Chapter 27: Licensed to Make a Killing

November 15, 1982, Chicago, Illinois

Sandeep walked over to me and handed me an official-looking government envelope.

"Test results?" Jack asked.

"Should be," I replied, and picked up a letter opener.

I sliced open the envelope and extracted a sheet of paper and quickly scanned it.

"I'm licensed!" I declared.

"To make a killing?" Jack asked with a grin.

"Well, it's a Series 3 license, so not yet! The Series 7 exam is next month."

"Then it'll be 'Kane; Jonathan Kane'!" Jack said, trying to imitate Sean Connery.

All the guys laughed.

"Congrats!" Jack said, and all three guys came over to shake my hand and clap me on the back.

"We should go out tonight to celebrate!" Bob suggested.

"I have a date," I replied. "I half-expected the SEC to be less efficient and for 'middle of the month' to mean around the 20th, not precisely the middle of the month!"

"If it's government, 'middle of the month' could mean any day except the 1st or the 30th," Jack declared. "And it wouldn't be the 2nd! You have class tomorrow, so we'll celebrate Friday, if that works."

"It does," I replied. "Let's go to the bar in Bridgeport, where we can get served. I'll check with Stuart to make sure it's cool. Just us? Or dates?"

"Dates are cool," Jack said. "Bob, Sandeep, invite your girlfriends."

That meant I had to decide who to invite, but before that, I needed to let Mr. Nelson and Mr. Matheson know.

"Jack, watch the phones, please," I said.

"On it!" he replied.

I left the mailroom and went to Mr. Nelson's office and handed him the letter verifying I now possessed a Series 3 License.

"Congrats, Kane," Mr. Nelson said. "Have you told Matheson?"

"I felt I should tell you first, given you're my boss. And that's true all the way until February 28th."

"The question is, will Matheson honor that or not?"

"My contract expressly says March 1," I replied. "And I have obligations at least through the end of the year."

"And of course Matheson wouldn't even think about going to the Big Boss to change things, would he now?"

"He might," I replied. "But I'll push back. We have WAY too much work to do between now and the end of February."

"Just don't be surprised if something changes."

"OK. I'm going to go up and see him."

"Congrats again, Kane."

"Thanks."

I left his office and walked to the freight elevator and took it up to 32. I made my way to Mr. Matheson's office and checked with Anna, his new Swedish immigrant secretary, who was even hotter than Haley in Personnel. She said he was available, so I went to his door, which was open, and knocked to get his attention. He turned from his computer terminal and looked up.

"Kane," he said. "Commodore?"

"Commodore," I confirmed.

"You locked in your profit on Chrysler and switched to something with more growth potential. That's a good move, assuming you choose correctly."

"That is the question, isn't it?" I said.

"Why Commodore?"

"It's trading just off last year's high after a three-for-one split," I replied. "I think the new computer they're releasing in January will be a hit, and the price point means they'll sell in volume. They'll have better graphics than RadioShack and be cheaper than Apple. It's a good play, and I think the worst-case scenario is I double my money; best-case is quadruple, or more, but I'll sell at some point after triple, because I'll want to lock in those gains."

"Time frame?"

"Twelve to eighteen months, I expect."

Mr. Matheson nodded, "Tony agrees."

Tony was one of his analysts, who would be the one to show me the ropes, as it were.

"Good to know," I replied. "I assume he did the analysis this morning?"

"Yes, after you called Steinem, he called me. I had Tony do some research and once he had, Steinem, Jackson, and I all bought some."

"Thanks for not frontrunning me," I said with a grin.

"We'd get our asses handed to us, even doing that against someone inside. The best we could do would be a large block trade where we all got the same price, but none of us was buying enough for that to happen, so we bought at market about thirty minutes ago. I take it you didn't come here about that, and that the envelope in your hand is the reason."

I nodded, "I passed the Series 3 licensure exam, and as of today, I am a licensed broker."

"Ask Anna to make a copy of the letter, please. I'll let Noel Spurgeon know, and we'll decide on the timing of the memo. You've kept the promotion to yourself, right?"

"I told my mom, who lives in Goshen, Ohio," I replied. "I doubt a secretary at a High School in a small town in Ohio is going to run into anyone from Spurgeon."

"Probably not, but you never know. In this case, it's cool, and I'd tell my mom, too, even though she lives here in Chicago! But you know the drill on confidential or proprietary information."

"Nobody, not even other trading teams, without express permission from you or Mr. Spurgeon."

"Exactly right. Even moms don't get that information! It's obviously OK to share that you passed the exam, because everyone knows you took it, and the SEC publishes lists. You're set for the Series 7 exam, right?"

"December 8th."

"That one will be a piece of cake for you, given you passed the Series 3 and you've studied the materials we have. What's next?"

"When the time comes, Series 30."

"Branch Manager? Angling for my job?"

"No, but I would hope that when the time comes, I'd have my own team working as part of your larger team."

"Good answer! Have Anna make the copy and I'll be in touch."

"Thank you."

He turned back to his terminal, and I walked out of his office and back to Anna's desk.

"Mr. Matheson would like you to make a copy of this for him, please," I said.

"Right away!" she said in a lilting accent.

If there was ever a reason to want to break my rule, Anna was it. But even as hot as she was, it wouldn't be worth it, and not just because she was very likely screwing Mr. Matheson. Even if she wasn't, after what had happened with Rachel Kealty, I simply wasn't going to take the risk. Haley was less of a risk, but I felt I needed to stick to my guns about 'fishing from the company pier'.

Anna went to the copier, made a copy, and returned the original to me. I thanked her, then left as she went to give the copy to Mr. Matheson. I returned to the mailroom, put the letter into my bag, and resumed work. At 4:30pm, Mr. Matheson called to let me know that a memo announcing my new position would go out on Friday, and I should keep things quiet until then. I thanked him and hung up.

The memo going out on Friday meant the celebration would be about more than just the license, and with the announced promotion, I'd be expected to buy drinks and dinner. I made a mental note to stop at the Automatic Teller to withdraw extra cash for Friday, because I was sure I'd need it! About thirty minutes after the call, Jack and I left the mailroom together.

"What did Matheson say?" Jack asked once we were alone in the elevator together.

"He congratulated me. Now we wait."

"Don't they think there's a risk you'll jump to another firm?"

I pulled the keys to the LeBaron from my pocket and held them up.

"These say 'no'!"

Jack laughed, "I suspect Matheson would put out a hit on you!"

"There are enough Outfit guys around that I'm sure he could! I saw Matheson's new secretary for the first time today."

"You haven't been upstairs in a week?"

"Nope. Last week went smoothly, so I had no reason to go upstairs."

"She's a Miss Universe candidate, for sure! And hotter than Haley!"

"I noticed that," I chuckled. "But you know my personal rule."

"I think it's wise," Jack said. "Kristy has told me some horror stories."

"I bet. And I know a couple in my short time here. Not long after I started, a secretary was canned because she refused to sleep with her boss."

"What I don't get is how Mrs. Peterson puts up with that."

"She wants to keep her high-paying job," I replied. "She's been at Spurgeon for eight years, and hired most of the staff."

"So she's a madam?" Jack asked.

"You said it, not me!" I declared as the doors to the elevator opened at the ground floor."

"See you tomorrow!" Jack said, walking off the elevator.

"See you!" I replied.

The doors slid shut, and the elevator continued down to the loading dock where I got out. I walked to my car, got in, and headed for Loyola to pick up Miranda for our date. When I arrived, she was waiting inside the doors of the dorm because it was cold, but hurried out when she saw my car. She climbed in, leaned over to kiss my cheek, then buckled her seatbelt.

"Chinese, Italian, pizza, or burgers?" I asked.

"Italian," she replied.

"OK. There's a place midway between here and the house. We'll eat there then head to my house. I do need to make a pair of quick phone calls when I get home, so I hope that's OK."

"Of course it's OK! Why wouldn't it be?"

"Because some people might see it as rude," I replied.

"OK, I see your point, but I don't think it's rude. Well, I mean, if you spent hours on the phone and left me twiddling my thumbs, that would be rude."

"That's actually beyond rude and I'd expect you to leave at that point, and wouldn't blame you."

"I dunno," Miranda said mirthfully, "that baseball bat you carry between your legs is worth waiting for! Ellie should have warned us!"

"And that would have made a difference?" I asked.

"Now that you mention it, no, except maybe for Josie. It was wild to see that huge thing of yours go into a girl so small!"

"I'm amazed that three of you were willing to lose your virginity with an audience."

"I don't know about Josie, but for me, seeing other girls do it made me less nervous. And it wasn't just how big you were, but if you think about it, the girl is penetrated, and that's kind of scary."

"I hadn't thought about it from that perspective."

"The same with taking you in my mouth the first time. Thinking about it was a bit scary, but seeing the other girls do it made it seem normal, which I think it is, even if it was a bit scary to think about. If that makes sense."

"I can see that," I replied. "But being a guy, those aren't real concerns. I know some guys are anxious their first time, but mine just kind of happened without even thinking about it."

"Wait!" Miranda protested. "How?"

"My best friend, from the time I was a toddler, was the girl next door. We were friends and as strange as it sounds, I hadn't even thought about it until we were goofing around and ended up in a wrestling match. We'd done that before, but this time, she kissed me and I realized right then and there that my best friend was a sexy girl and five minutes later, we were screwing like bunny rabbits. I didn't have time to be nervous or anxious or anything!"

"That sounds like my cousin," Miranda said. "She and this guy hung out a lot, and she was a total tomboy, then one day when she was fifteen she put on a dress and didn't put her hair in a pony tail because her family was going to a wedding and her mom insisted. Later that day, she ran into the guy. She said his eyes went wide and one thing led to another and she took off the dress!"

"Is it OK to ask what made you wait and why you decided to do it with me?"

"I dated a lot in High School, but never got past second base because I was afraid both of having a dick in me and of getting pregnant. You know Catholics aren't allowed to use birth control, right?"

"I know some Polish dude in Rome says so, but I don't pay any attention to old celibate guys for anything to do with sex!"

"My family takes that seriously, and I have three sisters and two brothers. There was no way I was going to go on the Pill or buy rubbers, because if my parents ever found out, I'd be toast! Not to mention the few girls I knew who had done it all said it wasn't very good. Once I got to Loyola, I met Ellie, and heard her story, which was like the total opposite of the girls in my Catholic High School."

"I thought you guys went to the same High School," I said.

"We did. Kasey and I were close friends, but Ellie was only someone we knew, not someone we hung out with. When we got to Loyola, we started hanging out with her and Meg, and then we met Josie. When Ellie told us about you, Kasey and I decided it would be cool to lose our virginities together. When we asked Ellie about it, Josie said she was interested as well. All three of us went on the Pill at Ellie's advice, and I guess Meg has been on it since she was fourteen or fifteen, but I'm not sure. Can I ask a question?"

"Ask anything you like," I replied. "If I can't answer for some reason, I'll tell you."

"Was your roommate Shelly exaggerating about nine times?"

"No," I replied. "The previous baseball game had nine girls, though given physiology, we used a time limit, and I didn't cum in every girl. I thought Ellie told you about it."

"She did, but she never told us how many girls. I think she was protecting everyone's privacy because she was light on details except for what she did with you and a general comment that the other girls had done the same thing. I mean, it was obvious it was more than three, but she never said how many. And she did mention one girl who could deep throat you and that she had taught herself to do that, too."

"I'm going to guess she gave you tips about giving blowjobs."

"Good guess! I'm happy to do that for you again tonight."

"I will never turn down an opportunity for oral sex," I replied. "Giving or receiving. You taste great, by the way."

"The taste and texture were weird," Miranda said. "But not bad. Just weird. But even weirder was that Ellie told us you were OK with French kissing afterwards. That was something I couldn't even imagine a guy doing, and the two girls I knew who had done that for their boyfriends said the guys wouldn't even kiss them 'good night' after their dates. Meg told us that once she got to college, guys were less grossed out by the idea, but most of the guys in High School wouldn't kiss her until she rinsed her mouth."

"I can relate," I replied. "The first time a girl did that, I didn't like it, and it kind of grossed me out. Later, in the shower, she kissed me without swallowing and I nearly threw up."

"You obviously got over the kissing afterwards part! But not swallowing?"

"Another girl got me past the being totally repulsed part," I replied. "But it's not on my list of favorite things to do."

"You kissed all of us after having your mouth on our pussies, and we didn't object."

"True. And that point was raised by that first girl over the basic kiss afterwards. That's what changed my mind. Well, assuming the girl swallowed. I guess my answer is that I'll do my best to make a girl happy, including that."

"So you would?" Miranda teased.

"If it's important to you, I would."

"It's not, but you realize that you just opened yourself up to being messed with, right?"

"Yes, and I'd greatly appreciate you not spreading that to the other girls. I didn't insist on secrecy beforehand, so I can't do anything now except ask."

Miranda smirked, "And this is where blackmail comes in!"

I laughed, "Cute."

"Uhm, hang on a sec. Would you lick a girl after you came in her?"

"I have," I replied. "Though I tend not to stick my tongue as far in. The important part is just above the entrance."

"You do seem to know your way around female anatomy! But you've had lots of practice with lots of girls, at least according to Ellie and Shelly."

"I've had more than my fair share, I suspect."

"Which explains why you don't have a steady girlfriend!" Miranda declared.

"It's actually more about the logical implications of going steady," I replied. "I'd be happy to have one regular sex partner and that wouldn't make me feel trapped or anything."

"Logical implications?"

"Going steady implies the next steps — engagement, marriage, kids, and grandkids."

"Seriously?"

"Hypothetically speaking, if I asked you to go steady, would you think that meant I planned to break up with you in the future?"

"No, that's not how it works," Miranda said firmly. "I mean, you might break up, but you don't plan to break up."

"So work out the next logical step, then," I replied.

Miranda laughed, "OK, I get your point, but it seems like an extreme position. I mean, you aren't making a lifetime commitment by going steady."

"No, but you are making a commitment to work towards that, with the default being a lifetime commitment. Right?"

"If you use pure logic, yes, A follows B, but people don't think that way."

"Don't they?" I asked. "You said it didn't work that way when I asked about planning to break up. Well, if you aren't planning to break up, then you're planning to stay together. And if you're planning to stay together, then what I said is completely logical."

"So you won't go steady unless you're sure you want to marry someone?"

"No, I won't go steady until I'm ready to make the commitment to try, with the default outcome being marriage."

"I know a lot of girls who wouldn't accept that."

I shrugged, "Then they don't. I just turned twenty, and I'm not ready to think seriously about getting married and having kids. In three or four years, I will be, and then I'll consider a steady, exclusive relationship. I mean, it could also happen naturally, where I'm seeing someone casually and it ends up that way, but even then, I'd be reluctant to make the commitment now. When I'm established, have a relatively secure job that pays well, then I'll be ready."