„Why are you doing this, David?“ she asked coldly, trying desperately to think of defense tactics. She knew so little of this sort of thing. She’d never faced it before.
„The usual reasons,“ he retorted bluntly. „My firm is heavy in cash right now and we need some acquisitions. I’ve seen your balance sheet, darling, and you are ripe.“
„You’re telling me there’s nothing personal in this, right? Just business?“ she scoffed angrily.
„Oh, no, I wouldn’t say that,“ he chuckled arrogantly. „It will give me great personal satisfaction to take Brady Data Processing. It should have been mine two years ago.“
„You didn’t want it two years ago!“ she flung back.
„I’ve changed my mind. Thanks to you, Kalinda. No one thought you could pull it off, you know. Everyone was sure that firm was headed for the bottom. But now that you’ve done all the hard work…“
„You think you can just step in and help yourself? I’ve got news for you, David. We’ll fight“
„They all say that in the beginning. Go ahead, love. It will only make the process that much more interesting. Perhaps somewhere along the tine you’ll even consider that little mountain rendezvous we planned. Now that would be amusing, wouldn’t it? I wonder how many chief executive officers of firms facing a hostile merger have tried to buy off the raiding company with their bodies? Interesting thought, isn’t it…?“
Kalinda slammed the phone down, his confident, knowing laughter ringing in her ears.
She sat in stunned silence for several minutes, gazing with unseeing eyes at the framed mirror on the opposite wall. It reflected her well-tailored white business suit with its narrow skirt and close-fitting jacket.
Her hair was up, as usual,, and the yellow silk blouse she wore was open at the neck with a rakish air.
My God, she thought dazedly. What did she do now? Handling hostile mergers wasn’t one of those subjects stressed when she had been in business management school. It was something one learned on the streets, a true urban guerrilla warfare. She knew all about building a company up from within, obtaining capital, promoting research, making the firm’s stock appear attractive to the analysts of brokerage houses so that they would, in turn, encourage investors to buy it; she knew about those things. She’d learned some the hard way and some she’d studied in school.
But this was a different kind of game. Unfriendly mergers were something that happened to other companies, not to one’s own! She closed her eyes briefly in self-reprisal. She had made a bad error in not planning ahead for such an eventuality. But she had been so swamped just trying to save the business it had never occurred to her that someone would come along and take the salvage prize right out of her hands.
Not to mention the hands of the loyal management. Breaking the news to them would be the hardest part. It was their jobs, after all, which were most likely to be destroyed by such an action. The rank and file were probably the safest. They would be needed to keep things running. But all those in management positions who had worked their way up during the years would find themselves in real jeopardy. They could be replaced and most likely would be by aggressive young movers from the acquiring firm.
Everything she had worked for during the past two years would be gone. Kalinda, of course, would be the first to go…
But that was negative thinking, she told herself furiously, getting restlessly to her feet and walking back to the window. She was going to fight She had to. She owed it to her company to try to save its independence. Tomorrow morning she would call in the company officers for an emergency strategy meeting. She shook her head sadly. It was going to be a shock for all of them.
But in spite of the crisis and the need for planning, there was nothing she could realistically do that evening. She couldn’t very well call off the party and it wouldn’t do her any good even if she could. Grimly she paced back to her desk.
Several hours later Kalinda paused in her duties as hostess to take stock of the cocktail party’s success. There were several important business associates here this evening, many of them male and that meant she had to be especially nice to their wives. The last thing she wanted was to risk a case of wifely jealousy. She had walked a fine line for two years and thought she’d done a good job of reassuring suspicious wives and still maintaining the solid business contacts she needed.
She glanced around the room, taking in the well-dressed, affluent crowd in their expensive suits and gowns, wondering who among them she might go to for advice and professional consultation. She needed to talk to someone, she thought Someone who knew about the dirty in-fighting that went on in a hostile merger situation. It was a cinch she wouldn’t get much constructive help from her own staff. They’d never encountered such a maneuver.
Before she could decide if there was someone in the crowd who could be potentially helpful, Kalinda was interrupted by the effusive thanks of a charming, older woman who glided up to her in a cloud of perfume and wispy chiffon.
„Kalinda, my dear! Thank you so much for the lovely picture you gave Harold and I! So nice of you to think of us while you were on vacation! But your dear father was like that, too. Always so thoughtful of others.“
„I’m glad you like it,“ Kalinda smiled, thinking of the price she’d paid for the watercolor she’d purchased in Rand’s gallery. A weekend affair…
„It looks perfect in Harold’s den! And you look quite perfect yourself tonight,“ Mrs. Sebastian added with a warm smile, surveying her hostess’s printed beet-red silk jacquard sheath with its touches of peacock blue. A fine gold braid edged the neckline and wrists. It was a sumptuous, almost oriental effect which Kalinda wore well. The buttery material slid fluidly over her small breasts and rounded hips.
„Thank you,“ Kalinda said, hastening to return the compliment She stood talking for several minutes to the wife of one of her top managers and then edged away with the excuse of checking the buffet table.
Around her the crowd swirled happily amid the lush green and ripe apricot decor of the town house. The green in the plush rug gave the apricot print-covered furniture a dramatic background. The color scheme emphasized the focal point of the room which was a huge sun parlor that formed one entire wall.
Brilliant patches of white had been used sparingly against the rich colors in the form of an occasional lamp and glass-topped coffee table. The dining table was also a stark white and stood in front of a mirrored wall which reflected the colorful buffet food set out on it.
As usual, Kalinda spared no expense when she entertained, deeming it a business necessity. But even she had to smile at that justification. The truth was, she enjoyed entertaining. Tonight was an exception. But, then, who could take pleasure in such things with a sword hanging over one’s head?
Only a few people knew that she, herself, prepared the elegant little canapes and hors d’oeuvres served at her parties. Others just seemed to assume she used a caterer and she let them think that Only she knew that such gourmet cooking was a source of relaxation for her. She had discovered it during the past year and was continually amazed at how she could escape her business concerns for a few hours in a kitchen.