“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming,” I say as my eyes move over the familiar faces. Seb McKenzie glares at me, and I notice a few other men follow his lead, but not as many as I thought might. Most of the people in this room give me a neutral or a bored expression, like they don’t know anything about what’s going on, and don’t really care to know either way.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Seb barks. “You’re not supposed to call an emergency meeting if there isn’t an emergency.”
“There is an emergency, Seb,” I say, looking at the board. “I understand that it isn’t easy for everyone to gather on short notice, and for that I’m very appreciative. My wife and I want to thank you all for showing up.”
Maggie gives everyone a smile and I notice a few smile back at her.
“Like I said,” Seb growls. “There’s no emergency, and thus this meeting should be considered out of order. What’s going on, Josh?”
“Well, Seb, there is an emergency. It’s the kind of emergency that we’ve all seen coming for a very long time, but we’ve all been ignoring because it’s easier to pretend like it won’t affect us.” I tilt my head and lean down, palm on the table. “Cork is going to go under. We all know it, and if you haven’t realized that yet, I’m here to tell you the truth. We’re going to be finished.”
There was some hushed whispering. Seb continued to glare, but I could tell I had their attention.
“Soon?” Janet Tierce asked. “Is this imminent, is that why we’re all here?”
“No,” I say. “It’s not. But the business can’t right itself in time to avoid the collapse if we don’t act immediately.”
More whispering. A man named Alfie Khan raises his hand then speaks up after I nod to him. “I’ve seen the financials. We’re on firm ground. Better than Bushings.” He glances at Maggie. “Sorry.”
She shrugs and I smile. “Don’t worry. She knows the score. But the truth is, despite our current sound financials, we don’t have a future. There’s no growth anymore, and the longer we wait, the less ground we’ll have when the big guys come calling. Sooner or later, we’ll get swallowed up or muscled out, and we all know it. We’ve seen it happen to the smaller companies, and it’s only a matter of time before it happens to us.”
Alfie looks around, frowning. “Is this true? What he’s saying?”
“It’s true,” Paula Nyx says. “He’s right. I’ve seen some forecasting data, and it doesn’t look good for us.”
“Why are we just talking about this now?” Larry Sloan asks.
Seb snorts. “Because our CEO is incompetent. He doesn’t know how to save this company.”
“There has to be something,” Gail Moncrief says.
“There is.” I hold my hands up for silence. “Please, I do have a solution. We’re going to merge with Bushings Telecom.”
Everyone stares at me. I expected it. Seb laughs openly and Larry gives me a vicious grin. Guava and Trucking look around, and I can see a little uncertainty in their eyes.
Alfie Khan lets out a breath. “Merge with Bushings?” he asks. “I just… how will that work?”
“It’ll be simple,” I say. “We’ll work out the details but in essence, if we merge with our next largest competitor, that’ll give us both a size advantage. My wife and I have been working on this merger in the background for some time, and we believe it’s the only way forward for both parties.”
“You’ve been working on a merger without the board?” Seb asks, sounding aghast, but he’s grinning at me. “You can’t be serious.”
“That is somewhat in poor taste,” Gail agrees.
“Only in the big picture,” I say. “The details will be worked on by both boards, and we’ll all accept the terms. But in general, we’ve been thinking about how it will look, how it will function, and how it will benefit us all.”
More grumbling. I stand up straight, hands clasped behind my back. I glance at Maggie and she nods at me, giving me an encouraging smile. I take a breath and feel a swell of energy rush through me, just from one look from Maggie.
“I move that the board will vote on the merger in twenty-four hours.”
Seb stands up, outrage on his face, as the room erupts in conversation. “You can’t do this!” he shouts. “Twenty-four hours to vote on a merger with no details?”
“The details are in your inbox as we speak,” I say. “Or what details I’ve been able to put together.” I glance at Maggie again. “With the help of my lovely, brilliant wife, I think you’ll all see that the financials are there, that it gives us a real future.”
Seb shakes his head, red with anger. “You can’t do this. You can’t just… call a vote on something like this.”