Pinstripes (13 page)

“
He’s pure evil. OK, let’s go back and start making his life hell.” Liam paid the bill and dragged Ella back to the office.

Johnny was sitting at Ella
’s desk writing a ticket. Ella and Liam exchanged worried glances. “Whose trade are you writing that for?” Ella said, anticipating the answer.

Johnny grinned smugly.
‘mine.”

Ella took a deep breath and counted to ten. Liam stayed close.
“Right, let me see it.” She grabbed the ticket. “So, this is a client trade and you bought one million dollars” worth of Ironco. This trade has been executed. The price was seventy cents and the sales guy is aware that the trade is complete?” Ella asked calmly.

“
Yes, to all the above. I told you I could trade.”

Ella ignored Johnny and shouted across to Harvey, the salesperson who had initiated the trade.
“Harvey, can I check this ticket with you?”

Harvey made his way to the desk.
“Sure, what’s up?”

“
I just want to check the details of this Ironco trade. Quite a big trade in this atmosphere.” Ella was surprised that a client was buying: even though the amount wasn’t huge, no one had been buying much at all this week.

“
My client needed to offload quickly. Didn’t care about the price, just wanted to get rid of the stock,” Harvey explained.

Ella
’s heart flipped. “This ticket says bought, not sold.”

“
What the fuck? They wanted it sold. Shit, you said it was done, Christ.” Harvey was going mad.

“
Harvey, calm down. I’ll sort it.” Ella waved him away and sat at her desk to work out exactly what she should do. She turned to Johnny, who was defiant. “Johnny. A word of advice. If you really think you can be a trader then you better fucking well learn the difference between buy and sell. Oh, and the losses we are inevitably going to incur from this fuck-up are going on your very own account. You wanted to be a trader, you told us you were capable, so you can take the losses. Which in this case will not be pocket money.” Ella smiled at him and turned to Liam.

“
I think seventeen may have been a bit optimistic.” She picked up the telephone as the rest of the desk started laughing.

“
Fuck you, you stupid bitch,” Johnny hissed, before storming out of the office.

***

Johnny went for a walk and tried to calm down. How dare they laugh at him? With a first from Oxford, an MBA from Harvard, a member of one of the most successful families in this country, he was head and shoulders above the animals on that desk. Everyone made mistakes. He only made mistakes because Ella, the black bitch, didn’t teach him properly. He deserved their respect, not their mockery. He wouldn’t put up with it.

When he had told his uncle he wanted to work for SFH, it was because of the prestige
of the bank. He had thought he would be with like-minded individuals with intelligence, breeding and brains, not with a bunch of farmyard animals, a black woman as a boss and common people. SFH was not supposed to be full of comprehensive-school idiots. But his desk was. He would make Ella pay. The bitch had nothing, no brains, no breeding, only a degree from Durham University. Nothing compared to his achievements. She was obviously from a council estate. He couldn’t believe they let people like that into the City. Especially at such a respectable institution as SFH. There must have been some mistake with her application.

He decided to go home. He was not about to let that bunch
of idiots get the better of him; Johnny Rupfin, son of one of the top lawyers in the country, nephew to one of the leading computer entrepreneurs, friend to the rich. SFH’s whole trading desk possessed less class and breeding than he had in his little toe. And he would teach them that you should always respect class.

What Johnny hated most was the lack of respect Britain had for class. It seemed to him that, in this day and age, whatever their background, sex or colour, people were given opportunities to which they were not entitled. Johnny believed that everyone should know his or her place. He knew his: rich, well educated, with a successful future ahead of him. He wouldn
’t let Ella ruin that. Ella, who should be living in a council flat, cooking black food for her black husband and her black children. She should be claiming state benefits along with the other lower-class oiks who would never climb out of that class. It wasn’t just colour: it was colour, sex and class. People needed to know their places, and families like Johnny’s should ensure that they did.

He walked to his flat in Clerkenwell. It was a huge warehouse conversion, open-plan and interior-designed, a flat fitting his status. He would get Ella; he would make her sorry she had ever been rude to him. As he let himself in, he was formulating a plan. He couldn
’t be sure what it was, or even what he was looking for, but he knew that there would be something in the background of Ella Franke that would show her up as the common slut she was. Something that would bring her down.

He would probably find out that she had been a prostitute or into drugs. Something he could use to humiliate her in front of her cronies on the desk. He would embarrass her so much that she would have to leave. And even if she didn
’t leave she would be put firmly in her place. Then the rest of the desk would transfer to him the respect they showed her. He was sure he could find something. And if not, he would make it up. There was no way she was going to survive. Not now he was in her life.

Johnny knew he was clever. Now he would prove just how clever he was. He would soon be the most respected member of his desk, and then it would be only a matter of time before he was the boss of someone. He would ensure that they only employed people with class.

Johnny called his father’s secretary, Claudia. Claudia loved Johnny and had worked for his father for years. She had a job fit for a woman, and she knew her place. She was always willing to help Johnny out: she had typed his homework, would do any research he needed and was generally a brick. He knew that with her expertise and her contacts she would be able to do the initial digging for him.

He called her and gave her all he knew about Ella, which wasn
’t much. He knew her name and her university. It wasn’t much to go on, but Claudia was a professional. Claudia asked him to give her until the beginning of next week. Johnny said that would be perfect.

He knew that he would probably get a lecture from Jeff when he went back to the office, but he would talk his way out of it. Especially as his uncle was an important client and they couldn
’t upset him. His job was secured, he was about to bring down Miss High-and-Mighty Ella, and he was going to get what he wanted. He felt his excitement grow, and he lay on the bed masturbating to his impending victory.

***

Ella was amazed that he had had the nerve to leave the office like that. She felt like a schoolgirl as she walked into Jeff’s office, crawling to the headmaster like the sneaks that everyone, including Ella, had hated. She wished she could deal with Johnny herself, but she couldn’t. He had a strong position, and although she was respected, Ella had got her job under false pretences. She couldn’t afford, to rock the boat and she couldn’t afford a feud with anyone, even if he was a pimple-faced little shit. She needed to deal with the problem before it spiralled out of control.

“
Ella, I see more of you now than ever before.” Jeff looked sympathetic as she sat down.

“
I know and I hate it too, but I just don’t know what to do.”

“
Johnny?”

“
Johnny. I asked him not to trade until I felt he was ready, but while I was at lunch today, he took a client trade. Unfortunately, he bought rather than sold so we’ve got a load of stock we don’t want, plus the same amount again that we had to buy from the client to keep them happy. The deficit is quite big, and although we’re working on selling, it’s too much in these market conditions and the price is dropping fast. We’re going to make quite a sizeable loss.”

“Shit
. Not now – this is such a bad time to have these losses. What did Johnny say?”

“
As soon as I pointed out that he needed to know the difference between buy and sell, he stormed out of the office.”

“
Great. What a mess. Ella, my hands are tied for now. I can’t move him after less than a week. I spoke in length to Phillip who heads up Private Clients and his feeling is that we need to try for a bit longer before we do anything. He’s sure that Johnny will work out if we persevere. There’s nothing I can do.”

“
Jeff, I hate to admit defeat, you know that, but Johnny shows me no respect and has no regard for my instructions. This climate means that I need to have one hundred per cent of my attention on the markets so mistakes aren’t made. I came up with an idea that we get him to spend time with the others on the desk, starting with Trevor, who is the most experienced. For the next couple of weeks, we rotate him around the desk, and I’ll keep an eye on him. Perhaps then he’ll start to listen to us,” Ella said. She was trying to buy herself some breathing space until she figured out what to do. She knew that Johnny would probably react better with men, and especially with Trevor, who had a similar public-school background. All Ella knew was that she wanted to trade, and she didn’t want to deal with Johnny.

“
OK. Let’s try it. I’m going to the monthly managing directors” meeting next Thursday and I will emphasise there that this type of policy is not working for us. I’m sorry you had to deal with him, but I know you’re right. Everyone on the desk has complained about him and they’ve all said the same as you. Even when
I
speak to him, he’s arrogant. I can’t stand him either. It’s just that until this meeting my hands are tied.” Jeff hated being told what to do, but he also felt there was no other way out of this one. The company was a partnership, so he would have to wait until the majority of the managing directors agreed before he could do anything.

“
Thanks,” Ella said.

“
He really is a little shit?”

“
Of the highest degree.”

The rest of the desk took a brotherly view of the Johnny situation, and Trevor was more than happy to beat him into shape. They were all behind Ella and hostile to Johnny. She had everyone
’s support, even Jeff’s. So why did she feel so wretched about it? Ella was scared and she knew it was because she loved her job and that somehow Johnny could ruin everything.

She left work that evening and went to the gym. Then she went home and read a Jilly Cooper novel until her eyes closed. Just before she fell into a deep sleep, Ella prayed to God that she would not have everything taken away from her. She wasn
’t sure she would survive the second time round.

***

On Friday, Ella had regained her composure. After all that had happened to her in her life, the one thing she had clung to was composure. If she lost that, she would fall and never get up again.

Johnny didn
’t speak to her. When he got to the desk she said hello to him and he just looked away, which suited her fine. She told him he would be spending a few days with Trevor; again, he didn’t speak. Throughout the day he remained quiet. When Ella stole glances at Trevor, he seemed almost to lose his cool a couple of times, but for some reason Johnny was being almost amiable. It saddened Ella: it seemed to prove her right. Trevor could handle him and she couldn’t. However, now she could do what she loved, and she traded well all day.

The markets looked as if they were recovering, which was a relief. Short-term dips weren
’t a problem and they added to the excitement. She made back her losses and more, and the week ended on a high, just as it had started.

That weekend she was seeing Jackie again and she knew that her friend would help her to rebalance. When she came to work on Monday she could put the new nightmare behind her. She hoped that the managing directors
” meeting the following week would put an end to Johnny so she could get on with her life. She hoped and prayed for it.

***

Johnny ignored Ella. He was glad he was sitting now with Trevor, who seemed more like the type of person who should be working at SFH. He kept relatively quiet, apart from asking a few questions, because he had his secret now. His secret meant Ella would soon be destroyed. He was sure of it. He had a feeling in his stomach.

As soon as he left the office Johnny turned on his mobile. He had a message from Claudia asking him to call her. He decided to walk home and rang her on the way.
“Claudia, it’s Johnny.”

“
Hi, darling, how are you?”

“
Fine. You’re working late.”

“
Well, you know what a slave driver your father is.” She laughed a high-pitched laugh.

Johnny felt impatient.
“Was there something specific, Claudia?” Johnny asked. He liked her, but hated the way women always wanted to make small-talk.