The Merger Mogul (4 page)

Daniel turned
his chair to look out at the Manhattan skyline.  His heart had started to
beat faster and he could feel the anger rising up inside of him. Because of
this man his childhood had been pure hell before he left and worse afterwards.
He’d prefer not to remember the fights, going to bed hungry, wearing shoes
until they had holes, never having enough, having to move from apartment to
apartment when his mother couldn’t pay the rent.

He really
didn’t need this.  His life was great now.  He had everything he
wanted.  Besides he’d turned out fine without a father in his life for the
last 25 years, so what would he want one for now?

“Daniel,’ said
Margaret softly, “will you see him?”

“Yeah, why
not?” replied Daniel offhandedly. “I can spare him a few minutes before I have
to prepare for my meeting.”

Daniel
continued staring out the window, with his fingers drumming on the desk
nervously. He caught himself and deliberately stopped the nervous movements. He
heard the door open, drew in a deep breath and swung around.

“Hello,
Daniel,” said the man who had abandoned him more than two decades ago, as if
he’d seen him just last week.

Daniel looked
him up and down.  It was amazing how much they looked alike except that
his father was a couple of inches shorter than he
was,
totally gray and had the haggard look of someone who had lost a lot of weight
recently.  Daniel gestured to a chair opposite his desk without getting up
or offering a greeting in return.

“What can I do
for you?” he asked without emotion.

“Thank you for
seeing me. I know I don’t deserve the time of day from you, but I had to see
you again to make peace with you.” He paused.  “I have colon cancer and
the doctors don’t have much hope so I’m putting my house in order, so to
speak.”

Daniel’s heart
seemed to stop and then started to race again.  He told himself that he
didn’t really care if his father was dying, except as another human being, and
he really didn’t want to make any “peace”.  He just wanted to get on with
his life and forget about the past.

“I’m sorry to
hear about your cancer.  Is that why you’re here? You need money for some
medical treatment?”

“No, Danny
Boy.  I’ve had treatment and the cancer is in remission now but I don’t
know how long it will last.  As I said, I just wanted to ask your
forgiveness for abandoning you.  I couldn’t get work, couldn’t provide for
you and it was destroying me and tearing your mother and I apart so I figured
that leaving was the best thing. I know that it was a cop-out but I was young
and irresponsible back then. I know things must have been hard for you after I
left and I’m sorry for all you suffered.”

“You know
nothing about how things were for me,” replied Daniel angrily. “But you can
leave this world in peace.” He gestured around his posh office. “As you can
see, things turned out just fine. As for forgiveness, that would mean that you
hurt me in some way and that’s not the case so you don’t need my forgiveness.”

Daniel stood up
and walked to the door, holding it open. “Sorry that you wasted your time
dropping by but it really wasn’t necessary. In fact, your leaving was probably
a blessing in disguise because it made me determined to succeed and, as you can
see, I have. So you can go to your grave knowing that you did something right.”

His father got
slowly to his feet, looked at him sadly and walked to the door.

“Success is
more than possessions and position.  You’ll find that out. I love you,
Danny Boy” he whispered as he passed him and left the office.

Daniel closed
the door firmly and stood absolutely still. He’d forgotten that his father used
to call him Danny Boy. Clamping down on emotions that he had ruthlessly shoved
to the bottom of his heart over the years, he once again came to that place
where he felt nothing. It was easier that way.

He walked back
to his desk and held his head in his hands.  It was now throbbing and there
was a ringing in his ears.  He pressed the intercom and said: “Margaret,
reschedule
my 10.30 appointment, call Angela and cancel our
date for tonight and then bring me two pain killers.”

Margaret
knocked at the door and walked in carrying a glass of water and two tablets.

“This is
becoming a habit, Daniel,” she said handing him the pain killers. “Would you
like me to set up an appointment for you with Dr. Evans? I’m getting concerned
with all these headaches you’re having. Besides it’s been two years since your
last annual,” she added drily.

“With the
amount of crap that I’ve been dealing with, it’s no wonder I’ve got constant
headaches,” snapped Daniel.

“You wouldn’t
be including your father in that, would you?”

“Of course I’m
including him! Where does he get off walking back into my life after 25 years
and asking me for forgiveness?”

“So did you
forgive him?” asked Margaret.

“I told him
there was nothing to forgive, because his leaving made me more determined to
succeed and I have.”

Margaret raised
one eyebrow skeptically.

“Well that
means you owe him for your success then. Daniel, he flew from Virginia to see
you and he’s not even that strong. The least you can do is spend some time with
him.  Meet your stepmother. You’ll probably regret it if you don’t.”

“Regrets are a
waste of time and energy!  I don’t care if I never see him again!”

Margaret looked
at him. “I really think you need to forgive him so that you can move on.”

“I have moved
on Margaret.  I’m thirty-five years old, for goodness sake.  What do
I need a father for? I’ve got everything I need.”

“
Do
you
have everything you need, Daniel?” she asked and left the office without
waiting for a response.

Daniel turned
back to his computer, clicked on his Windows Mail icon and glanced through
files on his desk while he waited for the e-mails to be downloaded.  He
suddenly felt restless and definitely not in the mood for work today.  He
had his tennis bag in the car; he would drive to the club and see if he could
find someone to play with him, or hopefully the pro would be available. 
He definitely felt the need to hit something hard.

He stopped the
mail in the middle of the download, turned off the computer and TV, stuffed the
files on his desk into his briefcase and left his office.  Maybe he’d have
a look at them later.

“I’ll be at the
tennis club, Margaret,” he said as he walked past her.

Margaret stared
after him in amazement.  Daniel was going to the club during the day to
play tennis instead of working?  Yeah, right, he had gotten over his
father.

“
Aagh
!” grunted Daniel as he slammed the ball back over the
net to the pro. It dropped just outside the base line.

“Fifteen -
thirty,” said Geoffrey, the pro, as he threw a couple of balls back over to
Daniel.

Daniel tossed
the ball up and prepared to hit it over the net with power and missed.  He
felt dizzy and unsteady on his feet.  What was going on? The second serve
hit the net.

“Fifteen -
forty,” called Geoffrey.

The next serve
was also a fault and while the second one stayed in, it was no challenge for
the pro to get back.  The pair rallied for several minutes, each blasting
the balls back across the net with precision but unable to get the best of the
other. Suddenly Geoffrey sent a blistering shot down the line, passing Daniel
who didn’t even have the chance to move.

“Game, set and match.
Late night?”
Joked Geoffrey as they shook hands at the net.

“That’s
probably it,” said Daniel distractedly.  “Can I buy you a drink?”

“I’ll have to
take a rain check,” said Geoffrey, “I’ve got another session in 15 minutes.”

Daniel headed
for the men’s changing rooms. The exclusive tennis club was over thirty years
old and was located on the East side of Manhattan near some up market
neighborhoods and not too far from Daniel’s own penthouse apartment. He’d been
a member there for about four years and tried to play at least once a week to
keep fit. 

Fifteen minutes
later, Daniel was bathed and refreshed, wearing a clean pair of walking shorts
and a polo shirt he had in his tennis bag.  He sat at the bar and ordered
a gin and tonic. Probably not the best idea after his dizziness earlier, but he
needed it.

“Must be a hell
of a day to be drinking a gin and tonic at this time,” said a sultry
voice.  He didn’t have to turn around to know who it belonged to.  It
was Pamela Highland’s. They’d been together a few times in the past and had a
no-strings-attached kind of relationship.

“Hi Pam,” he
said turning around and taking in her short, way-too-sexy tennis outfit. “It
certainly started out that way but I’m feeling better already,” he said, his
gaze zeroing in on her ample bosom like a laser beam.

“It must be
something big to make you leave your first love, work, at this time of the day.
Anything I can do to take your mind off your worries?” she asked sliding
between him and the next bar stool. “You know my place is ten minutes away. I’d
be happy to give you a back massage or anything else you need,” she offered,
rubbing her hand up and down his back.

A picture of
Angela flashed into his mind and he quickly squelched it.  After all it
wasn’t as if they were in a serious relationship; they’d only slept together
one night.  Then again when was he ever in a serious relationship? 
Maybe some time with Pamela was what he needed to get his mind off things for a
while.

“Sounds
tempting,” he said sliding off the bar stool into the space that she already
occupied, “and I’m too weak to resist right now.”  Their bodies pressed
against each other in the tight space as he leaned around her and put $20 on
the bar rather than waste time charging the drink to his account.

“Is that a gun
in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?” she said in her best Mae West
impression.

“Let’s go find
out,” he said huskily.

Mike, the bar
tender shook his gray head as he watched the pair walk off together.  It
was obvious what was up. Didn’t these kids think about AIDS or anything like
that?

“Thanks. I
needed that,” Daniel said just over a couple of hours later as Pamela walked
him to the front door of her luxurious apartment complex, no doubt paid for by
her rich daddy.

“Anytime,”
replied Pamela.

He held the
back of her head, gave her a quick kiss on her lips and walked to his black
Porsche Turbo without looking back. He got in, started the powerful engine and
roared away. Pamela had certainly delivered all that she promised and if he’d
used her then she used him too so it was really win-win. So why did he feel so
empty?

As he waited at
a light, he picked up his Blackberry which he’d left in the car and saw six
missed calls, three of which were from Angela.  Even as he put it back on
the passenger seat it began to ring.  The caller was identified as Angela
Pierce.  He groaned.  There was no way he wanted to talk to Angela
right now.  He really didn’t feel like explaining himself to her.  He
let the phone go to voice mail. He’d get Margaret to send round some flowers
and he’d do something special with her later in the week.

Daniel walked
into his Upper East Side penthouse apartment, dropped his tennis bag on the floor
and went to the kitchen to get a beer from the fridge.

“Is someone
there?” asked a cautious voice from the direction of the bedrooms.

Oh, no! He’d
forgotten that his cleaning lady would be here although the apartment, with its
three bedrooms and en suite bathrooms, hardly needed cleaning since most of it
was rarely used.

“Hi Clara, it’s
me,” he called.

“Mr. Tennant,”
she said approaching, “What are you doing home at this time of the day? 
Are you sick?”

“Some people
might think so,” he murmured referring to the time he’d spent with Pamela. “No,
Clara, I’m fine.  You just go back to your cleaning.  I’ll do a bit
of work here instead of going back to the office.”

She looked at
him skeptically. “OK, I’ll try not to disturb you.”

The telephone
rang and Clara hurried to answer it.  “Hello, Daniel Tennant’s residence.”
That would probably be Angela or it could be Margaret.  Before he could
signal Clara to ask who it was, she was saying: “Yes, he’s right here. Hold
on.” She held out the telephone.

Daniel reluctantly
took the phone. “Hello,” he said.

“Daniel, what’s
going on?” It was Angela as he expected. “First of all you make a date with me,
then less than an hour later, Margaret calls to tell me it’s off and that
you’ve left the office.  I’ve been calling you for the last three hours
and you haven’t answered your phone or returned my calls.  Where have you
been?  What’s going on?”

“Angela, what
is this? We had sex this weekend and that gives you the right to know my every
move?” he asked defensively.

There was a
shocked silence on the other end of the line.

“You’re a cold
bastard, Daniel Tennant,” Angela said after a while. “You should be in Madame
Tussaud’s
.  You look real, but you’re nothing more
than a cold statue.” She hung up.

Daniel slowly
hung up the phone. Angela was right.  He was a cold bastard.

Daniel parked
his car in the space marked CEO, Tennant Consulting, picked up his briefcase
and climbed out.  Walking briskly to the basement elevator he got there
just as the door was closing.  Bryan
Hardt
was
inside the elevator and managed to hold the door for him.