Twisted Love and Money (21 page)

“On a sixty
million takeover this is not an unreasonable amount, young man. You
would have cash in hand and you could use your funds in any way you
saw fit.

“And if my Dad
wants more?”

“The incentive
for you is that you are personally guaranteed a share of a sixty
million price plus a bonus of five million on completion. All
adjustments paid confidentially in cash offshore. You will be asked
to sign some papers naturally. Do you understand?”

Peter could
feel his head swim as he tried to work the figures.

“Peter you
can’t lose unless the price goes over sixty million. Over sixty
million we would reconsider our position. Understood?”

“And the
arrangement about my share will remain highly confidential?”

“Secret Peter,
We will arrange a suitable letter of reassurance through the
lawyers, but know one will know except me and you and the Lawyer,”
Crawford said with a tight smile.

Peter’s eyes
were dancing. Then he came down with a bump.

“Dad has very
high expectations. He will never sell for fifty million or sixty.
He would want to top a hundred million.”

“Peter you have
to earn your bonus. We have discussed a fair value for a company
with greatly reduced profits. And we are talking about a company
with a cash crisis. I really cannot do any more. If O’Byrne’s goes
belly up, you and your family will get nothing. Not a brass
farthing.”

“Do you think
that would happen?” Peter gulped.

“I don’t
know.”

Crawford
shrugged, an open honest shrug of a man with an open mind.

“Peter of
course O’Byrne’s may be able to struggle on. And then there could
be a payday in ten or twenty years. But be aware Peter, I am
talking money now. Now, cash money Peter. While you are still young
and I also that assume your Dad is in health and can enjoy.”

“A bird in the
hand,” Peter said.

“Two in the
hand or uncertainty in the bush,” Crawford countered.

Peter tensed,
took a deep breath. “Done,” he said triumphantly, deciding.

Crawford shook
his hand with ceremony. “Now Peter we have to talk very seriously.
We sign a secret agreement. You get fully briefed by AF people. I
will organize it for you immediately, this morning. I have some
very good guys on your case. They will take you through the
seriousness of the position in relation to these quality problems.
When you get back to Dublin you will have a book of evidence on the
quality allegations. It is essential that you are convinced of the
seriousness of the situation and consequently the fairness of the
AF approach in making an offer to take over the business and sort
it out. You will need to bring your Dad around to the idea that the
situation forces him to sell as the best option.”

“What about our
backers, the Debenture holders, the pension funds and so on?”

“No problem,
Peter. Once they see that your Dad is getting out they will smell
trouble and rush to join him. They will be happy to get most of
their money back.”

Peter put
himself in Crawford’s hands. He was mesmerized by the thought that
he personally could soon possess millions in cash. He could begin
to live.

Crawford
assigned Peter to his team for the morning. When they brought him
back at noon they had him convinced. He was persuaded that AF would
freeze all balances due by them to O’Byrne’s and there would be no
further business between the companies. Just litigation between the
companies, with AF on the attack. AF was in a position to seriously
damage the O’Byrne reputation with all their customers.

His father had
to sell, after the morning Peter was convinced. Otherwise it was a
shambles. The fifty million was generous in a downside situation.
And he would have eleven million if he played his cards well. And,
after all, AF could not be expected to rescue O’Byrne’s for no
cost.

When the team
brought him back Crawford listened to the feedback from Peter and
then let him go. Satisfied he turned to more pressing matters in
the wide AF business.

Chapter
twenty-four

Janet Simmons
was in the lobby when Peter made his way out.

“Peter, Peter,”
she called, “what a surprise. How are you?”

Peter had not
seen her in the vast lobby and was walking, lost in thought, to the
door. “Janet?” he said, surprised.

“Peter, it’s
wonderful to see you,” Janet leaned against him and they kissed.
Her softness and her perfume overwhelmed his senses.

“What are you
doing here?” surprise and some anger came through in his voice.

“Oh, well it’s
confidential...” Janet looked down then back at Peter “I came and
hoped to see Mr. Crawford,” she confided. “They have me cooling my
heels in the Lobby. It appears the quality problem between AF and
O’Byrne’s is very serious Peter. I have to file a report and I was
going to ask for more time.”

“To write up
your report.” Peter was angry. “From our discussions Janet, I
thought it was going to be a positive report?” His voice revealed
his sense of betrayal.

“It was Peter,
until I got into shipping and classification. Frankly that end is a
mess. I was hoping Crawford would give you more time to sort the
area out. Apparently there have been systematic mis-deliveries.
What should I do Peter?”

Peter looked
around. This confirmed his briefing upstairs. He put on his serious
face. He addressed Janet in mature tones. “Janet, the game has
moved on. Your report is only a part of a wider pattern of events.
We need to talk.”

“I have to wait
for Crawford otherwise I may miss him.”

“How about
lunch Janet? Don’t worry about Crawford. I have his private number.
Leo and I are close. Talk to me first Janet. We need to put our
heads together.”

Janet let Peter
take her to lunch. She affected worry and concern but inside she
was happy. Her assignment was to pump Peter and where better than
at lunch, and to ensure that she reinforced his view that his
father should sell.

With Janet
advising and the help of a taxi Peter took her to a good
restaurant. Janet held his hand in the Taxi and Peter began to
unwind. He loved how she smiled at him. Janet for her part was
pleased to see that Peter was confident. She had worried that
Crawford would take him apart. Crawford had a reputation for
reducing strong men to tears and she was well aware that Peter was
not strong. She wanted to protect him from harm while making the
deal happen.

“We will talk
when we have a bit of privacy,” he had said and they made the taxi
journey sitting closely together, intimate but with no
conversation.

Peter dropped
the headwaiter twenty pounds to ensure they would get a suitable
seating arrangement and Janet steered him to an alcove table where
they would not be overheard in the busy restaurant.

“Tell me what
went on?” Janet asked excitedly when they were settled. “Was
Crawford awful?”

Peter took her
hands in his, waved the hovering waiter away, saying, “give us ten
minutes please”.

They looked
into each other’s eyes.

“Janet,” Peter
began. “Things have changed dramatically. At the end of this game I
will be independent with millions in the bank.”

Janet didn’t
blink, “you will have to explain Peter?” she said with a smile, a
shrug, and body language suggesting confusion.

“I had a tough
time with Crawford, but I hammered out a deal. He squealed a bit
but he saw the way through. The answer that is AF has to take over
O’Byrne’s and rescue our long-term association as trading partners.
Crawford came to see that, but I insisted he would have to set a
fair price. A price which I accept does not include future
expectations, but rather reflects the current realities of the
business.”

“Peter you
managed all that?” Janet was admiring. She knew what would have
happened but she admired the way Peter could project ownership of
the solution.

“What will you
do next?” she asked, hoping he would confirm that he would need to
work on his Father.

Peter stood up
and noisily pushed his chair away. The waiter and wine waiter
hovered, immediately concerned to serve, and some other diners
stopped to observe what might be a developing drama. The headwaiter
began to move in from his position near the entrance.

With a flourish
Peter went down on one knee, taking Janet’s hand and looking deeply
into her somewhat amused eyes.

“Janet,” he
said, “if you let me I will marry you Janet. I love you.”

There was a
buzz in the restaurant and then silence as everyone watched.

Janet felt a
momentary panic but quickly recovered. She had had several
proposals and countless propositions, but never in such a public
way.

She looked down
at Peter. She saw his anxious soppy hopelessly in love eyes, his
strong body, and it registered that whatever happened he would have
several million.

And he was
great in bed. If he had one outstanding talent, it was his
performance in bed. And he seemed to love her and she could make a
lot out of him and she liked him. The warmth and tingle in her body
told her that she desired him. In fact she had thought of little
else since she and he had made love. She loved the way they did it
together. She wanted more, lots more.

“Marry me
Janet,” Peter repeated and now his eyes were full of hope.

“Yes dear, I’ll
marry you. Now get up and order your lunch.”

Peter called
for Champagne and the mood in the restaurant lifted.

They knew he
had been accepted.

Chapter
twenty-five

A gong
reverberated through the ground floor of the house.

But Ann-Marie
did not need to be called. She flounced in.

“I am not
joining you people for dinner,” she announced.

“Ann-Marie!”
Michael began, his voice rising.

“I have
arranged to have dinner with Nana in the gatehouse. I warned cook
in advance,” Ann-Marie interrupted calmly.

“Very well…
That’s all right Michael,” her mother interjected. “Someone has to
keep an eye on Nana.”

Ann-Marie
smiled triumphantly and flounced out again.

“You spoil
her,” Dorothy said darkly.

“Dinner,”
Michael said and led Ann and Dorothy towards the dining room.

Ann-Marie
tripped lightly down the steps of the family house heading towards
her old Nanny in the gatehouse. Dorothy’s dogs, spic and span, made
to follow her but she commanded them to “Stay!”

Obediently and
lazily they flopped down on the porch.

It was a warm
evening and it was bright and the air was moist but not damp. The
birds were in full voice in the trees lining the driveway their
whistles and calls, mixing with the cooing of doves. Above it all
the crows in the trees at the back of the house seemed to always be
in the middle of a domestic argument forever crowing and wheeling
about in the air, swooping in and out of their rookery in the tall
trees. Their alarms filled in a background of sound, which became
fainter as Ann-Marie proceeded down the driveway.

As Ann-Marie
neared the Gatehouse the noise of the crows became a distant
background and it all seemed quiet and peaceful. A baby rabbit
looked up in surprise as Ann-Marie came along and then scurried out
of sight.

“Hello Nana,”
Ann-Marie called. Her Nana had seen her coming and had made her way
to the front door of the gatehouse to greet her.

“Hello child.
Come in darling,”

Nana Fleming
was small and frail and she walked with the help of a stout stick.
But her eyes were lively and her mind was full and clear and alert.
She still very much enjoyed life, and especially when her favourite
girl called.

Ann-Marie
fussed about her and helped her back in over the doorstep.

“Set the table
child,” Nana said sounding cross but not feeling it.

Ann-Marie set
the table. And ladled some of the soup Nana had prepared into two
bowls.

“This will be
good for you,” Nana almost instructed, as she sat, careful not to
lose her balance.

“Did he really
call?” Ann-Marie asked, her eyes excited as she drank her soup.

“Who?”

“Who. You know.
Seamus. You sent the under-gardener with a note.”

“Note?”

“Nana, stop it.
I destroyed the note so that no one would find it.”

Nana continued
eating her soup, enjoying keeping Ann-Marie in suspense. She had a
twinkle in her eye. “Pass the bread please, Ann-Marie.”

“Nana!”
Ann-Marie implored.

“I don’t hold
with it,” Nana said.

“What?”

“
Strangers. Were you introduced? He looks a bit rough.”
“He’s gorgeous”

Nana smiled.
“I’d have to agree with you there, a fine figure of a lad.”

“Please Nana.
What happened?”

“This stranger
called. Introduced himself as Seamus O’Donoghue and asked to see
Ann-Marie.”

“Yes?”
Ann-Marie was all-agog. “What did you say?”

“I said
who?”

“Who?”

“And he said
Ann-Marie, I dropped her home here.”

“I said,” Nana
continued after a mouthful of soup, “there is no one of that name
lives here, no one of that name ever lived here.”

“But I do,”
Ann-Marie protested.

“Not in the
gate house,” Nana smiled and continued. “He was so upset, no he was
terribly upset, and I could see behind the leathers that he might
be a nice boy.”
“What did you do Nana?”

“I asked him in
for a cup of tea. I asked him could it be he dated one of the maids
up at the big house?”