Climbing the Ladder 5 - Reaching New Heights
Copyright© 2026 by Michael Loucks
Chapter 39: Mr. Market
Fiction Sex Story: Chapter 39: Mr. Market - Jonathan's business life is booming, but he's also suffering from yet another loss. While he's done his best to pick up the pieces of that sundered relationship, he can't help but feel responsible. However, where two close relationships have withered, another blooms. Violet has transitioned from a badly damaged girl to a vibrant woman. Will he continue to climb this ladder, or will there be another ladder to climb in his future? No matter what, the only direction he plans to go is up.
Caution: This Fiction Sex Story contains strong sexual content, including Ma/Fa Workplace
August 15, 1984, Chicago, Illinois
When we landed at Meigs, Noel and I shared a Town Car back to the Hancock Center, though he went straight to the office while I went to the condo. Jessica, who was giving Sofía a bottle, greeted me, and I went upstairs to drop my bags and change into comfortable clothes. When I returned downstairs, Jessica offered me Sofía, and I happily took her so I could finish feeding her.
"I know you're a Reds fan," Jessica said. "Did you hear the news?"
"What news?"
"The Reds traded a player to the Expos for Pete Rose."
"Whoa! That's huge!"
"Even bigger news is the Reds fired their manager, and Rose will be player-manager."
"WOW!" I exclaimed. "Maybe there's some hope for them yet! If you don't mind, I'm going to turn on ESPN and get the details."
"It's your condo!" Jessica exclaimed.
I went to the projection TV and turned it on, switching the cable box to ESPN. It didn't take long to get the news. The Reds had fired Vern Rapp as manager and traded Tom Lawless to Montréal for Rose. The deal had been struck at Major League Baseball's annual Summer meeting and had leaked to the Press almost immediately, even before Vern Rapp could be told.
The biggest challenge facing Rose was not his minor injury, nor his age, but the fact that the Reds were 51–70 and twenty games behind the Padres, who led the National League West. Only the Giants were worse in the National League, at 45–71, and only the Indians were as bad in the American League. The year was a write-off, but I felt Rose had the skills, baseball knowledge, and attitude to turn things around and bring back the glory days of the mid-70s.
That thought caused me to think of Bev and reminisce, recalling watching the Playoffs and World Series with her. I remembered the heartbreak of Game 6 in '75, but the thrill of Game 7, and then, the following year, the sweep of the Phillies in the Playoffs and the sweet, sweet sweep of the Yankees in the World Series. I savored those memories briefly, then turned off the TV and focused on Sofía.
When she finished her bottle, I burped her, then put her down on the rug with her stuffed bunny, rattle, and a small steel mirror in a plastic frame. At four months, she didn't do much, but she did wriggle and turn over, and seemed to be trying to crawl, but she couldn't support herself on her arms just yet.
After about twenty minutes, she put her head down, and it was obvious she was going to fall asleep. I picked her up, carried her upstairs, and put her in her crib. Once she was tucked in, I went back downstairs.
"If you want to take the rest of the afternoon off, that's fine," I said. "I'll sign your timesheet for the full day."
"Thanks! I know you're very busy, and I know you have plans with Jennifer in a few weeks, but if you can see her sooner, I'm sure she'd appreciate it. And no, she didn't ask me to say anything; this is me being a mom!"
I chuckled, "I have one, too, so I know how that works! Unfortunately, I need to go to New York soon, most likely next week. I also have several gatherings, as well as Bears and Cubs tickets. I know I sound as if I'm making excuses, but it really is a bit crazy."
"And I should probably have kept my nose out of it, too."
"Did Bianca tell you that Nicole is moving in this evening?"
"Yes. Nicole brought some things over yesterday and earlier today."
"OK."
"I'll see you tomorrow, then."
"See you!"
She left, and I sat down in the TV area and put on CNN Headline News to see what else might have happened. There wasn't much going on, though the trial of John DeLorean for possessing and distributing cocaine was close to a verdict. I was convinced from everything I had read that the FBI and DEA had engaged in entrapment, and he ought to be exonerated.
The only other news of note was during the sports report, but I already knew about Pete Rose from ESPN. I turned off the TV once I'd given Headline News thirty minutes, and they'd given me the world, as they promised. It wasn't in-depth, but it did hit the major headlines and often had them before any other outlet.
I got up, and it dawned on me that if I didn't speak to a certain young woman before the end of the workday, I'd be in deep trouble. Of course, I'd sent Jessica home, so I had Sofía, who was sleeping, and I didn't want to disturb her. That meant going down to the office was out. Instead, I went over to the phone and dialed Violet's direct line.
"Research Department, Violet Clemmons speaking."
"Kane," I said in my usual way.
"Oh, stop!" she said, laughing. "How about 'Hello, Violet!'?"
"Hello, Violet," I said flatly.
"Ha ha. Where are you?"
"I stopped in to drop off my bags and decided to take over feeding Sofía. I sent Jessica home, and I put Sofía down to sleep so I can't come to the office. I'll be in first thing tomorrow, of course."
"OK. There are no urgent messages for you. How did things go in Florida?"
"Really well, actually. Please keep this to yourself for the moment, but I believe I saved all of the major clients who are in the Arrow Fund."
"Awesome!"
"I'll see you in the morning."
"OK!"
We said goodbye, and I hung up. I grabbed the latest copy of Crain's to read. I finished, then went to start dinner, and CeCi came in a few minutes later.
"Hey," I said.
"Hey!" she exclaimed.
She dropped her bags and hurried to me, throwing her arms around me and giving me a sexy kiss.
"Thank you so much!" she exclaimed.
"You're welcome. Do we know the name of the movie?"
"No. I'll receive a copy of the script by courier the week before the shooting. I'll have to sign for it, and it's numbered."
"Morris Stoller did say it was hush-hush."
"I met him for dinner after the interview. Getting that kind of meeting is almost impossible for someone just starting out, and is probably tougher than meeting John Hughes."
"Glad to be of service!"
"You're the only one I can speak to in any detail, and you know you can't repeat it."
"Morris Stoller was clear about that. What about school?"
"I have a letter from the studio describing the internship, but it doesn't contain even the director's name. I discussed it with my counselor today, and I'll be able to get credit, but even if I didn't, worth it!"
Bianca came in just then.
"Hi!" Bianca exclaimed. "How did it go?"
"Fantastic," I replied. "I believe I have all six major clients staying with the fund, and a couple of them approached me privately about moving their positions to my fund at the end of the year."
"That's awesome!"
"Even better, one of the clients who was in Taylor's fund wants to move his cash to my fund."
"You solicited one of Noel Spurgeon's clients?!" Bianca asked in surprise.
I shook my head, "No. One of the Arrow Fund clients was talking up my presentation, and the other client asked how to move his money. I made it clear to my client that his friend would have to speak to Noel Spurgeon."
"That'll go over like a lead balloon, don't you think?"
"If it's my fund or pull the capital, I'm pretty sure I know how Noel will come down. He has some potentially big clients in play, but I can't discuss them."
"When does Jack come to work for you?"
"Monday. I have to go see Mark Benton tomorrow. Anyway, enough about work. Jessica let me know Nicole had moved in most of her things."
"Yes. She'll be here in about twenty minutes with the last of her clothes and her toiletries."
"Great! Did CeCi share her news?"
"She did! What's for dinner?"
"Pork chops."
"Cool! I take it Sofía is in her crib?"
"Yes. Well, unless she snuck out of the condo while I was watching CNN."
"Give her about thirteen or fourteen years!" Bianca exclaimed mirthfully. "I'll go check on her, change, and be right back down."
I continued working on dinner, and five minutes later, Bianca was back downstairs.
"How was the action?" Bianca asked with a smirk.
"There were plenty of available college girls," I replied. "And clients took full advantage. I actually saw Noel Spurgeon with underage girls, and so did clients. That concerns me because, at some point, that's going to bite us all in the ass."
"If you truly believe that, then it's time to get out," Bianca said.
I shook my head, "No, it's time to prepare and ensure we have an exit strategy. Noel still holds most of the cards. That said, if something happened to him, I could absolutely continue running my fund. I'd need you, Jack, Violet, someone like Joel Steinem, and someone like Kendall Roy. The six of us, plus an attorney, could do it, so long as at least $300 million in AUM went with us, though I'd be more comfortable at $400 million."
"How do you get out?"
"The only way would be for me to have something I could use as leverage, and right now, that's zilch. You know I'm taking steps to ensure I have wealth outside Spurgeon, which most guys don't do, except for their house and cars, and mostly that's leveraged, so they would be in trouble if something happened at Spurgeon. Let's focus on building my AUM and see what happens. I'll also point out something you might not be considering."
"What?"
"All of the work you're doing belongs to Spurgeon Capital. It's their intellectual property. You wouldn't be able to take so much as a printout with you if you left. Think about how much work you would need to do to be able to create all new programs from scratch, not to mention the time needed to acquire the equipment, and so on."
"Unfortunately, you're making good points."
"So, we continue as we are, but do everything we're able to do to ensure our ducks are in a row."
The door opened, and Nicole came into the condo.
"Hi!" she exclaimed. "I'm home!"
I chuckled and greeted her. She walked over and handed me an envelope.
"From my dad," she said. "He'll mail a check once a month going forward."
"Thanks. I hope Bianca indicated you should treat the condo as yours, and you don't need my permission for anything. Please check and honor the calendar. The only hard and fast rules with no exceptions are no drugs and respect the privacy of bedrooms."
"Bianca let me know. None of our friends do drugs, so I don't think it's a concern."
"All it takes is one. If you see it, politely ask them to leave and don't invite them again."
"No problem!"
I returned to making dinner, and a few minutes later, the doorman buzzed to let me know that Erin had arrived. I had him send her up, and three minutes later, she came in the door. I greeted her with a quick kiss, then went back to making dinner.
I served dinner about fifteen minutes later, and after dinner, Nicole and Bianca cleaned up. We had a nice evening together as a group, and around 10:00pm, Erin and I went up to my room to go to bed.
August 16, 1984, Chicago, Illinois
Erin had done her best to wear me out the previous night and insisted on a vigorous fuck on Thursday morning before we showered and ate breakfast. When she left, I headed to the office, as it was going to be a busy day. I checked in with Rich, made coffee, then went to my desk.
There were no urgent messages, so the first thing I did was review the previous days' analyst reports, for which Tony had written my usual sections. They were high-quality, as I expected, and once I finished reviewing them, I began reviewing overnight headlines.
I did set that aside briefly so I could call Mark Benton and arrange to meet him at 11:00am at the CBOT. I was sure he knew why I wanted to speak with him, given Noel had let me know he'd cleared Jack joining my pseudo trading desk. I would need to figure out where Jack would sit, as he would spend a lot of time on the phone.
Tony stuck his head in to say 'hi', and we chatted briefly, but then he went to his desk to work on his daily updates to the technology report, and Violet arrived a few minutes later. I had just finished my report when my phone rang.
"Research; Kane."
"Noel. Come see me."
"Be right up."
I let Violet know I was going up to see Mr. Spurgeon, then took the elevator up to 32. Cheryl sent me right in, and Noel nodded for me to close the door.
"Explain why I just had a call from Clark Becket, who wants to transfer his money to the Cincinnatus Fund."
"He and Steve Harrington are friends," I replied. "I do not know what was said between them, but Steve Harrington asked what it would take for someone who had been in the Wabash Street Fund to move their money to my fund. I said it would require a call to you and would need your approval. I didn't speak directly to Mr. Becket, nor solicit anything from him."
Noel frowned, "He made it clear that either he moves his money to your fund or he's pulling it. Did anyone else approach you or ask about moving money?"
"Some of the Arrow Fund clients asked if it would be possible to simply have their positions move to my fund. I explained that doing so would force them to book a loss, and it made no sense. I advised them to stay in the Arrow Fund, at least through the end of the year."
"That's not your AUM, Kane."
"No, but it is their money," I said firmly. "In the end, it's up to them."
"While that's true, that's not what I instructed you to do."
"You're right, and I didn't do it. It's what they did after I made the pitch exactly as you and I agreed. I didn't solicit them to move their money. I made it clear that the Arrow Fund would not be liquidated, and that I was managing the fund on your behalf, as it's registered in your name. I assured them that it would, as you and I discussed, return to its former risk profile and asset allocation rules as of January 1st."
"You're awfully close to the line, Kane."
"I'm not even sure what that means. If you don't want them to transfer their funds, tell them 'no', and we'll find AUM elsewhere if they follow through on what you obviously perceive as their threats. I don't see it that way."
"How do you see it?"
"That our business is about only one thing – trust. Yes, we measure performance against the market and make all manner of carefully worded claims to avoid violating regs, but in the end, the only thing we have is trust. That means we have to trust our clients as much as they trust us. Once they stop trusting us, no level of return will keep them from leaving.
"Ultimately, it comes down to whether or not total firm AUM means more to you than your personal AUM. Only you can judge, and I can see that argument cutting either way. The risk is that anyone who pulls their money tells others that they've done so, which creates further obstacles to raising capital. I know almost nothing about your cap raise from the Gulf States, but you do have to consider they might hear of capital being pulled, and that might give them pause."
"It sounds as if you think I should just let you walk away with that AUM."
"Who's walking away?" I asked. "I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. The AUM will still be Spurgeon AUM, and you'll still receive your cut, so to speak. If you want a bigger taste because money is being moved from other funds, let's talk about that. The only measuring contest I'm concerned about is annual fund performance. You'll call this heresy or something, but I make plenty of money as it is, so giving up a few points isn't going to cause me to lose sleep or be upset in any way."
"Blasphemy more than heresy," Noel replied with a slight smile. "Do you think my concern is about money?"
"It's always about money! It's a question of which pie we're discussing and how we divide it. I'm absolutely positive you'll compensate me at a level that will make me happy, so why let that come between us? If I'm totally misreading you, please let me know. In the end, my goal is to further the firm's best interests. The rewards will come, as you've shown me over the past three years."
"I don't believe you actively solicited funds, but you know the rules."
"I do. May I make an observation?"
"What?"
"While getting everyone together in Boca was a good idea, it created the conditions to cause the situation we're discussing. It was an unintended consequence, to be sure, but, in hindsight, not a surprising one. Fortunately, this is a unique situation, unlikely to occur again anytime soon."
"Are you implying it was a mistake?" Noel asked.
"No. I'm simply saying that there are things over which we have no control, and those men talking to each other was one of those things. Honestly, the gathering worked well, except for the tension it seems to have created between you and me."
"And the AUM I expect to be pulled by unhappy clients. Your analysis is accurate, as always. I want to keep the AUM in-house, so I'll allow the transfer."
That would add about $60 million to the Cincinnatus Fund, increasing my AUM to $335 million. If the other Arrow clients were allowed to move their funds at the end of the year, I'd be close to $500 million, and my compensation would be close to a million dollars in 1985, not counting my carried interest.
"I do believe it's in our best interest to keep as much of that AUM as possible, even if it's not necessarily on your preferred terms. 1985 is likely to be a blowout year, and the returns from that AUM we keep will be tremendous. I do have one question."
"What's that?" Noel asked.
"I'm seeing Mark Benton at 11:00am, and I'll speak to Jack as well. Where is Jack going to sit? I think sitting in the Research bullpen would disturb the team's work."
"Take Fletcher's old space on 31. You can use Fletcher's office when you see fit, and Jack can sit where Paulsen or Caruthers sat."
"At this point, I think I'd mostly stay with the Research team, but having access to regular offices is nice. Thank you. I had expected you to bring in someone to run a new desk. Are you not doing that?"
"One, not two. This is on the QT, but I have a guy coming from a boutique firm and bringing $375 million in AUM with him. He'll move as of October 1st, and he'll take Taylor's space."
"Is it safe to assume he's bringing a team with him?"
"It is. He has an analyst, but I don't believe you have a spot for one."
"No. The two spots we're filling are for data analysts. We're good in terms of research analysts. And, as you know, the data analysis feeds into and from the research analysts. And mum's the word."
"Dismissed, Kane."
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