The Merger Mogul (20 page)

Daniel knew
that he had to stop now and with great self-control he reluctantly released KT
and kissed her forehead.

“I don’t know
how I’m going to keep my hands off you for the week,” Daniel murmured against
her hair.

“Don’t worry,
Paul is more than willing to help you,” joked KT.

Daniel smiled
ruefully and moved over to the cupboard to take down some glasses.

“Do you think
the others would like to try some mango juice?”

“Sure, that
sounds delicious.”

Daniel fixed
the drinks although he promised KT that it was the last time he would do so.

“I don’t want
you to think you have to serve us Daniel. We’re imposing on you so we’re hardly
guests and I feel terrible that I’m putting you out of your room.”

“KT, don’t you
know that giving you my room is nothing?  Besides I like the thought of
you sleeping in my bed,” he added wickedly. KT punched him playfully on the arm
and picked up two of the drinks to take back to the others.

“Would you guys
like to go out for dinner or shall I order in Chinese or Indian?” Daniel asked
when he joined them on the patio.

“Actually I’m
feeling too tired to go out,” said Michaela “so if you don’t mind, I’ll go with
the take out. Indian please”

“No problem, I
can order it from Sitar which is not too far from here and I can pick it up.
Now shall I show you ladies to your rooms?”

Michaela and KT
followed Daniel, complimenting him on the beautifully decorated condo with its
coral stone finish and traditional mahogany Barbadian furniture. He showed
Michaela to the guest room first and left her to unpack. Then he led KT to his
room which was immaculately made up by the maid.

“Surely you
didn’t clean this up for me, Daniel?” teased KT.

“You know me well.
A maid comes every day to clean the condo when I’m here which isn’t very
often.”

He indicated
the en-suite bathroom and told her that he would have to share it with her
since the powder room had no shower.

“I feel
terrible that you’re sleeping on the couch Daniel and having to share your
bathroom as well.”

“It’s no
hardship and I’ll enjoy sharing with you and having you in my bed. 
There’s so much I want to show you and to talk to you about. You’ll be happy to
hear that I’ve read through John and I’ve just started Luke. I’m going
backwards it seems.” KT was thrilled to hear that and she wondered if Daniel
was being impacted by what he was reading.  He seemed different somehow,
more peaceful and less driven.  Maybe it was just from being on holiday
but she really hoped that it was God working on him.

“We’d better go
back to the patio before Paul comes looking for us,” suggested Daniel. He
really didn’t want to spend the whole week fighting Paul and, to tell the
truth, he knew that based on his past, even up to a week ago, he wouldn’t have
trusted himself with KT either. That reminded him of Mandy.  He cringed
inwardly. He’d have to tell KT about that but not just yet.  He just
wanted to enjoy the week without KT hating him but he promised himself he would
tell her before she went home. Hopefully she would understand.

Daniel spent
the next few days playing tour guide for the others although there were some
places he had never been to himself. They visited Harrison’s Cave where the
women “
oohed
” and “
aahed
”
over the crystalline stalactites and stalagmites that populated the cave and
the waterfalls that dropped into clear pools of water.  It was amazing
that all this existed under the ground. He took pictures of KT on the tram with
her hard hat on as they drove through the cave.  He took advantage of the
few minutes that the tour guide turned off all the lights in the cave to
demonstrate just how dark it was in its natural state.  The lights coming
back on made him reluctantly release KT’s lips and they both laughed when they
heard a girl behind them whisper rather loudly to her mother that the man and
woman were kissing when the lights were off.

The next day
they went on a catamaran cruise and swam with the turtles in the warm Caribbean
Sea when the boat anchored further along the West Coast from his condo. 
Daniel was happy that he’d booked the cruise when he saw how thrilled KT was by
the turtles swimming unafraid all around them.

They took a
walk around Bridgetown which boasted having the third oldest Parliament in the
entire Commonwealth, having been established in 1639, and took pictures of the
two bridges which gave the city its name.  Afterwards they ate at a
restaurant overlooking the Careenage where a number of private yachts were
berthed.

The week was
speeding by faster than Daniel would have liked.  He was happy that they
hadn’t run into Mandy and then he remembered, with relief, that she had
mentioned going to
Mustique
, a tiny island in the
nearby Grenadines, with her parents to visit some friends for a week.

On Thursday, KT
and Michaela left the men to go shopping in
Holetown
,
a nearby town, for souvenirs. They said that they would take a bus so that they
could experience the local culture. The men were more than happy to laze around
the condo rather than go shopping.

Daniel and Paul
sat on the patio sipping rum punches and enjoying the view.  The silence
was surprisingly companionable as both men weren’t big talkers. Eventually Paul
asked: “When are you coming back to Manhattan?  Things are getting fairly
serious. Businesses are cutting staff like crazy and foreclosures are
skyrocketing. Aren’t you worried about your business?”

“I’ve been
watching the business news from here and yes I am getting concerned. Before
this whole thing we were trying to come up with some new consulting services so
that we wouldn’t be relying so heavily on mergers and acquisitions.  In
fact, since my surgery, I’ve been feeling dissatisfied with the merger side of
things in any case. Too many of them have been failing and in the past I can’t
really say I’ve cared much once my bill got paid, but now I find that it’s not
enough.  So I’m looking for ways to help with the post-merger issues so
that more mergers succeed.  I’m going back to work in April but I’m afraid
I’m no closer to a solution as yet.”

“Well if Jack
Welch could get a brainstorm here, you should be able to,” encouraged Paul.

“That’s what
I’m hoping,” Daniel agreed with a slight smile. They thought alike in many ways
he’d discovered over the last few days and he was beginning to like Paul.

“So what are
your intentions towards KT?” asked Paul suddenly but not unexpectedly. 
Daniel knew that it would be coming; he was surprised that Paul had restrained
himself this long.

“They’re
completely honorable,” replied Daniel. Paul looked skeptical.

“Look, I know
my reputation in the past hasn’t been the best, but I’m really trying to change
and I’m serious about KT. In fact I’m thinking about marriage for the first
time in my life.”

“Well I’m glad
to hear that. I had warned KT to stay away from you but seeing the two of you
together this week, how happy you make her, I’ve changed my mind and I’d be
glad to have you for a brother-in-law.”

“Thanks Paul.”
He knew then and there that he had to tell Paul about Mandy and ask his opinion
on how best to break it to KT. He’d probably lose his respect but nevertheless
he drew in a breath and said: “I’ve done something pretty sick and when I tell
KT, I’m not sure she’ll even want to see me anymore, far less marry me.” 
Daniel paused and then confessed: “I slept with someone a couple of days after
I got here.”

“What? You’re
talking three weeks ago?” Paul erupted.  Daniel held up his hand.

“She literally
threw herself at me and it had been a while, with this surgery and everything,
and I didn’t fight it. I feel sick about it and I know that I betrayed KT but
it didn’t mean anything which makes it even worse. I’ve even apologized to the
girl but I don’t know how to tell KT about it.” He closed his eyes as a wave of
regret coursed through him once again.

“Look, if I
were you I wouldn’t tell her anything.” Daniel’s eyes snapped open.  That
was the last thing he expected Paul to say. “At least, not while we’re on
holiday because you’ll ruin the rest of her time here and then we’ll go back
home and for the next month or so she’ll be wondering what you’re doing and who
you’re doing it with.  It will torment her.”

Daniel saw the
wisdom in that and agreed. “OK, I’ll wait until I get back to talk to her.”

“In the mean
time, keep your zip up,” warned Paul “and I would recommend an AIDS test!”

Daniel knew he
deserved that and, given his past, he owed it to KT to make sure he was safe
before he asked her to marry him.

“Thanks
Paul.”  Paul nodded, clearly not comfortable with Daniel’s confession but
as a man himself he could understand how it could happen.  For Daniel’s
sake he hoped that KT would as well.

Sleep was not
easy in coming that night because the conversation with Paul kept playing in
his mind. He’d decided to take Paul’s advice and not say anything to KT but he
felt that the longer he kept the truth from her, the worse it was going to be.
He knew that he was probably more quiet than usual when KT and Michaela came
back from shopping and he caught KT giving Paul some penetrating stares as if
she felt he had done something to upset Daniel, which only made him feel worse.

At about 1.15
am he turned on the lamp and picked up the Bible which was on the end table and
flicked through the New Testament and eventually landed on a verse that said:
Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Well,
he certainly was heavy laden with guilt and he needed rest so he simply said:
“Lord I need rest from this guilt. Please help me to find the right words to
tell KT and help her to forgive me when I tell her the truth.”
Having said that, he realized that tormenting himself with his
thoughts was not helping so he deliberately stilled his mind and eventually
fell asleep.

In spite of his
restless night Daniel woke up very early, before the sun had even come up
fully. He could hardly believe it was Friday already and KT would be leaving
the next day. Something had
woken
him up but he
wasn’t sure what it was.  He lay there for a few minutes and eventually
bits of a dream he had came back to him.  He was on some sort of a
construction site but he didn’t recognize what the people were building and,
even as he was trying to work it out in the dream, he heard the words:
Indeed
the people are one and they all have one language and this is what they
begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.

What did the
words mean? Where were they from?  He wanted to wake up KT and ask her if
she knew what they meant since they sounded like something from the Bible.
Instead he went to the small powder room and washed his face and brushed his
teeth and then quietly opened the French door so that he could sit on the patio
and wait for the sun to come up. He loved this time of the day which was so
fresh and unspoiled, like KT, he thought with a smile. His thoughts must have
conjured her up because he heard the door open a couple of minutes later and
looked around to see her in silky Mickey Mouse pajamas with her hair mussed up
from sleeping.  He liked the fact that she didn’t bother to fix it before
she came to find him. She looked gorgeous.  Daniel held out his arms and
she came and sat on his lap. This was the first time they’d really been alone
for the week.  He held her tight.

“Good morning
sunshine,” he whispered.

“Good morning
to you too,” she said burrowing into him. “Um, you’re so warm and nice. I’m
surprised at how chilly it is out here.”

“That’s because
you’ve become acclimatized to the Barbadian weather.  Tomorrow when you
get back to New York, you’ll think that this was warm.”

“Don’t remind
me.  I don’t want to go back,” groaned KT.

“I don’t want
you to either.  This week was wonderful. This is the best time I’ve ever
had in my life.”

“Yeah, right.”
She believed that Daniel was just saying that
for her benefit.

“No, I’m serious
KT. I never had much to enjoy in life when I was young. My dad left home when I
was ten and never looked back…” And Daniel shared his story for the first time
in his life.

“I’ve never
told anyone that before so I was really shocked by Dana’s prophecy,” he
confided.

“I’m glad you
told me, Daniel. It helps me to understand you so much better.  Thank
you.”  She kissed him softly on the lips.

“That is not a
good idea KT, especially with you sitting on my lap.”  KT was about to
jump up when he pulled her back against his chest and they just sat looking at
the horizon as the new day began to dawn. Daniel would have loved to ask KT to
marry him there and then, but he knew it wouldn’t be fair to her.  He had
to tell her about Mandy first and hope that she would find it in her heart to
forgive him, far less marry him.

Suddenly he
remembered the words that he’d heard in his dream or when he woke up he wasn’t
sure which and asked: “KT have you ever heard the words: ‘
The
people are one and they all have one language and this is what they begin to
do; now nothing…”

“…they propose
to do will be withheld from them,” she finished.

“Yes,” he said
excitedly, “Where are they from?”

“From the story of Tower of Babel in Genesis.
Why?”

“I woke up with
them in my head but I haven’t read Genesis.  That’s weird.”

“Maybe God is
speaking to you.”

“What’s the
story about?”
asked
Daniel.