Margaret Allison - Mistletoe Maneuvers

Her aunt sighed. “Well then, go do what you need to do. Go confront this Rick Parker in person.”

“Go to his apartment?” She didn’t like the idea of going to see him in such a personal location. She had been there once before, a decade earlier, when her father had sent her to deliver some files. She remembered how nervous she had been, remembered the way her heart had jumped into her throat when he answered the door. He had just returned from a trip and his shirt was untucked and halfway unbuttoned. Stubble of a beard along his jaw added to his dangerous charm.

Although Rick had been twenty-seven years old, eleven years her senior, she had fantasized about being invited inside. “I know you’re young,” he would say, “but I’m willing to wait.” And then he would take her in his arms and give her a kiss she would remember for years. But in reality, he barely looked at her. He took the files and was perusing the information when she heard a woman laugh. She looked around Rick and saw a woman leaning against the couch. She was wearing a long, silky robe and thumbing through a magazine. She reminded Lessa of a gangster’s moll, with tousled platinum-blond hair and bright pink lipstick. Rick had signed the papers and Lessa had left, feeling envious of the woman wearing the beautiful lingerie. Lessa thought her the luckiest woman in the world.

“I don’t know that I can go there without an invitation.”

“What choice do you have?” Gran asked.

Her aunt was right. She didn’t have a choice. As much as she hated to admit it, she had a feeling the board was right. Only one man could save Lawrence Enterprises. Rick Parker.

Rick was not surprised to hear that Alessandra was waiting in his lobby. In fact, he had been expecting her. After all, forcing a personal meeting was exactly what he would’ve done under similar circumstances. What else was there to do when your nemesis refused your calls?

The truth of the matter was that he had been too busy to speak with her. His phone had been ringing all day. The stock had dropped significantly, and board members, furious with Alessandra, had been pleading with him to come back. But it wasn’t the loquacious board that had prevented him from speaking to Alessandra. It was the fact that he himself was one of those gobbling up discarded stock for a discounted price-all under various business ventures, never his own name. By firing him, Alessandra had given him the power to do what, as CEO of Lawrence, he was legally forbidden-buy stock.

It was all part of his plan to regain power and rid himself of Alessandra Lawrence for once and for all. The plan was simple. He would purchase stock without Alessandra’s knowledge. When she was forced to ask him back, he would negotiate a deal in which she gave him whatever stock he still needed for a majority. Once he had a majority, he could do whatever he liked. And his first order of business would be to fire Alessandra.

The elevator doors opened and Alessandra stepped into his apartment. He had to give her credit. In spite of the hellish day he knew she must have suffered, she looked remarkably composed. Her long red hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she was wearing a gray overcoat. She held her head up high, making her look like a regal queen who was blessing him with her presence.

“Hello,” he said as she walked toward him. “This is a surprise.”

“Is it?” she replied, meeting his gaze directly. “I would’ve assumed that you knew very well this meeting would happen.”

He held back a grin as he motioned toward the couch. “Please,” he said.

“What are your terms?” she asked quietly, standing right where she was.

“Terms?”

“I’m not here to play games, Rick. I assume you knew about the hostile takeover. You orchestrated your own firing yesterday simply to terminate your contract in the midst of a corporate upheaval. You knew that I would be forced to rehire you on your own terms.”

“And are you?” He knew better than to waste his time by attempting to deny the accusations. She wouldn’t believe him anyway. And he cared little what she thought.

She snapped open her briefcase. “I’m prepared to give you a ten-percent raise and a one-year extension on your contract.”

She handed him the contract but he didn’t accept it. “I’m not interested.”

“What do you mean?”

He could hear the nervousness in her voice and see the fear in her eyes. Without realizing it, she was giving away her hand. She knew she needed him.

“Ten percent and a one-year extension are not enough.”

She swallowed, taking a deep breath. “What do you want?”

“I want the raise, the extension, and…” He paused, noticing the way the her slender hands clutched the papers. “Half of your stock.”

The color drained from her face. No wonder. It was an outrageous request. So outrageous that he had not even pondered it. But since she seemed so desperate to have him return, why not?

“No,” she said.

He took another step toward her. He was so close, he could smell her slight flowery scent. “Well then,” he said in a soft whisper, “I don’t think we have anything to talk about.”

Her eyes were full of fire as she tightened her lips. “This was my father’s company. He always intended that I would one day be at the helm.”

“And maybe you will. In the meantime, I’ll own half of your stock. We’ll be partners.”

“Partners?” she asked quietly, her voice ragged.

It was obvious that she was hesitant to give up hope that she might one day regain the company. But it was difficult to feel pity for her naïveté. She should’ve known better than to challenge him. He had warned her and she had no one but herself to blame for the consequences.

Still, this interaction was making him uncomfortable. He would have an easier time of this if she were defiant and narcissistic. He walked back toward the elevator and pressed the button. As the doors opened he said, “Feel free to take some time to think about my offer. But the bottom line will not change. You need me if you’re going to save your father’s company. You and I both know I’m the only one capable of accomplishing this. If I don’t come back, try as you might, I can guarantee you that Sabrina Vickers will take over the company. And when she does, she will do what she has always done. She will break it up into little pieces, selling off the properties your father and I have worked so hard to build. By next year Lawrence Enterprises will be nothing but a memory. Is that what your father would have wanted?”

He could almost see the inner machinations of her brain. She had no choice but to accept his terms, however audacious they were. “I’ve worked very hard for this company, Alessandra. I’ve given it fifteen years of my life. I don’t want to see it destroyed. But this is your decision.”

“I’ll agree under one condition,” she said after a moment’s hesitation. “That I give you my shares only when the threat of a takeover is alleviated.”

“Fine,” he said, holding out his hand. “So we have a deal.”

“I’m willing to put past grievances behind us in order to save the company,” she said. With what appeared to be a supreme amount of effort, she accepted his hand.

“I’m very happy to hear that, Lessa,” he said, squeezing her hand gently. “Because in order to save this company, you’re going to have to forget what you learned in grad school. Now,” he said, letting go of her hand, “can I take your coat?”

“What do you mean, forget what I learned?” she asked, shrugging off her coat and handing it to him.

“Sabrina Vickers is simply the first in a long line of companies waiting to steal Lawrence Enterprises,” he said, hanging up her coat. “The problem is not Sabrina, it’s the perception that Lawrence Enterprises is a company in turmoil. All the Sabrinas have crawled out of the woodwork. And there’s only one way to get rid of them.”

“Let’s hear it,” she said, taking a seat on his leather sofa.

He sat across from her and leaned forward. “We need to convince Sabrina and everyone else that my job is intact. That our…union is secure.”

“What are you suggesting?”

He paused, almost enjoying the look of anticipation in her eyes. “We’re lovers.”

He watched as the surprise in her eyes gave way to indignation.

“No,” she said.

“Just for show, of course. It’s the only way. We need to prove to Sabrina Vickers and the rest of the world that we’re together. That my firing was simply a lovers’ quarrel. If you and I are united, in both power and money, they’ll know better than to attempt another takeover.”

“That’s ridiculous,” she said, standing. “This is business, not make-believe.”

He stood up so that he was towering over her. “If Sabrina thinks for one moment that you asked me back only because of her takeover bid, she’s going to know that my stay is only temporary. She’ll know that, sooner or later, you’re going to fire me again. The end result is that she will never give up her shares. She will simply wait it out and strike when the timing is right.”

“This ridiculous scenario is the best you can offer? I don’t think so. We’ll win this company back the old-fashioned way. By proving that we’re stronger than her.”

“But we’re not. In the past year, stocks have fallen considerably. Stockholders are aware of the turmoil at Lawrence and are anxious to shed their shares while they’re still worth something. You got us into this mess, Miss Lawrence. I think you owe it to everyone to do whatever you can to get us out.” He could almost see the disdain in her emerald eyes.

“What does this…plan of yours entail?” she asked.

“We meet with Sabrina and do our best to convince her that we’re in love…or at least, you’re in love with me. We’ll explain my departure as your reaction to a lovers’ quarrel. That you would never really do anything to harm me or the company.”

“I’m not an actress, Mr. Parker. And I’m not a hysterical woman.” He didn’t doubt it. She looked as icy as princesses come. But beneath the veneer he could swear he saw something else. Perhaps, he thought, she was one of those women whose prim visage was a mask for the fire and passion beneath.

“How long will it take you to draw up the contract?” he asked.

“I have to have it approved by the board first.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem. Meet me at Teterboro Airport tomorrow at eight in the morning. Bring the contract with you. I’ll sign it before we leave.”

“But that’s less than ten hours from now.”

“I guess you should get going, then,” he said, taking her coat out of the closet.

“I have not agreed to do this.”

“You’ll do it, Miss Lawrence. You have no choice.” As he hung her coat around her shoulders, his fingers brushed the skin of her creamy-white neck. She jerked forward, touching her fingers to the spot as if burned.

Her eyes narrowed and he could see the hatred burning inside. She took a step toward him and for a moment he thought she might slap him. Finally she bit her lower lip and turned away with her head held high, as regal in defeat as she was in victory. He couldn’t help but smile as he shut the door.

He was going to enjoy this.

Lessa sat beside Rick in the limo, determined to maintain her composure. She forced herself to focus on the laptop screen before her, trying to forget that she and Rick were getting closer to Sabrina Vickers by the minute. That Rick had just signed a deal in which she gave him half her stock, essentially making them partners, paled in comparison to the task at hand. But she had no choice. After all, to bow out was to admit defeat. And she was not defeated. Not yet anyway.

She had, however, suffered a professional setback that was so severe many at the office were already planning her retirement. The rumor mill had been working overtime ever since she’d arrived. Everyone knew she would not be the chairman or even on the board if she didn’t own a majority stake in the company. The most recent rumor had her paying off the board members to get her post. Her efforts to win the employees over-starting a day care in the office, increasing benefits, even supplying coffee and doughnuts in the morning-were ignored.

Time, she reminded herself. She needed to be patient. After all, her father had been just as beloved as Rick. Rick had had to work hard to turn the tide of sympathy, but he had done such a good job that the employees seemed to have forgotten all about her father. The fact that she was Howard Lawrence’s daughter and the rightful heir to Lawrence Enterprises meant little. The only thing that mattered from now on was how well she got along with Rick.

They were no longer opponents but partners. Her new strategy revolved around winning Rick’s respect. She had a hunch that if she won Rick over, she might be able to win over everyone else. It was a strategy that held little appeal, but she had no choice. She had made a deal with the devil and now she had to make the best of it.