The faces of the board members regard me genially, but impassively, staring at me from all six screens. I try to avoid the image of some kind of celestial court passing judgment. Yeah, it’s not by accident it comes across like that. They set it up that way deliberately.

“Okay,” I begin. “First, thank you all for taking the time to have this meeting; I recognize everyone here is busy, and I don’t want to waste any of your time. I’ve done a lot of thinking about the deal, and about the proposal of a partnership.”

More silence.

“Since I joined the firm, you know that my goal has been to make Walters Capital into a standout performer in quantitative investment. Over the past twelve months, we’ve done exactly that. Our team is in high demand; they’re getting offers from rival firms every day. Our team is motivated; they’re turning those offers down, even when they’re substantially more than their current salary. Our track record has been hit after hit after hit. We’re high-profile and high-potential.”

There’s a cough, which I take to mean understood; get on with it, but I ignore that.

“But, there’s one area of leadership in which Walters Capital has not been performing.” The question hangs in the air, and I let it sit, counting quietly to five in my head. From the expressions on the faces around me, I can tell they’re not happy. You’re going to be a lot less happy in a minute, gentlemen.

“That area is moral leadership.” At least two people start talking at this point, and I hold up a hand. “Hear me out. After the financial crisis, our story got more complicated. It isn’t acceptable for us just to make as much money as we can any more. Every day, there are more and more stories about ‘rapacious financiers,’ and ‘the 1%,’ and ‘moral bankruptcy’. We all know that if we go ahead with the bond issue and maximize our profit on launch day, it will cause catastrophic losses to small investors. We’ll end up looking like the Evil Empire, who have destroyed Mom and Pop investors on the way to making even more money.”

Finally, someone speaks. “We understand what you’re saying, Tom. But the board has conducted an extensive review, and the conclusion come to is that the PR aspects of this deal are…manageable, and proportionate. They are a price worth paying.”

* * *

I look directly into the screens surrounding me. “You may be right. They may be a price worth paying for Walters Capital. But they are not,” I enunciate my words very clearly, “a price worth paying for me.”

Silence. “It is for this reason that I have decided to respectfully decline your offer of partnership. The deal will go ahead in its restructured form. Walters Capital will still make a large profit, and small investors won’t suffer as a result. I will manage this process, and then I will retire. Leadership of my team will transfer to my senior staff; I trust you all agree that they have the skill to take this firm forward.”

There’s a chorus of angry voices, all trying to talk over the top of each other.

“You can’t—”

“It is absolutely not your decision to—”

“This is an irresponsible and unprincipled abuse of—”

I wait, face blank, until the voices die down.

Finally, one of them speaks up. “Tom, the board won’t support your proposal for the restructured deal. Your newly-found moral scruples are entertaining, but ultimately you don’t have the final say here. It is the decision of this board—”

Moment of truth time. I interrupt. “Eric, there are two options. One, the deal goes ahead the way I want it to, and I resign after its successful conclusion. Two, I resign now. This moment. I walk out the front door, and I don’t come back. So, you can have this deal my way, or you can have it not at all. Of course, you’d be leaving two hundred and fifty million dollars on the table if you did that.” You didn’t expect that, did you, boys?

There’s another long silence.

“You’re holding the board to ransom?”

“I’m making a call about what I’m prepared to do.”

“This is extortion, Tom.”

I laugh aloud. “Gentlemen, it’s not extortion to refuse a bad deal.” My voice hardens. “Now, you choose. My way, or the highway.”

The screens flick off, without comment. I sit, and drum my fingers on the table.

After a few minutes, they’re back on. I wait for someone to speak.

“Very well, Tom. The board finds itself with no option but to accept your proposal.” The words drip with frustration. “The board would like to register, however, its disappointment in your conduct in this matter. Frankly—”

I press the mute button. “Register away, gentlemen. If you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.” I stand up, and without closing the call, I walk out of the room.

* * *

I jog down the hall until I get to the trainee area. “Adam, Errol.”

“Oh, hey, Tom.” They look up from their books.

“Have you guys seen Ronnie this morning? I need to—well, it’s about the deal.”

They look at me blankly. “I think she was out at lunch. She went with some guy from the equities team, I think?”

I control my features with some difficulty. “Ah. Okay. When she gets back, can you ask her to come and see me, please?”

I’m back in my office, walking in a tiny circle, when I hear a knock on the door. “Come in.” The door swings open, and Ronnie stands stiffly in the doorway, looking at me. “Ronnie, please. We should talk.”

She doesn’t move. “Should we?”

I walk around my desk, and sit on the edge. “Please, sit down. I—I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and there are some things you need to understand.”

Slowly, she comes in and takes a seat, ankles crossed, arms folded.

“This morning, I’ve been talking to the board. I told them that I wasn’t prepared to take the offer to become a partner if it meant going ahead with the deal as discussed.”

Her surprise is real and unfeigned, but she hides it pretty well. “Oh. What did they say?”

“They weren’t happy, to put it mildly. They were even less happy when I said that the deal would go ahead as we planned it.”

She looks at me quizzically. “Did they agree to that?”

“Well, they did in the end. After I threatened to resign.” I lean forward. “Ronnie, getting to know you has made me realize that there’s more to life than just this, just playing this game to win.”

A few seconds pass, and finally she talks, without looking at me. “Huh.”

“Look, I didn’t realize this at first either. Twelve months ago, I would have called this giving up, or taking an easy option because I couldn’t handle the pressure any more. But being with you has opened my eyes; it’s not giving up to become aware of the consequences of your actions.”

“Well,” unfolding her arms, and putting her hands in her lap, “what’s going to happen now?”

“Now, we’re going to make this deal happen. Now, we’re going to launch this bond, and make this firm pull off the biggest, most talked-about success of the last ten years. Then, I’m going to retire.”

“I meant. I meant ‘what’s going to happen now between you and I?’” She’s quiet now, looking at me defiantly. “You didn’t do this just for me, did you? Because if you did—”

I cut her off. “No, I didn’t do it just for you. But I won’t lie; the thing running through my head as I was sitting in that meeting was what will Ronnie think of me?” I take her hands in mine. “Ronnie, you are the thing that has made this all worthwhile for the last month. You being here, working together; it’s made me feel like there’s a point to it. I’d lost that point. I was just playing for my team, and because I can’t remember how to do anything else. I didn’t realize that until I met you, and I—” I stop, watching her eyes fill with tears. “What is it?”

She shakes her head, and looks away, blinking. “It’s fine.”

I grip her hands harder. “No, it’s not. What the hell’s going on?” I can see her fighting her desire not to be seen crying in front of me. When she looks up, her eyes are clear.

“It’s my parents, Tom. They’ve put their savings into signing up for the bond issue. If it loses money, they’ll lose everything including their house.”

I suck air in through my teeth. “Damn. How did that happen?”

“I don’t know. They never take my advice on things as it is, and this time, I think they assumed that because I was involved, it would all be fine. It sounds crazy, but…” She tails off.

“Okay. Ronnie, it’s going to work out. All we need to do is get through with the deal, and get your parents their money back. We can do it, as long as we work together. Okay?”

She looks up at me. “You’d do that for me?”

“It’s the least I can do for you. You’ve shown me more than I could have ever discovered for myself in years of trying.”

“O-Okay.” She’s quiet for a minute. “Thanks, Tom.”

I lean forward and kiss her forehead again. “It’s what I do, gorgeous. No need to thank me.” I don’t mean to put my hands on her shoulders, but I do it without thinking. She turns her face up to me, and suddenly our lips are very close. I can smell her perfume, and feel her breath on my cheek.

“Tom, you—” Suddenly she’s kissing me again, on the mouth. I hold her as close as I can, and kiss her back. I don’t know what we want from each other at this point, but I know that I want her, more than I’ve wanted anything for as long as I can remember. I pull her up to a standing position and put my arms around her. Her lips are on mine, and her arms are around my neck. My head spins, again, and I can’t hear anything except the sound of her breath. She presses herself into me, and the sensation makes me want to hold her as tight as I can. My hands go down her sides, over her hips, and she shudders with pleasure, hooking one leg around me, kissing me again and again.

What the hell are we doing? I hold on to her, and fight to clear my head. “Ronnie, I—” Dammit. The taste of her lips, and the scent of her this close to me is just too damn good to resist. I spin around and lay her down on my desk with a thump. She looks up at me, eyes hungry with desire.

I take a deep breath. “God, I can’t resist you.” Slowly, very slowly, her lips part, and she runs her tongue over them.

“Kiss me again, Tom.” I can’t stop myself, any more than I could stop the sun rising. I’m lost in her lips, and in her eyes, when through the haze of my own lust, I hear a knock at the door. Shit. Office. That’s right. Uh-oh.

I hurriedly break off the kiss, and Ronnie sits up on the desk. Suddenly the ridiculousness of the situation overcomes me, and I laugh out loud. She tries not to giggle, but she can’t help it, and soon we’re laughing together. The knock sounds again.

“Hold on; I’m on a call.” Yeah, really convincing there, Tom. Ronnie straightens her blouse, and I wink at her. By the time I walk loudly to my desk and back, she’s sitting in one of the chairs quietly taking notes.

I open the door. It’s Mike and Billy. Their eyes go from me to her and back. Billy has a broad grin on his face, and his mouth opens. I manage to convey a look of choose-your-words-carefully, and he closes his mouth again. After a moment, Mike speaks.

“Uh, boss, we’ve got some more data from the last set of simulations, and we think you’ll find it really interesting.”

I cough. “Sure thing, I’ll be with you in a few minutes. Just finishing up here.” Billy’s shoulders are shaking at this point, and I look daggers in his general direction. Just you wait, Flynn.