The Merger Mogul (3 page)

“Margaret is
hoping to reform me,” said Daniel, “so I let her have her way tonight since I
didn’t feel like fighting through the weekend traffic either.  I’ll use
the time to rest for a date I have tomorrow night.”

It was Claire’s
turn to roll her eyes.  “One day, boss, you’re going to fall hard for
someone and you’ll be running to the altar to create your own merger without
even having a prenupt and Brian will be running behind you waving one shouting:
Daniel, you forgot this!” Everyone was in stitches at the visual Claire
described, especially since Bryan, being a lawyer, was always focused on having
all the
i’s
dotted and the
t’s
crossed before they did anything.

“The day that
happens you’ll know I’ve lost it,” replied Daniel cynically, “so just call the
nearest Psych ward to come and pick me up.”

“Don’t
underestimate the power of love!” Claire said, claiming the last word.

The power of
love, Daniel thought remembering Claire’s words as he turned off the Art Deco
bedside lamp next to his king-size bed.  Love would never have power over
him. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which he remembered studying at
university, once you had food, shelter and sex you were off to a good start. He
made sure that he had the
best
of the first two and
plenty of the third so he was doing OK. He couldn’t remember all the other
levels but he was pretty sure that he’d covered all of them.  After all he
was successful and had a great life; a luxurious penthouse apartment, a
successful business and his choice of beautiful and willing women. What else
did he need?

Saturday night
at eight o’clock sharp found Daniel stepping off the elevator on Angela’s
floor.  He found Apt. 9, rang the bell and waited for a few seconds for
Angela to open the door.

“Well hello,”
he drawled as she opened the door.

“Hello yourself.”
She stood to one side and said, “Come in.
Welcome to my humble abode.”

Daniel offered
the bouquet of flowers and the box of Belgian chocolates he held in his hands
and touched his lips to the corner of her mouth as he entered the apartment.

“These are
beautiful, thank you.  And I love chocolates.”

“
You
are
beautiful,” Daniel said. “I like your dress.”

That wasn’t
surprising since Angela had chosen it strategically. It was soft and flowing
with a halter top and a scandalous neckline.  It was on the dressy side
for a dinner at home, but it certainly
whet
Daniel’s
appetite, as it was meant to.

“Thank you,
sir,” said Angela coquettishly as she led him to the sitting room which was lit
by vanilla scented candles on the coffee table and on two floating
shelves.  The room was small compared to the living room in his penthouse
apartment, but tastefully furnished in shades of taupe with turquoise accents.
The whole atmosphere shouted “Seduction!” which was just fine by Daniel. His
body stirred in anticipation.

“Can I get you
a
Tanqueray
and tonic before dinner?” offered Angela,
as Daniel sank into the couch and leaned back against the well-padded arm so
that he could see her as she walked to the kitchen.

“That sounds
great,” he replied watching the sway of her hips as she walked and her dark
hair bouncing against her bare back.

“How did the
retreat go?” Angela asked as she entered the small kitchen.  He could see
her through the open partition as she got glasses, ice and poured the drinks; a
gin and tonic for him and water for her.

“It was good –
very productive.  We came up with some ideas that I hope will take the
company to the next level,” said Daniel.  “I also got some good rest so I
really should thank Margaret for booking us overnight.”

“I shall have
to thank her as well,” smiled Angela as she handed Daniel his drink and joined
him on the couch.

“You’re not
drinking?” asked Daniel.

“I want to keep
a clear head so that I don’t ruin the food,” smiled Angela “but I’ll have some
wine with dinner.”

She raised her
glass and said: “To the next level.”

“To the next
level,” he repeated and gently knocked his glass against hers. He didn’t have
to figure out if she was referring to his company or to them because as soon as
they took a sip, she put down her glass and leaned towards him, her body
pressing against his chest and resting one hand on his firm thigh.  The
muscles clenched under her fingers as she nuzzled his lips with hers, tasting
the gin and tonic he had just sipped.

“Yum,” she
murmured, “Gin and tonic never tasted so good.  I need another taste.”

He smiled and
complied, letting her have her way.  It was her apartment and her show and
he was willing to be the supporting actor, to a point. Daniel buried his hands
in her vibrant hair, holding her head in place as he shared the taste of his
gin and tonic and then traced the contours of her back which was left bare by
the halter top, feeling her shudder as he did so.

Riiinnng
! The bell for the oven sounded, jolting them back
to reality.

“Sounds like
dinner is ready,” whispered Daniel.

“That’s the
main course,” replied Angela, “but I’m enjoying the appetizer.” She reluctantly
pulled back. “I’d better take it out before it gets ruined.”

Daniel picked
up his drink and finished it before the ice watered it down too much. “Need any
help?” Not that he really knew his way around a kitchen.

“No thanks,
I’ve got everything under control,” replied Angela. She pulled a pan out of the
oven and placed it on top of the stove. She took an interesting looking salad
out of the fridge and put it on the bar as Daniel sauntered over. Next she took
two wide-mouth cocktail glasses with shrimp hanging around the rims from the
fridge and finally a bottle of homemade salad dressing.

“Would you like
some wine with dinner? I’ve got this wonderful Pinot
Grigio
that will go great with the shrimp and salad,” she said waving the bottle.

“Sounds good,”
said Daniel. “Here, I’ll open it for you.”

He expertly
uncorked the bottle and poured generous amounts of wine into the oversized
glasses on the bar.

“Bon appétit,”
she said as they
clinked
glasses for a second time
that night.

“Mm, good
wine,” approved Daniel.  He leaned towards Angela and sipped at her lips.
“Even better,” he said stroking her lips apart. She was breathing a bit faster
when he pulled back a few minutes later.

“We’d better
eat or we’ll never make it to the main course, far less dessert,” suggested
Angela.

They sat beside
each other at the small bar and sampled their starters. “This is delicious,”
said Daniel as he tasted the salad with her homemade dressing. ‘You’re
obviously a woman of many talents.  I’m looking forward to experiencing
some of the others.”

She smiled
seductively and said: “Ditto.”

The appetizers
were followed by the main course of chicken breasts stuffed with chopped
mushrooms, herbs and cheeses.  They were tender and perfectly cooked and
accompanied by crisp vegetables and scalloped potatoes.

“This is as
good as the food at The Bridge Café,” complimented Daniel.

“Thank you,
sir. I’ve done a few gourmet cooking classes and I love to cook,” smiled
Angela, obviously pleased.  Daniel refilled their glasses.

“And now for
dessert,” said Angela as they finished their meal. She took a plate from the
fridge. “I made one plate for us to share – strawberries dipped in dark
chocolate.”

“Mm, my favorite,”
said Daniel, “How did you know?”

“Feminine
intuition,” said Angela as she led the way to the couch with the plate of
strawberries. “Actually, I asked Margaret yesterday,” she confessed.
 Daniel followed with the bottle of wine and remarked: “Thorough too!”

Daniel leaned
back against the couch while Angela kicked off her shoes and draped herself
across his lap, with one hand free to reach the strawberries.  “I’ll feed
you,” she offered.

She popped a
small firm chocolate covered strawberry into his mouth. He closed his eyes and
savored it and then held her thumb and forefinger and slowly sucked the melting
chocolate from them, starting an ache deep inside her.

“Umm,” she
moaned. “Let’s eat the rest later.”

“I agree,” said
Daniel huskily as he picked her up. “Where’s your room?”

Margaret looked
up as Daniel pushed open the glass door with Tennant Consulting etched on it.
He smiled at the receptionist and waved cheerfully to the staff as he passed
their cubicles.  He was obviously in a good mood.

“Good morning,
Margaret!” he said with a broad smile that was rare for him at that time of the
morning or, truth be told, any time of the day.

“Good morning,”
Margaret replied looking him up and down cautiously. “Who are you and what
have
you done with my boss?”

Daniel laughed.
“Really
Marg
, surely I’m not as bad as all that!”

“I plead the
fifth.  You look like the cat that ate the canary,” she commented.

“Or something!”
he replied with another smile, heading to his office.

Margaret rolled
her eyes.  He was acting like a schoolboy! “I take it your date with
Angela went well.”

“It was just
what the doctor ordered,” he said as he entered his office and closed the door.
 He turned on his computer and his wall-mounted TV which was always tuned
to one of the business channels.  While the computer was booting up he
checked his Blackberry for appointments.  Good, nothing until 10.30. He
picked up the copy of the NY Times that Margaret had left on his desk and
scanned the financial pages. No earth shattering news today.  At least he
hadn’t made any comments to offend anyone. Not that he lost any sleep over
offending people.

He was just
turning back to his computer when his Blackberry rang. The caller was
identified as Angela Pierce.

“Good morning,
Angel,” drawled Daniel on making the connection.

“Hi, Daniel.
Saturday night was amazing! I spent most of
yesterday in bed recovering and I’m finding it very hard to concentrate on my
work today,” she sighed.

Daniel laughed
huskily. He didn’t have that problem.  Work came first with him. “Do you
want to go to a show tonight?  I have some comp tickets here on my desk
for Phantom of the Opera at 9.00. I know you’ve probably seen it already.”

“No problem. I
haven’t seen it recently and never with you. Shall I meet you there?”

“No I can pick
you up around 7.30.  That way I can take you back home.”

“Looking
forward to it, Mogul,” said Angela suggestively.

Daniel smiled,
said goodbye and hung up.  He was still smiling reminiscently when
Margaret came in with his coffee and a serious look on her face.

“Don’t say it,
Margaret,” he cautioned.

“Don’t say
what?  I was not going to comment on your empty, self-gratifying love
life, although love has nothing to do with it…”

“Au contraire,
my love life is not self-gratifying,” interrupted Daniel, “Angela was very
gratified.”

Margaret
continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “I was going to say that there’s someone in
reception to see you.”

“Who is it?”
asked Daniel “I’m not expecting anyone until 10.30.”

Margaret paused
and answered carefully. “It’s your father.”

“My father?”
exclaimed Daniel.  “You must be mistaken Margaret. I don’t have a father.”

“Daniel,
denying it doesn’t make it less true.  Besides you look a lot like him.
Daniel he’s ill and he really wants to talk with you.”

“How do you
know he’s ill?”

“He called here
a couple of months ago and I’ve been in contact with him since then,” she
admitted. 

“What? 
You’ve been talking with him behind my back for months? 
Et
tu
Brute?”

Margaret rolled
her eyes. “I didn’t tell you because I knew that this is exactly how you’d
react. Please hear him out Daniel. There’re three sides to every story.
 You should hear his.”

“Great! 
Just what I need - a sick father who I haven’t seen in 25 years.
 
What does he want with me now anyway? I’m not Medicare.”

Patrick Tennant
waited in the reception area outside Daniel’s office.  He wondered if
Daniel would agree to see him. Not that he would blame him if he didn’t. After
all, he’d walked out of his life twenty-five years ago.  Lord knows he’d
tried to make a go of it but after he lost his job things just went downhill
from there.  He and Daniel’s mother were tearing each other apart and in
the end he left before it got any worse.  He figured they were probably
better off without him anyway. Over the years he’d drifted around until he
found himself in Virginia where he met a woman who changed his life.  It
was then that he searched for Daniel’s mother to ask her for a divorce so that
he could marry Roseanne, but found out that she had died.  That was about
twelve years ago and he’d kept track of Daniel since then. It was so much
easier now with the Internet. He was proud of what Daniel had made of himself
but he was concerned that he couldn’t seem to settle down.  He wondered if
it had anything to do with his leaving.

When he was
diagnosed with colon cancer a year ago, he knew that he wanted to see Daniel
before he lost the battle but the chemotherapy left him very ill and he
couldn’t make the trip to Manhattan.  Fortunately, the cancer went into
remission a few months ago and he felt strong enough to begin his efforts to
contact Daniel.  He’d called Tennant Consulting and spoken to Margaret
Bryce.  It was a difficult call to make but, in the end, Margaret had
listened to his story without seeming to judge him and they’d been in contact
ever since. It was she who suggested that he should come to Manhattan to see
Daniel now that he was fit enough to travel. She thought the office would be
the best place because she knew that if he turned up at Daniel’s apartment he
wouldn’t get past the door. He only hoped that she could convince Daniel to see
him. After all, he wasn’t sure how much time he had left.