The Billionaire and the Backpacker

Chapter 14

It was 2:00 pm by the time the elevator reached the trading floor. Jake was the first to notice and tentatively raised his hand in acknowledgment. Ben nodded and pointed to his office.

"It's been a beautiful day Mary. We must do it again sometime."

Mary laughed and continued shaking her head as she walked towards her cubicle.

"Sit down, Jake."

Jake's throat thickened as he tried to hide a reflex swallow.

"So a good day for you, Jake?"

"Er... sort of."

Jakes' eyebrows pinched together, matching his lips.

"Well... yes. It came good in the end but not as good as it could have been."

"Explain."

"Well, the market turned and came on strong in our favor; in fact, there was twelve million on the table."

"And you took off the table..?"

"Three."

"You took three... Why? Don't worry, Jake I'm trying to help here. You need to understand why you ended up with three."

"Well, the truth is I panicked when it moved against our position, and I covered seventy-five percent of it to reduce our exposure."

"And how soon after you covered did the market start to move back in your favor? Don't answer that, I will. No more than fifteen minutes, right?"

"You were watching?"

"No, I never saw a thing."

Jake leaned forward with both hands on top of his head.

"Then how — " Ben cut him off.

"It's not a how Jake, everyone looks for a how. How's are on the outside of what is going on; it's the inside of the minds of men where the truth lies."

Jakes' face was screwed up, and he was shaking his head from side to side.

"We look at charts, lines on fucking screens... How the hell is that getting inside minds of men? You've lost me," said Jake.

"No... you have lost you and the reason you have lost you is because you read those lines instead of what causes those lines."

"Ben, I read the prices like a hawk watches a rabbit before it makes the death swoop."

"Yes and you're good at it, that's why you run the rest of the team and why you're not one of that team. But you are missing a fundamental element that would place you in a cage of your own."

"Well, for Christ's sake tell me, buddy... jeez, we've known each other long enough, just tell me."

"Come to think of it, why the fuck haven't you mentioned this before?" continued Jake.

"I can't answer that, Jake. It just came to me today while looking at a hat."

"You were shopping for a fucking hat while we were seven million in the hole? Jesus Christ Ben, what the hell is going on with you?"

"Do you know why you don't wear an Indiana Jones Hat, Jake?"

"That's one thing I do know. I would look ridiculous."

"Actually, you would look like a man with a hat on. Only you would make it ridiculous."

Jake threw his hands up in the air.

"Ben, I don't know what's going on here. Mate. I am totally lost as to what you are saying and where this fucking hat thing is going. If wearing a fucking Indiana Jones hat will give me your trading skill, then fuck mate, I'm all for it."

"It's not the hat. Jake. It's what you gave the hat when you said ridiculous. A hat is an innate object; you associated a belief you had about wearing the hat to the hat.

The hat was still just a hat, but you gave it something outside of itself, by saying what you told me you would look like wearing it.

Wearing it or not, it's still just a hat."

Jake blew out a breath loudly.

"Mate... we are going to Scaggys tonight for a serious session of looking into the meaning at the bottom of a few cocktail glasses."

Ben continued

"What you gave the hat was a belief; the belief changed the hat in your mind, but it was still a hat. The lines and charts on your screen are just lines and charts; they are just like the hat. It's what's behind them that matters; read what's behind them, and you get to sit in a cage all of your very own."

Ben picked up a few papers and dropped them into his briefcase.

"Scraggys later?" said Jake.

"No, I have a meeting with a young lady."

"Ah, you son of a bitch... that's what all this is about. You're doing that chic with the backpack."

Ben slowly turned, looked at the floor and then raised his eyes to meet Jake's. He held that gaze until Jake felt it.

"You just did the hat thing again, Jake. Think about it."