Merger to Marriage (Boardrooms and Billi - By Addison Fox Page 0,44
at the dress. “It’d be a shame to leave that in here and risk having it snapped up by someone else. You can keep it for a few days while you decide.”
“I’d like that.”
…
Holt glanced at the painting of the woman in the blue dress that hung on his office wall and smiled to himself. He’d done that often today, he knew, and couldn’t shake the good mood that had carried him straight through the weekend and on into Monday morning. The bold strokes of Annette’s painting weren’t that of a master, but they’d been applied lovingly, and there were few things in his life he knew he treasured more.
The buzz of his phone pulled him from his post-weekend musings, a direct reminder that he had work to do. “Yes, Gloria?”
“Teddy Craddick called to check your schedule. Are you free to meet him for lunch at noon?” Gloria named off a small Italian restaurant on the Upper East Side. Small and quaint, the selection was meant to send a message. I don’t need sass and flash.
Where he’d have been disdainful of the choice even a few weeks ago, in a moment of clarity, Holt had to acknowledge the selection fit. “I’ll be there.”
He spent the next hour preparing his thoughts and working through his approach to the meeting. Despite his deep interest in doing the deal and ultimately making things right for what Teddy and his wife had lost at the hands of his mother, he also knew if the opportunity didn’t play out, he needed to let this one go.
…
The hostess led Holt to Teddy’s table, the subtle hum of lunch conversation and the scents of warm, fresh bread filling his senses. They exchanged the requisite pleasantries before he took his seat.
“My legal counsel and I have reviewed your proposal, and we’re all impressed.”
“That was my intention.”
“You’re aiming to turn back a significant number of profits to my company.”
Holt could recite the proposal from memory, and he leaped at the chance to make the deal. “By outsourcing some of the space, you stand to benefit from the overarching investment, while also sustaining tenant income. I’ve got prospective clients already lined up, very few questions asked. The Craddick Inc. reputation has a way of making people interested in signing on the dotted line.”
“And what do you get?”
A clear conscience. “Ample profits for brokering the property.”
“Anything else?”
“What else do I need?”
Teddy sat back, his assessing gaze sharp across the small able. “That’s what I can’t figure out. I meant what I said up in Rhode Island. Your reputation is one of cold indifference. So I keep asking myself why you’d make this project so lucrative for me?”
“You’re taking on the risk. Why shouldn’t you reap the reward?”
“Nope. Too easy. What else?”
Holt heard the questions layered under the questions and had to acknowledge Teddy Craddick was a lot sharper than he’d given him credit for. He’d done six of these deals to date, and not one of the recipients had questioned the benefits he offered.
“I consider this deal a loss leader. You want to know if I’m worthy of handling your business. I’ve increased the incentives for you to give me a trial run.”
“No one does that.”
“Well, I am.”
“So you’re devaluing your contribution to get my business?”
Holt shrugged, the cool indifference he was known for serving him well. “I have a long-term vision.”
“I’m not convinced.”
“Perhaps you and your wife would care to join Mayson and me for dinner? I can give you a better sense of my plans and my future direction then. Something small and informal.”
For the first time, he saw a crack in the other man’s careful veneer. “Dinner with you and Mayson?”
“You name the time and place.”
“I’ll talk to my wife and follow up.”
Holt tossed his napkin down a half hour later, still charged up from lunch. He’d lingered over another cup of coffee to handle a quick call after Craddick left, and could still taste the sweet moment of victory at the man’s change of heart. He knew how to close deals and that experience told him Teddy was close to signing on the dotted line.
And if he couldn’t shake the slight kernel of guilt at dropping Mayson’s name in the conversation, he could live with that. She’d basically agreed to the wedding over the weekend. Dinner with Teddy and his wife would be the perfect place to begin announcing their plans with old friends.
He took one last sip of his coffee and pocketed his phone as a