To my slight surprise, Jill is not nearly as well dressed as Amy. She’s wearing a blue, rather mumsy-looking suit, and boring court shoes. But still, never mind, she’s the boss. And her office is pretty amazing.
“It’s very good to meet you,” she says, gesturing to a chair in front of her desk. “And let me say straight away, I was extremely impressed by your CV.”
“Really?” I say, feeling relief creep over me. That can’t be bad, can it? Extremely impressed. Maybe it won’t matter I don’t know the answers to those questions.
“Particularly by your languages,” adds Jill. “Very good. You do seem to be one of those rare breeds, an all-rounder.”
“Well, my French is really only conversational,” I say modestly. “Voici la plume de ma tante, and all that!”
Jill gives an appreciative laugh, and I beam back at her.
“But Finnish!” she says, reaching for the cup of coffee on her desk. “That’s quite unusual.”
I keep smiling and hope we move off the subject of languages. To be honest, “fluent in Finnish” went in because I thought “conversational French” looked a bit bare on its own. And after all, who speaks Finnish, for God’s sake? No one.
“And your financial knowledge,” she says, pulling my CV toward her. “You seemed to have covered a lot of different areas during your years in financial journalism.” She looks up. “What attracts you to derivatives in particular?”
What? What’s she talking about? Oh yes. Derivatives. They’re futures, aren’t they? And they have something to do with the price of a security. Or a commodity. Something like that.
“Well,” I begin confidently — and am interrupted as Amy comes in with a cup of coffee.
“Thanks,” I say, and look up, hoping we’ve moved onto something else. But she’s still waiting for an answer. “I think the excitement of futures is the. . um, their speculative nature, combined with the ability to control risk with hedge positions,” I hear myself saying.
Wow. How on earth did I come out with that?
“They’re an extremely challenging area,” I add quickly, “and I think. .” What do I think? Should I throw in a quick reference to butterflies or expiry dates or something? Or Barings Bank? Probably better not. “I think I’d be well suited to that particular field,” I finish at last.
“I see,” says Jill Foxton, and leans back in her chair. “The reason I ask is, there’s a position we have in banking, which I think might also suit you. I don’t know what you would feel about that.”
A position in banking? Has she actually found me a job? I don’t believe it!
“Well, that would be fine by me,” I say, trying not to sound too joyful. “I mean, I’d miss the futures — but then, banking’s good, too, isn’t it?”
Jill laughs. I think she thinks I’m joking or something.
“The client is a triple-A-rated foreign bank, looking for a new recruit in the London arm of their debt financing division.”
“Right,” I say intelligently.
“I don’t know whether you’re familiar with the principles of European back-to-back arbitrage?”
“Absolutely,” I say confidently. “I wrote an article on that very subject last year.”
Which isn’t quite true, but I can always read a book about it, can’t I?
“Obviously I’m not trying to rush you into any decision,” she says, “but if you do want a change of career, I’d say this would be perfect for you. There’d be an interview, but I can’t see any problems there.” She smiles at me. “And we’ll be able to negotiate you a very attractive package.”
“Really?” Suddenly, I can’t quite breathe. She’s going to negotiate an attractive package. For me!
“Oh yes,” says Jill. “Well, you must realize you’re a bit of a one-off.” She gives me a confidential smile. “You know, when your CV came through yesterday, I actually whooped! I mean, the coincidence!”
“Absolutely,” I say, beaming at her. God, this is fantastic. This is a bloody dream come true. I’m going to be a banker! And not just any old banker — a triple-A-rated banker!
“So,” says Jill casually. “Shall we go and meet your new employer?”
“What?” I say in astonishment, and a little smile spreads over her face.
“I didn’t want to tell you until I’d met you — but the recruitment director of Bank of Helsinki is over here for a meeting with our managing director. I just know he’s going to love you. We can have the whole thing wrapped up by this afternoon!”
“Excellent!” I say, and get to my feet. Ha-ha-ha! I’m going to be a banker!
It’s only as we’re halfway down the corridor that her words begin to impinge on my mind. Bank of Helsinki.
Bank of Helsinki. That doesn’t mean. . Surely she doesn’t think. .
“I can’t wait to hear the two of you talking away in Finnish,” says Jill pleasantly, as we begin to climb a flight of stairs. “It’s not a language I know at all.”
Oh my God. Oh my God. No.
“But then, my languages have always been hopeless,” she adds comfortably. “I’m not talented in that department, not like you!”
I flash her a little smile and keep walking, without missing a step. But I can hardly breathe. Shit. What am I going to do? What the fuck am I going to do?