Twisted Love and Money (7 page)

“What is the
attraction?” Peter asked.

“Transport
Synergies are a bonus, but the real issue is the fact that Howlett
Holdings have a very valuable commodity, that is a London Stock
Market Quotation.”

“Pretty good
when you think the major Irish companies quoted on the Irish
Exchange like the Banks and Smurfit’s cannot get a UK quotation,”
John said in support.

“So if Howlett
Holdings took us over we would be on the stock market now,” Peter
threw in, tongue in cheek.

“Jesus, hold on
Dorothy,” Michael reacted, alarmed. “We don’t want to be taken
over. For Christ’s sake, we want to go public and still keep
control.”

“I know dad,”
Dorothy said quietly. At board meetings she usually called him dad
when she thought he was being an idiot, otherwise she called him
Michael.

“Tell me
daughter?” he said giving in. He could read the signs.

“Through a
reverse takeover,” John interjected.
“How much would we have to offer?” Michael asked, a little more
respectfully.

“
Its a waste of time,” Dermot said. “O’Donoghue won’t sell. We
do a lot of business with O’Donoghue. As far as I know the old man
is hanging in there. You can be sure Granddad will want to pass the
business to his heirs.”

“We have done
our research and you are well informed Dermot,” Dorothy smiled
tightly.

“
Are there other companies like this one?” Dermot
asked.

“I am afraid
not. This is a real jewel. There are clear links to our business on
the transport end and we are of the view that the stock exchange
would not block us. We can’t find anyone else especially as we need
to link in a synergistic way.”

“There are
major tax implications,” John suggested. “Both for the companies
and for the current shareholders. Transfers of shares for shares
are not subject to Capital Gains Tax. However share sales are.”

“Not to mention other inheritance taxes. My accountants have
given me a long-term tax efficiency plan. They call it wealth
management. Hence my plans to go abroad for a few years,” Michael
said grimly.”

“
What is the recommended next step Dorothy?” Michael added, not
wanting to go further down the road of discussing his personal
plans at the Board meeting.

“Next is to do
nothing sudden,” Dorothy joked and they smiled. “We should continue
on with our current policy to seek a Stock Exchange quotation down
the normal route. However we should consider ways of taking Howlett
Holdings over and so accelerate our plans, using that company as a
vehicle.”

“
Good, good,” Michael said, happy they had a way forward. “End
of agenda. Any other business?”

There were no
further comments and the board began to gather up their papers.

I have a
document for the next meeting, may I circulate?” Dorothy asked.

“Are we going
into this now, it’s not an agenda item?” Michael asked looking
doubtfully at the unread document Dorothy was passing around with
John’s help.

“No, I wanted
to hand out the paper personally. These are private papers
concerning Howlette Holdings. Don’t leave them lying about.”

“All right,”
Michael said, “Now gentlemen,” he intoned solemnly, “you and your
reports have budgets for Revenues, costs, and capital spend,
working capital. We must stay on budget. Any major deviations to be
reported to John or Dorothy. Understood?”

“Understood,”
they said in unison.

“Any problems
talk in advance to John, any unexpected Financial needs, talk in
advance to John. Before taking anything to this Board, I want John
to have a position on any major financial before we discuss it in
future. Understood?”

“Understood,”
they all intoned, looking at John with respect, realizing that John
would have to be consulted when they wanted any major spend.
Clearly John had full backing from Michael.

“
Thank you,” Michael added. “Meeting is ended. Back to the wars
people.”

They packed
up.

Peter sighed.
He hated the discipline of the board meeting, having to be on his
toes for such a long time.

He stuffed
Dorothy’s final paper into his inside pocket. When he got a chance
he would read it at home. He hated accounts.

Back in his
office Peter’s secretary stuck her head around the door with a
smile.

“Peter. We have
a consultant waiting to see you. She says that she has been
commissioned by Associated Finance. Mentioned ISO Registration. A
Ms. Janet Simmons. Will you see her?

Chapter
eight

Peter sipped
his coffee and waited. He was expecting some serious middle-aged
factory inspector type. He was pleasantly surprised when Janet
Simmons was ushered in.

Janet was
dressed in a brown suit with a short skirt. The sight of her took
Peter’s breath away. Janet was inwardly amused at his obvious
reaction to her appearance.

“Coffee?” he
offered.

“Please.”

Peter lifted an
eyebrow to his secretary who went to get the coffee.

He indicated to
a chair at his conference table and Janet sat down. Peter had a
quick look at the papers on his desk while his secretary brought
the coffee for Janet.

Janet was
highly nervous, something which was not given away by her outer
appearance. This was her first contact with O’Byrne’s. She had done
her homework on her ISO Registration cover story and she was
confident that her story would hold up. Despite having seen his
photograph in the local newspapers announcing his appointment, she
was surprised at Peter’s youthful appearance. Young for a Director,
but she decided, as the boss’s son not unexpected.

Crawford’s
parting words were clear in her head. “You are in the big league
now girl,” he had said, “Pull off this deal and you are in for a
six figure sum as discussed.”

She had not
liked the way he had spoken, “Use all your talents,” he had
instructed, “the stakes are high. Get set up in Dublin. Then
contact me. I will come to Dublin once or twice to get first hand
progress reports. We want to pull this off in three months at the
outside.”

Six figures in
three months if she could pull it off. Janet had thought of nothing
else since. She had to pull this one off, it was her big break,
however it was lonely setting up in a strange city, if
exciting.

“Now what can I
do for you madam?” Peter was asking.

“Not madam,
Miss, I mean Ms Simmons, or Janet if you prefer,” she corrected as
he came and shook her hand.

Peter brought
his coffee and went to the head of the conference table. He
appraised his visitor over his cup as he sipped his coffee, which
was beginning to get cold.

She uncrossed
her legs and simultaneously leaned forward to pick her cup of
coffee from the table. Peter had a momentary glimpse of soft thigh
and then a split second glimpse of cleavage as she leaned towards
the cup. All in a split second and he was mesmerized. Was it
possible that she had nothing on under that suit?

Janet smiled
pleasantly. She sensed that she had his attention and could do no
wrong. Funny, it was the same with Mr. Crawford, except he was old
and ugly. This one seemed a bit immature but was very attractive in
an unsophisticated provincial sort of way and pleasant to look
at.

“ISO
Registration, you understand that Associated Finance is seeking
registration in the retail area?” she said.

“Yes, I was
briefed when I spoke to Central Procurement at AF.”

Janet smiled
warmly. “Therefore you realize it is necessary for us to inspect
suppliers.”

“Of
course.”

“First Mr.
O’Byrne...”

“Call me
Peter.”

“Peter,” she
smiled some more. “First your product range, may I ask you some
questions?”

“Of course, but
Janet please tell me, what is your role?”

“I run a small
consulting business. We are a specialist firm and are retained by
Associated Finance in connection with registration for the
International Quality Standard, better known in Ireland as
ISO.”

“O.K.” Peter
said agreeably “ask away.”

“This
questionnaire will take about an hour and a half. It is fairly
comprehensive. Also I will need to visit one or two of your
processing plants and storage units.”

“An hour and a
half?” Peter was shocked as he realized his lunch might be
delayed.

“Sorry, is that
a problem? You were warned I would need some of your valuable time.
If necessary we can split the interviews. There are sections to my
questionnaire. It is one our consulting group has devised and we
are very proud of it.”

“What happens
if this quality assessment goes our way?” Peter asked, attempting a
mature shrewd expression.

“Then rest
assured; there will be a recommendation from me to the Associated
Finance Procurement Director. This could result in you becoming a
supplier for long term partnering and as you would expect this
would lead to a substantial increase in business over the long
term. AF strongly believes in partnership with suppliers.”

“Hmm…” Peter
had an inspiration, brought on by the fact that she crossed her
lovely legs again. “I would not want to rush an important interview
of this nature. Let me clear my diary.”

He went to his
desk and picked up the phone, “No more appointments today,” he
instructed.

“You have
none,” his secretary replied, “you wanted to be stress free for
your squash match this evening.”

“Thank you,”
Peter said and hung up, happy that Janet had only heard his side of
the exchange.

“Now young
lady,” he announced, “I can take you to lunch. We can spend an hour
or two on this ISO business. Does that suit you?”

“Perfectly.”

Janet could
sense that Peter was out to impress. Funny how so many young men
wanted to impress. It could do no harm to encourage him. And Janet
decided she would not mind too much. Peter had a vulnerability
about him, he looked needy, almost appealing to a maternal
instinct. And he was reasonably attractive. Janet was pleased. She
was enjoying the encounter and began to feel less tense, more
relaxed.

Peter put
Dorothy’s report on the takeover of Howlette Holdings into the
inside pocket of his Gucci Anorak. He intended to read it at home
when time permitted. He put on his Gucci Anorak and led the way to
the car. He drove them out along the Naas road.

And the more
Peter was in Janet’s company, the more excited he felt. He sensed
she was, in his terms, a class act. He knew instinctively that if
he were to get her knickers down without jeopardizing the business
deal he would have to play his cards carefully.

Peter was
confident. He really liked women and was experienced in dealing
with them. This was an area of his life where he felt comfortably
successful. That is he had always found it easy to establish
relationships with women. The fact that the relationships tended to
be short term never bothered him. He had no idea what attracted
women to him and was equally puzzled when they gave up on him. But
he loved them nonetheless.

Janet stretched
out her long legs in the car. She saw how his eyes moved down to
her. She began to relax. If she handled this guy right she would
get all the information she needed on O’Byrne’s. She needed for him
to trust her and to want to impress her, to want to show off and
yet to confide in her.

Janet felt a
tingle in her stomach, a sense of power. She was setting a trap and
when it snapped shut this young man would find he was no longer a
director. What had Crawford said? That nasty suggestion said with
an undertow she disliked? ‘Use all your talents.’ One thing was
sure; there was no way she would sell herself. That was part of the
challenge.

“
You are taking me into the country?” she remarked after they
had been driving for about fifteen minutes.

“Yes, it does
not take too long to get out of Dublin if you drive west. It is not
much further. I have just moved to head office from our Kildare
plant. I have a favourite restaurant. They know me well and we will
be well treated. It is in a castle. They specialize in business
lunches. We can relax in nice surroundings and deal with your ISO
Registration problems.”

“Excellent,”
Janet said agreeably. She was a little nervous at being driven out
of the city by a stranger. She looked at him out of the corner of
her eye through an errant lock of her hair. He was prattling on
about squash. Apparently he had a league match to play that evening
in the city. She relaxed knowing she could handle him, if he wanted
to play squash in town he would have to be back on time.

Peter turned
off the dual carriageway, down side roads. He drove fast,
confidently, enjoying the drive. Janet liked to drive fast herself
and quietly admired his control at the wheel.

Peter turned
into a tree lined long gravel driveway.

A large Irish
Stag Hound was chained near the front entrance. Although enormous
for a dog he had a friendly face. They had to walk around him to
get in the main entrance.

They were met
by a man dressed formally in uniform.

“Good afternoon
Sir, Mr. O’Byrne,” he greeted, “It is a pleasure to see you again.
And the young Lady. Your dining area is ready. Private as
requested.”

“Thank you
O’Connor. We will have an aperitif first.”

“Of course Sir.
Please follow me I have a table for you in the bar. I’ll get your
drinks and you can order your meal. I am assigned to look after you
during your visit, don’t hesitate to ask if there is anything you
require.”