by Jac Wright
‘Yup. He has moved back in with Marianne. Caitlin has kicked him out as soon as you left the house that day.’
‘I left for London shortly after Douglas McAllen, Caitlin, and Gavin Hunter got back with Magnus Laird and Tim Brown,’ Harry said. ‘McAllen and Caitlin made it very clear that they had a big family discussion in mind and that they wanted the lawyers out of the way, but not before thanking both you and me profusely for saving everybody’s lives. Magnus took Tim Brown to the station to put him on the fast train to Birmingham and I headed back to London.’
‘The “family discussion” was more like an explosion, Jack told me,’ Jeremy added. ‘Jack had actually tried to punch Gavin in the face, but had had his face punched with a left hook instead. Caitlin had kicked him out of the house sporting a black eye and with bandages still around his chest from the injured ribs. She had actually taken him upstairs, cleaned up his wounds, given him painkillers, and bandaged his ribs herself before kicking him out. There was no chance of Caitlin forgiving Jack after the revelations of a second affair, lasting nearly two years, with Sally after what Jack’s “recklessness” has put “the Family” through.’
‘Nevertheless, Jeremy, the divorce is going to be an amicable one,’ Harry smiled.
‘So I hear, and you are handling Jack Connor’s end of the divorce, Harry?’
Harry and Jeremy both looked up as Stephen Barrett entered the room with the question. He poured himself a cup of coffee, took the seat across the table from Jeremy, and flipped his straight floppy blonde hair off his face with a shake of his head. Jeremy tossed the blue stress ball with the Barratt & Stavers logo on it at Steve, who put his right hand straight up, caught it, and threw it back. Ha, ha. Good reflexes.
‘Jake Freemen’s going to front Jack’s end of the divorce, Steve, but I shall be right behind him breathing down his neck. In essence Jack’s giving up all rights to his share of the McAllen-Connor mansion in Guildford and any on-going “alimony” in exchange for the full business premises and buildings of BlackGold, the part of the BlackGold business he had built since his appointment, and two very generous trust funds for the young Connor boys’ education. That’s Caitlin’s and McAllen’s offer and Jack is accepting it. Jack’s moved back in with Marianne.’
‘Peter’s going to rebel and go to medical school,’ Jeremy said, wondering if they saw the irony of it.
‘However, McAllen is separating out and taking the part of the BlackGold business that he originally bought up north to the McAllen Industries factories. So, all the machinery and the devices that McAllen bought with the original BlackGold company before Jack’s appointment go up north with him. Doing the separation without spooking the client base is the difficult task ahead. That’s the brief I have had from Jack, Caitlin, and Douglas McAllen.’
Steve flipped through a page of his notebook.
‘Well that’s where you come in, Steve. The corporate division as you outlined is agreed in principal and you have to hammer out the details. I expect you will be spending quite a few hours with Jack sitting across the table from McAllen, Caitlin, McKinley, and Laird.’
‘With Jack and me,’ Jeremy corrected. ‘Steve will have me on his side of the table to balance out the weight. Once BlackGold is separated from McAllen Industries, Steve’s going to merge BlackGold with Radio Silicon to form BlackGold Silicon for Jack and me, with the headquarters right here and the engineering branch in the current BlackGold offices in Portsmouth.’
Jeremy could not believe his luck. He had only hoped that Jack might be able to join Radio Silicon as his business partner. For him to be coming on board with the already thriving business of BlackGold and signed contracts with Shell and British Petroleum as well as a partnership with McAllen Industries was beyond his wildest dreams.
‘The other difficulty is that McAllen Industries is going to continue to be one of BlackGold Silicon’s primary clients and partners in manufacturing the device range. Douglas McAllen loves you, Jeremy, and as much as he hates Jack’s guts, he still thinks Jack is one of the most brilliant engineers he has ever known. He badly wants a stake in Jack’s undersea robotics project for oil and gas exploration that Jack is working on for Shell and BP, which is part of the business coming to Jack. McAllen wants a joint venture or a financial stake in that. So we have to tread carefully and look at what we can come up with,’ Steve explained.
Jeremy nodded.
‘The other tight rope we shall have to walk is on separating BlackGold’s finances from McAllen Industries’ finances. Caitlin has maintained BlackGold as a separate entity with a separate account, and a very healthy account it is. However, McAllen Industries has made some cash injections, particularly immediately after the takeover. They could ask for return of those cash injections with interest. Also Caitlin has a claim to her contribution to the success of BlackGold through her work. I think I can persuade McAllen Industries to give up claims to both of those financial interests so that they will come to Blackgold Silicon.’
Steve smiled at Jack and raised his eyebrows up and down twice.
‘Sounds better and better.’ Jeremy laughed. Wow!
‘Caitlin’s moved up north,’ Jeremy informed them. ‘Gillian and Caitlin have now moved in with Gavin into Gavin’s old family home.’
That was what he had heard from Jack.
‘I am also looking to buy a property with a sea view in Portsmouth. It makes sense with part of my company based in Portsmouth now and the Marine work we have taken on. I have been spending too much on hotels lately,’ Jeremy added, omitting to mention that he had promised Annie he would let her borrow a room with a sea view from him to inspire her writing while she completed her degree in Fine Arts and English.
‘I shall be sure to come over to spend a weekend by the sea every now and then, Jeremy.’ Harry winked.
‘Douglas McAllen loves the new Gavin Hunter, by the way. McAllen Industries has so far been a product company and McAllen loves the pure services company making big profits that Gavin has built. They expect the businesses will merge when Caitlin and Gavin get married,’ Steve said.
‘The divorce papers have already landed on my table for Jack to sign,’ Harry held up the papers in his right hand and waved them in the air. ‘Caitlin has made it very clear that she wants the divorce done yesterday although the financial separation can go at its own pace.’
The discussion on the corporate separations, mergers, and the finances went on for a little while longer.
‘There’s news in the papers that Sally Trotter has received a sizable “donation” from an anonymous source to fight her successful temporary insanity defence and her deportation.’ Steve looked at them with a slightly puzzled expression and pointed to the story in the Daily Telegraph.
‘She can’t be deported. It turns out she is British. The lawyers found out that she was born in England while going through her paperwork with her parents. Matt Jennings’ firm is handling her defence,’ Harry informed.
‘Really?’ Steve acknowledged the information from his managing partner.
What a tragedy of errors! Everything Sally wanted was hers in reality. Why did she have to ruin her life so needlessly?
‘I wonder who the donation is from,’ Jeremy mused. ‘I know that Alan has had a few meeting with McAllen about Sally. I mentioned it to Douglas McAllen and he said, rather cryptically, “I’m always in need of a good engineer son. Alan Walters is a fine young fella with a good head on his shoulders.” The old man avoided answering my question.’