A Bankers Tale

If you are looking for a quick wham bam thank you Mam story, this won't be for you. It has a slow build so if this is your thing, I hope you enjoy it. Please let me know by leaving comments. Thanks.

It was Sunday and Carol had to pinch herself that she wasn't dreaming as her flight was being called. She rose from the comfy chair that had been her home for the last hour or so in the Business Class lounge at Heathrow Terminal 5. She started walking to her next home; a Business Class seat, upstairs, on the jet that would take her across the Atlantic Ocean to New York.

With her where three people that she would spend nearly all the waking hours with for the next week; Gary, who, like her was a Vice President in his mid 20's at the American Investment Bank they worked for. Then there was Brian who was in his late 30's, a Director at the Bank and then finally there was George, a Managing Director in his mid 50's and head of their department in London.

They were all going to join up with their opposite numbers in the Bank's Head Office in New York to plan and write the sales proposition to beat all sales propositions for an important client. The client was looking for a Bank to help them raise some additional capital to help their expansion plans. The commission the bank would earn would run into $100's of thousands if not millions, so the cost of this trip was peanuts in comparison to the amount the bank could make. It had been explained on numerous occasions this was a must win deal, or, as Gary had called it when discussing it in private with Carol; "A career limiting or enhancing deal depending on how it goes."

Soon sitting in her Business Class seat, Carol enjoyed the offered glass of champagne as she looked at the booklet showing the in-flight entertainment on offer. The last time she had been on a plane she reminded her self was the previous summer when she had been sitting in the back of a "Squeezy Jet" flight to Italy with her boyfriend, who begrudged paying for a lukewarm miniature bottle of white wine.

She must have dozed off, a few glasses of wine in the Business Class lounge and then the champagne had done that, as the next thing she knew the plane was accelerating down the run way en-route to New York.

She couldn't concentrate on any of the films and for a moment considered getting some work notes out; "Surely that's what the others are doing?" she asked herself.

Looking across the spacious cabin she looked for her work colleagues.
Gary seemed to be reading a magazine. She could just see Brian who looked to be asleep with his eye patch on and the seat reclined. She couldn't see George, but he then appeared beside her.

"OK Carol?"

She nodded. "Oh yes, fine thanks George."

"First trip with the Bank isn't it?"

"Yes, and the first at the front of the plane too!"

"These trips have their perks!" he smiled. "Anyway enjoy it as much as you can. I just wanted to say again how pleased I am to have you on the team. I have a good feeling for this deal. We will have to work hard, but it will be worth it. Oh, and by the way, don't even think about reading about the deal on the plane, you will be sick of reading over the next few days, just enjoy the next few hours if that is possible, even in Business Class."

With that he was off returning to his seat. "I have been told!" Carol said to herself, her confidence rising after that little chat.

Carol reclined her seat and tried to get some sleep.

She thought about how she had got to this position. Her work life was faultless; enjoyable, stimulating and the hard work was worth it. She had come out of university and got her job at the Bank ahead of 1000's of others who had applied. She knuckled down and was promoted after a year to Vice President. There had then been a tug of war between two Managing Directors who wanted her in their teams. George won and she moved to his team. A few months went by and she was now sitting on a plane heading to New York; The Big Apple.

Her satisfaction with work could not be mirrored with her personal life. She still had a good relationship with her elderly parents who she saw a couple of times a month and were immensely proud of their only child. She had met her boyfriend, Sam, when she was in the 6th form at school and despite predictions to the contrary, they stayed together while she went off to university. Sam hadn't gone to university, instead joined his father's building firm. Their aspirations where so very different and the last year or so had seen them grow apart. He couldn't understand why she didn't have a 9-5 job and was unhappy when she had to cancel dates at the last minute "because of fucking work" as he called it. She was now earning nearly £95,000 plus a bonus whereas he was earning about £20,000. She knew money wasn't everything, but it was important. They both had their own flats but had changes of clothes and toiletries at each other's and spent most weekends together; if she wasn't working!

They had their first overseas holiday the previous year. His agenda was to spend as much of it as drunk as possible, have as much unimaginative and rough sex with her as possible and nag her to remove her bikini top all the time.

She wanted to relax, take in the sun, do some sightseeing, have romantic dinners and go back to their room to make love.

The holiday was a disaster.

She knew she had to stop this relationship, but when it worked, it was like a comfy pair of slippers. Apart from a couple of drunken episodes at University, Sam was the only boy she had ever slept with.

She thought about the men she was sharing this business trip with.

Gary, like her was in his mid 20's. Tall, slim, short brown hair with glasses he only wore for reading. He normally wore the "uniform" of the bank; chinos and an open neck shirt unless they were seeing clients in which case he wore a smart suit, white shirt and dark tie. He had an on / off girlfriend and Carol found him easy to get on with. He had a nice sense of humour and in an environment where your colleague could be your competitor at the next job interview or promotion he never seemed overtly pushy or ambitious.

Brian was also tall and slim. Always wore a suit and tie to work, so she was somewhat surprised to see him in jeans and a polo shirt today. He was married and had just become a father for the first time. He still worked evil hours but was probably earning nearly a $1 million a year so would justify that Carol thought.

George was very tall, well over 6 feet tall and had an imposing yet friendly demeanour. Carol heard that he was divorced and he certainly didn't wear a wedding ring. Brown hair now slightly greying was cut in an expensive style. Again, until today, Carol had only ever seen him in luxuriously tailored suits. Today he was in Gary's uniform of Chinos and open neck shirt. Probably earning $10 million in a good year, he was the sort of man your read about in the newspapers when they had they annual "Banker Bashing" sessions.

Thinking back to Sam, Carol was aware that even if he ever agreed, she would feel uncomfortable introducing him to her work colleagues. He had refused point blank to attend any social functions the bank had sometimes laid on. "Why would I want to stand around with a load of toffee nosed wankers?" had been one of his more charitable responses. In turn, Carol was silently pleased as she had no doubt Sam would be seen as her "bit of rough."

That's it she suddenly decided. As soon as she got back to London she was going to end the relationship; hopefully putting both of them out of their misery.

Feeling as if a giant weight had been lifted off her shoulders Carol soon fell asleep before being gently woken by the Steward asking her to raise her seat and put her seat belt on as they were approaching JFK airport and would soon be landing.

Immigration procedures were soon dealt with and the four travellers stood around waiting for their baggage. Carol smiled to herself as the bags quickly arrived, another perk of Business Class she surmised, and the quality of the bags matched the seniority of the individuals; Samsonite for Gary and her, more expensive designer brands for the other two!

As soon as they passed customs and came through the arrivals door, a uniformed man approached them with a card with "Jeffries Bank" written neatly on it.

"Hello Charles!" said George obviously knowing this man.

"Hello Sir, welcome back to New York, it must be all of two weeks since your last visit," Charles said with a broad smile; clearly having a good relationship with their Managing Director.

"Yes Charles, seems like I do more flying than the BA pilots at the moment. Let me introduce my colleagues. I am sure you must have met Brian before and these two newbies are Gary and Carol."

They all shook hands and were then led outside to a large black car and were soon on their way to the hotel. There were two rows of seats in the back of the car, Gary and Carol sat in the back seat, George and Brian ahead of them.

George turned around as the first sight of the famous New York skyline appeared.

"You know it doesn't matter how many times I see that sight, I love it but have a moments sadness at the missing Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre. I was here when those bastards flew their planes into them. Something that will stay with me for ever unfortunately. Lost a few friends that day," he concluded leaving Gary and Carol in deep thought and not knowing how to respond. Silence seemed the best way.

The traffic seemed fairly light and free flowing as they approached Manhattan and we were soon unloading their bags and checking into their swish hotel.

The bell boys hovered to help with the bags and take them to their rooms.

"Why don't we all freshen up, phone home or whatever, meet in the bar for a drink, then have an early dinner and try and get some sleep. Work starts tomorrow folks!" said George.

They all nodded or said "yes."

In her room, bigger than her London flat, Carol soon unpacked. "Should I phone or shower first?" she asked herself

The flight and her drowsiness said shower, so she was soon under the shower rubbing soap into her tired body. Putting on one of those fluffy towelling robes and rough drying her shoulder length blonde hair she got her mobile phone and found her Mum and Dads number. A quick call to them to assure them she was Ok was soon completed. She smiled as her Dad was typical of his generation and had to shout louder the further she was from London!

She looked at Sam's number and decided she had to be as normal to him as she could; she would finish with him as an adult, face-to face on her return, not via phone (or text as a friend of hers had done to a boyfriend of many years standing.)

She pressed the dial button. It rang and rang before going to voice mail.

"Leave a message!" was his less than friendly voice mail message.

"Hi Sam, just to let you know I got here Ok. Don't worry about phoning me back, it will cost you a fortune and the bank pays for my calls. Remember its 5 hour difference and I don't know what the work schedule will be but I will try and call you when I can. Bye."

As she hung up she immediately realised she had made a mistake. She normally finished such calls with "Love You". "Oh well," Carol sighed, too late now.

Carol dried her hair and got dressed. Blouse and tailored trousers. She buttoned her blouse up so that there was not too much cleavage on show, but she liked what she saw in the mirror. Slim size 10, shoulder length hair, blue eyes, 34B boobs and even if she said so so herself, a nice bum that looked good in those trousers.

Gary was already at the bar and they were soon joined by George and Brian. "A bottle of Moet and four glasses please," ordered George.

"Glad that's not on my expenses!" Gary whispered to Carol as they followed Brian and George to a table.

She smiled and nodded in agreement.

The bottle was soon finished and the decision was taken to eat at the hotel as they were feeling the effects of the journey, jet lag and certainly in Carol's case, the drink.

The dinner was a relaxed affair and not one word of the impending week was spoken about. Various old jokes and war stories were swapped and Carol appeared to be able to hold her own, despite her lack of experience. They all loved some of her university stories, albeit she was careful to make sure they weren't too risqué!

They finished the meal and agreed to meet for breakfast at 7.00am so they could be at the office in good time for their 8.30am kick off meeting.

Carol was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, only to be awoken by the phone ringing for her wake up call.

Showered and dressed she was first down for breakfast before being joined by the others. The atmosphere was more work like than yesterday, without the relaxed joviality, as they all knew they were there for an important task, not a holiday.

Gary and Carol were soon in a taxi following Brian and George to the Bank's offices in Wall Street.

Shown to a meeting room, they were met by their opposite numbers where handshakes and hugs took place, especially from Gary and Carol. The team now consisted of the four of them from London, Chuck and Harry, the two Vice Presidents from New York, Ken the New York Director and Lee, the New York Managing Director and probably, although she wasn't ever too sure, George's boss. Reporting lines got very complicated the further you got up the totem pole in a bank!

Gary and Carol had spoken to Chuck and Harry hundreds of times via phone of video calls but this was the first time they had met them in person. The London pair had been on video calls with Ken and Lee and had met them for a handshake and a "hello" at a drinks party in London once and seen them in Georges office a couple of times.

The morning was spent planning the rest of the week, with the intention to finish on Friday afternoon in order for the London team to get the Friday night red eye flight back to London.

Lunch was brought in; a giant platter of New York style sandwiches, soft drinks, chips (or as the Brits called then crisps) and yet more bottles of water and jugs of coffee.

With lunch cleared away, they started work in earnest. The time flew by, and Carol wasn't sure they had many much progress, but it was soon 7.30pm and she was struggling with tiredness, no doubt exasperated by the jet lag.

They finished the day by about 8.00pm and the London team headed to the hotel, apart from George who was having a client dinner.

Brian, Gary and Carol shared a cab. The two boys were up for going out for dinner, she wanted to order room service and sleep!

They agreed to meet at 7.00am again and so the routine was established. A long day's work, taxi back to the hotel on Tuesday. Room service for Carol and dinner for Gary and Brian.

On Wednesday she agreed to join Gary and Brian. Dinner was subdued as they were all tired. Some interesting scandal about George's divorce (so Carol was right!) was told in hushed tones, something to do with him being caught by his now ex-wife in bed with his now ex secretary!

On Thursday Lee and George left them for a few hours and then returned for lunch.

"Listen Guys," Lee started to say. "We have made good progress but there ain't no freaking way we are gonna be done by tomorrow. Sorry guys but we have to a pull a weekender."

They all nodded as they munched on their sandwiches and chips. They weren't surprised to be honest and Chuck, Harry and Carol had talked about it already.

"We'll re-schedule your flights back to London for next week, don't know when but we'll get you home as soon as we can. Sorry."

George took over. "Gary, Carol, Brian, any issues? Anything at home that can't wait?"

"No George, all Ok with me," answered Brian.

"And me," Carol said.

"Fine with me too," Gary answered.

The afternoon continued as before. At a coffee break Carol called Sam.

"Oh fucking great!" he said. "That job of yours is something else!"

"I'm sorry Sam," she lied as she was now getting really pissed off with him.

"Maybe you should fuck one of the posh wankers you are with!"

"That's uncalled for Sam," Carol said now absolutely seething.

"Well you wont be fucking me will you?"

"Is that all you think of?"

"Yes, it is, cos you are a good lay!"

"Sam, stop it."

"Oh fuck off!" he said before hanging up.

She walked back into the room, various calls were being made. Chuck looked at her. "What's wrong Carol?"

"Nothing Chuck."

"Oh really?" he said sarcastically.

"Oh, men problems!" she sighed.

"Can I help?"

"Only if you have a gun to put a bullet into his head. But you won't find a brain there!" she smiled.

"Done deal Carol," he laughed. "Just give me the details."

Their short but light hearted banter had improved her mood and they were soon hard at work.

The two managing directors decreed that they should stop work earlier that day and the four Vice Presidents should have a night out. The Directors and Managing Directors had a meeting and dinner with the chairman.

After finishing work at 6.00pm Gary, Chuck, Harry and Carol were soon in a typical New York steak house drinking, eating, laughing and having a great time; all at the banks expense.

They finished up at about 9.30pm with Chuck and Harry having to get home about an hour or so away. Gary and Carol headed to the bar at the hotel.

It came up in conversation about Carol's phone call to Sam, and it turned out Gary had had a similar conversation with his girlfriend. She obviously missed out the bit about Sam suggesting she fuck one of her colleagues, but Gary didn't pull any punches as he said his girlfriend had accused him of having an affair at work.

"With me?"

"I should be so lucky Carol!"

"Gary, what do you mean?" she said in surprise.

He looked at his drink bashfully.

"Well you know I have always fancied you? I have always wanted us to go out; be a couple."

"No I didn't!" she said genuinely surprised, desperate to change the subject. "Anyway, tonight was fun wasn't it?"

"Yes, and the American guys are a good laugh. It's so different having spent hours together on the phone and video calls, to actually hang out together."

"And at the banks expense!" she said laughing as she raised her glass.

"To the expense account!" Gary laughed clinking his glass with Carol's.

"So what are you going to do about your boyfriend?" Gary asked quietly.

"I was going to finish with him this weekend, but now we are not going back he has a stay of execution." she smiled. "What about your girlfriend?"

"Now my ex."

"Oh," was all she could say.

"So Carol, we are both single."

"Gary, what I think you are about to suggest is the craziest most dangerous and stupid thing imaginable."

"And that is?"

Carol hesitated. "You are about to ask me out on a date, or suggest we get together."

He nodded.

"And as much as I like you and enjoy your company Gary, could you imagine if anyone at the bank finds out. And what if it doesn't work out and we spilt?"

"Everyone at the bank is at it. There are loads of couples."

"Gary," Carol sighed. "There are loads of couples shagging I grant you, but real couples?"

"What about," .......he rattled off about 4 or 5 couples.

"No way!"

"Yes, they are all in relationships."

"Does the bank know?"

"Probably, but as you know Carol, as long as the customer is happy and bank is making money, nobody cares."

She pondered the information Gary had given her and looked at him. He was good looking, she liked his company, and he was funny, intelligent and had a successful career. He would normally have been ideal boyfriend material. Her parents would be booking the church for the wedding if they met him. At that thought she smiled.