The Merger Mogul (11 page)

“Let’s get to
work,” suggested KT.

“I think I need
a wheelchair to get back down,” said Daniel.  His head was whirling from
the balance exercises that KT made him do.

“No problem,
I’ll call one for you,” offered KT.  She went to her desk and made the
call and then came back with a book in her hand.

“What are you
doing now that you’re back at home?” KT asked. “Do you read?”

“A bit when my
head feels OK.  Would you like to come over and read to me?” asked Daniel.
“I have a penthouse apartment with a spectacular view of the city.”

“No, I don’t
want to come over to your penthouse apartment and read to you,” said KT lying
through her teeth, “but I do have a book which I think you might find
interesting.”

He took it from
her and read the title out loud.
“Presence – An Exploration
of Profound Change in People, Organizations and Society.”

“Have you read
it?” asked KT.  Daniel shook his head.

“I read it a
couple of years ago and I found it fascinating. It covers a broad scope of
scenarios, not just business, but the underlying theme is that in each case
something that they call “presence” somehow caused profound change to occur.
There was a scenario where this Japanese photographer took photos of the
crystals formed when water freezes and found that different crystals formed
depending on the source of the water. He even did an experiment where he took
photos of polluted water which was frozen and found that the samples had no
crystal structure but after a priest prayed for the water he took another
sample and found that the crystals were stunning! Isn’t that amazing?” KT’s
eyes shone with amazement.

“So you think
that prayer changed the water?” asked Daniel skeptically.

“As a matter of
fact I do,” said KT a bit defensively, “I think that prayer can change
anything, even you,” she challenged, “but I gave you the book because I thought
it might give you some insight into the changes that need to happen when
companies merge and maybe provide some solutions to help merged companies succeed,”
suggested KT. “I don’t know, it may or may not help you, but I found it very
interesting and very deep.”

“Thank you,
KT.  I’m touched that you gave so much thought to the things I’m
struggling with,” said Daniel seriously. “Maybe we can discuss it after I’ve
read it.”

“I’d like
that,” said KT.

“That would be
a first for me – discussing a book with a woman.  I’ve had a lot of firsts
with you,” admitted Daniel. “I like it. And by the way, do you think I really
need to change?” he added. “I thought I was perfect as I am.”

“Yeah, right!”
KT smiled even as she wondered if she could
trust this Daniel or if he was simply playing her. Was she willing to risk
finding out?

Daniel put down
the book
Presence
, took up his cane and made his way into the kitchen to
get a drink.  His balance was improving daily and his head was feeling
much better so he had been able to get through quite a lot of the book. In fact
it kept him company over the Christmas holidays when he was not at Margaret’s
house although she had insisted that he come over and spend Christmas Eve and
Christmas Day with her and Bob. It was profound and sometimes he had to read
over parts to get what they were talking about but it excited him more than
anything he’d read for a long time. He decided that he couldn’t wait until he’d
finished the whole book to discuss it with KT so he’d taken it with him to his
last therapy session before the holidays so they could talk about it.

One of the
authors had said in the book: The only change that will make a difference is
the transformation of the human heart.  Daniel had argued that he didn’t
think the heart could be transformed.  KT argued that it could and gave
some examples of people she knew who had done horrible things in the past and
then totally changed their lives when their hearts were transformed. 
Daniel said they were probably just pretending to be changed and deceiving
people like her.

“Where do you
know these kinds of people from anyway?” he had asked, protectively.

“Some of them
are in the cell group I go to,” she replied.

“What’s a cell
group?  Is it some kind of group for people who used to be in jail and
then get out and say they’ve changed?” he joked.

“Funny!” she
said. “Actually I never thought about it like that but I guess the group is
almost like that, except that the people
have
changed, not just claim to
be, and they haven’t been in jail the way you mean it.”

“And why do
you
go to the cell group?  What horrible things have you done that you’re
trying to get over? I can’t imagine that there’s anything really bad in your
past, you’re just too good.”

KT
smiled.  “That’s very sweet of you Daniel but none of us is really
good.  I believe that we’re only good because God transforms our hearts.”

“I don’t
believe that!  They’re lots of good people in the world and I’m sure that
not all of them believe in God or even know that he exists. We are what we
are.”

“We’ll have to
agree to disagree,” concluded KT. In spite of Daniel’s cynicism, she now knew
that he wasn’t as hard as he had at first appeared.  She had discovered,
through Connie Haskins, who was a major source of information, that Daniel had
bought an electric wheelchair for the patient she had told him about and was
also paying for his therapy anonymously, or so he thought. She didn’t know what
made him do it, but the act of kindness opened a place for Daniel Tennant in
her heart.

When Daniel was
alone in his apartment that night, he thought about his conversation with KT again.
Could hearts really be transformed and if so, could his? Did it need to be? He
wasn’t that bad, was he? Then he thought about the interview with the New York
Times and the insinuations he’d made about Barton Phillips.  Was that only
a few months ago? It seemed like a life time. He remembered the way he had
treated Angela the day his father came to see him and how he’d used Pamela even
when he was seeing Angela. There were so many other things he had done that
made him feel a bit squeamish now that he thought about them. All those
thoughts made his head begin to hurt so he took some tablets and turned on a
movie that numbed his brain.

Daniel poked
his head around the doors to the Physiotherapy department, hoping to see
KT.  She was bent over her desk in deep concentration writing up some
papers.  Her pony tail was over one shoulder and her exposed nape looked
so enticing that he was very tempted to sneak up behind her and kiss it. It
took great control to just walk quietly behind her and trail his fingers down
the back of her neck in a quick caress.

KT almost
jumped out of her skin and immediately broke out in goose bumps.  She
swung around to see who the culprit was.

“Daniel
Tennant,” she exclaimed, “You scared me half to death! What are you doing here
today? Your next session is in two days.” Her hand clutched her chest as if she
was trying to hold her heart in place.  He looked devastatingly attractive
now that his hair was growing back and he no longer wore the cap.

“I missed you,
so I popped in to see if you wanted to go to lunch.” He had missed her. 
Because of the Christmas holidays they’d had no session last week and he was
amazed at how empty his week had felt without seeing her.

“Missed me?”
said KT in disbelief. “You saw me just before Christmas. I can’t believe you
made Claire drive you all the way down here just to see if I wanted
lunch?  Wouldn’t it have been easier to call?” Actually she had missed him
too but she would never admit it. He had enough ammunition in his arsenal
already.  She hoped she could withstand his attack if it came.

“I took a cab.
Anyway I don’t even have your number,” reasoned Daniel. “Perhaps you should
give it to me now in case I need to reach you in an emergency.”

“I can’t
imagine what emergency that would be,” said KT but gave him her numbers while
he added them straight to his Blackberry contacts.

“Great!”
said
Daniel, “So can you do lunch?”

“Well it so
happens that my next patient is not due for another hour so I can do a quick
lunch in the cafeteria.”

“You’re going
to make me eat cafeteria food?”  He groaned. “OK, but you have to let me
take you to a real lunch, or better yet dinner, when I finish my therapy
sessions with you,” demanded Daniel.

“Only if you’re
on your best behavior,” warned KT.

“Agreed!” said
Daniel quickly. “And by the way, where do you get this impression that I don’t
behave well?

“I’ve been
warned about your reputation,” admitted KT.

“My reputation?”

“Yes, your
reputation as a womanizer. I’ve been told that you have a different woman for
each season of the year! I’m not looking to be Miss Winter.”

“KT, where do
you get that stuff? Admittedly it may have been true in the past, but I haven’t
gone out with anyone in over three months.”

“That’s because
you’ve been recovering from brain surgery!”

Daniel
continued as if he hadn’t heard her. “Come on, let’s go and eat that
unimaginative cafeteria food before your patient gets here,” he said changing
the subject.

After their
plates were filled, Daniel found
a table as far away from
other people as he could manage and they sat down to eat
.

KT said a quick
silent prayer and picked up her bun.

“You’re going
to eat that bun?” asked Daniel incredulously. It looked very unappealing to
him, especially smothered in melted butter.

“I love bread,”
confessed KT. “It’s my weakness.”

“I don’t
believe it, a weakness,” said Daniel playfully. “Now I can win your heart by
plying you with all kinds of gourmet bread.”

KT laughed.
“And what’s your weakness?”

“My weakness is
a certain physiotherapist who is determined to withstand my considerable
charms,” confessed Daniel half seriously.

“Funny,”
replied KT unbelievingly and Daniel let the subject drop.  She obviously
was not taking him seriously and he honestly didn’t know at this stage, just
how serious he was. What he did know was that he definitely wanted to get to
know her intimately and he’d been around enough women to know that she was not
immune to him either.

“How was your
Christmas?” she asked.

“Lonely without
you,” he said truthfully. KT looked at him skeptically. “How was yours?”

“Great!  I
really enjoyed going home and being with my parents, my brother and his wife
and my baby sister.”

 “I didn’t
know you had a brother and sister.”

“Yes. My
brother is about your age.  He’s an investment banker here in the city. My
sister is in med school in Boston. She’s 24.”

“What else
don’t I know about you?  Do you have a secret fiancée or anything like
that?”

“No,” admitted
KT with a smile.

“Good!” Daniel
smiled too.

“What about
you?” asked
KT.

“Do I have a
secret fiancée or do I have any siblings?”

“Both.”

“I’m alone in
the world.  I’m not seeing anyone and I’m an only child.” KT was relieved
at the first, if he was telling the truth and saddened at the second.  She
could feel the loneliness in his words although he said them matter-of-factly,
and her heart softened towards him a bit more. “My mother died when I was in
law school and my father died recently.” Daniel felt a stab of sorrow.

“I’m so sorry.
So how did you spend your Holidays?” she asked.

“My personal
assistant, Margaret invited me to stay at her place. I spent a lot of time
reading
Presence
when I wasn’t over there. It’s amazing! I’ve just read
the part about the group from Guatemala, do you remember that?” She nodded.

“That was when
a team of people from all different sectors came together to try to come up
with a vision to rebuild the country after years of civil war.”

“Yes. The
Vision Guatemala team,” Daniel continued, “and they were supposed to develop
scenarios of how Guatemala could move forward in the next ten years. What I
found really fascinating about the group was what happened when they started to
share their stories of the war.  After one person finished their story
(the one about the bones of the unborn children of murdered pregnant women)
they said that there was complete silence in the room and later one of them
said that there was a “spirit in the room”, another person referred to it as a
“moment of communion”.  That episode made them really come together as a
team because suddenly everyone knew why they were there and what they had to
do.”

“Then there was
that old Mayan proverb or something that one of the authors mentioned. 
How did that go again?” asked KT.

“‘We did not
put our ideas together.  We put our purposes together.  And we agreed. 
Then we decided.’” quoted Daniel. “That’s what keeps coming back to me. 
It’s as if there’s a key in there somewhere to unlock not just the problems in
merged companies but in many other companies.”

KT nodded,
pleased that she had helped Daniel find his enthusiasm for work again in some
small way.

“It seems that
you’re beginning to love your job again,” she said.

“Or perhaps
love what it can become,” agreed Daniel.

After they finished
eating, KT walked Daniel to the entrance of the hospital to wait for a cab to
take him back home.

He took her
hand in his and said: “New Year’s Eve is in a couple of days. Will you go out
to dinner with me?  I don’t think I’m up to a party just yet.”