Chapter 5 How scary can a few numbers be in the first part? -5

Luke Brandon "Rebecca," she said coldly, shaking my hand, "you work for Money Success magazine, don't you?" "Yes." I replied equally coldly. "It's great to have you here today," Alicia said. "I know you reporters are always busy." "Where, where..." I replied, "We want to attend as many press conferences as possible to learn about the industry." I was so satisfied with my answer that I believed it was true. Alicia nodded earnestly, as if everything I said was incredibly important to her. "So, tell me, Rebecca. What do you think of today's news?" She pointed to the copy of the Financial Times I was holding. "It's amazing, don't you think?"

Oh god what is she talking about? "It's really interesting," I said, still smiling, stalling for time.I scanned the room for clues, but found nothing.What happened? Did interest rates go up again or what? "I have to say it's bad news for the business community," Alicia said eagerly, "but of course you have your point." She looked at me, waiting for my answer.I feel my cheeks getting red.How can I get out of this predicament? From today on, I make up my mind that I will read the newspaper every day, and I will never fall into a similar predicament again.

"I agree with you," I finally said, "I think this is very bad news." My throat seemed to be choked.I quickly took a sip of champagne, wishing for an earthquake now. "Did you see it coming?" Alicia said. "I know you journalists are always ahead of the curve." "I... of course I knew it was going to happen," I said, pretty sure I sounded convincing. "And now there are rumors about Scotch Prime and Flagsteve Insurance!" She stared at me intently. "Do you think this is actually going to happen?" "That's...that's hard to say," I replied, taking another swig of champagne.What rumor? Oh God.Why can't she just leave me alone?

Then, I mistakenly glanced at Luke Brandon.He was staring at me with a strange expression on his face.Oh shit! He knows I'm babbling, doesn't he? "Alicia," he interrupted suddenly, "Maggie Stevens is in. Would you..." "Of course," said Alicia, trained like a racehorse, walking steadily toward the door. "And Alicia—" Luke added, turning quickly. "I want to know exactly who made the mess." "Yes." Alicia swallowed, and hurried away. God, he's scary.Now, it's just the two of us.I think it's better to slip away.

"Oh!" I said lightly, "I have to go too, I'm going to..." But Luke Brandon moved closer to me. "SBG announced this morning that they have acquired Rutland Bank," he whispered. Yes, after he said that, I remembered hearing the news on the radio this morning. "I know that," I replied haughtily, "I've seen it in the Financial Times." And before he could say anything else, I walked away to talk to Ellie. The press conference was about to start, and Ellie and I walked sideways to the back and took our seats together.I opened my notebook, wrote "Brandon Communications" at the beginning of a new page, and drew some random flowers on the side.Ellie next to her used her mobile phone to make a call to receive constellation information.

I took a sip of champagne and leaned back in my chair, trying to relax.There isn't much to listen to at press conferences, all the information is on the leaflets, and you can sort out what they said after the fact.In fact, I don't know if anyone would notice if I pulled out a bottle of Hard Candy polish and painted my nails.At this moment, that terrible Alicia suddenly leaned over to me. "Rebecca?" "What's the matter?" I said lazily. "Your call. Your editor in chief." "Philip?" I asked stupidly, as if I had a bunch of editors to choose from.

"Yes." She looked at me like a mentally handicapped person, and then pointed to the phone on the table behind.Ellie gave me a questioning look, and I shrugged back.Philip had never called me at a press conference before. I felt both excited and smug as I walked toward the back of the room.Maybe there's an emergency in the office; maybe he's picked up an incredible piece of news and wants me to fly to New York right away to track it down. "Hello, Philip?" I said into the microphone—and I wished I'd come up with something as domineering and impressive as a simple "yes."

"Listen, Rebecca, I'm sorry to bother you," said Philip, "but I've got another migraine and I'm going home to rest." "Oh." I said confused. "I wonder if you can run an errand for me?" Running errands? Who does he think I am? If he wants someone to buy him paracetamol, he should get a secretary. "I'm not sure," I said despondently, "I can't get away from here either." "After your end, the Social Security Commission will issue its report at five o'clock. Could you stop by and get the report back? You can walk straight from the press conference to Westminster."

What? I stare at the phone in surprise.No, I can't get a damn report.What I want is my VISA card! What I want is my silk scarf! "Could Claire come?" I said. "I want to go back to the office and finish that... "What am I writing this month?" article on property mortgages." "Claire's in town for a briefing, and Westminster is on your way back to trendy Fulham, isn't it?" I lived in Fulham and Philip always joked about it.Just because he lived in Harpenden himself. "You can go there by subway," he said, "get the report and come back by subway."

oh god.I can't think of any way to get out.I closed my eyes and thought quickly in my mind.It takes an hour here; rush back to the office to get the VISA card, go back to Denny and George to buy the silk scarf; rush to Westminster to get the report.Maybe the time is just in time. "Okay," I said, "leave it to me." I returned to my seat and sat down. At this moment, the lights dimmed and the words "Far East Opportunities" appeared on the screen in front of me.What follows is a series of colorful images of Hong Kong, Thailand and other places abroad that always make me want to go on vacation with great anticipation.But today I couldn't relax, and I didn't even laugh at the girl who just arrived at Securities Weekly and was frantically trying to jot down every sentence and maybe ask five questions because she thought she should.I was so worried about that silk scarf.What if I couldn't make it in time? What if someone else bought it for a premium? These worries made me uneasy. Is it possible for Denny and George's silk scarves to be sold to others after negotiating a good price?

When the pictures of Thailand disappeared from the screen and the obnoxious charts began to appear, suddenly, I had a flash of light in my mind.Of course! I can buy that silk scarf with cash.Nobody hates cash.I can withdraw £100 with my bank card, so all I have to do is add another £20 and the scarf is mine! I tore a page out of my notebook and wrote on it: "Can you lend me £20?" and handed the paper to Ellie, who was still furtively listening to her phone! I wondered what the hell she was listening to Something, impossible or something about her zodiac sign, presumably.She looked down at the note, shook her head, and wrote, "I don't have a dime. The damn machine swallowed my card. Currently living on lunch vouchers." Bad luck! After a moment of hesitation, I wrote again: "What about the credit card? I promise to pay you back. And what the hell are you listening to?" I handed her the note and all of a sudden the lights went on.The introduction was over, and I didn't hear a word.As everyone moved around in their seats, a public relations lady began sending out beautifully bound brochures.Ellie finished the call and grinned at me. "Love life predictions," she said, dialing another number, "really accurate!" "It's just nonsense." I shook my head in disappointment. "I can't believe you really believe in all that nonsense. What kind of financial reporter are you?" "Not like," Ellie said, "what about you?" We both giggled until a senior reporter from a national media outlet turned around and gave us a deadly glare. Don't laugh. "Ladies and gentlemen." A harsh voice interrupted us.I looked up and it was Alicia.She is standing at the front of the room.I found out with resentment that her legs were quite beautiful. "As you can see, the Frante Overseas Opportunity Savings Plan represents a brand-new investment method." She looked around for a week, and when she met my eyes, she smiled coldly. "Overseas opportunities?" I whispered to Ellie, pointing at the brochure dismissively. "Fantasy prices would be more appropriate. Do you see what they're asking for?" (I always look at the asking price first, just as I always look at the price tag first when buying something.) Ellie rolled her eyes approvingly, still listening to her phone. "Fullant investment is to increase the value of your assets," Alicia said in that arrogant tone, "Fullant investment can allow you to get more returns." "The more they charge, the more you lose," I said aloud without thinking, and the room burst into laughter.God, this is so embarrassing! Now even Luke Brandon is staring at me.I quickly lowered my head and pretended to be taking notes. However, to be honest, I really don't know why I pretend to be a record? Except for the compliments on the flyers, the rest of the things are not used in our magazines.Advertisements about Frant's investments take up two full pages of our magazine every month.And, since they took Philip on a bizarre investigative trip to Thailand last year - we were not allowed to disagree at all except to sing our praises. Alicia was still talking and I leaned in towards Ellie. "So, listen," I whispered, "can you lend me your credit card?" "My credit card is long gone," Ellie whispered apologetically. "I'm at my overdraft limit. Why else would I be living on free dining coupons?"