of the delicious oatmeal and raisin cookies whilst she was at it.

  She sat down at the dining room table and started Googling SinoDam, scanning the pages for any new news reports or any hints of anything untoward. There was nothing. Nothing new, anyway.

  She Googled Clarity and SinoDam, just in case there were any rumours about what they were working on, and again it came up with nothing.

  She knew logically that there was lots of bad practices within China. It didn’t have to be SinoDam that he was talking about. In fact, it would be far too coincidental to be SinoDam.

  ‘Think,’ said Jessica rubbing her eyes. What was she missing? Her analysts had gone over that company backwards and forwards, scanning every little detail in their accounts and forecasting. And Jessica had double checked everything. There was no way that they all could have missed anything.

  She brought up Google maps and Googled SinoDam. The map pin marked a little street in Shanghai where their head office was located. Jessica knew exactly where that was; she’d been there during the Shanghai expo. They had impressive views of the river and the city, or at least they would have been beautiful if it hadn’t been so smoggy.

  Then she remembered one of the things that the guy from Clarity had said: the utilities hadn’t even been built. Jessica had only visited one of the small dams in the company portfolio, it had only been an hour out of Shanghai. Most of the others in the portfolio had been short plane rides away, and she hadn’t had the time to go.

  She had read the annual reports from the companies, though. She tried to remember some of the locations of the dams but she couldn’t. A quick search on the SinoDam website reminded her of the locations and the spellings of the provinces and Jessica soon got to work.

  The location of the first dam came into focus and she instantly saw the river where the dam was located. She scanned the river for signs of a dam; there weren’t any. The river ran like a normal river. There were no basins or reservoirs. Jessica furiously zoomed into the map to prove to herself that she hadn’t been wrong for all those weeks she’d studied this company.

  She checked the next dam on the list and again, the lake showed no sign of a dam having been built. She quickly checked the rest of the dams and none of them appeared on the images, either.

  Her heart was racing now. Why had she never physically checked the maps of the locations? Then she wondered if she was being foolish, these could be old maps. Jessica tried to convince herself that they were old. She was suddenly sure that China would never let Google have real time access to map their country. The more she thought about it, the more she thought she’d read of Google and China falling out.

  Jessica went into the bedroom to retrieve her phone. Still no text from Jake. She scrolled through the phone book and dialled his number. Usually she wouldn’t want to look so desperate, but this time she didn’t care. She needed to tell Jake what she had found. Only she got his answer phone. She was relieved momentarily, as at least it confirmed his phone was off and that he wasn’t ignoring her. But at that moment she would have rather talked to him.

  ‘Hi, Jake, it’s me. I, um... Thanks for last night. I wasn’t ringing about that, it’s just... Well, I’ve been looking at the Google maps of China and I can’t see the dams. I’m sure that China just has a ban on Google Maps and they’re using some sort of old imagery or old maps.’

  Jessica hadn’t realised that she was pacing up and down the bedroom. ‘Anyway, give me a call, tell me I’m just being a bit crazy. Ha, or crazier than usual.’

  Jessica hung up and shook her head. What was it about Jake that bought out her inner idiot?

  She sat back down at the laptop and Googled China and Google Maps. She scanned the page results and all she got were hits about Google Maps uncovering weird indecipherable shape constructions in the Gobi Desert.

  Jessica clicked on one of the reports from a news site, published a month ago.

  Bizarre Objects spotted from Space

  Google Maps has caused a buzz in the online community releasing its annual updates to the maps. Searchers of the map have spotted strange grid like structures in the desert. Suspicions of a military establishment seem reinforced by burnt-out vehicles and aircraft within the grid.

  Jessica felt her blood run cold: Google Maps had updated its maps. The satellite imagery she’d been looking at was taken earlier this year. Is that what the man from Clarity had said, they’d been hiding behind Google? Is that why no one had twigged about SinoDam’s lack of dams? If anyone had questioned where the dams were on the maps, is that what they’d been told, that the satellite was old?

  Surely not. Surely one of the fastest-growing utility companies in China couldn’t be built on a lie? There were analysts all over the world who had gone over every inch of this company. And Jessica was brilliant at her job. She usually could spot a rogue figure a mile off. Then it hit her. This wasn’t a rogue figure, these were whole dams that hadn’t been built. She’d taken it completely on trust. She’d seen pictures, the blueprints, but not seen them all in the flesh.

  She pushed away the laptop and cradled her head in her hands. She’d been so wowed by the structure she’d seen outside Shanghai: the efficient running manner, the heavily modernised plant. She’d assumed that was how all of the dams were managed.

  She felt like she was going to be sick. She’d been so close to signing a multi-million
dollar deal. And now she didn’t know if she would be able to stop the deal going through. Jake had dismissed her suspicions before, what if he didn’t believe her now? After all, she didn’t have any concrete evidence that they didn’t exist.

  If LMG went ahead and Clarity published the story, they’d be a laughing stock within the financial world. Not to mention Jessica’s department would almost certainly get shut down. It was hard enough to convince many of the big bosses that emerging and sustainable energies were a sound investment. This would be the final nail in the coffin.

  Jessica had to find the proof, but how? She needed to speak to someone in China. She had to hear it for herself. She pulled back the laptop and Googled ‘Chinese Studies New York’ and was relieved to see that there was an Asian Studies department at NYU. She bought up the map of the department to see where it was in relation to the apartment. She knew it was the summer, but surely there had to be at least a grad student around who’d know how to help her.

  She got up to run into the shower when her mobile rang. She didn’t flinch before picking it up, assuming that it would be Jake.

  ‘Hey,’ she said, the relief evident in her voice.

  ‘Hey,’ came Katie’s voice.

  ‘How are you?’ asked Jessica. She was trying to recover and hide the surprise.

  ‘Good. Listen I’m on my way to yours for lunch. I’ve just been at a meeting nearby. You in?’

  Jessica panicked. She could lie and go and stalk the members of the NYU Asian studies department or she could meet Katie for an hour and then go. An hour wasn’t going to make any difference. If the dams hadn’t been built before, they weren’t going to suddenly spring up in an hour.

  ‘Yeah, come on over. I’ve got lots to tell you, anyway.’

  ‘Awesome, see you in twenty.’

  Jessica hung up. She wasn’t going to tell Katie everything, but she had to tell her about Jake. She was going to explode if she didn’t tell someone how she was feeling.

  Chapter 26 – Jess Burns

  Jess’ hands had finally stopped trembling. Her voice had evened out to a normal audible pitch that people, as well as dogs, could hear. She’d managed to get enough saliva in her mouth to make sure her mouth was not getting stuck to her dry teeth as she spoke.

  She needn’t have been terrified at the thought of delivering the presentation. Since becoming Jess Anderson again she felt like she was acting a part. She was pretending to be a person who excelled at public speaking, a high-powered business woman. And it seemed to be working.

  People hadn’t heckled her and thrown coffee cups in her direction like they had in the nightmares she’d woken in cold sweats from the night before. In fact, she’d noticed people nodding and making notes as she talked.

  It was a shame she didn’t really understand what she was talking about, as whatever it was it seemed to interest everyone else.

  And there at the front of the ballroom was Jake. She couldn’t have done this without him. Ever since he’d made her go up the Empire State Building, she’d started to believe more in herself, and she’d realised most of the fear was in her mind.

  ‘Thank you for your time. I’ll now take questions,’ said Jess confidently into the microphone. Her belly was rattling with nerves that someone would ask a question which would reveal the fact she was a fraud.

  There were a few hands that went up around the auditorium and the conference organiser looked to see where to take the microphone to. Luckily she went to the nearest hand, who was Jess’ plant: Jake.

  ‘You mentioned that definitions of sustainable energy had different connotations within some companies in China. How does this affect the Western position with the shareholders?’

  Jess took a deep breath. They’d rehearsed this question. They had an idea that if she talked for long enough there might only be time for no more than one or two further questions.

  She launched into examples of questionable environmental practices and the negative effects on European shareholders who removed money from schemes in revulsion. After spinning it out for as long as she possibly could, Jess held her breath again as the microphone was passed to the person with the next question.

  Thankfully for Jess, the next two questions were more or less variations of questions that Jake had rehearsed with her the night before. They weren’t the most eloquent answers that she delivered back, but the fact that she’d managed to answer with anything pleased her.

  Jess sagged with relief when the conference organiser uttered the magic words, ‘Let’s put our hands together for Jessica Anderson of LMG Global. Thank you, Jess.’

  The room rippled with applause and Jess blushed as she removed her notes and walked from the podium. She tried to hold her head up as high as she could as she took her seat next to Jake.

  The next speaker had started to set up his notes and Jess barely had time to catch her breath after the presentation before he had launched into his presentation. The lights in the room went down as he began to play a video as an introduction. Jess felt Jake squeeze her hand.

  She was glad the lights were down, as it meant he’d be unable to see her cheeks turning beetroot red.

  She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt like this. It wasn’t just the Jake thing: it was everything. It was as if not knowing who she was had rekindled her belief that she could be anyone she wanted to be.

  Jess had no idea what the rest of the speakers of the afternoon session had said. She couldn’t care less. She was just relieved to have got the presentation out of the way without making a total fool of herself.

  ‘I can’t believe how well you did up there,’ said Jake, as they walked out of the ballroom for the afternoon break.

  ‘I know. I couldn’t believe I was up there and words actually came out.’

  ‘It was amazing, but it was exactly as I’d imagine you’d be, before I met you. See, you’ve got more in common with yourself than you thought.’

  Jess laughed. She knew that wouldn’t have made sense to anyone else but her. She knew deep down she was that person, or at least she had been, as she did get the interview for LMG Global. Had she not gone back to see Benjy, and missed her interview, then she would have been this Jess.

  ‘So just the deal tomorrow to go, then,’ said Jess. She was relieved the ordeal was coming to an end.

  ‘Yeah, and then you’ll get your big fat end-of-year bonus.’

  ‘I will?’

  ‘Yeah. Enough to buy you a flight or two to see me in New York, business class.’

  Jess’ shoulders sank. She wasn’t going to be in New York forever. She had to go back to her life in London that she knew nothing about.

  Jess felt tears rise up in her eyes. She’d felt guilty about kissing Jake last night; it felt like she was cheating on Benjy. But now the thought that she would not see either Benjy or Jake, it was making her eyes prickle with tears.

  ‘You ok?’ said Jake.

  ‘Aha,’ said Jess, lying. She didn’t want to tell a guy she’d kissed once that she was upset by the fact she wasn’t going to see him again. She didn’t want him to think she was any more unhinged.

  ‘Can I borrow your Blackberry?’ asked Jake. ‘I forgot to pick up my phone this morning.’

  ‘Sure.’ Jess dug in her bag and handed it over.

  ‘I just want to check my emails and see if Anne has contacted me.’

  ‘Who’s Anne?’ Jess was trying to keep her voice as neutral sounding as possible at the mention of another woman.

  ‘She’s a girl that interned with us and now works for Clarity. I emailed her yesterday when you said that Clarity were talking about Chinese utility companies. I just wondered if she knew what was going on.’

  Jess looked around the room whilst he tapped away at the keys.

  ‘Here we go.’

  Jess watched his expressions as he read his email. She thought he had a sexy look when he was in work mode. His brow furrowed and he sucked his cheeks in. Jess was glad that she didn
’t have to work with him full time or else she was sure she’d never get any work done.

  ‘So, what did she say?’

  Jake sighed. ‘She said basically that it was more than her job’s worth to leak the story that they are working on. She said that I’d have nothing to worry about if I’ve done my due diligence.’

  ‘That’s all?’

  ‘That and to check I’ve seen everything we’ve invested in. She ended by saying trust Google.’

  ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘I haven’t got a frickin’ clue. I’m pissed at her, though. I wrote her a glowing reference on her analysis skill; I probably got her that job.’

  Jake practically threw the phone back at Jess. She’d never seen him angry. She wondered how it was that some men wore anger better than others. He went up to the drinks’ table and downed a wine glass full of orange juice.

  ‘Dutch courage?’ asked Jess. She was trying to make him smile that he was downing juice like it was whisky.

  ‘Something like that.’

  ‘Well look, we’ve got time to look into what she meant. I mean, the meeting isn’t until tomorrow.’

  ‘Yeah but the rest of the presentations will be starting soon and then we’ve got the ball.’

  ‘Well, maybe it doesn’t matter. I mean there is no guarantee that it has anything to do with SinoDam. Maybe you’re over reacting.’

  ‘I am probably over reacting, but when it comes to a multi-million dollar investment it’s probably best to. Look, Jess, you’re the golden girl in the London office. I’m not over here. I need this deal, I need it for a promotion. I can’t afford to fuck it up.’