‘She’s much older than him. She’s got to be twenty-five at least,’ protested Ian.
‘That’s not much older,’ said Chris. ‘You fancy her, don’t you?’
Ian shrugged. ‘Not really,’ he tried to say casually. ‘She looks OK, I suppose.’
Chris laughed. ‘Poor woman. To have the whole class drooling over her.’
‘She loves it,’ said Ian.
‘You’re probably right.’
Duncan returned to the apartment at about half past eleven that evening. Chris and Ian just happened to be still awake.
‘Well?’ said Chris.
Duncan pulled a beer out of the fridge and leapt on to the sofa, resting his legs on the armrest. ‘She’s gorgeous,’ he said, grinning.
‘And?’ Chris asked.
Duncan opened his beer and took a swig. ‘We’ll see.’
4
‘Carla, have you been listening to anything I have been saying over the last two weeks?’
‘Yes, Mr Professor, I have.’
Waldern was in a bad mood. He had laid into Ian at the start of the class, but Ian had stood up to him well. So Waldern had turned on Carla Morelli, an easier victim.
‘Then you should be able to tell me what a repo is.’
‘OK, OK,’ Carla said. She swallowed. The rest of the class waited. Waldern’s beard was thrust forward, his eyes boring into her. There was silence for several seconds.
Carla mumbled something.
Waldern put his hand up to his ear. ‘I can’t hear you.’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Carla, her voice cracking. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, her voice louder. ‘A repo is when the client gives a bond he does not have to Bloomfield Weiss.’
‘Gives a bond he does not have? What does that mean?’ Waldern said, looking round the class in incredulity. ‘How can you give someone something you don’t have? And in finance no one gives anybody anything. They buy, sell, lend, borrow.’ He was pacing up and down now, enjoying himself. ‘Market participants make money, they invest money, they never give it away.’
Carla reddened. Chris felt sorry for her. Lenka had told him how Carla was finding things very tough. She had had to fire the nanny who was looking after her child, and was at her wits’ end trying to find a replacement. She only understood fifty per cent of what was said in class, and needed to refer constantly to a dictionary when going through the evening’s reading.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I try again. A repo is when the client sells a bond he does not have short—’
‘No, no, no, no, no!’ Waldern’s lips pursed in frustration. ‘Now I’ll ask you my question again. Have you been listening to a word I have been saying over the last two weeks?’
‘I have, Mr Professor,’ said Carla, her lip trembling. ‘But for me it is difficult. My English is not so good.’
‘I will not accept that,’ said Waldern. ‘This is an American bank. If you want to be a professional here, you have to speak English well enough to understand the concepts. It’s a precondition of coming on the training programme. Now, what is a repo?’
Carla sniffed. She opened her mouth. A tear ran down her cheek.
‘A repo is a sale and repurchase agreement,’ said a voice from the other side of the room. The class turned round to look. It was Lenka. ‘One counterparty sells a bond to another counterparty, and agrees to buy it back at a specified future date at a specified price.’
Waldern glowered at Lenka. ‘I was asking Carla here. Please don’t interrupt me.’ He turned back to Carla, whose cheeks were glistening with tears. ‘Now, Carla, why would anyone want to enter into a repo?’
Before Carla could speak, Lenka had answered. ‘It’s a cheap way of borrowing money to finance a holding of bonds. The repo rate is usually lower than money-market rates.’
Waldern spun round. ‘I asked you not to interrupt me. I want Carla here to answer my questions.’
‘You can see she’s in no fit state to answer your questions. So I’ll do it for her,’ said Lenka. ‘What else would you like to know?’
‘I am trying to make a point,’ Waldern muttered through gritted teeth. ‘The point that I expect my students to listen to what I say in class.’
‘You’re trying to make the point that you have absolute power in this classroom and Carla has none.’ This comment came from the back of the class. It was Alex. The class went absolutely still.
Waldern’s face reddened, and he opened his mouth as though to shout, but he thought better of it and closed it again. ‘I decide what happens in this class. And I will not tolerate any questioning of my authority.’
‘That’s clear,’ said Alex. ‘But if you use your power to bully rather than to teach, then your authority loses its legitimacy.’
The accuracy of the statement pierced all of those sitting in the room.
Waldern took a deep breath. ‘Lenka. Alex. Come with me now.’
There was a pause as Lenka and Alex glanced at each other, and then they both stood up and followed Waldern out of the room. As the door closed behind them, the class erupted.
Lenka and Alex were allowed back into the class for the afternoon session, which was a talk by the precious metals group. But they were supposed to see George Calhoun in his office at five fifteen.
The others waited for them in Jerry’s.
‘That was a brave thing they did,’ said Duncan.
‘It was stupid,’ said Ian.
‘No it wasn’t,’ said Chris. ‘Someone had to stand up to Waldern. What he was doing to Carla was unforgivable. They treat us like children, but we’re not. We’re professional people, for God’s sake. It was right that Alex pointed that out.’
‘That was standard Bloomfield Weiss stuff,’ said Ian. ‘Carla’s got to get used to it some time. May as well be now. If she can’t hack it, then she’s better off out of it. Sooner rather than later.’
‘No,’ Chris shook his head. He felt the heat rising to his cheeks. ‘Waldern’s supposed to be teaching us, not insulting us. Alex was right: when he treats people like that, he loses all respect. He’s certainly lost mine.’
‘Then why didn’t you say anything?’ Ian asked.
Chris was silent. He should have said something. He should have supported Lenka and Alex. But he hadn’t. He thought of telling Ian he was too stunned to speak, but he held back. He knew that wasn’t quite true.
‘You didn’t say anything because you didn’t want to risk your job,’ said Ian with a gloating smile.
‘That’s bollocks!’ Chris snapped. But he knew Ian was right. Ian’s smile broadened. ‘You’re a cynical bastard.’
Ian shook his head. ‘I just don’t want to lose my job, the same as you.’
The truth of this remark hurt Chris. He turned to Eric. ‘What do you think, Eric? Should we have said anything?’
Eric paused. ‘Waldern was wrong to do what he did, but challenging him directly like that in class was never going to change the way he behaves. Calhoun will always back up Waldern. He has to.’
‘So Alex should have kept his mouth shut?’ Chris asked.
Eric shrugged. ‘The rest of us did.’
‘Well, I wish I had said something now,’ said Chris.
Duncan raised an arm and waved. ‘Here they are.’
Lenka and Alex saw Duncan’s arm, and threaded their way through the crowd to the table where the others were sitting. They both looked tense.
‘How did it go?’ Duncan asked.
‘We got a grade-A bawling out,’ said Alex. ‘Especially me. But we keep our jobs.’
‘How did you manage that?’ asked Chris.
‘Tom Risman was coming out of Calhoun’s office as we were going in.’