Mid Week Tease: Dominate Takeover #MWTease
Happy April!
It’s finally looking like Spring in my neck of the woods. 
It’s Mid Week Tease time and I’m posting the very beginning of a short story I’m working on for an anthology submission. I hope to finish it up sometime this week. *fingers crossed*
“…and that’s why Jacobs Enterprises is ripe for our taking.” Ben Stiles took a deep breath as he placed the projector remote control on the corner of the conference table. Hours of preparation and research resulted an ironclad case for the takeover. The nods around the room confirmed his assessment. Tom Morrison, Sentinel’s CEO, glanced around the table of executives. “Nice work, Ben. Acquiring Jacobs’ book of business will push us ahead of our competition to make Sentinel the number one Internet security provider in the country. Unless anyone objects, I say we get the ball rolling.” Murmurs of agreement filled the room.
“I have a question.” A manicured hand holding a silver pen caught Ben’s attention. Rachel Carson, Sentinel’s VP of Technology and the only woman on the executive team, stood and a stray lock of blonde hair fell from the tight bun a the nape of her neck as she slipped on her glasses. “I agree, Jacobs Enterprises is the right fit for us, but do me a favor and flip back a few slides.” She pointed to the presentation.
Ben raised his eyebrow slightly. “Of course.” His thumb hit the back button on the remote.
“Yes, that one, with the IT projections.” She approached the screen and narrowed her eyes. “I’m concerned about these figures. Their system is homegrown. Mick Jacobs designed his IT platform from the ground up. It’s not an out-of-the-box set up. I’m afraid it would require a complete conversion to be compatible with our system, not just an upgrade as this forecast shows.”
“How do you know their platform isn’t compatible, Rachel?” Morrison asked.
“I read an interview in a trade magazine where he talks about the technology he developed for the company. He explained how it was unique to anything else on the market.” Rachel shrugged. “Maybe he was stroking his own ego, but if it’s true, our expenses will be higher than this.” She tapped her pen on the screen. The projector’s light bounced off the silver cuff peeking out of her suit jacket sleeve hitting Ben in the eyes.
“How much more are we talking about?” Morrison asked.
Rachel scanned the screen before turning her attention to the CEO. “It’s hard to say without understanding his platform.”
“Ballpark.”
Silence filled the room. Rachel’s eyes flicked to Ben before returning her attention to the screen. “It’d require a complete software and hardware overhaul. I’d increase the projection by at least a million.”
“Time?”
“Six months if you push the conversion team hard. Realistically, you’re looking at nine months to a year to convert them.”
All eyes were on Ben as he stood next to his flawed presentation. In the period of less than a minute, the meeting took a nosedive and Ben’s credibility was sinking fast. He turned his attention to the CEO. “I’d like to meet with Jacobs and get him to talk about his system.”
Morrison closed his folder and stood. “I want both of you to meet with Jacobs together. You have one chance and you need Rachel there. Wine and dine him. Get him to talk.”
Ben straightened his back in an attempt to sound confident even though he felt like a deflated balloon. “Will do.”
“And next time, consult with Rachel on IT matters. We have the best people in the business on our team. Use them.” Morrison glared a warning at Ben.
“Yes…sir.” The ‘sir’ caught on Ben’s tongue before he forced the word from his lips. It didn’t come natural to him. But at that moment, he was skating on thin ice.
“I want revised numbers on my desk by the end of next week,” Morrison barked before stalking out of the conference room.
Rachel walked back to the location of her seat at the table and gathered her folder before following the rest of the suits out the door.
What the hell just happened?
Ben strode to his office and shut the door. Typing Jacobs Enterprises into the search box, he clicked around the site. Until that point Mick Jacobs was a faceless name. The time had come to find out more about him. It was something he should’ve done during his research. As Sentinel’s acquisitions director, Ben was tasked with finding the best companies ripe for Sentinel’s picking. He focused on financials and mix of business, never on the actual people involved. He realized what a mistake that was when he clicked on the webpage containing Jacobs’ management team and found the CEO’s head shot. Dark green eyes mocked him from the screen. Fuck me.
I hope to have more for you next week. Please hop along the list for snippets from my teasing comrades…
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