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Prologue
Sarah Salamuri just landed the perfect job as an as**sistant Account Executive at the top Hedge Fund in Los Angeles. With a view of the Pacific Ocean in lovely Santa Monica, the 20-year old college drop-out is finally able to catch up on her half of the one bedroom rental on Venice Beach. Everything is looking up for the young woman. So why does Sarah shake every time a Senior Executive walks by?
For starters, everything on Sarah’s resume is a lie. Facing the very real possibility of eviction and homelessness, the then-unemployed young woman downloaded a resume from a recent Summa Cum Laude graduate from Stanford. She simply changed the name and address on that sterling resume and submitted it to the Peak Fund. Much to Sarah’s surprise, she was called in for an interview. Thirty minutes later, the firm offered her a salaried position.
Now, young Sarah walks on eggshells. She keeps her head down and pretends to understand the very convoluted conversations about bond trading, derivative trading and foreign equity markets. Sarah knows, however, that she can’t keep up the charade much longer and plans to quit as soon as she gets her first paycheck. That would be more than enough to cover her half of the rent for the next few months.
Everything goes as planned until that fateful Friday when Sarah is called to Human Resources. There she is directed to the office is Mr. Ryan Peak, the billionaire Hedge Fund genius and head of the Peak Fund. The top alpha dog among all the alpha dogs in the hedge fund world.
Fully expecting to be fired or arrested, Sarah walks into the massive top-floor, ocean view office where the tall, imposing and intimidating billionaire holds court. There she finds herself alone with the six-foot, five-inch Hedge Fund tycoon - a bonafide Master of the Universe. The broad shouldered, dashing and steely-eyed man looks down at Sarah. The billionaire lifts Sarah's chin upward and looks down at her quivering lips and watery eyes. "It takes a lot gumption or naivety to try to deceive me. Perhaps a little of both. With a littleintensive training, I will make you my favorite and faithful little pet."
On His Orders (Book 1)
I have passed by this imposing white granite building in Santa Monica dozens of times and never thought I would someday be working here. But here I am, on the tenth floor of the Peak Group - one of the top hedge funds in Los Angeles. Heck, from what I hear, this is one of the top hedge funds in the world.
To be honest, I don’t know much about finance. So, how did a 20-year old end up with a $50,000 a year job as an as**sistant account executive? Easy, I lied. Or to be more specific, I submitted someone else’s resume to their recruiter. A girl can do desperate things when she is one month away from eviction and homelessness.
My days at the Peak Fund are filled with a mixture of mundane tasks coupled with a sense of impending doom. I keep my head down and simply follow the orders of my direct superior, senior account executive Dan Greenland. The 35 year old father of two doesn’t seem to suspect that I am completely unqualified for my job. The poor guy is on the phone all day with the fund’s investors. So far, my most complicated as**signment has been to score a lunchtime reservation atThe Grill On the Alleyin Beverly Hills.
Nevertheless, I don’t know how much longer I can keep up this charade. In fact, I plan to quit today. Payday! The check should arrive on my desk this afternoon. After that, I am out of here. My first paycheck should be enough to cover my half of the rent for the next few months. From there, I will think of another way to keep a roof over my head.
Lunchtime is my favorite time at the Peak Fund. All the important people are out of the office, enjoying overpriced salads and steaks at the best spots in LA while we “little people” fend for ourselves at the local burrito shops. Since the NYSE and NASDAQ stock exchanges close at 4PM Eastern Standard Time, we usually wait until 1PM local time to ditch the office for some grub.
Right now, I am actually rather relaxed. After all, today is my last day at the Peak Fund. When the office clears for lunch, I head I outside and enjoy the lovely ocean breeze coming off the Santa Monica coastline. Normally, I would stay in the office and check for incoming calls. But, what the hell, I’ll be out of there in a few hours. Why not take a stroll down to the ocean?
The Peak Fund is located about three blocks from the Santa Monica pier. In fact, you can see the ocean from the office. I will certainly miss that view. I check my iPhone and see it’s about ten minutes to two. Time to head back.
I walk back into the office and find the place half-empty. It was like this last Friday. I guess everyone wants to get a jumpstart on the weekend. Well, I will just have to wait. Most people have their paychecks direct deposited into their bank accounts. I opted for a paper check. Hopefully, I won’t have to stick around for much longer.
