The market opened quietly the next morning, but quiet in finance rarely meant calm. Quiet usually meant people were watching, measuring, waiting for a sign that would justify their next move.
I arrived at the office before most of the staff. The building was still half asleep, with only a few lights glowing across the upper floors. I liked these hours. They reminded me of the mornings back in Briar Glen when the town was still silent and the world felt like it belonged to the few people awake early enough to see it.
New York was different, of course. Instead of birds and empty roads, there were distant horns and the low vibration of traffic that never completely stopped. But the feeling of having a moment to breathe before the day began was the same.
I placed my bag on the desk and turn
