The Heaven Trilogy by Ted Dekker Read Free Book Online Page B

Processing System, and it will change the world of banking. Now they would be standing, pounding their hands together. Of course, he wouldn’t take direct responsibility for the work. But they would understand, just the same. At least those at the top would understand.
    Beside him Will Thompson cleared his throat. “Hey, Kent. You ever wonder why some people move up the ladder so quickly and others stay put their whole careers? I mean people with the same basic skills?”
    Kent looked at the forty-year-old loan manager, wondering again how the man had finagled his way on this trip. Will insisted that his boss, already in Miami, needed him to explain some innovative ideas they had been working on to some higher-ups. But Kent didn’t know Will to have an innovative bone in his body. His colleague’s black hair was speckled with gray, and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses sat on his nose. Yellow suspenders rode over a white shirt in good East Coast fashion. If he considered anyone at the bank a friend, it was Will.
    â€œHmm?”
    â€œNo, really. Look at us. I still remember the first day you skipped into the bank, what, seven years ago?” He chuckled and sipped at the martini on his tray. “You were as green as they come, man. Hair all slicked back, ready to set the office on fire. Not that I was any more experienced. I think I had a whole week on you. But we came in at the bottom, and now look at us. Making triple digits, and still climbing. And then you take someone like Tony Milkins. He came six months or so after you and he’s what? A teller.” Will chuckled again and sipped his drink.
    Kent shrugged. “Some want it more. It all comes down to the price you’re willing to pay. You and I put our dues in, worked long hours, got the right education. Shoot, if I were to sit down and calculate the time and energy I’ve put into making it this far, it would scare most college kids right out of school and into boot camp.”
    â€œNo kidding.” Will sipped again. “Then there’s a few like Borst. You look at them and wonder how in God’s name they ever sneaked in. You’d think his old man owned the bank.”
    Kent smiled and looked out the window, thinking he’d have to be careful what he said now. One day it would be him that people like Will talked about. True enough, Markus Borst was misplaced in his position, but even those well suited for their positions bore the brunt of professional criticism from the lower ranks.
    â€œSo, I guess you’ll be moving up now,” Will said. Kent glanced at him, noting a hint of jealousy there.
    Will caught the look and laughed it off. “No, well done, my friend.” He lifted a finger and raised his brows. “But watch your back. I’m right behind you.”
    â€œSure,” Kent returned with a smile.
    But he was thinking that even Will knew that the notion of Will doing any such thing was an absurd little piece of nonsense. The loan manager could look forward to nothing but slipping into eventual obscurity, like a million other loan managers throughout the world. Loan managers simply did not become household names like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. Not that it was Will’s fault, really. Most people were not properly equipped; they simply did not know how to work hard enough. That was Will’s problem.
    It suddenly occurred to Kent that he’d just come full circle on the man. He thought of Will in the same way that Will thought of Tony Milkins. A slacker. A friendly enough slacker, but a dope nonetheless. And if Will was a slouch, then people like Tony Milkins were slugs. Ham-and-eggers. Good enough to collect a few bills here and there, but never cut out to spend them.
    â€œJust watch your back too, Will,” Kent said. “Because Tony Milkins is right there.”
    His friend laughed and Kent joined him, wondering if the man had caught his offhanded dig. Not yet, he guessed.
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