AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The projector on the wall showed the stage at the New York Stock Exchange. Our room erupted in cheers as Owen March strode onto the stage in his trademark jeans and T-shirt, his hair messy like he hadn’t spent much time on it at all. Jude followed behind, dressed more formally but looking like he didn’t know if he belonged there.
It was six twenty-nine. The market was about to open. Jude and Owen stood in front of a brass bell that was mounted on the front of their podium, at least two feet in diameter. They smiled, and put their hands over a button.
The opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange rang once, twice, three times. Again and again it rang,CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG, signaling the opening of the market.
Everyone in the ACS office cheered once more, but then fell into a hushed silence as the stock ticker for ACS began to change.
$12.00
$11.80
$11.80
$11.75
$11.76
$11.70
$11.65
$11.56
$11.51
$11.42
My heart sank along with the stock price.
“Prices can fluctuate greatly in the first minutes after an IPO,” Furio explained to nobody in particular. “The first week, too. It is not a problem. The long-term growth of the company is what matters the most.”
Even at eleven dollars and change, all of us would become very wealthy from the IPO. My shares were worth somewhere around six million dollars, and it was difficult to feel bad about that. But this IPO wasn’t just about making money to me. It was about validating our decision to turn down the Google offer. I needed to know that staying independent was the right call, and the stock price was an easy yardstick to measure that decision.
The price continued to fluctuate around eleven and a half bucks. I went up to my office and tried to get some work done, but it was impossible not to check the stock price every thirty seconds. I wasn’t the only one struggling to focus as the morning stretched on. I doubted that anyone got any work done anywhere in the building.
I was downstairs getting an energy drink, and then idly drinking it in front of the big projector, when Jude and Owen walked in the office. Melinda started clapping, and a few others joined in, but it was a weak effort.
“I still can’t believe you flew right back after ringing the bell,” I said when they came up to me, looking exactly as they had on the television five hours before.
“We wanted to be here, with the people that matter most,” Owen said, loudly so others could hear. “No matter what the price ends up at, today is a day worth celebrating.”
“What is the price at?” Jude asked, squinting up at the projection screen.
“The same as it was when you checked on your phone on the Uber ride over,” Owen muttered.
“It is not so bad,” Furio said, joining us. He clapped them on the shoulders and shook their hands, but the smiles were forced. “We knew this was a possibility, yes?”
“We did,” Owen said simply, eyes locked on the screen. “Wait a minute. It’s creeping up.”
The price was ticking up a few cents at a time. Melinda left her desk and came over, arms crossed and eyes wide with concern. Other people in the room stopped what they were doing to watch.
$11.85
$11.91
$11.99
$12.03
