A Love Story in San Francisco

Chapter 16: Thrilling 2

Peterson thought to himself that it was a bit of a coincidence, but might as well go ahead and hear what James wanted to see him about.

'James, what did you want to see me about?' Peterson asked as he entered.

'Sit down Peterson.' James said slowly, while staring into Peterson's slightly guilty eyes, he knew he had judged correctly, 'This kid has something in mind!' Though James didn't know what issues within this asset were worth hiding from Peterson, and he didn't want to find out directly from him, there were some things that might be best if he pretended he didn't know.

James had two plans, pull him in or threaten him.

He looked down at Peterson's expression of being a thief and chose the latter.

'Peterson, it's been a while since we've communicated individually, have you been having any difficulties at work lately?' James asked.

''Thank you for your concern, everything's been fine lately'' Peterson couldn't figure out James' routine and replied mechanically, it was safest that way.

'Erm, you've been doing well over the past few months, including salvaging your investment from Billy Trust and doing a couple of outstanding macroeconomic analyses. However, the last week or two, I've noticed you've been a bit distracted, huh? Is there something going on with you? Is everything alright?' James continued to seduce.

'Erm, sorry James, maybe I've been slacking off a bit at work lately, and the last few visits to clients haven't yielded anything new, so it's been a bit of a psychological blow.' Peterson continued to cope.

"P,It's okay, you see I don't get something out of every visit, sometimes these clients just idly want to hear about the market, we just need to leave a good impression and show that we are a professional organization. Leave the rest to luck."

James didn't wait for Peterson to reply and continued.

"But Peter, do you know what I consider to be my most outstanding strengths after being in the business for so long? Is it my brains, my connections, or my management skills?"

"It's none of those things; my most outstanding ability is focus! Focus on myself, don't be jealous when I see other people's momentary achievements, don't pay attention to other people's wrong problems, I just need to be responsible for my work, I'm responsible for my clients, and my efforts will be rewarded." James paused and said, "Do you understand, Peter?"

"I get it, and I'll focus on me from now on.James, thanks for the lesson" Peterson replied with a slight realization.

"Lately I see you've been a little too jealous of Lucas' accomplishments, haven't you? Come on Peterson, turn that jealousy into strength and catch up with others through your own efforts instead of looking forward to others falling behind, don't you think?"

James was worried that Peterson hadn't fully understood what he meant, so he gave him the printout and said, "This material was given to me by the department next door, I've looked at it and there's nothing I need to pay attention to, so why don't you shred it for me."

"Sure." Peterson took the material and looked at it and was confused." It's really too careless, this material actually fell into his hands." Then immediately getting up and leaving the room in a panic, Peterson had run out of courage.

Sitting at his workstation, Peterson was sweating, indeed James was right, just focus on yourself. If Peterson went to report Lucas, it would be a lose-lose situation for both him and Lucas, the company would definitely deal with Lucas, but Peterson would also be labeled as a betrayer from now on, no one would dare to trust him, and it wouldn't be good for Peterson at all.Peterson started to think about it, gave up the idea of going to report and broke the printout that James had given him. James' printout to him and shredded it.

What Peterson didn't realize was that at this point James was also scared, if Peterson chose to take out this material and question him in front of the rest of the company in a public area, then he would have to take it seriously, if Lucas really did have any irregularities in it, his AUM would drop this quarter, and there would be no hope for him to run for the board of directors. .

"Life and death." James laments that he's going to have to have a few more stiff drinks later; the stress is sudden and explosive, and James chooses to forget about work and himself for a while at the strip club.

Calming down, he chose to open up the credentialing system and look into what problem had interested Peterson.

On the other side of the globe, Lucas landed at the airport in the Ethiopian capital, hurriedly completing immigration and stepping out of customs, Lucas looked around. The one who came to meet him was Emma, whom he had been thinking about day and night, and a handsome and dashing man - Kofi.