Simon

We’d decided, as we often did with possible acquisitions, to requisition space in the same building as the company we could be buying. In this case, that was two floors up from where Maddox Consulting had their offices. After arriving there this Monday morning, I’d frowned at our fishbowl space and the thin walls between the three rooms, but it would have to do for now.

Being on a separate floor from Maddox would allow us to do all of the audits, interviews, and meetings with key players while at the same time maintaining a space to talk freely amongst ourselves. Once the rumors started about people potentially losing jobs, the last thing you wanted was to run into a tenured employee in the loo, someone who hated your fucking guts because you were the outsider coming in to mess up their lives. During my early years of doing this, such had unfortunately happened.

I’d been here since six this morning, feeling like something was a tad off about this deal but not knowing what. I normally trusted my gut instinct, but until I could put a finger on why I was concerned, I wouldn’t make any rash decisions. Not that I ever did.

As expected, my assistant, Emma, came in with a huff. “I can’t believe you left me to ride with Tom this morning.”

I glanced up from the list of assets I’d been reviewing. Although I couldn’t stand Tom, Emma absolutely loathed the man. “I was gone by half past five and didn’t think you’d appreciate the wake-up call so early.”

Her green eyes narrowed. “No, I probably would’ve murdered you.”

There weren’t many people who felt comfortable enough to be candid with me. But I thought of Emma as a little sister, and we were often open with our conversations when it was only the two of us.

“If you killed me off, you’d be left to work with Tom alone. Where is he, by the way, if he came with you?”

“In the queue at Starbucks. He actually had the nerve to imply I should get him coffee, to which I told him to fuck right off for.”

It reminded me of the guy Peyton had to work with who treated her similarly. It was my hope I could get a free night this week to see her. Deciding now would be the only time I might get a chance to send a text, I sent one quickly, telling her that I couldn’t wait for Friday.

“Are you texting someone?” Emma asked.

“I’ve been known to do that from time to time.”

She leveled her look on me as if assessing. “Yes, but normally I’m the only one you text. And you abhor having to.”

She was right. I preferred email as texting was too chit chatty for my taste. “I, uh, met someone.”

“Here in Kansas—I mean Texas?”

“Yes. On Friday night in the market.”

Her face showed nothing but shock. “What, was she in the produce aisle picking out a melon? That’s so weird.”

I chuckled. “At the checkout counter, but agreed. It was unexpected. We went out on Saturday and have another date Friday.”

Normally, Emma and I didn’t share many details of our dating lives; however, I could use her advice.

“If I were to send roses, what color should I send?” I brought up a browser on my laptop, perusing the florist’s website. I had limited time before the morning would start, and I wouldn’t have a chance to get back to this task.

She gave a little hm before answering. “It’s premature for red. Yellow feels too mum-ish. White too much like a funeral. I’d go for pink.”

I glanced up to see her studying me. “What?”

“Nothing. Just never seen you like this.”

Emma and I were cut from the same cloth. Not only because we were both British but also because we had to be somewhat detached to travel around the world and buy companies, turning the people’s lives upside down. She’d had a rougher go of it in childhood, but as adults, we both struggled to develop personal relationships.

“I’m certain I’ve sent flowers to a woman before.” I wasn’t completely inept at the art of romance.

“No, you had me send them. Big difference.”

I didn’t give her words much thought, simply shrugging. “Somehow, I feel Peyton would care if I’d told my assistant to send flowers on my behalf instead of expending the effort myself.”

Emma grinned. “I think I like her already. You tell her why you’re here?”

“She knows I’m evaluating a business but not which one. Certainly nothing about the details. And I’d rather keep it that way.”

I didn’t exactly see a woman like Peyton, who cared so much for her team, understand a man like me, whom they sometimes referred to as the ice man. Yes, I was the one who terminated employees. I often sat there while grown women and men cried about losing their livelihoods, and I felt nothing. Not because I actually didn’t. I wasn’t that much of a cold bastard. But because I’d mastered the art of shutting myself off from that part of my brain while doing a job. I had to. I stayed professional and passed the Kleenex. At the end of the day, I wasn’t the one selling the company or buying it. I was simply the one delivering the message. At least with this company, if we did go through with it, there wouldn’t be too many terminations.

“What if the audit doesn’t go well, and you’re on a plane by Saturday?” Emma asked me.

“I told her it was a possibility. With any luck, that won’t be the case.”

When Tom came into the office fifteen minutes later, the frigid greeting Emma gave him made the temperature drop. To say she couldn’t stand him was an understatement. And not in a way where there was sexual tension, but rather a purely want-to-stab-him-in-the-face-with-a-fork kind of way.

He, on the other hand, fed on riling her up with condescending remarks. She tried very hard not to let him see when he’d succeeded in getting to her. Where I could, I mediated, but at the end of the day, I could barely stand the guy, either. But we had to work with him. He was the boss’s nephew.

This time, however, he chose to set his target on me. “Where the hell were you this morning?”

“I came in early. Is George here yet?”

“I believe he’s downstairs. Told me he wanted to bring two of his directors with him into this morning’s meeting. I’ll go down and get him shortly.”

“Fine. Do we have the files on all of the directors?” There were five in total, and it was imperative that they be the most scrutinized of any of the employees. Having the right management was critical to the success of any acquisition.

“Yes. I’d planned to give them to you this morning at the hotel.”

I fixed my icy glare on the man, taking in his slicked-back hair, three-thousand-dollar suit, and even more expensive watch. He might try to look as if he was in charge, but there was one person our boss trusted with the go/no-go decision. And Tom wasn’t it. “You can give them to me now. Who are the key players?”

Emma squeezed out the door of my office, not wanting to be part of this exchange. I didn’t blame her.

“Fine. There are two key people. The accounting director—I forget her name. And the payroll director, Jeff. He applied for the CFO position.”

I paused, thinking it curious. “And she didn’t?”

He shrugged. “Not as of Friday, but the owner says she’s the point person for the audit. He said he’s going to allow her to pick her team, who she wants to stay.”

“That’s not how it works. We interview everyone to ensure they will be assets to the company, including her.”

Nobody was exempt from the process. People got emotional about their staff losing their jobs. Because of this, they sometimes kept people around who didn’t pull their weight. No one decided who stayed except me.

“I told the owner that. But he’s adamant. Says she has the best staff and can choose which ones we interview and which we don’t.”

“Then I’ll have to reiterate to George that isn’t part of the deal. No one outside of my team chooses who stays. In any case, we’ll meet with her this morning to get started on the list of audit items we need and to make certain she’s on board.” I didn’t like when things were out of order. Once again, I had a weird feeling.

“I’ll go downstairs and get George. Hopefully, both directors are here at the office, too.”

“Good.” Tom strode out the door.

“God, this space is awful. The walls are practically cardboard,” Emma complained, coming back into the conference room. “I could hear every word in here from all the way out by my desk.”

“Just bloody fantastic.” We’d have to keep the terrible acoustics in mind, especially when it came to interviews. The last thing I wanted was to have someone waiting able to overhear another person being interviewed. Or to have Tom eavesdropping on my conversations with Emma.

Although I trusted her implicitly, I didn’t have the same trust in Tom.

“Things just got cozy. Guess there will be no private telephone for you, lover boy.”

I rolled my eyes at her teasing and finally placed the flower delivery for today. If everything went smoothly this first couple of days, I hoped to be able to sneak out on Wednesday to meet her for dinner.

But it turned out I didn’t have to wait that long. Ten minutes later in walked the very object of my thoughts.