lights at midnight. Everyone else had already turned in.
Not concerned, but curious, and wide awake anyway, James dressed in his sweatshirt and jeans.
Rae was curled up on the couch in black sweats, a book in her lap, a drink beside her on the table.
“Care for some company?”
She looked up, surprised. “Come on in, I didn’t realize you were still up.”
“I could say the same thing about you.”
“Catnap. It’s really annoying to wake up at 3:00 a.m., wide awake. Normally I would find a financial report to read, but the cabin doesn’t run to anything that dry. No use waking up Lace with my restless turning.”
James settled into the chair opposite her. “What did you find?”
She glanced at the spine of the book. “Biomechanics of the Human Hand.”
“I’d say that qualifies as light reading,” James replied, tongue-in-cheek.
“Actually, it’s quite good. Some of their math is wrong, however. I spent twenty minutes looking at their torque calculations because I didn’t understand their answer, only to realize they made a mistake in their math. It makes sense now.”
“Let me guess, you took engineering classes as electives.”
She grinned. “Doesn’t everyone?”
“No,” he replied, chuckling.
It was a nice time to talk, the dead of the night, no hurry to give a fast answer, no reason to break the silence until a new question occurred. Rae asked about the work in Africa, and James relaxed, enjoying the chance to talk about it.
He asked her about work, and while she hesitated to answer at first, she was open and frank in what she said. He had heard Dave and Lace talking, had his conversation with Lace to go on. He knew how hard the past year had been on her. He avoided asking about Leo and she never volunteered his name.
Even so, he learned a lot, both about business and about Rae.
“What are the critical few pieces of information that drive your decisions? The day-to-day trading trends? The company earnings reports? The industry segment? The overall economy?”
“Most of the planning I do is around the company’s ability to increase market share. That’s the critical factor for knowing which companies I want to recommend. The right price to buy is driven by an analysis of the books and the style of management—are they aggressive in growing the business or conservative? How well do they use the assets they have? A company with small reserves but a willingness to use them is invariably a better buy than a company with large reserves that passes up opportunities. When to sell is a crap shoot—I know the fundamentals, but it’s hard to judge how far the market will take a stock that is rising beyond what its fundamentals can support. Invariably, I sell too soon.”
He listened to her, observed her and he realized something. Rae on her own turf, in her domain of expertise, was decisive, clear and confident. She loved the analysis, being able to make the call with confidence, having the facts to make the right decision. Her job perfectly matched her talents and gifts. She was known as one of the best at what she did because she was one of the best—others could only imitate what came to her intuitively, naturally, by instinct.
“No, a red card does not mean it is a diamond,” Rae informed Dave, picking up the cards, overriding his appeal that he had won the hand with a trump card. “A bluff only works if the other person buys it.”
“Face it, Dave, I can read you like an open book. I knew you didn’t have it,” Lace told him, smirking.
“Lace, you can’t be successful all night,” Dave replied, tossing a piece of popcorn at her.
James had figured the bridge game would be a serious event. He should have known better.
The ladies were killing them.
Rae had managed to bluff and win two hands and Lace had just nailed the ladies’ second hand.
Tom, acting as Lace’s partner, finished scoring the hand. “Lace, you really are good.”
“Thank you, Tom,” Lace
Not concerned, but curious, and wide awake anyway, James dressed in his sweatshirt and jeans.
Rae was curled up on the couch in black sweats, a book in her lap, a drink beside her on the table.
“Care for some company?”
She looked up, surprised. “Come on in, I didn’t realize you were still up.”
“I could say the same thing about you.”
“Catnap. It’s really annoying to wake up at 3:00 a.m., wide awake. Normally I would find a financial report to read, but the cabin doesn’t run to anything that dry. No use waking up Lace with my restless turning.”
James settled into the chair opposite her. “What did you find?”
She glanced at the spine of the book. “Biomechanics of the Human Hand.”
“I’d say that qualifies as light reading,” James replied, tongue-in-cheek.
“Actually, it’s quite good. Some of their math is wrong, however. I spent twenty minutes looking at their torque calculations because I didn’t understand their answer, only to realize they made a mistake in their math. It makes sense now.”
“Let me guess, you took engineering classes as electives.”
She grinned. “Doesn’t everyone?”
“No,” he replied, chuckling.
It was a nice time to talk, the dead of the night, no hurry to give a fast answer, no reason to break the silence until a new question occurred. Rae asked about the work in Africa, and James relaxed, enjoying the chance to talk about it.
He asked her about work, and while she hesitated to answer at first, she was open and frank in what she said. He had heard Dave and Lace talking, had his conversation with Lace to go on. He knew how hard the past year had been on her. He avoided asking about Leo and she never volunteered his name.
Even so, he learned a lot, both about business and about Rae.
“What are the critical few pieces of information that drive your decisions? The day-to-day trading trends? The company earnings reports? The industry segment? The overall economy?”
“Most of the planning I do is around the company’s ability to increase market share. That’s the critical factor for knowing which companies I want to recommend. The right price to buy is driven by an analysis of the books and the style of management—are they aggressive in growing the business or conservative? How well do they use the assets they have? A company with small reserves but a willingness to use them is invariably a better buy than a company with large reserves that passes up opportunities. When to sell is a crap shoot—I know the fundamentals, but it’s hard to judge how far the market will take a stock that is rising beyond what its fundamentals can support. Invariably, I sell too soon.”
He listened to her, observed her and he realized something. Rae on her own turf, in her domain of expertise, was decisive, clear and confident. She loved the analysis, being able to make the call with confidence, having the facts to make the right decision. Her job perfectly matched her talents and gifts. She was known as one of the best at what she did because she was one of the best—others could only imitate what came to her intuitively, naturally, by instinct.
“No, a red card does not mean it is a diamond,” Rae informed Dave, picking up the cards, overriding his appeal that he had won the hand with a trump card. “A bluff only works if the other person buys it.”
“Face it, Dave, I can read you like an open book. I knew you didn’t have it,” Lace told him, smirking.
“Lace, you can’t be successful all night,” Dave replied, tossing a piece of popcorn at her.
James had figured the bridge game would be a serious event. He should have known better.
The ladies were killing them.
Rae had managed to bluff and win two hands and Lace had just nailed the ladies’ second hand.
Tom, acting as Lace’s partner, finished scoring the hand. “Lace, you really are good.”
“Thank you, Tom,” Lace
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