Numbered Account

Nick raised his head and looked directly into Wolfgang Kaiser's beaming face. He took a step backward, though if it was from surprise or awe he did not know. Kaiser was his family's grayest eminence: ever watching unseen from somewhere beyond the horizon. After so long, Nick was unsure how to greet him. As the man who had attended his father's funeral and then accompanied the body to Switzerland for burial. As the distant benefactor who surfaced at odd moments across the years, sending congratulatory cards upon his graduation from high school and college and, Nick suspected, checks on the occasions when his mother had navigated them into particularly dire straits. Or as the celebrated icon of international business, the subject of a thousand newspaper articles, magazine profiles, and television interviews. The most recognized face of Switzerland 's banking establishment.

Kaiser solved Nick's dilemma in an instant. Wrapping his right arm around his shoulders, he brought him close to his chest for a sturdy bear hug. He whispered something in his ear about the time that had passed and how he resembled his father and finally let him go, but not before kissing him smartly on the cheek.

"At your father's funeral, you told me that one day you would come back and take his place. Do you remember?"

"No, I don't," Nick said, embarrassed. He caught Sylvia Schon gazing at him, and for a second he had the feeling she was sizing him up not as a trainee but as an opponent.

"Of course not," said Kaiser. "What were you? Ten, eleven. Just a boy. But I remembered. I always remembered. And now here you are."

Nick grasped the Chairman's outstretched hand. It was a vise. "Thank you very much for finding room for me. I realize it was short notice."

"Nonsense. Once I make an offer, it stands. I'm glad we could lure you away from our American colleagues." Kaiser released his hand. "Dr. Schon putting you through her paces? We saw on your application that you speak our dialect. Made me feel better about the small push I gave on your behalf. Sprechen sie gerne Schweitzer-Deutsch?"

"Naturlich," Nick answered. "Leider han-i fascht kai Moglichkeit dazu, weisch?" The language felt heavy on his tongue. Nothing like the ease with which it flowed from his mouth in the dozens of silent rehearsals he'd conducted for this moment. He saw a cloud darken Kaiser's animated features, then looked to Dr. Schon and saw the edges of her mouth turned up in a faint smile. What the hell had he said?

Kaiser switched back to English. "Give it a few weeks and it will come back to you. Ott told me that you did some research about the bank. He was impressed with it."

"My thesis," Nick explained, relieved to be back on solid footing. "A paper on the growing role of Swiss banks in international equity offerings."

"Is that right? Remember that first and foremost we are a Swiss bank. We've served our community and our country for over a hundred twenty-five years. Before there was a unified Germany, our headquarters stood on this very spot. Before the Suez Canal was completed, even before a tunnel had been built through the Alps, we were open for business. The world has changed tremendously since that time, and we're still open for business. Continuity, Nicholas. That's what we stand for."

Nick said he understood.

"We've assigned you to FKB4. One of our more important departments. You'll be looking after a great deal of money. I hope Cerruti will be back soon. He worked under your father and was thrilled to learn that you'd be joining us. Until then, do as Sprecher says." He shook Nick's hand again, and Nick had the feeling he wouldn't be seeing him anytime soon.

"You're on your own here," said Kaiser. "Your career is what you make it. Work hard and you'll succeed. And remember what we like to say: "The bank before us all.' "

Kaiser said good-bye to Sylvia Schon, then marched out of the office.

Nick spun and faced her. "Just one question. What exactly did I say to the Chairman?"

She stood casually, arms crossed over her chest. "Oh, it's not what you said. It's how you said it. You addressed the Chairman of the fourth largest bank in Switzerland as if he were your closest drinking buddy. He was a little surprised, that's all. I don't think he gets it much. But I'd take his advice and brush up on your language skills. That's not quite the fluency we expected."

Nick heard the reprimand lurking within her words and felt ashamed for his shortcomings. It would not happen again.

"You have a great deal of advanced billing to live up to," she said. "More than a few people are interested in how you do here. As for me, I just hope you'll stay awhile."

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

"Don't misunderstand me, Mr. Neumann. It's my intention that the finance division demonstrate the lowest rate of employee turnover in the bank. No more. Call it my New Year's resolution."

Nick met her eye. "I won't disappoint you. I'll stick around."

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