then smoothed again. “I won’t disappoint you, Jason.” The natural pout of her lips curved upward, and the perfect row of her teeth appeared, wet and shining in the light from the window behind him. A dimple flashed in the pale pink rose petal of her right cheek.
“Oh. Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt.” Billy’s voice snapped Jason’s eyes away. The kid held files grasped by the corners to keep their contents from falling to the carpet.
Brenda’s green eyes didn’t move off Jason.
Jason felt his face flush hot. “Give us two minutes. We’re about done.”
Billy stared at his face, must have seen that blushing. “Sure. I’ll just wait outside.”
Jason nodded, and the kid turned away, shifting the files. He went around the corner.
Brenda’s green eyes held him fast, an expression of utter absorption. “I’ll finish up that project right away. If Margaret cuts me loose, I’ll be up here this afternoon or tomorrow morning at the latest. You won’t regret this, Jason.”
“Okay.” He stood, and she came up out of the chair, the smile dimpling her cheek again, teeth flashing. She reached a hand out, grasped his, held it. He shook it once and released, and she held his loose hand an instant before letting it go and turning her back, her calves buckling the underside of her skirt with each step as she left the room.
Billy entered. He took her seat and said he needed to go over three deals with him. One was a customer and two were prospects.
Focus was difficult. Jason stared at the numbers, but their meaning was lost. He rubbed his eyes and tried again. He ran a fingertip across the ratios and asset-turnover calculations. A trend. Look for a trend. “This loan’ll be okay. Sales are down, but the collateral’s worth more than the loan even in hard times.” He flipped to the owner’s personal financial statement. “These liquid assets look good. Just get current market values.”
The two prospects were less certain. Jason turned one down, and for the other he tightened up Billy’s suggestions for terms before sliding the pages across to him.
Billy looked at Jason’s scribbling on the terms. “I don’t know if I can win it with this structure.”
Jason reconsidered. An eight-million-dollar deal, fully funded on day one. Big enough to move his division’s numbers, and if a couple of the deals in Patricia and Don’s pipelines closed in the next sixty days, he’d be a lock for kicking Vince off the top of the heap.
And if this loan went sideways, it wouldn’t happen for at least six months.
He took the pages back, crossed out his notes, and increased the size of the loan by two million.
Billy leaned forward in his chair to peek at the changes. “Whoa. I didn’t know I was that persuasive. You think Scotty will go for it?”
“You take the fun out of everything.”
Billy sank back in his chair. “I thought I was pushing the envelope as it was. Another couple million will compress those ratios pretty tight. They’ll have to grow a bit to pay it back.”
Jason flipped to the spreadsheets and looked at the ratios. At ten million there wouldn’t be much room for error. In fact, there would be no room for error at all. Especially in this economy.
Billy gathered the files. “Want to go talk with Scotty about it now? He’s in his office.”
Jason reached for his mouse and clicked into his calendar. He knew it was clear. “Let me take care of a couple of things.” He toggled back to the e-mail he’d been composing, hiding the calendar. “I’ll go over it with him in a little bit.”
“You don’t want me to pitch it to him?”
“No, you’ve got plenty of other things going on. I’ll run this one past him. You’ll get your chance to pitch it when it goes to committee.” He put his fingertips to his keyboard and began typing.
Billy waited for a moment. “I promised we’d have something to them tomorrow.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll let you know.”
Alone in
“Oh. Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt.” Billy’s voice snapped Jason’s eyes away. The kid held files grasped by the corners to keep their contents from falling to the carpet.
Brenda’s green eyes didn’t move off Jason.
Jason felt his face flush hot. “Give us two minutes. We’re about done.”
Billy stared at his face, must have seen that blushing. “Sure. I’ll just wait outside.”
Jason nodded, and the kid turned away, shifting the files. He went around the corner.
Brenda’s green eyes held him fast, an expression of utter absorption. “I’ll finish up that project right away. If Margaret cuts me loose, I’ll be up here this afternoon or tomorrow morning at the latest. You won’t regret this, Jason.”
“Okay.” He stood, and she came up out of the chair, the smile dimpling her cheek again, teeth flashing. She reached a hand out, grasped his, held it. He shook it once and released, and she held his loose hand an instant before letting it go and turning her back, her calves buckling the underside of her skirt with each step as she left the room.
Billy entered. He took her seat and said he needed to go over three deals with him. One was a customer and two were prospects.
Focus was difficult. Jason stared at the numbers, but their meaning was lost. He rubbed his eyes and tried again. He ran a fingertip across the ratios and asset-turnover calculations. A trend. Look for a trend. “This loan’ll be okay. Sales are down, but the collateral’s worth more than the loan even in hard times.” He flipped to the owner’s personal financial statement. “These liquid assets look good. Just get current market values.”
The two prospects were less certain. Jason turned one down, and for the other he tightened up Billy’s suggestions for terms before sliding the pages across to him.
Billy looked at Jason’s scribbling on the terms. “I don’t know if I can win it with this structure.”
Jason reconsidered. An eight-million-dollar deal, fully funded on day one. Big enough to move his division’s numbers, and if a couple of the deals in Patricia and Don’s pipelines closed in the next sixty days, he’d be a lock for kicking Vince off the top of the heap.
And if this loan went sideways, it wouldn’t happen for at least six months.
He took the pages back, crossed out his notes, and increased the size of the loan by two million.
Billy leaned forward in his chair to peek at the changes. “Whoa. I didn’t know I was that persuasive. You think Scotty will go for it?”
“You take the fun out of everything.”
Billy sank back in his chair. “I thought I was pushing the envelope as it was. Another couple million will compress those ratios pretty tight. They’ll have to grow a bit to pay it back.”
Jason flipped to the spreadsheets and looked at the ratios. At ten million there wouldn’t be much room for error. In fact, there would be no room for error at all. Especially in this economy.
Billy gathered the files. “Want to go talk with Scotty about it now? He’s in his office.”
Jason reached for his mouse and clicked into his calendar. He knew it was clear. “Let me take care of a couple of things.” He toggled back to the e-mail he’d been composing, hiding the calendar. “I’ll go over it with him in a little bit.”
“You don’t want me to pitch it to him?”
“No, you’ve got plenty of other things going on. I’ll run this one past him. You’ll get your chance to pitch it when it goes to committee.” He put his fingertips to his keyboard and began typing.
Billy waited for a moment. “I promised we’d have something to them tomorrow.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll let you know.”
Alone in
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