by Poppy Flynn
"How many shares could Blackwood have possibly gotten their hands on in such a small space of time?" Malcolm wondered aloud.
Desi tapped her fingers on the table. "I might be able to find out just that," she murmured.
"And who's to say that our buyer was linked to them, anyway?" Andrew asked hopefully. "I sold mine to a woman. I'm sure none of us have sold to anyone we knew had direct involvement with our rivals, did we?
There was a resounding chorus, "No!"
"Does anyone remember the name of their buyer? Did all of you sell to a woman?" John probed.
There were nods all round before Malcolm decided, "I think her name was Anna or Annette or something."
Desi head whipped up in suspicion. "Anita perhaps?" she queried. "Anita Howard?"
There was a light of recognition in the faces turned towards her as they all nodded and agreed.
"You know this woman?" John enquired.
Desi pursed her lips in annoyance. So, Joseph had been using Anita to front his takeover campaign. She wondered how much more damage had been done in the general shareholding.
"Yes," she told them. "Anita Howard is Joel Blackwood's new fiancée."
As she sat in her office later that afternoon, Desi pondered the letter she had just typed.
She hadn't disclosed the fact of her own recent engagement to Jake. She couldn't see how it wouldn't compromise an already unstable situation, and she wondered if she should just break it off or at least keep it quiet for a while. This was all such a mess. The alternative was in her hand. Her resignation. Desi tapped the edge of the envelope continuously on her desk as she contemplated that move.
Despite her agreement to marry into that very family, the thought of working for The Blackwood Corporation left a bad taste in her mouth. She could cope with the necessary contact with Joel, despite their history, but she certainly had no desire to have to deal with Anita. After her very public denigration of Jake, the discovery that she was fronting the plan to destabilise Universal's share base was the final straw.
She didn't think it would be too much of a problem on a personal front. Desi couldn't imagine that Jake wanted to spend any more time in the woman's company than she did; in fact, he would probably be more opposed to it than she would.
But businesswise, once Joel and Anita were married, things would become a bit trickier. It was something she was going to have to discuss with Jake in much more detail. As his wife, she might possibly be able to bow out of any functions they might all have to attend, especially if she had the excuse of young children, but as a board member of the same company, it would be almost impossible to avoid. On a tangent, she wondered how she might feel having to witness the creation of Joel and Anita's own children, but quickly locked that thought away. It had no place here.
As for Joseph Blackwood, it annoyed her that, deep down, her first impression was that she had actually liked the man. She wondered how much of that judgement was just based on personal circumstance because he was Joel's father and Jake's uncle and because he had treated her as an equal, listening intently to her opinions and considering her arguments. He had respected her business ability, and that wasn't always a given in this male dominated world.
Aside from that, the man was a tyrant. That he had conspired to pit her against her colleagues and foster an air of distrust between them, that he was arrogant enough to imagine that he had any control over her decisions for her own future, and not least that he considered Anita to be 'suitable bloody wife material' for his son after the way the woman had behaved toward Jake, did absolutely nothing to endear him to her. Completely the opposite, in fact. There was no way that man was going to dictate her future to her, when she had just taken it back into her own hands. And there was no way she would allow him to use her to further his ambitions in regard to Universal Holdings, especially when her actual position was the polar opposite. He was manipulating people's perceptions and using her to do it. That was something she could not allow. And that, above all else, was the reason she quit.
She would stick around—quietly—enough to steer Universal through the quagmire caused by the hostile bid. She couldn't leave them rudderless, but after that, there was a whole new future to explore. Maybe she could find herself a little corner to set up a pottery studio, and if she wanted to start on that family she was so desperate for, then she'd need more time for herself, anyway. Desi smiled, her anxiety easing. Yes, it was the best decision all round.
A commotion in her outer office brought her out of her reverie, and she went to investigate. In the corridor, Laurel was facing off with Jake.
"I don't think Ms. Harper has any interest in seeing a Blackwood today. You're not welcome in this building, right now, so I think you had better leave.
"I'm sure Desi will be agreeable to seeing her fiancé," Jake retaliated, catching Laurel completely off guard.
"Desi? Fiancé?" her PA repeated inanely.
Desi hurried out to defuse the situation. So much for keeping their engagement a secret.
"Rae?" Laurel queried uncertainly
"Please," she implored. "Call me Desi,"
She moved around the one-woman human blockade Laurel had established herself as in the hallway and slipped her arm around Jake's waist.
"And, yes, Jake and I got engaged this weekend. Unfortunately, with the news of the hostile takeover, there hasn't really been a good time to make that announcement, so perhaps you could keep it quiet for now, hmm?" she appealed, trying for some damage limitation.
"You got engaged?" Laurel repeated. "To him?" She pointed at Jake, and Desi waited for the eruption of anger and betrayal she was certain was coming, but Laurel surprised them both.
"Oh!" she squealed, jumping up and down in delight. "That's wonderful!"
Impulsively, she reached out to Desi and hugged her, then did the same to Jake.
"Oh, I'm so happy…for you, I'm so happy for you."
Desi frowned at the qualifier, but chose not to dwell on it, more relieved that Laurel wasn't ranting and raging about Desi's lack of loyalty undermining the company. Stepping back, Desi remembered the envelope still in her hand.
"Well, I hope you're still happy when I tell you that I plan to hand in my resignation." She sighed, tapping the envelope.
"What?"
"Why?" both Jake and Laurel shouted at once.
Desi held her hands up in appeasement. "My position here has been compromised," she replied carefully.
"At this morning's board meeting and the announcement that The Blackwood Corporation plan a hostile takeover…" Her eyes met Jake's briefly and she was aware of the conflict in them. "I was targeted with both suspicion and hostility from my fellow directors. And not even because of my plans to marry you, Jake, which hasn't even been thrown into the mix yet. But because someone has mounted a damn good smear campaign to make it look like I'm colluding with Blackwood. Details of my significant personal shares here have been made known amongst rumours that I will use them to vote against the company and more rumours that undermine my relationship with my co-workers, that Joseph Blackwood plans to remove everyone on the board and install me as CEO."
Laurel stood open mouthed and shocked, while Jake cringed and shifted on his feet.
"And as for my relationship with you, Jake, I can only imagine what sort of fuel that will throw on the fire. If that gets out right now, I might as well kiss my entire reputation goodbye!"
Jake whipped his head up to look at her. "What exactly are you saying, Desi?"
Desi could see the panic in his eyes, could tell he was thinking the situation rang a death knell for their relationship. And maybe a month or two ago, it would have. But Desi was more than just the sum of her job, these days.
"What I'm saying is that I won't allow myself to be manipulated like this. What I am saying is that I will make my own decisions and not allow circumstances to conspire to push me in a direction that is not of my own choosing. What I am saying is that I quit. I am removing m
yself from the equation, and I am leaving a proxy vote for my shareholding with the remaining members of the board so that my loyalty cannot be questioned and my reputation remains intact. I don't know what sort of game your uncle is playing, Jake, but I'm not playing it with him. Over half of our board members were approached before the takeover announcement to sell their personal stock holding at double their market value to none other than Anita Howard."
She was gratified to see Jake's own shock at that piece of information.
"I don't know what his motives are, but I'm afraid your uncle is about to find out that I'm not a person he should have messed with. I will work, gratis, with Universal on a consultant basis while they counter this buyout, but other than that, I'm out of here. Effective as soon as I pass this…" she waved the envelope in front of her "…to John."
Thirty minutes later, it was done. Desi had cleared what few personal belongings she had from her office, John knew the whole story but insisted he was holding her resignation under advisement in case she changed her mind, and Jake had passed on what little personal knowledge he knew about the level of Blackwood's shareholding in Universal, which wasn't much.
Now, she stood in the kitchen of her apartment, boiling the kettle for a soothing cup of herbal tea and wondering if she had just flushed her entire career down the drain. More than that, she was wondering if she actually cared. Her life had been a rollercoaster ride, these past few weeks. The ups and downs were making her dizzy, but more unnerving was the feeling that fate controlled her steps more than free will. She was done with that.
"If there was a way to reverse this decision that Joseph has made, would you go back to your job?" Jake asked as he leaned against her breakfast bar, a certain tension about him.
Desi looked up at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, I might be able to persuade Uncle Joe to drop the takeover. I'm just wondering, if I tried to do that, would it make a difference to your resignation?"
Desi frowned. "I don't know, I guess so. I wouldn't have considered quitting if I hadn't been forced into this situation, but on the other hand, I didn't have to. There were other options, but there were also other reasons to quit."
She walked over to him and took his hand. "One of them being the fact that I'm going to need a bit more time at home if we're going to start a family."
Jake turned his hand over and threaded his fingers through hers before bringing their joined hands to his lips and kissing her palm. "What about part time, then?" he asked, looping his arms around her back. "Or do you plan to quit working completely?"
Desi frowned and leaned into Jake's strength. She hadn't thought that far ahead, well, she kind of had. She had planned to maybe find a more flexible job, maybe something where she could work from home. She certainly didn't plan to become a kept woman, even while she raised a family. She knew enough about herself to know that she needed financial autonomy and a degree of independence. Neither did she want to throw away everything that she had worked so hard for. She just wanted to dial it down a bit, make time for herself and a little bit of sculpting and the family she wanted to create. Not give it up altogether.
"Well, I guess part time might be good," she faltered. "I don't plan on being a freeloader."
"Hey!" Jake admonished. "A stay at home mama is not a freeloader."
Desi smiled. "You know what I mean."
"So if the takeover at Universal could be circumvented, would you go back, maybe part time?"
"Why are you asking, Jake? What have you got in mind?"
"I just feel like you've been coerced into making this decision."
"Hmph! Coerced would have been staying and being manipulated for someone else's objectives."
"I get that, and I support whatever decision you make, but if the current situation no longer existed, would you go back? Or would you still want to pursue something different?"
Desi pondered. "I suppose I'd go back. I love working at Universal, a lot of the ethos there is my own creation, it's what I always wanted from this field of work so it's hard walking away, and I know it will be harder trying to build it up again somewhere else. But I do want other things from my life now, too, and this thing with Blackwood has given me the push I needed to act on those."
"So a compromise, perhaps?"
"Perhaps," Desi agreed. "But do you really think that you can talk him around? I always got the impression that was a non-starter. Believe me, if I had thought otherwise, then it wouldn't have been above me to ask you or Joel to do that months ago!" she admitted.
"Two months ago, you'd have been right; there would have been no talking him out of it, even if I'd tried," Jake confirmed. "But now, things have changed and I have an ace up my sleeve." He grinned. Desi raised her eyebrow questioningly, but Jake just tapped the side of his nose enigmatically.
A knock on the door interrupted anything else they might say and Desi was reminded that she was supposed to be catching up with Charlotte this evening. She groaned as Jake went to answer the door. With the events of the day, she had forgotten all about it. Well, at least, they had only planned on drinks at home, and now Desi didn't have to get up in the morning, either…and they certainly had plenty to catch up on!
"Charlotte Chapman?" Jake exclaimed as he let her into the apartment. "I didn't realise you two were still in touch!" He looked from her to Desi.
"Jake Blackwood?" Charlotte almost choked, staring at Desi in utter shock.
Desi shrugged. "So, there's a lot to tell," she muttered sheepishly. Maybe she should have given Cha-cha a little advance warning about Jake…
Jake grinned and swept Charlotte into a bear hug, kissing her on both cheeks. Charlotte looked a little nonplussed and the colour rose in her cheeks, reminding Desi that she'd once had the biggest crush on Jake.
"Well, I'm going to tackle Joseph before it's too late," he declared. "He hasn't flown home yet, for obvious reasons, so I can catch him at the hotel."
Jake walked over to Desi and placed a sweet kiss on her cheek.
"Take care of my girl." He winked at Charlotte on his way out.
"His girl?" she repeated, bewildered, as the door slammed shut behind him.
"Yeah, about that..." Desi chuckled as she made her way to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of glasses and the bottle opener. "I guess there is a lot of stuff I need to tell you!"
Desi poured two glasses of wine and offered one to Charlotte.
"And just where does Jake Blackwood come into all that?" she asked as they crossed and sat down in Desi's buttery leather seats.
Desi took a sip of her wine and sighed, closing her eyes and relaxing for the first time that day. Then she popped her eyes open and delivered the first shock.
"Jake and I are getting married," she told her friend with a grin.
This time, Charlotte did choke, swiping at her chin with her fingers as she put down her sloshing wine. "Well, hit me with something right out of left field, why don't you!" she spluttered. "When the hell did this happen?" Charlotte ducked her head so Desi missed the look of pure torment in her best friend's eyes.
"Only yesterday. We haven't had a chance to tell anyone yet," Desi confided and proceeded to tell her about everything that had shaken up her life over the past few weeks, so excited about everything that she didn't really notice how quiet Charlotte was in return.
Jake was let into his uncle's luxurious hotel suite and was surprised to find Joel there, too. Well, at least, he could kill two birds with one stone, he supposed. Thankfully, there was no sign of Anita. Jake hoped it stayed that way.
"Ah, Jake!" his uncle boomed. "I guess you've heard the news by now?"
"Yes," Jake replied shortly. "Nice of you to give me advance warning of our company's plans," he added sarcastically, scowling from Joseph to Joel.
"Well, you looked kind of cosy with the delightful Ms. Harper." His uncle chuckled maddeningly. "We didn't want you to tip her off. Not that that's a problem anymore. I'll soon have that little fi
lly in my stable."
"Well, that little 'filly' seems to have different ideas on that score, I'm afraid." Jake leaned back against the side of an arm chair and crossed his ankles, looking at his uncle's smug face as he sat on the couch in front of him, knowing he was about to wipe that expression away. "She's quit!"
"Quit!" Joseph blustered, jumping up from his seat. "She can't quit!" he raged.
"Well, she did," Jake said, straightening and looking his uncle in the eye. "And not only that, but she's also threatening to break off our engagement."
Jake whipped out his ace and dropped his bombshell, knowing it was a bit of an exaggeration, but Joseph didn't have to know that. From the corner of his eye, he saw Joel stand, too, the blood draining from his face as he paled significantly. Interesting.
"Engagement?" Joseph asked, startled out of his initial annoyance. "What engagement?"
"I asked Desi to marry me yesterday, and she agreed," he told them both, aware that Joel had taken a step or two closer, a tortured expression on his face.
"No!" Jake wasn't sure Joel even realised he'd uttered the word until his father turned to him in confusion.
"No? What do you mean, no? It doesn't affect the takeover bid, son! In fact, getting that woman married into the family is the best possible news!" Joseph enthused. "Unless she'd agreed to marry you, of course." He waved at Joel. "That would have been even better." He glanced back at Jake. "No offense, Jake, but that woman would have made a fine daughter-in-law. What do you mean she's threatening to break it off?"
"She feels that our relationship has compromised her position with United Holdings." He waited a bit for that to sink in. "And she's panicking that news of our relationship will damage her reputation because of the speculation that will be caused due to the takeover. It all casts Desi in a rather bad light. She's wondering if quitting is enough or whether she needs to take it a step further."
Joseph had started pacing back and forth across the plush hotel carpet, tapping his finger against his lips and Joel had slumped back in his seat with an unfocussed look in his eyes.