CHAPTER 13
Winter, 2003
Patricia reached for the wrapping paper by her side for the Christmas gifts she had bought for her nine years old son, George and her husband, Morris. Lifting her head to observe the huge Christmas tree she had decorated standing near the wall, she noticed through an open window – the snow was pouring down heavier than yesterday, Patricia hoped that George wasn’t playing outside. He liked the winter season.
The door knob to her bedroom opened and Nanny Juliet, her personal nanny, walked in dragging George by his hand. “Mrs Patricia, here he is” The nanny said as she pulled a ‘stubborn’ George closer to his mother.
“George, come over here…” Patricia voiced out firmly, making George stand still. “… I said, come over here, quickly” she moved the wrapped gifts aside and pulled him when he stood a few steps away from her.
“Are you going to scold me again?” George whispered, frowning at his mother.
“Of course not, I know you want to play outside…” Patricia rubbed his head gently and pointed at the snow falling through the window “… but this is the wrong time. Have you forgotten how sick you were last year when you played outside during this season? Would you want to experience that again?”
“No!” George shrieked, a look of panic filling his young eyes. No way was he going to experience the painful illness he faced.
“So, you have to cooperate with Nanny Juliet and stay inside until the snow goes down” Patricia lifted him up to his feet “… stay inside and play. I’ll give you your Christmas gift tomorrow, okay?”
George’s lips opened in a wide smile at the sound of ‘gift’, his missing tooth showing. He walked over to his Nanny and they left. A short moment after that, Morris Scott stepped into the room, the expression on his face, one of frustration and exhaustion….
Taking a look at him, Patricia whispered “How much did the company make? What’s the annual profit this year?”
“$40 million…” Morris sprawled on the wide bed in the room. He knew she wasn’t going to like his answer. “… I’ll do better next year”
“That’s what you’ve said every year for the last 9 years.” Patricia stated, her tone filled with her disapproval of his answer. “You asked me nine years ago to put this company in your hands, in your name. I did that, and after nine whole years, what you have to show me is $40 million? For a company that was making an annual profit of $120 million before I willed it to you?”
Morris rubbed his face, his irritation growing “It’s not like I’m in control of how people buy the products…”
“Are you hearing yourself?” Patricia retorted angrily. “If you couldn’t handle a company of that size, then why did you ask for it? I remember saying you should hire a professional manager to run the company, but you were adamant about being in control of everything. And now, you’re suddenly not in control after almost running the company down?”
“Can you calm down?” Morris answered nonchalantly, not even a bit of remorse on his face. He only felt fear. Fear of losing control over what could be the biggest beauty company in the country if he played his cards right.
“Calm down, really? I guess I was wrong to put my company in your name.” Patricia whispered firmly “Our deal was for ten years. You have one year left, Morris. One year to turn that company around for good or I’ll have to take it back. You can’t say I haven’t been supportive enough. My parents would be so thrilled to hear about this grave mistake I have made.”
Morris froze at the mention of her parents, the anger and hatred in him towards them still evident. They would be pleased to know that the man their daughter went on to marry against their will, amounted to nothing at the end. As his anger increased, so did his fear. He had to find a way, if not, everything he had planned would be in vain. But how was he supposed to turn the company around when he was struggling to keep it standing?…
Patricia noticed the look of fear on his face, “I heard of a man who can help you with the company…” when she had gotten his attention, she continued “… some people call him a ‘marketing machine’. Have you heard of Anston Bline Limited?”
“The fastest growing Electronics company in the country right now? Who doesn’t know them?”
“Exactly. The speed of their fast growth is because of a particular man in their marketing team…” Patricia brought out a piece of paper from her bag “… Arthur Reeves, that’s his name. Anston Bline started growing so fast the moment he was hired to join the company. From what I’ve heard, he’s gifted when it comes to marketing.”
“Okay, where are you going with this?” Morris asked, obviously not getting her point.
“I heard that the CEO of Anston Bline has not been paying him well despite everything he has done for the company. Do you see where I’m going with this?”
Morris’s eyes widened in understanding. All he had to do was find a way to get Arthur Reeves on his team, and give him a mouthwatering deal to see if he can take Imperial Hub Limited to the next level. This was an amazing idea!
“You have to think things through, and make a deal with him that you can actually fulfill,” Patricia muttered, before taking a gulp of water from a bottle. “If you treat him badly, another better company will come for him, to your own loss”
“I understand” Morris decided he was going to bring this company from the lowest it’s ever been and make it the biggest beauty company in the country, and he would show everyone that he is capable.
All he needed was the help of this man called Arthur Reeves, and he had to come up with a good enough deal, the kind of mouthwatering deal that would make Arthur look stupid if he decided to turn his offer down.
‘You have just One year left’
Those words echoed in Morris’s head as he walked out of the room and a new hope stirred within him. This time around, he must not fail. If not, it would be a waste of his efforts, his anger, his pain.
This was his last chance.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Arthur Reeves sat across the strange man who had been pestering him for months now, trying to convince him that he wasn’t making the most of his potential working in Anston Bline Limited. To be honest, the man’s offer was very tempting and it was hard to resist it.
Morris Scott. That was what the man sitting in front of him called himself. Arthur had researched Morris and his company, discovering in the process that Morris had laid off a lot of workers after not being able to pay them due to the decreasing sales of the company’s products. In fact, that was him saying things nicely. In plain words, his beauty company was about to crumble.
“Have you finally made up your mind?” Morris voiced out, pulling Arthur out of his wandering thoughts. “Have you thought about my offer? What decision have you made?”
Morris knew that he was at the end of his rope. If Arthur declined his offer, he was really done for. He’d have to walk back home in shame, hand over the company back to his wife, Patricia and forever be remembered by her parents as a failure. He couldn’t allow that to happen. In his desperation, he had made a mind-blowing offer to Arthur Reeves. What was the offer? If Arthur could turn this company around, precisely; if he could take it from $40 million profit to $75 million within one year, he would make Arthur Reeves the managing director of the company with a 35% share of the company’s stock. A way to make him stay longer in the company and increase the profit every single year.
For a man that is being underpaid in his current workplace, that should be a good enough offer right? He hoped so.
“Your offer is very irresistible, I must confess” Arthur stated, trying his best to be careful. He wouldn’t allow anyone to use him a second time just like the CEO of Anston Bline Limited did. “But we need to go the legal way, before I agree. I don’t trust anybody, definitely not a random man telling me he’ll give me 35% of his company’s market share. I’ll accept your offer, but only if we get a lawyer involved. If you do that, I’ll take Imperial Hub Limited from barely surviving to $100 million dollars, not even $75 million. And I’ll do it within one year.”
Morris didn’t plan to involve a lawyer from the start, that didn’t even cross his mind. He just wanted to save the company. But after hearing the final statement this ‘marketing machine’ guy named Arthur Reeves just made, he decided to give it a chance. Going from $40 million to $100 million would be life-changing.
He would get a lawyer involved and make Arthur the managing director, then he would step back and allow him perform his ‘magic’ on Imperial Hub Limited and make it the fastest growing beauty company in the country.
Having such wealth and control would give Morris the power he needed to take his plan to the next level.