The next day Ethan told himself he would not call her. He told himself it would look weird. He told himself it was not smart to act like a kid. He said he would only trade and focus. That was the rule.

He broke that rule before noon.

It started with a normal morning. He woke up. He drank cold coffee from last night. He opened his laptop and watched pre market moves. He checked tech stocks first. Then energy. Then small cap names that only day traders care about. All the habits that usually made his mind feel sharp did not work today. He felt off. It was like the market was talking in a language he understood, but his mind was not answering back.

He tried to push through and force the feeling to go away. He watched one name he liked dip at the open. He bought the dip, fast. The price moved up. He sold for a small win. Normally that would give him a nice hit of pride. Today it felt empty. He kept glancing at his phone like he was waiting for something even though nothing was supposed to come.

By 10:15 he found something to use as an excuse. A limit order did not fill the way he wanted. It was not even a real issue. He could have fixed it in three clicks. But instead he reached for his phone and called the brokerage line again.

She answered. Same voice. Soft. Calm. Warm but not fake.

“Customer support This is Sophie How may I assist you today”

He almost laughed. He did not plan what to say. He felt his mouth move before his mind did

“Hi Sophie It’s Ethan Miles again Sorry I keep calling I just had a question about an order that did not trigger”

“Oh hi Mr Miles” she said right away “You are fine I can take a look for you Give me one second please”

She remembered his voice too. He could hear quiet keyboard sounds from her side. He pictured her sitting at a desk with a headset on. Maybe in a little office with too much air conditioning. He wondered if she wore glasses. He wondered if she tied her hair back while she worked. He felt stupid for thinking like that about someone he had never seen. But it still happened

“Okay I am in your account now” she said “I see the limit at twenty eight fifty The stock never really touched that level The spread got close but not enough to fill You want me to move it down for you or cancel it”

Her tone was steady. She sounded sure. She sounded like she understood this world. Not like a script reader. More like someone who actually pays attention.

“Move it down to twenty eight thirty” he said “If it fills hold it until it hits twenty nine even If it does not fill by lunch cancel it”

There was a short pause “You want me to set a conditional take profit at twenty nine even after the fill”

He felt a small smile “Yes Exactly that”

“No problem” she said “I can do that for you It will save you from babysitting it all day”

Babysitting. He liked that word. It made trading sound almost gentle.

“You trade too” he asked before he could stop himself

She let out a tiny breath that sounded like a laugh “I am not allowed to place my own trades on client accounts” she said “But I watch I listen I learn A lot of our clients do day trading You are different though You scale in and out You build levels. It is calmer”

He froze. No one ever said that to him. People called him aggressive fast fearless lucky but never calm. Calm was not how he saw himself. Calm was not how his heart beat when he clicked buy with five figures on the line.

“You have been watching my trades huh” he said

“I see order flow all day” she said “Some people chase candles Some people panic click You do not panic click That is rare”

His chest felt warm. Not his face His chest. Right under the ribs. Like something steady was pressing there.

He leaned back in his chair. The screens in front of him filled his apartment with cold blue light. His window was still half closed. The city noise was faint. It felt like the rest of New York had gone soft for a second just so he could hear her voice better.

“So Sophie” he said “Do you work in New York”

“Why do you ask” she said and her voice had a little tease in it now
“Because I am trying to figure out if I just met the only sane voice on Wall Street or if I am talking to someone in like Arizona in a beige office park eating vending machine pretzels”

That laugh again. This time he could hear it for real. Light. Natural.

“I am in New York” she said “Lower Manhattan Actually not far from Broad Street We take client calls and enter manual orders when platforms freeze or lag Or when people are scared and want a human voice”

He repeated that in his head. She is in New York. She is close.

He looked at his hands. His palms were a little sweaty. He felt like a teenager. He hated that he felt like a teenager but also liked that he felt like a teenager. It had been a long time.

“That makes sense” he said “Sometimes a human voice helps”

“Does it help you Mr Miles”

The way she said his name made his pulse jump

“You can just call me Ethan” he said

Another short pause. Then in a softer tone

“Okay Ethan”

He did not speak for a moment. He wanted to hold that word the way she said it. He wanted to save it. He wished he could replay it.

“So how long have you been doing this” he asked “Taking calls for traders with trust issues”

“Almost one year” she said “I am still in school I do this part time I work mornings and sometimes early afternoons Then I have class”

“School” he said “Like college school”

“Yes College school” she said and he could hear the smile “I am studying finance but not the crazy side I like personal money planning Helping people understand savings and debt and all that real life stuff Not hedge fund game stuff”

He laughed “You think I am hedge fund game stuff”

“A little” she said

“I am not hedge fund I am just me I trade out of my apartment” he said “I am not even old enough for most people here to take me serious I am twenty two I do not wear suits I eat cold pizza I sleep four hours and I talk to charts like they are living things That is not hedge fund That is just weird”

This time she really laughed. He could hear her try to keep it quiet like she did not want people near her to notice she was laughing on a client call

“Thank you for being honest Ethan” she said “Most guys in this world try to sound perfect All alpha and control You sound normal It is nice”

Normal. That was new too. People never called him normal. They called him gifted They called him intense. They called him a freak in a nice way. Normal felt almost better than genius.

He looked at the reflection of himself in the dark part of his screen. Messy hair. Hoodie. Eyes a little tired. A small scar near his eyebrow from when he was a kid and fell off his skateboard and hit concrete. He wondered how he looked to her in her mind. He wondered if he looked sharp. Or lonely.

“So you are in finance classes and working support” he said “That is a lot Why do you work this job You do not sound like you love these people”

“I like hearing how people move when money gets real” she said “Money makes people show who they are I study that Sometimes I write about it for myself Little notes So I remember how people act with risk Fear Greed Hope”

He sat up. That line hit him

“You keep notes on traders”

“Private notes only for me No

“And me” he said “What do I sound like in your notes”

Silence for a beat. He felt his heart rate climb. He did not know why this mattered so much but it did. It mattered more than his open positions on screen.

Finally she answered in a quiet slow voice

“You sound alone Ethan”

He did not speak

He swallowed. His mouth felt dry. His chest felt tight in a strange way. He thought of all the hours he spent in this chair with the blinds half closed and the glow of the monitors washing his face blue He thought of nights when the market in Asia opened and he was still awake watching futures move because sleep felt like weakness He thought of how the only time someone said his name out loud was when his broker called for identity checks or when his landlord texted about rent

Alone. She said it like a fact. Not like pity. Just like truth.

He let out a slow breath

“Yeah” he said “That is fair”

For a moment neither of them filled the silence. It felt strange but it did not feel bad. It felt honest. It felt like standing in front of a mirror for the first time in months with all the lights on.

Then she spoke again in a soft voice like she was placing a hand on a shoulder without touching it

“Your order is live now by the way I set the exit at twenty nine If it fills and sells you should be green on the day You will not need to force any more risky trades So maybe after that you can go outside or something”

He smiled “Outside is not really in my strategy”

“It should be”

“Are you telling me how to live now Sophie”

“A little Someone should”

He laughed under his breath “Do you do this for all clients or am I special”

Another light pause

“You are a little special” she said “You actually listen when I talk”

He leaned back again and closed his eyes. He could feel his heartbeat in his throat. He felt warm. He did not want this call to end. He never felt that way on a support call in his life.

“So” he said “If I ever wanted to uh place a trade in person instead of over the phone Is that a thing Or is that not allowed”

There was a soft shift in her voice. Alert but not cold

“In person trades are allowed if you come to the office Yes We have a walk up window for high volume clients But it is usually only old guys who do that Ethan Why would you want to come in person”

He swallowed again

No turning back now he thought

“Maybe I just want to say thank you face to face” he said “For helping me For talking to me like I am a person and not a machine that prints orders”

He waited for her to say that was not appropriate. He waited for her to say company policy said no. He waited for her to laugh it off. He braced for it.

Instead she was quiet for a long slow second

Then she said in a voice that had a small tremor of real life in it and not just work life

“I work the morning desk tomorrow” she said “If you really want to place something in person I will be there from eight to noon Broad Street side door Second floor Ask for Sophie”

His chest kicked hard

“Okay” he said “Tomorrow morning then”

“Tomorrow morning” she said

They stayed on the line one beat longer than needed. Neither of them spoke. Neither of them hung up first. It felt like standing at the edge of something new

When the call finally ended Ethan put his phone down slow. His hands were shaking a little. He could feel his own pulse in his wrists.

He looked around his apartment like he was seeing it for the first time. The empty energy drink can on the floor. The stack of notebooks. The blanket thrown over the back of the chair. The quiet air. The empty sink. The stillness of his whole life

Tomorrow morning he thought

For the first time in a long time the next day was not about profit targets or watch lists or price levels. It was about a girl he had never seen. A girl who handled his trades. A girl who said his name like it mattered

He whispered to himself in the empty room

“Do not blow this”