She looks surprised and glances at me. “Ah, I don’t know,” she says.
“No, go ahead,” Duncan says. “I assume Josh here brought you for a reason.”
“Ah,” she says. “Yes, right. Well.” She clears her throat. I can tell she’s nervous, and I did put her on the spot… but I know this is the right call.
I glance at the bookshelf to the left. Duncan has four children, all daughters. He has a thing for women, not in the pervy weirdo sort of way, but a soft spot for what he probably refers to as ‘the gentler sex’ or something like that. He fancies himself some kind of gentleman, and I have a feeling that hearing this from Maggie might go over better. I could be wrong, but it’s a hunch at least.
“We’ve been talking to some other members of the board,” she says. “Along with my father.”
“And how is your father?” Duncan asks.
“He’s doing well. But he’s concerned, just like everyone else is, about the trajectory of our businesses.”
Duncan frowns. “Our businesses? I thought he only cared about Bushings.”
“He cares about the industry as a whole,” she says. “And we’ve all noticed the big companies have been eating up the little players for a long time now. From what I can tell, Cork and Bushings don’t have much longer before they both go out of business or get swallowed up.”
Duncan nods slightly, a little frown on his face. “I’ve had some… similar thoughts.”
“We want to merge them.” She smiles and leans toward him. “Individually, we’ll both fail. But together…” She trails off.
Duncan frowns at us. “Merge Bushings and Cork? I can’t see it ever happening, truth be told.”
“But it will,” I say. “Guava is on board. I can get others.”
“And Seb?” He raised an eyebrow. “You know he’s been advocating against you.”
“Yes, I’m aware. We spoke to him yesterday, and—”
“No, I mean since the day you took over.” Duncan sighs and shakes his head. “That man. He wanted his own hand-picked successor, and he was livid when you took charge. The rest of us didn’t much care either way, figured you’d be as good as anyone, and besides, you knew the business.”
“I had a feeling,” I say, trying to keep my anger from my voice. I knew he’d go against me now, but I didn’t realize he’d been doing it for a long time.
“Seb will never let these businesses merge. What’s there to gain in it? I think he just wants a quick cash-out. He’s done, so to speak.”
“What about you?” Maggie asks. “You don’t seem done.”
He gives her a thoughtful look. “No, I don’t feel ready to be put out to pasture just yet.”
“So what do we do?” she asks. “We want to merge these two companies and take on the big guys. That’s the only way we’ll all survive and thrive for years to come.”
Duncan nods his head and looks between us. “I do like the idea,” he says. “As much as the board’s always seen Bushings as the enemy, you’re right, they aren’t really. The big guys are the real enemy. They’re the ones that’ll take us all down.” He sighs and shakes his head. “I just can’t see it happening.”
“Tell me what I can do to convince you,” I say. “I believe in this. I want to turn Cork into something big, and we can do that with Bushings. Tell me what I need.”
Duncan strokes his chin for a moment then smiles. “I have a nephew,” he says.
I sit back, my heart beating fast. “Do you?”
“He’s not a bad boy,” he says, then stops himself. “He’s been trouble for my sister.”
“I see.” I gesture for him to go on.
“Well, ah, I’d like you to give him a job. It doesn’t have to be a management position, but something in marketing, perhaps.”
I glance at Maggie. “I can’t just… give him a job,” I say. “Does he have any qualifications?”
“Oh, yes, he has a degree from Duke. And he worked for AT&T for a year before he, ah… quit.”
I nod a little and assume the kid got fired.
“So he knows the industry a little bit and he went to a good school. I’m not sure why he hasn’t gotten a job somewhere else already.”
“He’s just… misguided.” Duncan frowns. “He makes a living playing poker online. Oh, it drives my sister crazy. She just wants him to have something steady, something with a future. Playing online poker isn’t steady and there’s no future in it.”
I look at Maggie again then slowly nod. “Okay. If I convince this nephew to come work for us… you’ll vote to merge?”
“That’s the deal,” Duncan says. “Not graceful, but it’s honest at least.”
“I can do that. Have your assistant email me his information.”
“Great.” He grins. “Truth is, I don’t like Seb. I think he’s a pompous ass. I’d love to see Cork continue on.”