Chapter 25
Murphy’s Law of Romance #2
“Love is the triumph of imagination and faith, over lethargic learning curves.”
The gym echoed with the squeak of tennis shoes on hard wood and women’s voices. Toni took the ball in, dribbling to outside the key. She bounced it to Bitsy, who then charged the basket. Swearing exploded from the much-taller opponents because the pocket bombshell’s small size made it hard to block her movements. Bitsy darted in among the defenders and across the key only to pass it to another teammate who dribbled in place waiting, and then quickly tossed the ball back to Bitsy now on the outside. She immediately arced the ball over to Toni, standing at the three-point line. All alone, she took her time and pumped the ball toward the basket. It went in, all net.
Toni’s teammates hooted and cheered as they came up, giving her high-fives. Bitsy gave her a clap on the back, and said, “I’m so glad you agreed to play after the season had already started.”
Toni grinned. “You only say that because I made a basket. You made the play.”
“That’s entirely untrue,” Bitsy said. “I also say it when someone else buys the smoothies afterward.”
Toni’s three points proved to be the last either side scored before the end of the game, giving her team, Bitsy’s Bombers, the victory. The women kibitzed back and forth as they sat on the bleachers and toweled themselves off. Toni told Bitsy that she couldn’t join the team for smoothies. “As much as I’d love to, I’m meeting friends downtown. You remember Rena?”
Bitsy nodded. “The Tough Mudder. Ya’ll tell her hi for me.”
Toni watched Bitsy leave and said goodbye to her other teammates. She sat for a moment sore and tired from a close game, enjoying the feeling. It had been a surprise that Bitsy played basketball, but it had been a godsend when she invited Toni to play this week. It had been Sam who told her about Toni’s Stanford basketball career.
She’d missed the game, the pleasure of teamwork. Since being fired last Monday, she’d started to relax in a way she hadn’t in a long, long time. It had helped that she wasn’t taking calls from her family. She’d emailed her father, Mario, Patrick, and Victor. They could email her back if they really needed something. She might even get around to reading them.
She thought briefly of the interview she had tomorrow with a German company, wondering if she really wanted a new position so quickly. They’d called her on Monday referencing her resume on one of the job-hunting sites, but it hadn’t been clear whether the job would be here or in Europe. At this point, travel might be a good idea. They played basketball in Germany, didn’t they? Her bleacher seat bounced up and down jolting her out of her musings.
People strode down the bleachers around her, shaking the wooden bench seats, a few pausing to compliment her on the game. A Seattle community league, there were family and friends watching, so it wasn’t strange to have a small crowd in the stands cheering both sides.
As she stood to go, one of the people on the other side of the court caught her attention, making her freeze. The figure stood a head taller than the surrounding people. She thought it was BJ, but she couldn’t be sure because he almost immediately disappeared along with several people through the doors at the far end of the gym.
Toni shook herself. She continually thought she saw him on the street and now here. And every false alarm pealed a thin scab off a very deep wound. Such stupid behavior hurt to the bone, a constant ache. She took several deep breaths and then collected her bag and towel. She needed to change before meeting with The Crew. Rena walked into the gym with a big smile. After a hug, Rena followed Toni into the locker room and waited while she showered and changed.
Rena leaned against a locker and eyed her without saying anything, so Toni preempted what she knew would be a question about her and BJ.
“So, any updates on how things are going with Sam?”
Rena made a face. “I haven’t seen him as much as we both want. His doctorate is taking up a lot of his time, but BJ hasn’t been around much either, or he’s often needed Sam for something. Between the two, I saw Sam in Sammamish once in the last week.”
“Is that a temporary situation, do you think?”
“With the doctorate, yeah, but BJ? I don’t know. Since you two broke up and he got his driver’s license, the good doctor has become hard to track.” Rena shrugged. “Sam’s been vague about it all, but BJ is definitely up to something.”
“How did Sam feel about being kept in the dark about the formula sale?”
“Oh, he was hot about it, but whatever BJ said calmed him down real quick.”
“What did he say?”
“I don’t know. Sam was cagey about it. Said I’d see.”
Rena studied her friend. “How about you? Are you still mad at him for not telling you what he had planned?”
“I was.” Toni sat on the bench in front of her locker and rolled her head, trying to loosen the tightening in her neck—and throat. The subject of BJ did that to her now. “Then I calmed down and thought about it, I realized why he didn’t tell me, you, or Sam about the scents’ problems. As Rayaneta’s lawyer and liaison, I’d been obligated to tell the Board the formula wouldn’t work, and they shouldn’t make a deal.”
Rena nodded. “Right, you and your ethics.” She shook her head amused. “Our boy certainly was the sly monkey.”
When Toni had finished dressing, she and Rena walked out to her car. In the parking lot, Rena said, “The rumors are that Rayaneta is seriously leveraged without new products. They’re a prime target for a takeover.” She frowned. “BJ really did a number on the board, but the whole company too.”
“Yes, he did. The shareholders won’t be too happy about it either when they find out at the annual meeting. There is real drama ahead.” After a moment, she said, “Uh, Rena . . .” Head down, Toni unlocked the door to her Jeep. “I thought I saw BJ tonight at the community center, watching my game.”
Rena smiled coyly. “Well, I doubt he came to watch Bitsy.”
Toni’s head came up, a hound scenting a rabbit, and frowned at her friend. “So, he was there?”
“I don’t know, Toni.” She shrugged. “I don’t know where he’s been. I haven’t seen him at the lake house much the last two weeks.” She shrugged. “Now that Rayaneta is suing him, his millions from the deal are frozen.”
“What?” Toni swore. “Those idiots.”
“Why?”
Toni shook her head. “Because it voids his agreement to return to work in two months. Policy states that any employee suspected of wrongdoing, contractual, civil, or criminal is to be fired. The suit voids his contract.” Toni laughed dryly. “Now, Starling doesn’t have to return to work for Rayaneta if he doesn’t want to and can’t if the board doesn’t drop the suit.” With a shake of her head, she threw her bag in the back of the Wrangler and climbed into the driver’s seat.
When Rena got in, Toni continued, “It also creates all sorts of problems with the Hampton merger because Starling’s return was one of the conditions of the deal. The only reason they sued BJ was to create a public excuse for the lack of new products.”
Rena shook her head too. “Gees-us criminy, how could the board be that stupid? Or perhaps, how did BJ get to be that clever? He took them for everything.” She grunted. “Well, that’ll teach them to screw over a poor lab-rat.”
“Yeah. I hope it all doesn’t blow back on you and the other employees.” Toni parked near O’Bannon’s and turned off the engine. For the umpteenth time, Toni wondered why she hadn’t trusted Starling, to be that smart. To keep his word. She’d known. She really appreciated those things about him. Or perhaps it was because she didn’t trust her judgment about much of anything regarding men. Her brainless— Crap, why was she still torturing herself?
~ ~ ~
Toni walked into the small waiting room of the company that had called her about an interview, taking in all the activity around her. The offices were in one of the new business buildings on Yale Avenue North. People were crisscrossing the bare hallways to and from various offices with a purposefulness that impressed. She couldn’t pronounce the entire name of the German company, Hessen Finanziellen übernahmen. Boxes sat stacked everywhere with no one moving them, the room behind the reception desk filled with folding tables, and chairs, all evidence that the offices were temporary.
From what she’d found on the internet, the company was headquartered in Frankfurt and had three U.S. offices in New York, Atlanta, and Dallas. Now, they were opening an office here in Seattle. They were a multi-national conglomerate, but it wasn’t clear what they were going to do in her city. She’d accepted the interview for practice and quite frankly, out of curiosity, but she was losing interest. The whole operation looked incomplete and rather small.
She kept wishing she could talk to BJ, share this with him, hear his thoughts about this interview. She missed him, how intently he listened, how thoughtfully he spoke, and his way . . . Shit! Every time her mind strayed, thoughts of him wandered in and the stabbing heartache followed.
She turned around and opened the front doors to leave before anyone asked why she loitered there, and she nearly hit Günter Schulte in the face, exiting as he entered.
“Toni.”
“Günter?” She stepped back into the waiting room and shook his hand. She looked at his expensive suit. “Are you coming for an interview?” She grinned. “Be warned. They might use the Stillen Gespr?ch on you.”
“This, I doubt.”
Seeing his grin, Toni smiled and nodded. “Oh, I see. You work here.”
Günter laughed and shook his head, taking her hand in both of his. “ Nein , Toni, Hessen Finanziellen übernahmen is mine among a number of other businesses.”
Toni stared at him for a moment and then recovered, cursing her lack of interest when researching his company. It was unlike her to fail to call up the leaders of the company.
“So,” she said, taking her hand back, “you asked me to come in for an interview?”
He waved his arm expansively and chuckled. “Ja, I did.” When he saw Toni raise a dubious eyebrow, he laughed. “Let us have lunch and talk. There exists an excellent German restaurant down the street.”
“Which is why you have your temporary offices here?” she said with a grin.
“Das ist exactly why.”
“And what are we going to talk about?”
“You and your position as lead counsel.” Without further explanation, he told the receptionist that Toni had arrived, and they were going out to lunch. Then they left and walked down the street.
Günter said no more about the position but regaled her with trivia about all the businesses and new office buildings on the block while walking to the restaurant. It turned out to be a pub, Feierabend . On a street corner, it had an impressive wood paneled bar and large windows, one of which they sat by. At Günter’s suggestion they both ordered a lager and Schnitzel Sandwich mit Pommes Frites. Toni’s eyes grew round when the beer came in what looked to be quart-size mugs.
Toni frowned at the huge beer and said, “So, tell me what this is all about.”
He chuckled. “It is more than an excuse to share a meal with a beautiful woman.”
She eyed him with a dubious smile. “As charming as your company is, I hope so.”
He laughed and nodded. “It is, Toni.” He frowned and played with his fork. “What do you know of Dr. Starling?”
“Oh, that’s why you wanted to talk?” Disappointed, Toni took a long swig of her lager, and took a moment to appreciate the stringent taste. “I can’t say much. I signed a confidentiality agreement with Rayaneta.”
“ Ja , yes, to be expected.” He waved away the objection. “You can tell me this. I like and admire Dr. Starling, but I need to know. Do you think he can be trusted?”
She hesitated. Was he assuming some personal intimacy? “You want a professional assessment.”
“Of course.”
Their food arrived, but Toni suddenly wasn’t hungry. She stared at her sandwich for a while annoyed with the mysteries. Taping her nails on the table, she asked, “You mind telling me what this is all about?”
After a long swig of his lager, Günter said with a glint in his eye, “My company is poised, is that the word?” Toni shrugged. “Yes, we and another investment group are poised to acquire the Rayaneta Corporation. A hostile takeover is what I believe it is called here. Dr. Starling is starting his own research laboratory, but he has promised me that he will provide two new products a year to Rayaneta.”
Günter leaned in. “Rayaneta can’t continue as a leader in cosmetics without his creations and his contractual association regarding the Hampton merger. However, I can have no contractual agreement with Dr. Starling—BJ—in relationship to Rayaneta, until we actually obtain the company, and the suit against him is dropped.” Günter ate part of his sandwich and seemed to inhale the beer, then returned to the topic.
“At this moment, all he can give me is his word, yet without Dr. Starling, Rayaneta is of far less worth. In more than one way, several billion U.S. dollars are riding on him.”
He leaned in. “I am unable to find out what motivated the suit against him. Do you know?”
“I’m not the lawyer of record and the suit was filed after I was uh, released, so I can tell you that the suit is a desperate public relations move. It is baseless.”
“ Ah, ” Günter smiled, saying, “ Das ist gut ,” but flipped into English, “to hear.” He leaned across the table. “I understand you have worked closely with Dr. Starling for several months. Will he keep his word if we do acquire Rayaneta, do you think?”
Toni sat back in her chair, stunned by Günter’s plans, his question savaging her heart, but she replied with a somber nod. She knew Rayaneta was vulnerable, but Günter’s move was surprisingly quick. Bateman wouldn’t know what hit him. “You were talking to Starling about this during the Tough Mudder.” It wasn’t a question.
“Ja, and here at my offices afterward.”
“You can trust him. If Starling promised, he will do it.” She believed it now .
“Ah, gut.”
“Mr. Schulte, I would pay close attention to how he worded that promise. He tends to be, shall we say, precise and literal with his words.”
“I see. Thank you for that advice.”
“So is that the reason you had me here for the interview today, to ask me about Starling?”
Günter shook his head with a grin. “ Nein , not at all. I do want to work with him and wished your opinion. He is not an easy man to . . . verstehen ? Nein, lessen . . . read, yes?”
Toni nodded and took a bite of her sandwich. It was incredibly good. However, she nearly choked on it with Günter’s next words.
“If we are successful in obtaining Rayaneta, I want you to be the lead counsel.” He chuckled. “Again.”
She stared at him for a moment, but he seemed sincere. With another long swig of her lager, which she didn’t seem to be making a dent in, Toni asked, “Why? I was lead counsel for Rayaneta for a month. Not a stellar recommendation for the position.” She squinted at him. “Is this something that BJ suggested?”
With a laugh and a thump of the table, Günter leaned in, and said, “ Nein , Toni. I watched you stand at the front of our group during the Tough Mudder, working to be first.” He patted her hand. “Very German of you, I would say. I did ask Dr. Starling about you. He said you were a top lawyer for Rayaneta, which of course, I knew.” Gunter gave a half-smile. “I asked Starling his opinion of you.”
Her gut clenched. Nodding, Toni wasn’t going to ask what Starling had said. Did Günter ask before or after she hit him? Either way, she knew whatever Starling had said would hurt now.
Günter obviously hoped she’d ask about Starling’s opinion, but she simply finished her sandwich. He twitched in his seat a bit and then blurted out, “I will tell you. He claimed to be prejudiced, but said I should look at your recent work at Rayaneta with a patent infringement case, Aspen Breeze?”
She winced mentally. Of course Starling had read it. She missed what Günte r said next .
“. . . And the Hampton merger.” He finished his lager and asked if Toni wanted anything more before calling for the check. She looked at her quart of beer, still three-quarters full and said, “No.” He motioned to the waiter and continued, “May I say, your contract and court case were exceptionally fine work. My lawyers were impressed. I was impressed. It is the kind of skill we will need once we own Rayaneta.”
As they walked back to Günter’s offices, he asked casually, “Will you consider taking the position?” His intent gaze suggested she could set almost any price.
Toni frowned but nodded. “Certainly. When do you see concluding this takeover?”
“This is still a secret. We will take over the company round the first of the year if there are no complications. The first steps are already in place, but if there is resistance, we would want you to work with us that much sooner.”
At the front door of the offices, Toni stopped. “I’m flattered that you’d consider me for the position. If you secure Rayaneta, I will be very interested. I do care about what happens to those who work there.”
“If? Ha! My American partners and I will gain control, never worry, but I understand your cautious-ness.” Günter moved his mouth around. “That is a word, cautiousness?”
His expression looked so comically boyish for a corporate shark that Toni laughed and nodded. “If there are complications, I can work with you on retainer if that is useful but remember my confidentiality agreement.”
“ Natürlich. It is still excellent to know you can help.”
“I doubt you’d need me. You must have a very competent team of lawyers already heading this up if things are progressing so quickly.”
“Ya, this is true, but they will be coming with me for our next venture.”
“Well, no doubt there will be a boatload of legal issues to deal with if you do gain control of Rayaneta.”
“You know the company, Toni. Who better to navigate them than you?”
Toni shook his hand and grinned. “Yes, who indeed.” As Toni walked back to her Wrangler, she ached to talk to BJ, telling him all about it, asking how he had engineered it all, hearing his opinions, what she should do, what he thought of Günter — and if he would teach her German?
Whether he could ever forgive her for her blind stupidity.