"Yes, of course." I hadn't even thought about that. No one had 20 million dollars just sitting in the bank. That wasn't financially responsible. "Is there any way to liquidate some of those assets?"
Ed scratched the back of his neck. He was starting to look uncomfortable. "Are you sure you want to do that?"
No."Yes."
"James' portfolio is very diverse, but if you're looking for liquid assets immediately, the best way is probably through stocks. I'd advise you to call James' broker to get his take on what stocks are best to sell at the moment. How about you come back tomorrow? The stock market closes in several minutes as well as this bank and..."
"Could you just do it for me? Just take your best guess on which to sell?"
"Miss Taylor, I'm not a financial advisor. I'm just the manager of the bank. And I don't have access to your stocks."
My phone buzzed and I looked down at the text that had just come through:
"James' broker's name is Bill O'Neill. I'm sure you have been added to that account as well. You have ten minutes, Penny."
My hands started shaking again. I looked over my shoulder. How did she know everything I was doing?
"Miss Taylor, if you'd like to call James to discuss..."
"No, that's okay. Do you have Bill O'Neill's phone number so I can call him real quick?"
"Of course." Ed stared at his computer for a second and then typed a number into his desk phone and handed it to me.
"Hey, Ed!" Bill O'Neill said when he picked up the phone. "Did you catch the game..."
"Hi, Bill. This is actually Penny Taylor, James Hunter's fiancée."
"Oh, hi, Miss Taylor. I've heard so much about you. Did you catch the Mets game last night?"
"No. Actually, I'm kind of in a rush, Bill. I need to liquidate some of my stocks."
Bill cleared his throat. "Let me get James on the other line."
"No! I mean, he wanted me to handle it." I dropped my voice slightly. "I need to transfer 20 million dollars for an investment opportunity that he doesn't want to miss out on."
"Great, great. What company is James investing in now?"
Um..."Uber." It was the first thing that popped into my head.
"I thought he already invested in that?"
"Well, just, more, you know. When he sees a good investment he likes to go hard."Go hard?I was so bad at lying. I could feel Ed staring at me. I had told him I needed to do this before the wedding. Investing in Uber had nothing to do with that. My stories were already losing substance. "So, if I sell some stocks, will we be able to get enough money in my bank account?"
"Sure. But the trading floor closes in just a few minutes..."
"Then we better hurry this along."
Bill cleared his throat. "What were you interested in selling?"
"Apple." Again, I just said the first thing that popped into my head.
"Are you sure? It's on an up and..."
"I'm sure."
"I'd really feel more comfortable if I got James in on this call. I know that he likes Apple and..."
"I'm marrying him on Saturday. If you don't assist me with this, the first thing I'll do as his wife is convince him to get a new stock broker."
