Twisted Love and Money (32 page)

Janet pecked
him on the cheek in recognition.

“We just have
to grab a taxi outside,” she explained.

“Booked me into
the Jury’s as usual?” Crawford asked.

“No Leo,
tonight you can stay with me it will be much more comfortable. It
will be easier for us to talk and you can relax and unwind.”

“Sounds great,”
Crawford said gruffly, pleased that Janet had moved their
relationship to a further stage of intimacy. Yet worried that he
was tired after a tough day.

Crawford took
her hand in the taxi and Janet let him hold her hand for the
journey. They could not talk much with the taxi driver able to hear
every word and in the end they left it to the taxi driver to
maintain a conversation with Crawford on the way into town.

As is usual
with Dublin taxi men the driver was full of talk and gossip about
his city, and also very curious about his passengers. However they
chose not to enlighten him on the purpose of their journey. In the
end the taxi driver found common ground in discussing the fortunes
of Chelsea football club with Crawford who was a fan, and this
conversation occupied them until the taxi pulled up outside Janet’s
apartment. Janet led the way in and settled Crawford on the
couch.

“I can order in
a Chinese or something Italian?” Janet offered but Crawford
declined as he had eaten earlier. He settled for a cup of tea.

“How are things
at AF?” Janet enquired.

“Great, great,
we will have another good year next year if things in train pan out
as planned.”

“Including the
O’Byrne deal?” Janet suggested.

“Cream on the
cake, as a deal it might be too much.”

“Too much?”
Janet asked, aghast.

“Yes, we are
already ahead of target. If we succeed in the O’Byrne business and
there is no reason why not that I know of, we will be well in
excess of target.”

“Good bonuses
for everyone?” Janet suggested.

“Yes,” Crawford
agreed. “But it raises the bar for the following year. The base
becomes higher. Everything works against the base achieved for the
previous year.”

“Is that a
problem Leo?”

“Not really
Janet, it’s good really. What I’ll do is slow down a couple of
other deals. It’s better to manage growth as a steady year on year
increase. The market analysts can deal with that better. It won’t
be problem.”

“Any other
problem I should be aware of?” Janet asked.

“Not really,
procurement is bitching a bit about the way we are stitching
O’Byrne’s up. Your idea was a great one but it is not a usual
tactic.”

“It seems to be
working, they are feeling the pinch and O’Byrne is ready to
sell.”

“Yes, well done
Janet. But we must put the deal cleanly to bed. I don’t want any
court cases which might unwind our position.”

“We are well
placed if there is a court case,” Janet responded, “I have ensured
we have a convincing book of evidence. Certainly enough to
completely muddy the case.”

“The lawyers
don’t worry me. It’s my reputation. I don’t want any scandal to
emerge. We take O’Byrne’s as planned, but any major rebuff and we
reconsider and introduce a fallback plan. I don’t mind screwing
them. I just don’t want it to reflect back on AF and myself. So
good confident footwork is required Janet. I am sure that between
us we can manage that. This is not the first time I’ve sailed close
to the wire and it won’t be the last. The key is successful
completion and quick execution. Are the pieces in place?”

“Yes, is the
short answer,” Janet said, “but before we go into the detail can I
ask you something else?”

“Personal
nature?” Crawford asked archly, wanting to move from the everyday
business of takeovers to his personal agenda in relation to
Janet.

As far as he
was concerned he would not have gone with the deal, except that it
gave him access to Janet who had become increasingly the object of
his desires. Her hands off yet intimate treatment of him to date
had inflamed his passion and he was nearing obsession. The fact
that she was looking beyond wonderful fed this passion further.

Janet smiled
and asked, “If the deal fell through would it be a major setback to
AF?”

Crawford looked
sharply at her, moving his gaze from her cleavage to her eyes and
his eyes hardened.

“Is that a
leading question? Is there something going on?”

“No,” Janet
said wide-eyed and looking surprised at his reaction. “I am just
seeking understanding Leo.”

“But leading
somewhere?”

“Yes, but don’t
sound cross Leo, just answer the question and then I’ll explain why
I asked it.”

“Quite a number
of deals go belly up,” Crawford said, matter of fact. “As I said we
are ahead of budget. Loss of this project would be a setback but
nothing major. It would be ideal to be able to move the takeover
into next financial year to manage the slope of the growth
curve.”

“It’s now or
never,” Janet replied.

“Then let it be
now Janet,” Crawford said, sounding tired of the thrust of the
conversation.

“Leo, can I
deduce from this that a major motivator for you in getting into
this deal was my involvement and putting it crudely, you wanted to
find a context in which you might find we would become
intimate.”

Crawford
observed Janet’s demeanour and was happy to see that she was
smiling and friendly while asking the question.

“Yes Janet,” he
confessed with a smile, “In fact I have more than a crush on
you.”

Janet stood up,
uncrossing her long legs and went to the window. She let his remark
hang in the air and Crawford became uneasy. He wanted to get to
grips with her but had an unreasoning fear of frightening her away.
Against the dark backdrop of the French window in front of the
balcony she looked radiant.

“I am very
pleased to hear that Leo,” she said after a moment.

“Janet….” he
began.

Her eyes took
him in and he felt rooted to the couch. Her expression was warm and
Crawford sat back.

Take it easy,
he cautioned himself, resisting an urge to grab her and throw her
on the floor and babble on about his feelings for her. Caution was
aided by the fact that he was exhausted after the long day and his
back was a little stiff after the flight and the subsequent trip in
what passed for a taxi in Dublin.

Janet knew it
was time to make her play. She took a breath and went and sat
beside Crawford on the couch and let him take her hand while they
looked into each other’s eyes.

“Leo there are
complications in my private life,” she began.

“The deals a
mess?” he said dismissively, looking sharply at her and
simultaneously not really caring. He was focused on the now, as he
could fire her tomorrow.

“No Leo. I have
become engaged to be married.”

“What!” he gave
a strangled cry and took his hand off hers.

“This is a turn
up for the books Janet. Who, may I ask, is the lucky man?”

“Peter
O’Byrne.”

“I don’t
believe it. You are in love with him?”

“Yes,” Janet
said simply, “much to my surprise, I am.”

“Well where
does that leave everything?” Crawford asked, clearly wondering what
sort of a mess would ensue and burning with anger at her
betrayal.

“I thought we
had an understanding, a developing relationship,” he blurted out
before she could reply.

“Yes Leo,”
Janet said, taking his hand again and moving a perceptible
millimetre nearer to him.

“Look at me
Leo,” she requested.

He looked into
her eyes and felt his tiredness overwhelm him. Tiredness with a
layer of despair. This close he could see, sense, all her beauty
and feel her soft eyes regarding him with a gentle look. He felt
despair, was she not to be his after all his efforts?

“You are a
completer finisher Leo. It is your personality. I know you would
not be happy until you get this deal put to bed and I know I am
part of the deal. Other wise you will feel incomplete, unsuccessful
even. Am I right?”

“You seem to
have found another bed,” he said anguish and anger mixing in his
tone.

“I want you to
listen to me Leo. Hear me out and then I don’t want an angry reply.
I want a gentle reply. Do you understand?”

“No.”

“I am going to
proposition you Leo.”

“Ha!” he
laughed. “Just like your business analyst training. You are so cold
blooded,” he retorted.

Janet kissed
the knuckle of his hand. Her gentle lips felt like an electric
shock, which ran up his arm and into his senses. Their eyes met.
Her eyes were electric and far from cold.

“Janet,” he
said, at last gently like she wanted. “I am listening, proposition
me if you must.”

“You are a rich
man Leo?” she began.

He looked
coldly at her and responded in a flat voice.

“Yes. Mainly
through AF shares and options. I have been one of the most
successful corporate raiders in the city in recent times. Even now
despite the drop in stock market values I continue to deliver
shareholder value and they continue to reward me.”

Janet smiled at
the ‘press release’ tone of his reply but persisted.

“Will the
O’Byrne deal make much of a difference to your rewards
personally?”

“At this stage
of my career not huge, but if it raises the bar for next year it
may in fact have no net affect on my bonus. I am rewarded on year
to year growth, not any one fixed base year.”

“I have a
different angle on the O’Byrne deal, which would sideline AF.
However Leo, it would potentially put about five million Euro in
your pocket and the same in mine.”

Crawford looked
at her in high amusement. He felt himself begin to relax and
laughed despite himself. “Janet you know I encourage my people to
think outside the box, but you exceed my expectations. What
harebrained scheme have you now?”

Janet outlined
the proposition she had put to John and then to Kenny.

“A consortium
of Debenture holders along with Howlett holdings buy out the
O’Byrne’s and in the process we get share options worth about five
million,” Crawford summarized after further discussion. Once Janet
had begun his professionalism had taken over and he’d reenergized
himself and teased out the deal, testing Janet’s proposal.

“Yes, Kenny’s
firm is to devise the share option proposal pre-take over. Kenny
will give you chapter and verse when you meet with him. The key is
that the AF bid can go to fifty million and then fifty five million
and stick. Kenny and consortium go to sixty million and clinch the
deal.”

“I understand,”
Crawford said still non-committal.

“And then over
time we restore the AF business with O’Byrne’s so that the new
company resumes its growth path. This will result in share value
increases which we and the consortium will harvest.”

“I understand
all that. And I believe the AF procurement people will be happy if
I take the pressure off O’Byrne’s. They don’t like this way of
doing business.”

“I will go on
the board with the specific mission of putting in ISO quality
standards, this will provide a basis for restoring the business,
and in time Peter as Marketing will be able to claim, if we work it
right, all the credit for recovering the AF business.”

“Ah yes,
Peter,” Crawford said coldly, “that brings me back to earth.”

“I have plans
for Peter. I want you to mentor him Leo, so that we can bring him
to London, into AF as a high flyer, and onto the Board of AF. If
all goes to plan I can relocate to London with him.”

“Janet,”
Crawford said with patience. “Don’t ask too much. I like your
lateral thinking and there will always be a place for a brain like
yours on my team. It’s you I’d take back to London.”

“Oh Leo!” Janet
said, giving him a peck on the cheek, “you don’t know how much it
pleases me to hear you praise me for my brain.”

Leo laughed,
“When they gave out the goodies Janet, the angels must have given
you the lot.”

“I think you
are right Leo,” Janet said self-confident and not the least modest.
“But tell me, would you go with the proposition I have
outlined?”

“Subject to
talking to this Kenny, can I see him tonight?”

“No Leo. I have
other plans for you tonight.”

“Another
proposition?” Crawford said, his eyes smiling, enjoying the
banter.

“First the
business. Will you go with the proposition, talk to Kenny, give and
get reassurances and then manage the negotiation with Michael
O’Byrne?”

“Because I
trust your intelligence and judgment Janet. And I don’t let other
desires cloud my business area. I do trust your ability. Because of
this the answer is yes. Five million to my personal account while
repairing bridges inside AF procurement is a good proposition for
me if we can cover all the legalities.”
“Kenny is satisfied he can.”

“Good, then we
have a deal.”

Crawford was
not a man to beat about the bush with endless analysis. He trusted
his gut when it came to a good deal.

“Now Leo you go
have a shower and freshen up and when you are ready we will have
some champagne and then I will proposition you on what I have in
mind for our personal relationship.”

“Sounds good,”
Crawford said, standing up. “But no champagne, I’m it might make me
sleepy.”

“Tea?”

“Yes some
Camomile with a spoon of honey or some Green tea.”
“O.K., if you don’t mind I’ll just drink water.”
“I won’t be long,” Crawford promised and made his way to the ‘en
suite’ for a shower.