Eighty One – Laura's Story Pt. 01

The gentle buzz of blended chatter filled the room. Only the occasional outbreak of convivial laughter penetrated his thoughts, reverting his mind to the present company. When appropriate he nodded agreement to feign attentiveness, which, on other occasions would have been genuine. That evening however his mind was preoccupied. Once again he casually glanced around the stunning Art Deco ballroom in eager anticipation.

They captured his attention as soon as he saw them enter the crowded room. They paused briefly as the waiter, dressed in his long apron, offered them drinks from the huge silver tray skilfully balanced on the finger tips of one hand. They both casually scanned the room before spotting their target and weaved their way through the throng of dark dinner suits and brand new ‘little black dresses’.

She exchanged greetings and smiles whilst engaging in small talk, obviously comfortable in her surroundings. He watched her toy with the men, almost flirting. The half smiles and coy facial expressions were lapped up by both men and women. He considered her to be a woman used to playing games and using her feminine charms to get her own way. He loved how she moved with a natural grace as if floating from one group to another.

He continued to study her as they moved over to another couple. Physically she was all he had hoped for. After exchanging kisses and handshakes they paired off. The men appeared to engage in idle chatter as the women perused their counterparts. He used the moment to observe the other guests for himself and after a cursory glance around the room he concluded that she had little in the way of competition. She was 38, that had been easy to look up online, probably five feet 6 inches he would guess and slim but not petite. Slightly above average sized breasts and a firm, shapely rear. Yes, she would be very suitable.

But, whilst a very welcome bonus, it was not only her physical characteristics which had already gained his attention. Her manner and the way she held herself suggested a confidence, an air of authority even, which he loved the chosen women to have. Who could resist such a challenge?

He watched her as she chatted. He loved the way she tucked those errant strands of dark hair back behind her ear as she laughed and conspired with her friend. At that moment she looked directly at him and stopped as he caught her eye. With a slight raising of his glass and a brief nod he acknowledged the fact that she had recognised him. After a brief word with her husband he too glanced over and the pair made their way toward him.

As they approached, he continued with the appraisal. His eyes drifted down the long shapely legs, past delicate ankles encased in dark stockings to the black high heeled shoes–delightful. As she got closer he was better able to make a judgement and opted for attractive rather than beautiful–perfect. She did indeed have a natural charm and from the corner of his eye he could see others were also drawn to her appeal. The husband had that slightly uneasy, nervous look he often saw on the faces of people he did business with. She on the other hand looked relaxed and composed.

“Graham, how nice to see you again,” the husband said.

“Andrew, it’s been a while, how are you?” Without waiting for a reply he transferred his attention to the woman at her husbands side. “And this must be the beautiful Mrs Miller.” After placing a kiss on the back of her hand in true ‘Mr Darcy’ style he continued. “Delighted to meet you at last.”

“I’m so pleased to meet you too Mr Weston, but please, call me Laura. I’m sure we needn’t be too formal.”

“Very well, Laura it is.” Whilst his smile and manner were warm and friendly the lack of reciprocation for first name terms made her slightly uneasy. He was quite happy to observe that unease, it pleased him.

“Lot’s of people here, they should do well,” she offered, breaking the awkward pause in conversation as he prolonged his assessment of her. As she spoke he watched her lips move beneath the flawless layer of rich red lipstick. Oh he was going to enjoy this. The hint of an upper class accent conveyed the impression of a well educated intelligent woman, attributes she would need in abundance if all went well. She was ticking all the boxes.

“They always do,” he answered, “they give us a couple of drinks, squeeze as much money out of us as possible and send us packing. Charity work is a slick operation these days, we should learn from them. However, Andrew, I’m sure that you’d rather discuss other matters.”

“Well yes, but I didn’t know your views on discussing business matters out of hours.”

“Protocol may forbid the discussion of business at these events Andrew, but in reality that’s why we’re all here isn’t it? Look at these people. Are they here to support the charity? They could do that by making an anonymous donation online. No, they’re here to puff out their chests and establish their place in the pecking order. They’re putting down markers, setting things up for the next boardroom confrontation, and they’re loving it.”

“And why are you here Mr Weston?” Laura asked, “are you doing the same?”

“Of course. Research, evaluate, manoeuvre. Isn’t that how we all work?”

“I’m sure it depends on what we want to achieve.”

“How right you are Laura. It all depends on the outcome.” His eyes held hers just a little longer than necessary before turning back to Andrew. “So Andrew, you must be wondering if the Oakham Group intend to buy those shares from your partner.”

“Well, er, yes.” He was caught slightly off guard, not expecting such a direct approach.

“We have considered it and it seems that we do have a couple of options.”

Laura’s heart sank, realising that either of those options would probably not be to their liking. She knew how people like Weston operated. Buy up the smaller players, save the best bits to integrate into their own set-up and discard the rest. Picking up on her discomfort Weston continued.

“Oh, don’t worry Laura, I just told you that I’ve done my research. Why don’t we get straight to the point and I tell you how I see things then you two can rectify any errors. My information came from various sources and I’ve used conjecture to fill in the gaps. So let’s just see how much I’ve got correct.”

Andrew and Laura shared an anxious glance. They knew Weston had the advantage which fuelled the smugness in his manner, perhaps there was even a hint of arrogance. But then he could afford to be aloof–he held all the cards.

“I think, Laura that when you started your business, what was it, twelve years ago?”

“Thirteen,” she corrected.

“Thirteen, yes. Anyway, you hoped that a combination of your artistic talent and Andrews business background would be sufficient to see it take off and flourish. However, things didn’t go as well as you hoped they would and you needed some backing.”

“No, that’s not what happened at all,” Laura butted in defensively, “quite the opposite in fact. Things went better than I’d hoped, and still are actually.” She paused momentarily to let him absorb the point. The holding of eye contact and a slight sideways tilt of the head showing her displeasure at having her professional competence questioned. “In fact things went so well that we decided to expand more rapidly than we’d originally planned.”

“I see,” he said, with an approving nod of the head, “so you invited a silent partner to invest in your little venture.” She didn’t like the word ‘little’ in there but let it pass. He carried on with his conjecture. “And they were happy for the situation to continue that way for some time. How am I doing so far?”

“That’s pretty much how things happened, yes.” Andrew confirmed.

“And there’s the unusual part. Why didn’t you just go fifty fifty, equal partners? Why only forty five percent each and then bring in, another outsider, for the ten percent?”

“We’d seen so many business partnerships fail,” Laura told him, “mainly due to disagreements over the businesses future. So we agreed to sell off a small share to a larger group. If a problem did occur then the group would protect their investment with the necessary resources, advice and finance. It was a sort of insurance policy.”

“Good, and so that brings us to your problem, which ironically was your success. You made it work and in fact have done so well that the partner now wants to cash in their investment and collect a tidy profit.” They both knew he was right so far but whether he had as much information as he led them to believe was still in doubt.

“If you see being in charge of a profitable business, one gaining new contracts every week and earning an enviable reputation in the industry as a problem then yes, I suppose you’re right.”

The words which left her smiling mouth reached him not as boastful but as confirmation that he was dealing with a proud woman, high in self esteem–excellent news. Those qualities would be far more of a challenge to overcome, increasing his enjoyment of the contest.

“Those things are all true Laura but the key words were ‘in charge of’ and that’s how you want it to remain is it not?”

“Obviously.”

“And there lies your dilemma. Should Oakham, buy the available shares they would take control or even worse could sell it on to a competitor to be absorbed into a soulless conglomerate.” They knew he was right but there was no need to admit it yet.

“We’ve obviously considered that possibility Graham,” Andrew said, “and the obvious solution would be for us to buy the other shares and keep total control.”

“That’s just what we thought, so we wondered why you hadn’t done that already. Obviously peoples personal finances are private so this is where the conjecture comes in. We found out, Andrew, that there has been a lot of investment in your own business in recent years yet you’ve managed to retain soul ownership–that’s very impressive these days by the way. I would guess therefore that the investment has left you unable or unwilling to raise enough to solve the current problem.”