Christopher Reich - Numbered Account

Sylvia dialed Nick’s extension. The phone rang once. A male voice answered. “Hello.”

“You’re supposed to give your family name. You’re too friendly.”

“Which one of you is this?” Nick asked. “Dr. Jekyll or Mrs. Hyde?”

“I’m sorry, Nick. Forget that call ever happened, would you. You caught me off guard.”

“Deal.”

A familiar voice drifted in from the hallway. “Fraulein Schon, are you in your office?”

Sylvia bolted upright in her chair. “Nick, I have to call you back. Maybe I’ll come up to see your new office. Okay? Gotta run.”

She hung up the phone even as his voice said “Bye.”

“Good morning, Dr. Ott,” she said brightly, already circling her desk to shake hands with the vice chairman of the United Swiss Bank. “An unexpected pleasure.” She was not happy to see the rotund form rolling into her office for an unannounced visit. The man was a worm.

“The pleasure is all mine, Fraulein Schon.” Ott stood before her, his hands interlocked on top of his bulging stomach. His lips had the habit of telegraphing his intention to speak three seconds ahead of time. Now Sylvia saw them beginning to squirm, as if disturbed by a weak current. “We have a tremendous amount of work to do,” he said. “Many tasks to accomplish before the general assembly.”

“Hard to believe that only four weeks remain,” she said pleasantly.

“Three and one half, to be precise,” corrected Ott. “Letters to your department’s personnel regarding the voting of their USB shares at the general assembly must be written today. Be sure you make it exceedingly clear that everyone must vote for our slate of directors, either by proxy or in person. Everyone. I’ll need a copy by five o’clock this afternoon.”

“That’s rather short notice,” said Sylvia.

Ott ignored her comment. “In one week, you will phone each and every member of your department to learn which way they will vote.”

“I don’t mean to be impolite, but do you really believe that any of our employees could think it in their interest to vote for Konig?”

Ott bent forward at the waist, as if he had not heard her clearly. “Do I believe that?” he asked. “In the best of all possible worlds, of course not. But that’s beside the point. The Chairman has instructed me to ensure that you personally telephone every member of the finance department. You are to encourage all employees to attend the meeting. A half day’s leave will be granted. He’s under the impression that you’re well respected by your charges. You should be thrilled.”

“I am. Just pressed for time. I’m leaving for the States next week. I’ve faxed an interview schedule to all the major schools we’ve worked with in the past. Harvard, Wharton, Northwestern, a few others.”

“I’m afraid your trip will have to be postponed.”

Sylvia smiled awkwardly. Had she heard him correctly? “We have to visit these schools before the end of March, or the top graduates will have committed to other companies. The trip will only require two weeks of my time. I planned on sending up a schedule to your office tomorrow.”

Ott’s lips twitched for a moment, then he spoke. “I am sorry, Fraulein Schon. Surely you can see that the Chairman requires your skills at home. Unless we repel Mr. Konig, we will have no need whatsoever for your crop of M.B.A.s.”

Sylvia went to her desk and picked up the itinerary for her recruiting trip. “If you look at my schedule, you’ll see that I plan on returning a full week before the assembly. Plenty of time to ensure that all votes will be cast for Herr Kaiser.”

Ott brushed away the schedule and lowered his bulk into a chair. “You’re still under the impression that since Herr Kaiser asked you to go to New York in my place, he has taken an interest in your career? My dear, your dining with Mr. Neumann showed admirable foresight. Very clever, indeed. Kaiser was quite impressed. Oh yes, you’ve poisoned the Chairman against me. That I grant you. I shall not be going to New York. But alas, Liebchen, neither shall you.”

“Really Herr Doktor. I’m sure we can find a solution acceptable to you and to Herr Kaiser. I can shorten my trip.”

“I think not. As I said, your services are too much in demand here.”

“I must insist,” Sylvia said loudly, unable to keep her desperation from spilling into her voice. “It was the Chairman’s wish.”

Ott slammed his hand on the table. “There will be no trip. Not now. Not ever! My dear, did you truly believe that your dalliance with the Chairman would insulate you from the rest of us? Did you think it would hasten you along your chosen path?”

“My personal life is no concern of yours. I have never tried to gain any benefit from my relationship with the Chairman, but in this matter I won’t hesitate to speak with him directly.”

“Do you think you can run back into the arms of Herr Kaiser now? Dear child, the Chairman is finished with you. He is a disciplined man. Should he require the company of a woman, we will choose someone far less grasping than you. Preferably, a woman with no ties whatsoever to the bank.”

“You can’t control his heart, who he loves, who he desires…”

“Desire is one thing, my dear. Utility, another. The Chairman requires me. Today, tomorrow, and for as long as he shall manage the bank. I am the oil that makes this intricate machine run smoothly.” Ott stood, pausing for a moment to glory in his exalted position. He extended a stubby finger in Sylvia’s direction. “You didn’t actually believe that a Swiss bank would allow itself to be represented in the United States of America by a woman? A child practically?”

Sylvia moved her mouth to respond but nothing came out. Of course, Ott was right. Switzerland was light-years behind England and France and America in its treatment of women. Just look at USB. How many women were on the executive board? None. How many women were executive vice presidents? Still, she knew that things had to change soon. And she had seen herself as the one changing them.

“You did,” said Ott, at once incredulous and supremely certain. “I can see it in your eyes. How quaint!” He walked from the office, calling over his shoulder, “Have that letter ready for me by five o’clock this afternoon without fail, Fraulein. We must have our votes.”

Sylvia waited a few minutes after Ott had left, then walked to the ladies’ rest room. She made her way to the farthest stall, and after shutting the door, collapsed against the tile wall. Ott’s words burned like acid in the space behind her eyes. He had won. He had broken her. Another soul vanquished so that he could strengthen his alliance with Wolfgang Kaiser.

Ott was such a bastard! she thought, and then a fresh wave of self-pity swept over her and she cried. She lamented her short affair with Wolfgang Kaiser even as she remembered the day they had met. It had been at the bank’s annual picnic on a warm July afternoon almost two years ago. She had never expected to speak with him, let alone flirt. No one at her level even knew the Chairman. There was no telling where the discussion might lead. The chances for disaster were simply too high. So when he drew her aside and asked if she was enjoying herself, she had been reticent, even afraid to meet him in conversation. But instead of hearing some dry rot regarding the bank’s newest hiring policies, she had listened as he enthused over the visiting Giacometti exhibition at the Kunsthaus. Instead of a dreaded “do tell” about her colleagues, he had asked if she had ever rafted down the Saanen River, and then related his own trip two weeks before. She had expected a severe but polite functionary but had met a warm and effusive man.

Two weekends at his summer home in Gstaad, that had been the extent of their liaison. He had treated her like a princess. Dinners on the veranda of the Palace Hotel; long walks roaming the grassy hills; romantic and, she still had to admit, passionate evenings drinking exquisite wine and making love. She had never been so blind to think it would continue forever, but neither had she dreamed it might be used against her.