“Branch managers at my bank were opening hundreds of unauthorized accounts, issuing unauthorized credit cards to our customers so they could charge all sorts of fees. The scheme was netting big dollars.”
“Just like Wells Fargo,” said Nina.
“Screwing customers out of their hard-earned money isn’t the exclusive privilege of the big banks.”
“So they fired you for trying to blow the whistle?”
“I wasn’t just fired,” Glen said, sucking down the whiskey like water. His lips were moving more freely with each sip.
“Go on,” Nina said.
“Before they got rid of me, senior management—and I’m pretty sure it was at the CEO’s direction—trashed me in my Form U5.”
Nina looked perplexed. “Form U5?”
“It’s like a report card for people who work in financial services—or at least, anyone who works as an investment advisor. I had one, even though I didn’t really need it for my job. If you have one, a hiring manager looks at your U5 more than your résumé. Those comments in my U5 immediately turned me into poisoned goods. The system works well if a worker takes advantage of a customer, but if an employer unfairly defames an employee, it’s impossible to get it corrected, and it means the end of your career. There is no recourse. No organization you can turn to for help. One black mark on the U5 and you’ll never get a job in finance again.”
Nina nodded. She got it now. Glen didn’t just lose his job. He’d been blackballed. He was persona non grata in a career and an industry he loved.
“I thought I was finally earning enough to stop worrying about every little expense—and then overnight, I couldn’t get a job as a teller in Podunk, Anywhere. My U5 followed me like a curse.”
“That’s outrageous,” Nina said, sounding genuinely upset. “Why didn’t you tell me? I’d have understood that story a heck of a lot more than you secretly draining our bank accounts.”
“Why didn’t I tell you?” Glen repeated the question with a pitiful little laugh. “God knows, I should have. I didn’t start out intending to do what I did. I thought I could handle it on my own, that eventually I’d land another bank management job, one that didn’t need a U5. I only went to Carson to fish, away from everyone who knew me, so I could think, come up with a game plan, a plan B.
“Instead, I found out that when you’re approaching fifty and you’ve had only one career path, forging another isn’t a quick and easy thing to do. In my case, it was impossible. I kept thinking my luck was going to change. My résumé would land on the right desk, or something like that, but no. After a year of failure and constant rejection, I had to accept my fate. We were destined for bankruptcy no matter what I did.”
Nina puckered her lips, looking unconvinced. “I still don’t see why you didn’t tell me. You were the noble knight in this tale, trying to do a good deed, and you got a raw deal for it. I would have been on your side. What? You didn’t want to worry me, is that it?”
“You don’t get it,” Glen said, hiding his face in his hands. His breathing turned shaky. “The job was all I had. It was who I was.”
“That’s not true. You also had a family. You were a dad.”
“Was I?” Judging by Glen’s expression, either the whiskey or some memory had suddenly turned bitter. Nina poured them each another splash. “I was a father, sure, but I wasn’t a dad.”
“Not sure I’m clear on the distinction.”
“You’re not a father. You couldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
Nina thought Glen was going to clam up. This was the hard part. She took a sip of her drink, and Glen did from his as well. The alcohol was loosening them both. Maybe they could be honest with each other for a change. It wasn’t about money and work. This was about their relationship. A rift in the marriage, the same kind of gulf the Coopers couldn’t cross, had made it impossible for them to see and hear each other. That is, until Simon.
It was obvious to Nina now—so many signs, signs she’d missed. Simon had wanted the best possible source of information to make Nina fall in love with him. Glen was Simon’s Cyrano de Bergerac—the man who could teach him what to say, how to act, how to be around her.
She fit perfectly into Simon’s picture, and Glen was his guarantee that