Chapter Nine
Logan was so nervous for his meeting with Elias Gold he sweated through his dress shirt and had to change. This guy was the big kahuna, the one who could bring them to the next level. Not just because he had the big bucks. Elias had connections; he had clout. All of it would smooth the way for further growth, maybe even going public one day for the ultimate payday. That was how his brother, Jake, had become a billionaire. Logan mentally rehearsed his presentation on the drive over to Elias’s San Francisco office. He had it down cold.
His mind drifted to Olivia. They’d be meeting for dinner tonight. He had a ruby ring for her and planned to pick up some roses. Ruby was her birthstone. He thought he should get big points for remembering it. It was the kind of gesture Sabrina would probably approve of. Things weren’t going well for Sabrina. For some reason, there was continued attack coverage of her practice and personal life. The spotlight wasn’t pretty. He understood better now why she hadn’t wanted the attention in the first place.
He arrived in Elias’s office, waited half an hour in the waiting room, where he nearly lost his cool, and was finally shown into Elias’s huge corner office. Large picture windows gave a view of the city skyline and the bay beyond.
Elias didn’t bother to stand, merely gesturing for Logan to take a seat in one of the leather chairs across from his massive sleek black desk. Elias’s chair was practically a throne, wide and tall.
Logan remained standing and reached across the desk to shake his hand. “Nice to see you again, Elias.” They’d met once at a fundraiser in New York City, which was how he’d gotten this meeting.
“You too. Please have a seat.”
Logan was six feet tall, but when he sat in the offered chair, he had to look up at Elias lounging on his throne. He suspected the guest chairs were lower than Elias’s chair on purpose.
Elias folded his hands on his desk. “Logan, I agreed to this meeting, and I keep my word, but I must confess there’s been some talk.”
Logan wasn’t about to offer any information on what that might be about. Could be Ben’s false sexual harassment accusation, could be Logan in the press, or something worse he wasn’t aware of. “What kind of talk?”
“You and a woman who bills herself as some kind of Hollywood Love Guru are all over the internet. Honestly, we don’t need this kind of gossip. It does not inspire confidence to be the flavor of the day.”
Logan took a deep breath. “Sabrina has been in the news a bit, but I assure you those reporters are just speculating. She’s a friend of mine from home and is well respected for her work with couples. Must be a slow news cycle in January.”
Elias grunted. “And I’ve also heard about Ben’s sexual harassment charge.”
“That charge was baseless. He was cleared of any wrongdoing.”
Elias spread his palms wide. “Then why isn’t he here today?”
Logan’s gut churned. This was getting off to a bad start. “I agreed to take the lead on the meetings. He’s holding down the fort back home. It’s just a two-man operation.”
“But you’re the man behind software development. He’s the finance guy.”
“We share those roles.”
Elias smiled, a cool smile that put Logan on the defensive. “So Ben does software too?”
He managed to sound calm. “No. But I do both.”
Elias leaned back in his throne and crossed one ankle over his knee. “Seems inefficient.”
Logan broke out in a sweat, belatedly wishing he’d insisted Ben come along. His business partner had felt strongly the black mark against him would hold them back. Logan had thought it might be better just to confront any concerns and deflect them, but Ben was still upset about the whole thing and didn’t feel comfortable representing them in the meetings. “I can only do my job well when I understand where our financial priorities lie.”
Elias put his leg down and leaned forward. “This shit makes shareholders nervous.”
“Well, so far, we haven’t opened up to shareholders.”
“But you will one day. Isn’t that the goal? Build your business, make bank, build another business. That’s how most tech start-ups go.”
He placed his palms on Elias’s desk and leaned in. “Ben and I are dedicated to Checkin. This isn’t a stepping-stone to something else. My goal is to bring in investment to build Checkin. We want a sales force, a marketing team, and an upgrade to our software to make it compatible with the dinosaur HR systems out there. Now can we talk numbers? Because I think you’ll like the growth potential.”
Elias slapped his desk. “Show me the numbers.”
Logan breathed a sigh of relief and pulled out the report, handing it across the desk, and began to outline step by step how they’d started with checking employee backgrounds for other tech companies in the US and Canada, and slowly scaled up to other industries, but there were so many more they wanted to get into. He also had a video that demonstrated the software, but he’d save that for the team meeting if it got that far. Elias was all about the numbers. He’d already said he wouldn’t bring his team into it unless he thought it was worth their time.
Twenty minutes later, it was Elias’s turn to talk. He fired questions one after another, and Logan was able to answer most. And the one he couldn’t, about branching out to Europe, he told him they’d think it over but had no immediate plans.
Elias scribbled on a piece of paper and slid it across the desk to Logan. “That’s my offer.”
Logan’s eyes widened. Elias had offered double what they’d asked. Forty million dollars. He was momentarily speechless.
Elias spoke up. “I want a seat on the board and a vote in all business going forward.”
Logan smiled big time, the tension draining from him. Not only did he have a generous offer in hand, the other investors might get excited and raise their offers even higher. “Thank you so much for this generous offer. I have a few more meetings set up. I’ll get back to you no later than Wednesday.”
Elias frowned. “You’re taking this to other investors? Look, Logan, you know my reputation. My offer is on the table, and it expires close of business today.”
Logan’s stomach dropped. Shit. What was he supposed to do about those other meetings? Show up knowing he’d already made a decision? Cancel them before he even got a chance to hear what they might offer?
On the other hand, forty million dollars. Ben would tell him to go for it. Logan’s instinct was to wait and see how things played out with the other investors, build some buzz, and go big.
Elias gazed at him steadily, his dark eyes gleaming. He definitely wanted in, which meant an enthusiastic partner.
Logan held out his hand. “Deal.”
Elias gave it a firm shake. “Excellent. I’m glad to hear it.”
“I’m available through Wednesday if you’d like to meet again with your team.”
“Monday morning, nine a.m. sharp.”
“Great.” He stood. “See you then.”
Elias picked up his phone and gave Logan a look like what’re you still doing here? He was all business, no time for the social niceties like saying bye. What did Logan care? They’d gotten a very generous offer from a man who would be a great asset to them. It couldn’t have gone any better.
He managed to wait until he was back on the sidewalk outside before letting out a whoop of victory, punching the air. He headed for his car, the brief moment of exultation fading to an urgent need to get started on everything he needed to do. He had to get Ben on the phone, cancel all the other investor meetings, and, oh shit, he still had to deal with Olivia.
Work first.
~ ~ ~
Sabrina finished her last interview late Thursday, which was the easiest of all. The Chat was exactly as it sounded, a cozy chat with four women hosts. She’d felt so comfortable it was almost like being with her own friends. The questions weren’t even questions, more like statements about her great work and the importance of women standing up for what they wanted in a relationship. Of course, she couldn’t have agreed more.
She headed out of the TV studio through a private back hallway, still a little stunned that she’d pulled off all the TV appearances this week. The radio show this morning had been short and sweet, no big deal at all. And tomorrow she’d start her real vacation. Pacific Coast Highway, here I come! She’d rented a Jeep for the vacation part of her trip, which seemed like it’d be fun to drive.
She ignored the paparazzi and reporters on her way out of the studio and calmly got into the waiting Mercedes. The shouted questions about her qualifications, her being left at the altar, and her relationship with Logan bounced right off her. This must be how celebrities felt. At first all the attention was disconcerting, and then it just became normal. She pulled out her phone to check her messages. Wow. Her office line had a ton of voicemail messages. She listened to the first one. Hi, Sabrina, this is Patty Mercer. We’re cancelling our appointment. No need to reschedule. Bye.
Strange. They’d been making real progress. She hadn’t thought Patty and her husband were there yet.
Next message. Hi, this is Warren Pitt. Take us off your calendar permanently.
Okay, what was going on? She listened to the rest of the messages with building dread. Fifteen cancellations. What the hell? She went away for a week and lost half her clients?
She called Patty back, working hard to sound professional. “Hi, Patty, I got your message. I was wondering why you cancelled. Have you and Matt reconciled?”
“We’re going in another direction,” Patty replied tersely.
“You’re breaking up? I actually thought we’d made some real progress—”
“We’re going with the Commitment Counselor. We just really like her approach, and she’s pretty well known. She wrote that book. I didn’t go with her before because she was in the city, but she’s expanding her hours at the Connecticut office, so we signed up. I’m sorry, Sabrina. We just like her reputation and think it will be a better fit.”
“How did you hear about her?”
“I knew about her book before, but then I saw her advertisement everywhere—online, in my mailbox, on the local news channel. She sounds amazing and promises quick results. Plus the mailbox ad had a coupon for fifty percent off the first month’s session!”
Sabrina hung up, nearly shaking with rage. She needed to calm down, get back to the hotel, and call all of her clients to assure them that she was the counselor for them.
It did not go well.
She sat at the desk in her hotel room, methodically going through every single cancellation with growing despair. They were not budging.
She dropped her head in her hands. All of the publicity had completely backfired. Instead of drumming up business and taking her career to the next level, it destroyed it. Bile rose in her throat and she rushed to the bathroom. She dry heaved into the sink, but nothing came out. She ran the cold water and splashed it on her face.
She stared at herself in the mirror. This was not the time to fall apart. This was the time to fight.
She went back to the desk, grabbed her phone, and called Claire, who brought her lawyer in on the call. The lawyer assured Sabrina he’d look into any wrongdoing and told her not to contact Tara until they knew what was what. Sabrina thanked him and hung up. And then she reached her limit, bursting into tears. Everything sucked, and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it.
Eventually, she curled up in bed, watching mindless TV, done with reality.
The next morning, Friday, Sabrina was still on the jagged edge of her nerves. She was supposed to be enjoying a well-deserved relaxing weekend in San Diego, but she couldn’t seem to work up even an ounce of enthusiasm for it. She felt helpless, unable to fix her client problem, unable to confront Tara, in waiting mode. She hated waiting. And Olivia, Logan’s stupid jealous girlfriend, had never called her back either. Everywhere she looked was a complete fuckup.
She told herself it would all wait until Monday. She should just enjoy herself this weekend. She paced her hotel room. Maybe she’d skip the first-class ticket waiting for her on Sunday and buy a cheap flight home for today. Relaxation was not in her future. No, that was giving up. She’d regret not taking advantage of this rare opportunity to see the sights. She should take what little happiness she could.
She packed up her Jeep and got on the Pacific Coast Highway, telling herself she’d feel better once she arrived at her destination. A short while later, more and more agitated, she took the exit and made her way back on the highway in the opposite direction. There was only one problem she could tackle right away. San Francisco, here I come!
It was time to fix what she’d screwed up for Logan.
It was time for a little chat with Olivia.