Never Forgotten: Second Chances

by Hart, Alana

  The surprise on Lenora's face pleased her. "I think I've done a good job."

  "So far, yes. I've been pleased with your work."

  It seemed that Lenora expected disagreement, as she hesitated before continuing. "I was just hoping that you would see the problem and maybe let me exercise my option early, just in case things go to hell fast."

  "The idea wasn't to give you a share if we failed, but if we succeeded."

  "I'd be happy with just part of it now. I'm really looking for a show of good faith, a sign that I'm appreciated. That's really what it comes down to. I put together a damn good marketing plan, and I have a clear vision of how to implement it." She paused, seeing herself doing exactly that. "If you had to bring in someone new to do it, that person would take time to get up to speed, and that's time you don't have. The plan wouldn't be nearly as effective, and that assumes you got someone really good."

  "Why would we bring in someone new?"

  "If I don't feel appreciated, I can't see any reason to hang around. This is a turning point for this company. You've made that clear to everyone, and I'm one of the key players. I know you don't like me, but even you said my work was good."

  "Because it is."

  "Then I should be rewarded. I want to be in a position to benefit if you pull this off."

  "Rewarded? I think you've been paid very well for your work."

  "Perhaps, but there is a big upside potential to this project and without stock I won't see any of that. Why should I stick around, busting my ass to make the plan work when it just helps you get rich while I draw a salary? And there is a downside for me too. I'm taking a gamble by staying here. If this fails, that won't look good on my resume. If the company folds, I get tarred as a loser. If I left and you failed, I'd look a lot smarter--like I had the sense to get out. Even if you manage to pull it off, I can claim my part in the success."

  "So what exactly do you want?"

  "I want an incentive to stay and make it happen. I do believe in the product, in Craig's work, but I need to feel like I'm a significant part of the team and that I'll benefit financially if we pull this off. I want an ownership position."

  Megan sat back and took in her determination. Although Lenora was definitely being presumptuous, it wasn't a totally unreasonable request even if it came along with a threat. This was the kind of play that top people made all the time. Megan could understand why she was applying pressure, threatening to quit just when she was needed and her usefulness the most obvious. Hoping to cash in while she had value and leverage was reasonable. But Megan's hackles were up. She sensed some unstated agenda beyond the obvious that lay behind the request. Even though she didn't care for Lenora working with unpleasant people wasn't a problem, but now there was some other factor at work that bothered her. Eventually, she'd understand it. If it was a minor thing, or something unrelated to work, such as pressure from a boyfriend, then it wasn't important. But she wanted to know. "Let me think about it. And then I'll need to get Craig and Thom to approve anything like that. You understand that giving away part of the company isn't something I can do on my own."

  Megan saw a smile flutter on Lenora's lips. "You can make it conditional."

  "On what? What do you mean?"

  A thin smile crossed her lips, telling Megan they'd finally gotten to the sales pitch. "Make giving me stock conditional on the company getting the investment. Then you won't have to restructure the package. You can tack on an amendment that says I can execute my option when the deal goes through."

  "That would mean I don't have to redo all the paperwork, I suppose."

  "Look, I know agreeing would be a pain in the ass and a complication for you, but if you are willing to do it, I'd be happy to help you woo investors. And I'd be extremely motivated."

  The way she phrased the proposal now made Megan realize that she'd talked to a financial person and that most likely it was Thom. The idea of an amendment allowing her to execute her option was exactly the kind of thing he'd come up with. It did what she wanted without making Thom's shares less attractive or worth any less. It was far too clever and showed more knowledge of investing than Lenora had demonstrated. "If we agreed, what exactly would you do to help find an investor that we aren't doing already?"

  "I can't find them, but I could and would help convince them. Negotiation depends a lot on personal contact. If they like you, they tend to want to do business, and that can offset other things." She licked her lips. "I could help wine and dine them and convince them of what a great deal this would be."

  Now that sounded more like a Lenora idea, using her sexual appeal to get what she wanted. Well, people used whatever assets they had to reach their goals, and Lenora definitely appealed to men. "I'll have to think about it. I have a big meeting this afternoon, and I'll have to get back to you."

  As Lenora stood up to leave Megan reached for her coffee cup. The coffee was cold. Megan hated cold coffee. Now she'd need to make another cup to drink while she restarted her morning and planned her day. Not that planning was necessary. She'd spend the morning going down her prospect list, making calls and arranging meetings. She didn't look forward to any of it, but every call created new possibilities. After all, you had to ask for the sale if you expected to get it. Then, after lunch, she had to meet Riley.

  * * * *

  After a day of painful rejections and the even more agonizing hell of unreturned calls that often characterizes a day of cold calling, after dealing with Lenora's grasping ploy, meeting Riley Carson in his office seemed like some monumental achievement.

  She tried to keep her expectations in check. Even though she was meeting with a real player, the first meeting was likely to produce nothing more than setting a baseline for something to happen. The two of them dancing around each other, like birds in a courtship ritual as they discovered if they would or could even do business together. If they found a common ground, then they'd agree to see what was possible. Investment might be based on analysis, but it was foolhardy to ignore the human element. Who the major players were and how they operated was an important factor. Carson had all the numbers, all the data about the company he could ever need. Now, he wanted to see a face, make human contact. She had Thom's recommendation, which was golden, but she wanted to see his face and take her own measure of the man before she put her trust in him. She needed to hear what he thought he could do for them. If anything.

  One of the best. Thom had called him that, and it had set expectations in her head. He surprised her from the first, starting with his office. She couldn't say exactly what she expected, but assumed it would be a beehive of activity. There should be dozens of junior executives in cubicles working telephones like some high-end boiler room call center. What she saw made her think of an old time law office. The first impression was of a cramped reception area where an ancient secretary stood guard and glared at her with suspicion from behind a plaque that said her name was Ivy.

  Feeling oddly compelled to justify her existence to this secretary, who reminded her of a third-grade teacher, Megan walked up to her. "I'm Megan Cross. I have an appointment." She half expected the woman to demand to see photo id. Instead, she stood, nodded and silently escorted her through a mahogany paneled door into a spacious office that came straight out of a London men's club where Riley Carson sat behind a giant and clean wooden desk. Riley himself was a stocky man in a perfectly tailored suit that showed he was fit. She guessed him to be around forty. She would call him handsome but in a rugged way.

  She definitely liked the cut of him, and when she sat on his leather couch and crossed her legs, she noted a flicker of interest. That spark pleased her, activating a small trembler running through her. He welcomed her with enthusiasm, and she found the sound of his voice, that rich, masculine baritone, even more pleasant in person than over the phone. They sat facing each other in soft leather chairs with a coffee table between them, exchanging pleasantries while the secretary made coffee and brou
ght it to them and then, assured that the amenities were taken care of, left them alone.

  The papers she'd had sent over sat on the table between them, the thick stack a visible reminder of the complexity of the task ahead of them. She liked that too. Hers was the only visible paperwork. He gave her attention and had told the secretary he wasn't taking calls. These small touches, along with the voice, his look, were tools of his trade. Someone who did business based on building confidence needed to look and sound the part and to make you feel special. She liked being around him, and although she found herself responding to him, she was certain he was as at ease with men and made them comfortable as well. He was confident without being threatening. It was a manner that men would respond to, make them want to be friends, an ally of this competent man. Before he'd even outlined his ideas she knew that he could do the job that needed doing.

  "I asked you about limits," he said.

  She recalled him asking, remembered her own reaction. "Yes. That confused me. I assumed that any reasonable offer should be on the table. Of course, as you explained, there are things that might make a deal unacceptable and you need to know about them."

  "And there is another factor we haven't broached yet." She tilted her head, waiting for him to finish the thought. "I need clarification as to who my client actually is."

  She laughed. "Isn't that obvious?"

  He turned in his seat, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. "Not at all. You've come here looking for a good deal, correct?"

  "Of course."

  "The question is, good for whom? Good for Megan Cross, or Diamond, only one that benefits all stockholders equally? Because they aren't equal you know. The three of you will want different things."

  "We are all invested and want the company to survive."

  "Is that true?"

  "Surely."

  "What about Thom? From what he's said, he simply wants to sell his shares at a profit and doesn't care about the rest."

  "I suppose that's true."

  "It's a vulnerability. For your goals, I mean."

  "How? He's the one that suggested that buying him out be part of the deal."

  "True, but his suggestion isn't a promise that he'll do anything specific, and a promise is only useful when it's in writing."

  "Good points."

  "Now back to you. What if there was an offer that would keep the company moving along but required a personal sacrifice on your part? What about one that wasn't the greatest offer from a profit perspective but included a spectacular job offer for you? Those options all could exist. They conflict, however, and I need to know if my client is the company or Megan Cross."

  The question surprised her. "I hadn't thought of that at all. I assumed any deal that was good for me would be good for the company."

  "It seldom works that way. Deals are made by appealing to special interests, getting a majority of the stockholders to agree to it, not according to what is best for anyone in particular. So you and Thom might get what you want while Craig Lester finds himself with a pot of money and angry because his program is gone."

  "Why?"

  "There are people called salvage experts who might make a good offer for your shares. You know Thom wants to sell, and if they buy his shares and yours, they'd have sixty percent—a majority ownership. With that, they could take that and then sell the program to someone."

  "Then the company would be worthless."

  "Not so. They'd still have assets to sell off—the existing products would be worth something to a competitor. Breaking up the company that way they'd easily make more than they paid for the stock. Because you don't have creditors breathing down your neck, it might be more lucrative for you to do that yourselves—break up the company and sell it off. I need to know if that is on the table. Another scenario is allowing another company to buy you, effectively becoming a subsidiary of the bigger company. You could negotiate a budget for the launch, but your shares in Diamond would convert into a tiny ownership in the larger company. You'd be employees. Again, would you consider that?"

  None of those sounded pleasant, but Megan knew he needed to know if they were absolutely off limits. "I think you should start viewing the company as your client with the goal to ensure funding of the new project. We can't let it all just go down the drain. Ideally, I'd like find someone willing to pay enough for Thom's shares and some treasury stock that we can finance the launch. That's what I'd like. If that's not possible, then we'd have to look at what is possible."

  He nodded. "Good. I can work with that. We prioritize things."

  "And you have the time and interest to devote to this?"

  He waved his hands, indicating his office. "As you can see, I do not work in the chaos that most do. I've done well, and now I pick and choose my tasks based more on the people I'm dealing with and how interesting the challenge is. I no longer have to work for principles who are crazed assholes, and turning those people away is one of the reasons I worked so hard early in my career."

  "You mentioned people who make their living finding companies to break up. Are there many of those? It seems almost anti-business."

  "Oh, absolutely. Many more than you can imagine. If you were to get close to that point, the scavengers would be coming out of the woodwork like cockroaches. And as volatile as business is, there are usually plenty of companies on the ropes for them to choose from. They stay busy."

  Megan shook off the ghoulish sense the idea triggered. It was a useful business thing, but making a living from the failures of others struck an unpleasant chord. "Well, if it came to it, breaking it up would ensure Craig's program survived, and we got something from it his efforts. That would be better than letting the company die."

  Riley seemed to relax or at least settle into a comfort zone. "I find your pragmatism refreshing. We'll make something happen."

  "So what do you think might be possible? I know our timeline is a pain in the ass. Of course, it's also the only reason we need to look for money."

  He laughed. "Your schedule would be a giant pain if you were fixated on a specific solution, but if we can let investors put forth their own ideas, there's a better chance. And I'm optimistic because I've already fielded some preliminary inquiries."

  "So soon?"

  "The word seems to have gotten out that you have troubles. Maybe someone Thom talked to or someone inside the company let it slip... it doesn't matter, but I got a couple of calls from people looking to know more not that long after I got your call."

  "That's good, isn't it?"

  "It might be. Some of the early birds hope to scoop something up cheap before the serious offers boost the price. I have one man very interested in talking. I have to make a few calls to see if he is real or a tire kicker, or even an agent for someone else, but he wants to meet soon. If he is legitimate are you free for dinner this evening?"

  The speed at which things seemed to be moving delighted Megan. Was getting financing going to be an easy thing after all? It would be nice to think she'd worried herself over nothing. Working with Riley certainly made it less confusing, but she forced herself to remember Thom's warning, that Riley would have his own agenda. "What about you? What outcome do you want?"

  He grinned. "You mean will I steer you to a particular kind of deal because it's more lucrative for me? I could do that, but frankly the amount I make isn't that much different regardless how the deal is structured... unless it was a full-scale takeover, and I was offered stock. If it comes to that, you'll definitely see my hand in the till, but the money wouldn't be coming out of your pocket. Besides, I see us doing a lot of business together, assuming I do right by you."

  "You do?"

  "Sure. You are talented and ambitious. Whether it's with this company or another. People like you push the envelope. In my experience that means when things don't go according to plan you need someone like me to step in. I can see you and I working together on a number of much larger deals
in the future."

  Megan liked the sound of that. In fact, at that point there wasn't anything about doing business with Riley Carson she didn't like. She stood up feeling like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "In that case, I'll leave you to check out the prospective investor. Call me about dinner."

  He stood and held out a hand. "Let's be proactive. Meet me for dinner at that new steak place on Carlsbad... La Chica is the name of it. We can have dinner at nine. I'll either have the prospective investor in tow or not, and either way I can give you an update and enjoy your company."

  His words set off an alarm. From the moment she'd walked into his office Megan had felt drawn to Riley and the idea of spending time with him appealed to her. An electric current ran between them that suggested something pleasant and desirable could develop. And that made her hesitate. Allowing the boundary between work and personal matters to become such a gray area could spell trouble and she preferred a separation. She hadn't always maintained it, and when she did it often meant that her personal life devolved to little more than a drink at home watching television alone and painfully empty weekends. The reality was that she hardly knew anyone she wasn't involved with in business one way or the other and she had little opportunity to meet people outside that world. Even most of the people at her gym or the clubs she went to on rare occasions worked in the industry. They all knew each other. Trying to keep those worlds apart grew harder as time went on.

  When she'd gotten involved with Craig they'd worked in different departments of the same company and seldom saw each other at work. That sidestepped the problems of office romance, at least most of them.

  Because she was a woman who enjoyed men and sexual relationships, and not interested in living as a recluse, she'd found herself honoring that separation more in the breach. At least Riley was tangential to it rather than part of the mainstream. She sighed and acknowledged that meeting the potential investor held less appeal than being with Riley for dinner. Besides, sitting and waiting for a call to find out how the meeting had gone wasn't her style and would be torture for her. "That's a plan I can deal with."