Twisted Love and Money (31 page)

Janet
turned.

“John I have
worked out a way to achieve the scenario I have outlined.”

John looked at
her, his jaw dropping in surprise. Then he pulled himself
together.

“If this was
possible, what would your price be?” John asked, playing her
game.

“I have a
little list,” Janet said with a smile and John laughed.

“But first,”
Janet said, “I need to be convinced that you can raise a bid.”

“I can see you
are serious,” John said, feeling a sense of shock.

‘Very serious
John and we have little time,” Janet said confidently.

“There is a Mr.
Kenny, you’d need to meet him. How much time have you got?”

“I have to meet
Mr. Crawford tonight at the airport.”

“If this is
serious I will take you to see Kenny.”

“Its serious
John, but I don’t want to go near O’Byrne’s for the moment.”

“Kenny is a
partner in my former firm. They are a large accounting practice. He
is the liquidations and receivership partner. He is acting for the
banks in looking at O’Byrne’s finances. They want his say-so before
they extend our short term funding.”

“And where does
he come into an alternative bid?”

“
He is crucial to our bid. He can organise the financial
backing. I was to see him with the other directors and O’Donoghue.
However if you have material data to share with us I will insist he
sees us now. I sure he will agree. I know the man, he senses a
deal.”

“A man I could
relate to,” Janet said with a smile.

“He’s about
sixty five with a lot of miles on the clock. An old gangster and
plotter, a very clever man but as ugly as sin.”

“I like old
ugly men,” Janet said pleasantly. “Will you ring him please? Maybe
he could come here? He might not want a meeting of this nature at
his office.”

Kenny was
unhappy. He had other things on his plate and grudgingly agreed to
come over to Janet’s apartment.

Janet was not
over-impressed with Kenny’s appearance. He looked donnish with an
expensive but unkempt suit and tie. However he had penetrating
intelligent eyes. She decided she liked him, not just because she
liked all men, but also rather because she particularly liked
powerful intelligent men.

Janet settled
Kenny with a cup of tea and a biscuit while John in his anxiety,
reverted to coffee.

Kenny
considered Janet carefully. Bright very young and very good
looking, he observed.

“I am Mr.
Crawford’s lead on the AF bid for O’Byrne’s,” she explained.

John nearly
fell off the couch in surprise.

“Are you in a
relationship with him?” Kenny asked perceptively.

“Something that
is developing.”

“John said on
the phone that you have become engaged to Peter O’Byrne. Will that
sour your relationship with Crawford?”

“The
interaction with Mr. Crawford is the part of the deal I manage.
Leave that to me. What I need to know is whether a credible counter
offer to the AF deal is a real possibility or are you guys just hot
air?”

Kenny looked at
her and took a sip of his tea. He knew the power of a silence in a
discussion like this.

Then he smiled.
“John has explained my background and or course you realize I also
act for the banks in the O’Byrne’s affair.”

“Yes.”

“The position
is,” Kenny continued. “I have sounded out the debenture Holders. I
have spoken to Colm O’Donoghue of Howlett holdings and through my
firm I have a number of wealthy individuals who would be delighted
if I could put a good deal on the table.”

“
Understood,” Janet said, and Kenny began to realize she
understood very well.

Kenny began to
set out his view of how an alternative deal might look, but fell
short of suggesting an offer price.

As John
listened to Kenny he began to realize his own naivety. Kenny was
low key and diffident, but John realized he was a class act. His
confidence rose, but he knew he was just a spectator at whatever
was going on between Kenny and Janet Simmons.

“John explained
my scenario?” Janet offered.

“Yes,” Kenny
acknowledged, “He laid it out over the phone in an effort to
persuade me to come and give you my undivided attention, Miss
Simmons.”

“Please call me
Janet.”
“I am Andrew.”

“Andrew, did
John tell you that I have a little list.”

“Yes, we should
explore the list,” Kenny agreed.

“My proposition
is based on the assumption that if Michael O’Byrne sells out for
the offer price and subsequently relationships with AF are
restored, then the firm can resume its onward path without Michael,
and that there will be plenty millions of future value to go
around.”

“Perhaps,”
Kenny said cautiously. “In principle yes.”

“I am not happy
with Michael O’Byrne being cheated out of millions,” John
intervened, feeling something outrageous was happening.

“John,” Kenny
began, but Janet cut across him.

“John,” she
said looking warmly at him, “The future value of O’Byrne’s has
already been taken away from Michael O’Byrne. AF just has to push
the buttons on Saturday and he sells. What we are discussing is not
cheating Michael O’Byrne. He is a grown man in business, taking
what he sees to be the best option.”

“What are we
discussing then?” John demanded.

“We are
discussing whether or not AF should be the ones to gain from
Michael O’Byrne’s predicament or whether it should be others,
namely our consortium if we agree to go ahead and counter
offer.”

“Take it as
read,” Kenny added, “Michael has already lost out. The question is,
to whom?”

John tensed,
not knowing what was being asked of him.

“John,” Janet
said kindly, “you have a very important decision to make. The whole
proposal may turn on the stance you adopt.”

“What?” John
asked confused.

“Are you in or
are you out?” Kenny put it simply.

John looked at
them both for a moment. “I’m in,” he decided.

“Excellent,”
Kenny congratulated and Janet looked equally pleased.

“My little
list,” Janet said looking at the ceiling. The two men were content
just to look at her.

“I will need to
put a proposal to Mr. Crawford. I think I need five million for
him, to sugar the pill. I hope he will be offered a non-executive
director role in Howlett holdings with a suitable share option
package. He might even be chairman.”

“Chairman is
not a good idea,” John suggested. “The Chairman role should not be
an AF linked appointment in a new arms length scenario.”

“We can do the
shares,” Kenny said, “but Colm O’Donoghue becomes Chairman for a
period to show continuity. I have to follow him as deputy and
intended future chairman if my investors are to have confidence in
the deal.”

“Fine,” Janet
conceded, “I want Peter to remain in marketing, where he will
replace James O’Driscoll in time. I think he will be good at
marketing and he will provide continuity of the O’Byrne
connection.”

“And Dorothy?”
John suggested.

“Dorothy is
out, too close to the father,” Janet said and Kenny nodded in
agreement.

“Crawford will
want to put in his own man in Finance,” Janet added. “He always
does.”

“So I am out?”
John said.

“No,” Kenny
intervened. “John you are going in as Managing Director. We need a
solid pair of hands at the tiller, and believe it or not John you
have a sound reputation in Dublin as a straight dealer. I want a
man in charge I can trust and that’s you John.”

“I don’t know
what to say,” John began.

“Just say yes,”
Kenny said, slightly irritated. “John we have had our ups and downs
in the past but we always worked well together.”

“Agreed…” John
began.

“Fine,” Janet
cut in taking John’s ‘agreed’ to cover the proposed new role.

“For myself and
Peter I want two things.”

“Yes?” Kenny
was all attention.

“I want Peter’s
trust fund to be paid in Howlett holding shares, so they will get
further payback from future growth.”

“Agreed, but
they will initially get the same offer price as Michael O’Byrne, it
can’t be any other way.”

“All right.”
Janet conceded, “and I want five million for each of Peter and
myself.”

“Phew,” John
said, looking at Kenny.

Kenny was
unperturbed. “You will have to come on the board of O’Byrne’s,”
Kenny suggested.

“I can put in
ISO for them, it’s a good quality system.”

“Fine,” Kenny
agreed, not the least bit worried about how Janet might amuse
herself as a Director. “When we finalize the new Board in agreement
with Colm O’Donoghue, I will get my people to put a deal together.
As a condition of the merger, there will be a legitimate share
option scheme that will give each key executive director, including
us here and Crawford, a five million stake in the new company.”

Janet
considered this.

“O’Donoghue
will want his grandson to be Managing Director instead of John
here?”

“Probably, but
in ten or fifteen years time, the boy is very young and
inexperienced. That is very long term,” Kenny suggested.

“Well, my plans
for Peter are to get him back to London as part of the AF
organization longer term. I would prefer to live in London. I will
talk to Crawford about this.”

“So there is no
conflict over Peter, but I may be out of a job in the long term?”
John threw in.

“That worry you
John?” Kenny asked with a smile.

“Not really,”
John replied, adding with a smile. “I’m sure the severance terms
will be good.”

“So, if I may
summarize,” Janet said. “Andrew, you must deliver O’Donoghue and
your bankers and the debenture holders and I must deliver Mr.
Crawford and, in time, the reversal of the AF dispute with
O’Byrne's.”

“Agreed.”

“And John, you
must get the non family directors on board.”

“Agreed,” John
said confidently.

“Do you think
Janet?” Kenny added. “That you could come with Mr. Crawford to meet
us? We have limited time, if I am to get all the ducks in a
row.”

“I’m sure
that’s possible,” Janet smiled.

“John,” Kenny
continued. “We better have a pre-meeting. That is before I talk to
Crawford. Can you fix that with O’Donoghue and the O’Byrne
Executive Director team, I mean the non-family part. Can you do
that?”

“Will do,” John
agreed.

“
I’ll have to work all night on this,” Kenny said. “John you
can help. We need to devise a Director’s Share Option Scheme linked
to a performance bonus. We pay everyone their five million out of
the future profit growth of O’Byrne’s, which will arise when fences
are repaired with AF and the growth path resumes.”

“Can do,” John
agreed. “If I work all night.”

“You happy
Janet?” Kenny asked.

“I might have
to work all night,” Janet said with a wry smile.

And they
laughed and wondered if she was really joking.

Chapter
thirty-six

When the John
and Kenny had left, Janet had sat for a while deep in thought, her
head buzzing with worry. She knew she was taking the biggest gamble
of her life. She could not contact Peter and yet she was making
plans and relying on his proposal of marriage.

Then she
thought further about it. She realized that the deal she had put to
Kenny was better than the deal she currently had with Crawford.
Even without Peter she would be better off with the new deal. This
relaxed her.

Janet prepared
her papers for Crawford’s arrival. Everything depended on how well
she could work things out with Crawford.

Papers ready,
Janet then prepared herself. She started with a shower and then
naked, she began her routine. She was well aware that being
beautiful required a good amount of hard work, plus natural
endowment of course.

Starting with
toenails she worked her way up her body, making sure everything was
to her satisfaction. Her appearance was not just an accident of
nature. She knew what to do right and was prepared work hard at it
and to spend money on the best of materials. Thus far she’d stayed
fit and had not needed any artificial inserts or surgery. She
intended that the bounty nature had provided would last as long as
possible in its natural state.

Her
concentration as she got ready was complete and so was her
enjoyment. She liked to feel she would look her best. Finally after
full inspection of her efforts she got dressed and then put the
final touches to her makeup.

Janet inspected
herself in the mirror. Wow, she thought, who would be lucky and
meet me tonight? Crawford, of course. She gave herself a big smile
and let herself out of the apartment.

The flight was
on time and Crawford hurried through. Normally he carried only hand
luggage for speed, but on this occasion he had a suit holder, with
all that he deemed necessary to attend a couple of days including a
formal dinner planned at the O’Byrne residence for Saturday
night.

It was after
ten p.m. after a busy and a difficult day. He felt tired and
irritable.

Crawford’s
spirits lifted when he saw Janet waiting for him as he came through
the green channel.

Somehow despite
the large crowd waiting, they had given Janet her own space at the
front. The men in admiration and the women in curiosity as they all
stole glances from time to time at her superior good looks and her
very expensively cut clothes.