Free to Trade by Michael Ridpath Read Free Book Online Page B

are failures? The City isn't full of people like Hamilton or even me. There are hundreds of people who enjoy a good laugh and who spend their lunchtimes lying in the sun, who are very successful, thank you very much.'
    Debbie looked at me doubtfully.
    'Look,' I said, 'you are quick on the uptake, you always get the work done, you are 99 per cent accurate, what more do you want?'
    I put my hand on hers. 'I'll tell you what you have got that the rest of us haven't,' I said. 'People love to work with you. They like to deal with you. They tell you things. They let you get away with things they probably shouldn't. They do you favours. Don't underestimate how important that is, in this business.'
    'So I shouldn't just get married, have two point two children and eat ice-cream in front of "Neighbours" every afternoon? I would be good at that. Especially the eating ice-cream bit.'
    'You can if you want, but it would be a shame,' I said.
    'Well, it may not be my decision,' she said. 'Unless I "sharpen up" in the next month, I will be out.'
    'Hamilton said that?'
    'Hamilton said that. And I am damned if I am going to change my personality just for him.'
    She put her head on her knees, and examined a daisy two feet in front of her.
    'What did he say to you about buying the Gypsum stock?' she asked.
    'He wasn't too happy,' I said. 'He didn't exactly tell me I was wrong to do it. He just said I should be careful. Come to think of it, I don't know whether he was talking about the stock I bought for my own account, or the bonds I bought for the firm. Either way, it's a bit much for him to criticise anyone for taking risks.'
    'You like him, don't you?' Debbie asked.
    'Well, yes, I suppose I do,' I said.
    'Why?'
    'It's difficult to say. He's not exactly a warm and loving person, is he? But he's fair. He's honest. He's professional. And he is probably the best fund manager in the City.'
    I watched a couple slowly get up from a wooden bench opposite us, their places soon taken by two young bankers, there to check out the talent. There was plenty to look at, dotted about on the closely cut grass.
    'I doubt there is anyone else like him in the City,' I went on. 'It really is a privilege to work with him. When I see him in action, I am amazed. He always sees angles others don't. And he has this way of drawing you into his thought process, making you an accomplice in whatever brilliant trade he is working on. Do you understand what I mean?'
    Debbie nodded. 'Yes, I suppose I do.' She looked at me closely. 'Why do you come in to work every day?' she asked.
    'To earn a crust,' I replied.
    'That's not all, is it?'
    I reflected a moment. 'No, I want to learn how to trade. I want to learn how to trade better than anyone else out there.'
    'Why?'
    'What do you mean, why? Isn't it obvious?'
    'No, not really.'
    'I suppose it isn't.' I sat back and rested on my elbows, squinting into the strong sunlight. 'I need to push myself all the time, as hard as I can. And then a bit harder. I have always been like that, ever since I was a boy. When I ran, I wanted to be the best. Not second or third, but the best. I suppose the habit just doesn't go away.'
    'I envy people like you. Where do you get all that drive from?'
    'Oh I don't know,' I said. But I did know. There was a reason for those bitter hours of self-inflicted pain I had suffered as an adolescent, that single-mindedness which Debbie said she envied, and which had cut me off from the carefree enjoyment of life that I saw in other 'normal' people. But I wasn't going to tell Debbie or anyone else at De Jong what that reason was.
    Debbie was looking at me intently. Then her face creased into a broad smile. 'You're weird. No you're not, you're nuts. You should see a psychiatrist immediately before you end up as a Hamilton Mark II. You are the one with an attitude problem.'
    She stood up and wiped the grass off her dress. 'Anyway, I have got to go back to the office to polish my nails and you have got to charge