Chapter 73

Ross Curran and Selena Hanson both greeted Deneigh and entered the door into the Great Room. Ross quickly turned and questioned her.

"Does Joe have any connections at Galaxy? Did you discuss it?"

"Only briefly. I mentioned that I was debriefed by the FBI and had denied his knowledge. He was wracking his brain to see if he did know anyone at Galaxy and I told him to stop and shut up." She said with a little grin.

"That was a good plan. If ANYTHING comes up later and you try to convince them you never said a thing to him about it, they'll doubt you greatly. Interrogation by the FBI isn't exactly an everyday thing. We'll meet this morning to be sure all of us, Deneigh included, are aware." Ross said as he went into his office and Selena went onto hers.

When she flipped on her screens the morning business news was all about Galaxy. There was a retired Federal Judge and others describing the kind of fines and jail time that would be involved if the whole story were true. There would be repercussions in the financial world as investigations got deeper trying to find where it all started.

Reality began to creep back into Selena's day as the markets opened and the weekend faded. She had done a good job of turning off that part of her life to live and relish her "real" life. Once she got through her first cup of coffee and heard the call for a gathering of all partners she was in work mode and her quest was once again on.

Ross Curran called order and quickly turned to Charles Ford.

"Mr. Ford, I believe you have heard some news that will pertain to some of us individually and to WSGG as a group."

"Thank you Mr. Curran. You all may or may not know the whole story on the Galaxy scandal. Just to catch everyone up, a principle at Galaxy called here the morning after the story aired and fed us information that exposed the scandals depth. We had no prior or existing knowledge except for the fact we have members who were invested in it and had recommended it from time to time. He called here because we are the WORD in the financial world. That should be a feather in our cap and a testament to Miss Hansons credibility as a spokesperson for us. The fellow who called here was a "fan". Unfortunately the FBI didn't think it was our good name or reputation that merited the call, they thought it was our involvement that warranted the call. That has since been squashed, but I have to tell you that our legal team did not think we would be totally out of the woods and that our name might suffer." Mr. Ford said pausing to shuffle some papers.

"However," He said pausing to smile a bit, "Someone at the network, as well as some one at the FDA, and someone with Galaxy have made the FBI's job a little easier. As indictments were beginning to fly about, we have people who have flipped over and will testify for lighter sentences or immunity from prosecution. This is inside information that cannot leave this room until it has become public. I know that the 3 involved are protected at this time and one doesn't know of the other. My guess is that the whole thing will fall apart within hours. I only tell you this to make sure this whole thing does not taint any decisions you make during the day. The government knows that public doubt of the FDA and Galaxy could jeopardize health and health decisions and they will get this information out there as soon as they can. They just have to be sure the case has been made."

"Should we advise against any movement in Galaxy stock?" Slim Beepo asked.

"I think any questions about Galaxy buys or sells should be answered by just saying to wait until it blows over. They've been trusted investments before and will likely be again. Patience. If pressed, just repeat our position."

Selena made eye contact with Slim for the first time as he asked his question and he winked at her when they connected during Fords answer. She took that to mean all was fine with he and Shelley. She and Joe had left them on their own during this new period for them. Zoot The only fear they had was that their relationship wouldn't work out making friendly gatherings uncomfortable when both were invited. Selena thought they had it made and the discovery period was behind them. She just feared that Shelley might not handle the list of old lovers that crop up when you get involved with a player. She hoped she had faith in the fact that Slim had changed.

"I should add ", Ross Curran added, "Any questions about Galaxy other than advise on investments should be forwarded to our legal team, specifically Will Herzog. Do not assume any question or statement is harmless until we are totally out of the woods on this. Mr. Ford seems to think we will get a clean bill from the FBI, but let's not assume anything.

At that moment the private line buzzed and Deneigh answered it remotely, just turning her head away from the meeting. She looked back at everyone and then singled Ross Curran out.

"Mr. Curran, Mr. Herzog for you, red flag." She said in her interoffice code.

Red flag meant that any meeting would stop for his call.

Ross picked up the phone nodding his head yes over and over to the caller. When he finally hung up he looked about the whole table and smiled.

"This was quick, but Dr. Gaiters has been totally cleared of anything, thus letting WSGG off the hook altogether. Our fear was that Gaiters would have to turn States evidence before he would get cleared. Then we would have had to be involved. Still nothing mentioned outside of here until you read it in a newspaper. No radio or Internet. Herzog is trying to get a statement from the FBI totally exonerating us, and especially Miss Hanson, saying the questioning was simply perfunctory in light of hearsay by a witness not yet deposed. The fact was that Dale Gaiters was a fan of Miss Hanson and WSGG and when he thought of trying to contact someone in the world of finance, we were number one on his list."

"Miss Hanson?" Willis Menard said, "How do you have fans, and I don't?"

The entire room chuckled in a show of levity that was quite uncommon. Selena blushed and winked at him, answering, "Just how do you know that I'm not a fan of yours?"

The chuckles continued until Ross Curran lightly tapped the gavel and declared the meeting over saying they would convene as normal later unless something came up.

Selena followed Will to his office and just before he closed he door she tapped him on the shoulder.

"Thank you for injecting the humor into the situation, and you know I happen to like older experienced men, especially those involved in the markets." She said grinning.

"Miss Hanson, if you think that your beauty is dismissed here for one second you are wrong. When we recruited you, you were simply a name on a page to take part in an experiment. When we first spoke to you, you appeared to be an average teenage girl. Our experiment was a huge success and you've grown into a very attractive woman, as I'm sure you know. If you think that your presence harms our image in any way, you are quite mistaken. The mere fact that Dr. Gaiters didn't peruse the Wall Street Journal or Barron's to find a hot button to push speaks volumes. I too, am a fan of yours. What I like about you best is that your brilliance for this field is not overshadowed or masked by your beauty and personality." Will Menard said without skipping a beat or pause to reflect. It came straight from his heart.

Selena hugged Will and squeezed his hand as she was choked up with a lump in her throat. She smiled at him and closed his door and headed for her own lair. Once inside she let go of her emotions and cried tears of pride and joy. She was well aware of her accomplishments and personally satisfied by them, but to hear those words from someone in the business world as revered and well-known as Willis Menard humbled her greatly.

She had barely composed herself when her intercom rang. It was Slim.

"Hi, we didn't know you were both taking off for the weekend." He said greeting her.

"We had to get out for a day or two, and we figured you two wanted alone time."

"Yes, we had a great weekend too. Her hours are a little crazy as she gets into all the jobs and starts to establish herself."

"Well, once you get settled in and she has a night off we'll have you over for dinner. Let us know." Selena said hanging up.

She didn't mean to be abrupt but she wanted to be sure they got into togetherness routines. She feared Slim and Shelley would try and spend too much time with them initially when they should be breeding their own familiarity habits. It was something she and Joe had discussed and both agreed to.

In moments the intercom rang again with Deneigh calling.

"Can we meet for a drink or coffee after work today? I have to talk to someone and really hope it can be you." She asked.

"Uhh, wha... Why SURE Deneigh. Is everything OK?"

"Yes, pretty much, I just need some advice and encouragement. I would really like it if it cam from you." She replied.

"OK, we'll set it up as I'm leaving." Selena said hanging up.

"Dear Abby, Dear Abby, My feet are too long." She sung to herself in jest, remembering the words to the John Prine song. My God when did I hang out a sign for advice and a good ear for the lovelorn." She wondered.

She quickly erased all thoughts and locked her eyes to the screens before her on her desk and mounted on the wall, checking news, quotes, and activity. She liked reading the all activity chart because it fed her mind with unlikely probabilities. It had become her sort of "specialty" because of her quick mind and rapid deduction. After a few minutes of the scroll she went to her keyboard and started back checking some sales and trades. She started scribbling numbers on a yellow pad and doing a rough pen chart.

She picked up her phone a paged J. Trace Fountain.

"Jay, you have a handle on oil, am I missing something? Venezuela is selling millions of barrels out there to smaller refinery's, borderline third world."

"They sell to a lot of buyers no one else will sell to. We seem to think they are getting paid in gold up front."

"But Jay, where is the oil going? These countries where I'm looking still show shortages and unbelievable prices. Yet, China and a couple of old Soviet Republics are buying next to none. Could they be trading out the back door? I know there's little we can do about it, but if they ARE doing that the major oil companies will make sure the Venezuelan owned company's here are exposed, wouldn't you think? I'm not really sure if there's anything here that will affect markets, unless some of these places are stock piling in advent of war or known shortages. The Saudi's have already set a world standard of $30 a barrel." Selena worried.

"I have people tell me that by 2005 it will be $50 and as high as $80 in 2010. I don't think the Russians or the Chinese can refine it fast enough to make a difference in their economies. I doubt if you're the only one who's picked up on this trend, but I'm not sure if American based companies want to hurt foreign competitors too badly. They all may end up buying from the same source. Oil could be a mess." Fountain predicted.

"Well, I just saw these blips and thought they might mean something. Thank you for the information." She said hanging up.

A knock came to Selena's door and it opened for Deneigh.

"Miss Hanson, I have the profiles for the one on ones scheduled for this morning. They are both premier members with less than 36 months until retirement. They each had the same folders faxed to them last night so you can work page to page." Deneigh said preparing Selena for requested one on one consultations each of them did daily. While the 5 original partners had many "regulars" Selena was just building her clientele.

"Deneigh is there anything we can talk about HERE. I know you wanted to meet later, but I really am pressed for time today. Perhaps if the pool could cover the phones you could sit in on the one on ones and we could talk in between. You might learn something in here and I'm sure the rest of my partners would go along." Selena suggested.

"Let me call the pool and see if I can switch them over. If I can I'll send a text to everyone." Deneigh said closing the door.

Selena thumbed through the profiles and quickly went about back checking stocks and investments. For their own Premier members they made suggestions and plotted positions where they thought they might be and how they might arrive where they should be. They never actually made any actual buys or sells. They were not in that business.

After a few minutes the text message popped up that Miss Myersen would be sitting in on a customer conference and the phones would be answered by the service. A light knock came to Selena's door and Deneigh slipped in.

"Miss Hanson, um Selena, I know." She said nervously. "I have something to tell umm, SOMEONE that I guess I just have to get out in the open. I would really like to know if, after hearing when I have to say, I should continue my quest to eventually take a seat here if I am deemed qualified. I don't want to get my hopes and dreams up and them have them dashed again. My relationship with Robben made me think I was set for life and although I worked hard each and every day, I could have made more effort to improve myself."

Deneigh's eyes began to well up and she looked at Selena.

"I did something stupid not long ago. I got drunk with a colleague and seduced him, not in the hope of starting a relationship, but just to satisfy my own urges. Now he knows I'm just a slut, at least when I drink I... I..." She started to say before breaking down.

Selena got up from her chair and went to Deneigh's side.

"Deneigh please try and control yourself and stop being so hard on your self. Whether you know it or not you've already identified your real problem, and that's the drinking. If you act irrationally when you drink, and apparently you seem to think you do, that's where the problem is to be nipped. Now the colleague, does he know it meant nothing to you and is he trying to pursue you?" Selena said with firmness and an unspoken understanding.

Deneigh blew her nose and swallowed, trying to compose herself.

"No he isn't pursuing me, and I have no real interest in him, but he seems to be avoiding me in casual settings. Well SHIT, I have to tell you. It was Slim. We both got drunk and stupid, except when I get loaded like that I just do things that a nice woman doesn't do. I left no stone unturned with him that night and I seemed fine with it, as did he. In school now we've spent a long time on integrity and I'm realizing that if I do stay here and eventually become some sort of partner he may be able to hang that over me. At least I know when he looks at me can he take me seriously or will he discount my thoughts because of what I did? Have I screwed this up so badly that I should... " She said before crying again.

"First of all," She said stroking her shoulder, "Slim isn't that kind of person, secondly he is now engaged and I'm sure if he had a "thing" for you, it has passed. He's pretty committed to a woman. If this was something that was simply an office affair I would assume it has been dropped and forgotten. Who made the rule that YOU are the one to feel guilty over this? You're both at fault; both can share the guilt. Let me tell you that avoiding these situations is paramount. You certainly are not the first person to get a little drunk and do something regrettable. Socially, why a man seems the hero and the woman is shamed is beyond me. Let me tell you that Slim was engaged before and Joe was one of his best friends and HE KNEW I was seeing Joe and tried to hit on me on the phone. He later got burnt big time and learned some lessons about two-timing and running around. Deneigh, I'VE made big mistakes and done stupid things while over indulging, and have regretted them later. My problems, and your problems in this case, are shared with the other person if there is any steam rising from this. If you think Slim is avoiding you over it, confront him. I'm sure its mostly embarrassment over it. So now, please compose yourself so we can talk to these clients. The guilt and blow to your self-esteem is much more than you should make of this. It's a blip and a blemish that time will heal, I promise you. Yes, integrity is the foremost quality you can have in what we do, but a random roll in the hay should not enter into any decisions you'll make in the future. Just be sure you stay out of situations with people you work OR deal with."

"You haven't told me anything I probably didn't know, but coming from you it means a lot more than hearing it from my conscience. I may never drink again. I was hoping you would scold me for being so stupid. I know I could trust you and I was freaking out."

"Self-control, Deneigh, Self-control. Know your limits."

Selena sat and waited for her to get put together, emotionally. When she was satisfied she picked up the first profile.

"Here we have a couple beginning to look for a retirement home and wanting to draw off some investments for a down payment. They both turned 60 in the last year and want to draw off their 401K and stocks to put money into a place they can live when they turn 62. Their current home has way over 100K in equity, but with the housing market a little volatile we'll use 100K. They WANT to keep this home, but once we get done here we'll probably recommend they sell when the market is right. Owning 2 homes you live in is not good for taxes unless you have the shelters and they don't have them right now. Now their goal is to be able to pull out 150 to 200K from no penalty 401K's to pay half down on a retirement home. The goal we want to set for them is to be able to sell selected stocks and cash muni bonds to invest in money markets that might pay more than those are earning right now. The closer you get to retirement, the less risk you can handle. Plus you want to have money markets that roll X amount of dollars each month to supplement and take the place of your income as well as divesting stocks to cash as they grow older. To plan 10 years into the future on something possibly worth zero is not wise, but with blue chips it's a safe bet as long as it will amount to less that 50% of your monthly income."

Selena paused and looked to Deneigh and was surprised to see she had absorbed her words and was not glassy eyed and lost. Deneigh wanted to be sure she understood, asking, "So when they actually retire and have no working income coming in they want to continue to live at the level they are currently accustomed. They can accomplish that by selling stocks piecemeal, defined by risk, buying money markets now on a rolling schedule so they begin coming due upon retirement, skimming the interest and reinvesting them?"

"Basically, yes, in their case, but it's not as simple as I've made it. You have the matrix, now we have to color it for them. This is a scenario NOT typical as you will see as we get deeper. We'll run numbers and then conference-call them so the husband, the wife and I are all talking together as I run down the basics with ballpark numbers tossed in. Then they call us back and show us where our numbers don't fit with their plans. People often over plan for their basic needs. You might plan on 100 dollars spending money for the week as you work, but if you were home, "retired", you wouldn't require that amount most weeks, but it might even out over a year. That's where flex has to be built in. No one who works all his or her life to retire wants to hear the words "fixed income". Now I'm ready to call them as per the schedule we set up. Let's hope they are waiting."

Selena dialed through and told them an "intern" was sitting in and she went through the basics with them. The process had begun and a follow-up call was scheduled for Tuesday. As soon as she closed the book on the first one on one, she opened the second and went through an entirely different situation.

For about an hour Deneigh sat, listened, and took notes and passed notes to Selena with questions during the interviews. It was more educational than she ever thought it might be, and even Selena told her that she would run her final thoughts past one of the other principles before she presented her plan.

Once Deneigh got back to her desk she picked up the phones and relayed messages, one from Joe for Selena.

She called back right away.

"You rang, sweets?" She asked

"Yes, you were on a call so important I couldn't interrupt?" He countered.

"Well, to the service, yes. They are not physically in the building and I show as "in conference". Anyway, what gives?"

"Suppose I told you I had an inside track on retirement homes for us, NOW?" He asked.

"What good do they do us NOW?"

"Well, it could, and would, represent a huge savings to us, figuring that real estate will only go up. A broker we've dealt with before, Gordon Phelan, the one who brokered the Radley house for us, called me when an estate came across his brothers desk that this particular family wants to settle quickly on. The guy was a widower and died with his dog in a car accident. Apparently the 2 sons and daughter want to settle fast. There is a home with an acre and half in Maine on the ocean, on Nubble Road in York, past the lighthouse across from Brian's Ocean Ice Cream. You know where that is, right?"

"Exactly, very good choice."

"Wait, there's more. It's three full landscaped acres with three thousand square feet of house, fairly new in Estero, Florida. Remember the place where we went to visit on the way home from Tampa when we had to drive to Huntsville get the private jet after the hurricane?"

"Yes, I remember that place because of the school system. Your friend had 3 in school and he bragged about how back to basics they were, that place, right?"

"That's EXACTLY it. The area was awesome and out of hurricane alley." Joe said, happy she remembered.

"Plus there is a third residence in Freeport on the Grand Bahama Island. He hasn't lived there since his wife passed and it's been let with an overseer since."

"Joe, THREE homes? I hope we're buying an airplane too."

"They could all be investments and nothing more, but I think the opportunity and the price are rare and we should look at them." Joe advised her.

"Listen, I have a lot going on here, can we talk about it later?"

"I just need you to tell me we can meet downtown with this guy tomorrow morning. It's on Vesey, we can have you at the office by 10. He's flying out at noon so it just can't be a long meeting. He has walk through video of all three that he took himself and wants a tentative commitment and $5000 deposit if we like it."

"JOE! This is way too fast! Did he give you a price?"

"Essy, the family will settle out for 10 million. We can come up with that, you know. It would be 11 once he gets his fees, but I think we could sell any two for that. They want to move fast. It's well worth the look baby." Joe assured her.

"I can tell them I'll be a couple hours late. I'll just have to reschedule my one on one follow-up. Either we're both crazy and a lot more in love than is possible. I'm not 25 yet and looking at 3 retirement houses." She said to him, smiling to herself.

"Remember, I have to make love to you in every room of every house too. That's worth the money alone. I'll make the appointment." Joe said.

"Just call Deneigh back with the time and place with a number where I can be reached in case they have to find me. I'll see you when I get home. I love you!" She said hanging up.

She spent the rest of the morning watching stocks and relevant funds and starting an article for the weekly newsletter. She had just got off the phone with Alexis about meeting for lunch when a knock came to her door and Will Herzog came through with Ross Curran.

"On no, this isn't Galaxy again is it?" She said fearing something had happened.

"No, no Miss Hanson. Mr. Herzog was just coming to town for a meeting and stopped to give you some good news. They've checked out your offer to do the stock report on a fill-in basis and cannot find a problem with it. The only thing would be to be sure that it wasn't construed as being sponsored or endorsed by Wall Street Global Group. Could you get a sample of how you would do one and bring it to them." Ross Curran happily told her.

"The Legal team and myself would just like to see one in case a question did arise so we could say, "we saw one". This protects you and us. Do you thinks that's possible?" Will Herzog said.

"Yes, I don't see why not. I'll get a copy of the one I did the other night, or maybe do a new one for you, but I bet I'll be able to get it tomorrow night, maybe even tonight. I live across from the studio." Selena said getting excited about the prospect of it all.

"We'll also need a list of stations that Fox Financial News Network broadcasts on and affiliates they syndicate the feed to. I'm pretty sure that's all part of the package you'll sign releases on. Here's my card for you to give to whomever you have to speak with." Herzog said handing her his card.

"You know, my only contact right now is Alexis Konsantakis who does it regularly, but we're having lunch in a few minutes." Selena told him as she stood. "I'll have her contact them and see when I might start and get details."

It was a wonderful day in Manhattan and as soon as she hit the streets to meet Alexis she was so glad to be alive, be successful, be in love and to have just been home with family and friends. Life was truly good.

Alexis was just coming out of her building when Selena walked up.

"Hey there, I got your usual for you if that's OK. You were a couple minutes late and I called to remind you, but your secretary said you were on your way." Alexis said as she gave her an air kiss.

"Ooooo NOOOOOO, Do not call Deneigh a secretary. She's doing 30 hours of night class a week and studying her butt off to become a limited partner if she can cut it. She does a lot of secretary duties, but a lot of that classifies as work-study, and internship. She would never say anything, but I know how hard she works, how much she saves up and how much of her life she has given up to do this." Selena said defending Deneigh.

"Wow, a worker, huh? She wants to be a queen bee too?"

"Mmmm, not sure what she really wants to end up as, but I'll tell you she gave up a real hunky guy who has a 6 figure job overseas who wanted her to join him. We pay her well and will begin subsidizing her school once she shows us some grades. But, enough about her; I got legal clearance to be your sub. Cool or what?" Selena said happy to tell her.

"Oh thank GOD! I'm finally going to get some days off. Can you work tonight? Hahahahahaha, I'm not too anxious, huh?" Alexis bubbled.

"I have to get your people to call my people, (ha - I always wanted to say that!) and send them a typical tape of me doing a broadcast, plus a station and affiliate list." Selena said taking a bite of her sandwich and settling on a bench in the brick lined alcove.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, the same stuff I had to get for "legal" at Beane Wittier. We can do that tonight if you want. Maybe you can work for me tomorrow, seriously! It's slow trading right now as the fall sets in. You want to try it?" She asked.

"As long as they give me the big OK. I have our lawyers card to give to Manny." She said pulling it from her clutch

"Don't worry, they'll OK you. It's all formality. Manny will call them tonight. If you didn't get an agent you can call mine, Matt Jarvis. The deal is pretty standard, 10% right off the top before they take out taxes. It's never upfront. Matt is pretty cool and handles mostly situations like this. If you really want him to find other work for you he can look, but he'll tell you that unless you want to take off your clothes, non-experienced "actresses" like us can find little. Unless you write your own copy, or have a say in the content we aren't classified as "news people". Matter of fact, I'll call Manny with this number and maybe get the ball rolling." Alexis said anxious to get a night off.

"If I call your agent do I need to negotiate with him or... "

"Just tell him you're reading for FNN with a standard open deal. He'll mail you a contract or maybe even show up tonight if he wants a picture." Alexis said.

"You seem to know a lot about the process."

"Ummmm, he hung around a lot when I first started, thinking he could help me out, you know, getting started. I finally let him know that I was just going to be a newsreader and nothing more. Manny got involved and told him that I couldn't do anything to jeopardize the standards of Fox or FNN and it was an exclusive standard deal. Since then he's been a dear. You'll see the little things he does." Alexis told her between bites of her lunch.

"Sounds like he hit on you, being new and all." Selena said trusting her instincts.

"Well, yeah, he did, but I wised up before anything happened. Manny saw it coming. He's pretty smart and has been around for a long time in this business as a live set director. He's semi-retired." She confessed.