Never Forgotten: Second Chances

by Hart, Alana

  NEVER FORGOTTEN

  Second Chances

  By

  Alana Hart & Marlena Dark

  Copyright © 2015 Alana Hart & Marlena Dark

  All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locals or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18 and all characters represented as 18 or over.

  Published by Hartfelt Books

  Sneak Peek!

  "You seem distressed." These were Riley's first concerned words, uttered the moment he opened the door to his apartment for her and saw her face, telling her that the turmoil of feelings churning through her showed far too clearly for comfort. Looking at Riley made the morass of emotion worse. Seeing Sal again had pushed Riley right out of her head.

  She kissed him, but it was perfunctory. Knowing he wouldn't miss that made her feel bad. She swept into the living room. "I'm not sure distressed is the right word. Confused seems better. Maybe even troubled."

  "Can I help? Does it have to do with your meeting?"

  "Riley, the new investor is someone I know. Or knew."

  Her voice trembled, and he seemed to catch the importance of that statement. "So you know this Carla Finelli?"

  "No." She tried to think how to tell the man she was sleeping with, the man who had asked her to marry him that he'd just hooked her up with an old lover. The lover. The one she'd never forgotten. There was no good way to do it. "You were right that she isn't the principle. He was there too. And the man behind the company is my old boyfriend, Sal."

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  CHAPTER ONE

  Megan Cross drew in a breath and then let it out slowly as she looked around the room, taking in the sober and confused looks on the faces of the three people sitting around the conference table. The expressions she saw told her that none of them entirely understood, and they expected her explain it. Fundamentally, the situation was simple enough. As always in business, it was the whys and wherefores, the scope of the problem and what it meant that made it hard to lay out in a way they could all understand. In short, Diamond Software had run into a problem that needed a solution—and soon.

  She considered each person in turn. Craig Lester, the handsome geek who was the company's main software designer, was her ex-husband and a major shareholder. She recognized the disbelief contorting his rather handsome face; it came from shock in hearing that she hadn't resolved the problem before it became a crisis. Even though they'd fallen apart as a couple, he'd always trusted her business acumen, and now he couldn't believe she'd failed him. He'd see it as her failure regardless of the facts. His disconnect from the real world, her world, had been one reason the marriage had failed. Early on, his admiration of her strength, her competence flattered her, and it took time before she came to see that he wanted someone to shield him from the routine, the difficult and obligatory things in life. By her standards, he'd never grown up, and the novelty of his counterculture attitudes wore off quickly. Now when she saw him at business meetings dressed in jeans and tee shirts, with his manner as casual as his clothes, it just annoyed her. She knew he thought any sort of conformity was playing games—selling out.

  By contrast, Thom Gooden, who sat next to him, was the ultimate business insider and a consummate game player. He understood the financial situation perfectly. What he found difficult to understand was her passion for the company. "You struggle with keeping this company going when there are better, more interesting, ways to make money," he'd told her. He lived for business without caring what the business actually was. Megan had met him at a conference when they were looking for money to expand. He'd agreed to invest, but insisted on having a seat on the board to protect his money. Now he waited for an explanation of her plan, a detailed analysis of where they'd go from here. He'd expect her to present every option, even if it meant breaking up the company and selling its assets.

  Lenora Joyce was the third person at the table. As they'd expanded, Megan had hired the willowy blonde away from another company where she'd run the marketing department. She'd been with them six months and normally Lenora wouldn't have been at a board meeting, but they had met to discuss a new product launch, including the marketing plan she'd developed. She'd presented it competently, and now she was reeling from hearing the news that there was no funding available to implement it.

  Megan thought they were an odd group to be running a software company. Although she'd never warmed up to Lenora, found her personality somewhat abrasive, the woman was good at what she did. That was the common glue. They were all good at what they did, and if she could harness that, get them to work together, they had a good chance to turn things around and make a lot of money. In many ways, they were on a cusp, within reach of the brass ring but also on the edge of a dangerous precipice, with a chance of going in either direction. They all saw the prize was there to be taken, and she could feel their frustration at her news. Each person had quite different reasons for wanting to think she was wrong. She wasn't.

  Herself flustered by having been caught up by circumstances, she stood up and made herself look more formidable than she felt. "The problem is serious, and I won't pretend it isn't, but we can resolve it. This is part of our evolution—small companies face this sort of obstacle from time to time and, in a way, it helps them grow. The new product represents our change in focus and its launch will finally put us on a solid footing." After a long cleansing breath, she decided to start with the easiest of their unstated objections first. "Craig, I know you don't like financial statements, but the numbers are simple and right there in front of you. Some of it is good news. The company is solvent and making money."

  He took a sip from his soft drink can. He drank them constantly. "Then we don't have a problem?"

  She laughed. "We do. A cash flow problem. Doing business means having the money you need at the right time. The way things are we won't have the cash to finance a big launch for the new program." She held up a manila folder that held her copy of Lenora's plan, giving the woman a brief smile. "You heard Lenora's presentation. It's thorough and would do the job, but we don't have the money to implement it." She nodded at Thom. "I've done projections, and it appears that the closer we get to the launch date, the worse the situation will be." Craig started to speak, and she raised a hand, stopping him. "I know the product is important, and the timing is too. I understand that you think this new program will bury the competition and put us on the map in the consumer world. Everything you've said and everything I've seen for myself says you are absolutely right. You and your team did a brilliant job." She slid the folder across the mahogany table to him. "If we are going to make this happen, we have to find a way to get a rather large chunk of cash together in time for the launch. That is the challenge." She let the words hang in the room as she sat do
wn and watched Craig reluctantly open the folder. After he scanned it, he turned to the blonde sitting next to him. "Why does it cost so much, Lenora?"

  Lenora gave a startled laugh. "That's like me asking you why it takes so long to write the program, Craig. It's that much because there are specific things you have to do to get a product to market in a way that catches the attention of buyers. I plug in the ones that make the most sense, add them up, and that's what it costs. We can do some work with social media, but even that costs us money and time. To be honest, I kept the program a bit conservative. I really think we ought to be spending twice that much." She paused and scowled. "And in case you think I'm too fond of my own plan, this isn't just my opinion." She looked over at Megan, who nodded. "Before the meeting I asked Megan to look over the proposal and point out anything she thought we could slice off, but she didn't see a thing."

  Megan suppressed a smile knowing that Craig would be surprised that they had cooperated. But it was true. Lenora had swallowed her pride and asked Megan for her ideas for cost cutting, and she hadn't had any.

  Thom caught her eye. "Megan, what I don't understand is how we got to this point? You've been planning to release this new program for some time. You said before that this was critical, and you knew you'd need money for the launch. None of this can have caught you by surprise. Why wasn't the money budgeted for a good launch from the beginning?"

  Megan knew the smile she gave him was thin. Thom Gooden was a dignified man of around fifty who dressed in elegant suits and sedate silk ties which made him looked a bit out of place, even uncomfortable when dealing with people like Craig. His specialty was money—making it, protecting it, growing his pile. "We did plan for it, Thom. We had a set aside program to build up cash, but two things happened. First, Striker Industries bought our main competitor and immediately launched a new program that goes head to head with our best seller. It's not any better, but it looks more glamorous, and it's newer. We had to discount our product to keep from losing the market entirely. The cash went to pay bills and do some marketing pushback instead of into the fund."

  Craig sat up straight. "Striker's people copied our best features and made a snappier interface, but their algorithms are either total crap or a rip-off of ours."

  Megan liked seeing Craig in his element. Then he came alive as the confident, assertive man she'd once thought she loved. When it came to software, Craig was almost never wrong and within his field she trusted his judgment. She turned her attention to Thom. "Even before Striker came into the market, our older products were gradually losing profitability. The market is maturing and shrinking—so increasingly we were getting a smaller piece of a smaller pie. We saw the trend, and there was no reason for it to change and that's why, when Craig had an idea to do something different, we put our efforts into the new direction rather than updating the existing software. If you'll recall, we made that choice together." The look on Thom's face told her that it had been a rare occasion when he hadn't quite understood the ramifications. "Striker just made that situation worse, and it screwed up our projections. Now we face the reality of revenues declining further and faster than we imagined. On top of Striker timing things perfectly, we had our suppliers hit us with price increases."

  "The old squeeze play."

  "I think Striker played a role there as well. It seems too much like a happy coincidence for him. But I haven't the time, resources, or interest to try and prove it. The point is that the launch is rapidly approaching, and we don't have the promotion budget we need. So we need to take action."

  Craig looked over at Thom. "I don't understand why it's problem, Thom? Can't you invest a bit more? You said you thought the program sounded great."

  Thom tilted his head. "And I still do…" he paused and measured his words "…think it sounds great. But until it's launched it isn't real."

  "If you put in the cash, it will be real in six months."

  Thom folded his hands on the table. "Craig, what you told me about the product and how the customers perceive it sounds wonderful. But I'm a financial person. To me, it's still just a promise. Even you admit it's a complex program that might not work the way you think it should, the way the customer wants. Even wonderful things when they aren't in hand are high-risk investments. This is a gamble, and honestly I'm not in a situation right now where I'm comfortable gambling more money. Even if I was, how do you propose to structure the addition of capital? I own twenty percent of the company. In some firms, each principle would agree to put up more money. You and Megan own 80 percent, and we'd add cash according to that formula—you and she each putting up forty percent of what's needed. But I know neither of you have that kind of money, so that's out. I could buy treasury stock, but I don't want a larger share of the company, as that would obligate me to involve myself in the day to day management and make me the majority shareholder. So what are you suggesting? A loan?"

  Craig slapped the table in frustration. "I don't know. I have no idea how those things work. I thought that's what you did."

  Megan caught Thom's eye and saw a twinkle probably sparked by Craig's innocence in financial matters. Craig suddenly looked up. "You don't want to buy the stock, but we could we sell treasury stock to someone couldn't we?"

  Thom laughed. "Of course, that's possible, but it would dilute the value of the shares we own and reduce our share of the ownership. Why would I vote to reduce my share of the company?"

  Megan tapped on the table, and Thom looked at her. "It sounds like you have another thought."

  He smiled. "Okay, I can offer a couple of suggestions for you to consider. Since the company still looks good on paper, the most logical and easiest thing would be to sell the company. Another software company that needs a good product might buy us out at a good price."

  Craig shook his head. "We started this company to be in the business. We want to make programs and sell them."

  Thom smiled. "And I invested in it to make money. If you are more interested in this particular product, seeing your child born, than profiting from your labors, then what you need is someone who is willing to buy me out and buy some of your treasury stock as well. That way we both get what we want—you keep your company, at least part of it, and I have my money with a small profit."

  Craig placed his hands flat on the table, palms down. The rigidity in his body told Megan there was an explosion building inside him. He was frustrated and with the problem lying in an arena he didn't understand he was having trouble controlling himself. Craig was a brilliant coder and a decent manager of software teams, but his personal skills weren't even average, and now Megan had no interest in seeing Craig alienate Thom. They needed him. "We do have options, Craig." She kept her voice soft, offering no promises. Lenora gave him a look that held a stern warning too, and Craig caught it. He took a bit to digest Megan's words, looking for hidden meanings the way he did. "What sort of options?"

  She looked around and saw Thom's grin. Clearly he wanted to hear her answer too. "Thom hasn't said that the product isn't worth investing in, just that he isn't interested, given his situation. Other people might be." She looked at him. "And you mentioned the possibility of a loan?"

  Now they all looked at Thom. He sat back down and calmly folded his hands on the table, his eyes looking upward. Finally he nodded. "A loan? Yes, it's possible you could get a line of credit, but I can't see a bank providing the amount you need, and you can't point to some windfall that would encourage them to give you a bridge loan. More to the point, a loan would create overhead you can't afford and reduce the cash flow more. You can't know how long it will take for you to earn back the research and development costs on this, much less the promotion money. Even if the program takes off you might not see a positive return for years, if at all. Hell, for all you know another company is working on a program just like it and will kill your sales right out of the gate. The market is fickle. You don't want to even think about walking in that jungle while carrying a load of de
bt."

  "What about new investment, Thom? You mentioned that possibility."

  His face stayed neutral. "There are people who are looking at the long game in the industry and if they think you have a product that will take off you should be able to work something out with them. And, by the way, Craig, I agree with these ladies that the cost of the launch they've proposed is reasonable. Lenora is right that it should be more ambitious. I suggest you find an investor willing to take over my holdings and buy treasury stock at a price that will give you at least that much. Otherwise, it's not worth doing."

  Craig looked at Thom, clearly angry. "Where the hell are we going to find someone with that kind of money?"

  Thom shrugged. "If it were me, I'd go to a broker."

  "A broker?"

  Thom laughed. "Craig, if you name something that is needed and wanted, and that will fetch a decent price, you'll find there is someone around who earns a living brokering it. Information, influence, and money, such as for mortgages, are all brokered."

  "Where do we find these brokers?"

  "I can give you a couple of names—the best ones." He took out his phone. "Bear in mind that 'best' simply means they are good at what they do, not that they have your best interests at heart. They serve their own interests first, so don't give anything away." He looked at each of them, waiting until they nodded in turn then picked up his cell phone and sent a text message. "I asked my personal assistant to send you the names and numbers, Megan. I assume you'll be the one spearheading this effort?"

  "As the CEO, I guess I'm elected. Craig will be completely focused on the testing and tweaking needed to stay on schedule for the launch."

  "Six months from now," Craig said. "What happens if we finish, and the money isn't there?"