Mr. Big Deal (Mr. Big 4)

CHAPTER14

Alexa

* * *

I squeezedLuke’s hand and smiled at how eager he looked at the fact that Ken was the mysterious investor who wanted to buy a stake in Astra. Adam Pierce and Elena Marakova of Seneca were important, as was Jack Tate, but Ken Hanson…

He was the real deal. Even bigger than Frank Campbell.

During the evening, I felt the men’s eyes on me, appraising me as Luke’s partner. I knew I would get the once-over by them and hoped I didn’t disappoint.

But it was the gaze of Elena that felt the most uncomfortable.

When we were nearly finished dinner, I had to excuse myself and went to the washroom for a pee break. I left the table and made my way to the rear of the restaurant, and then went into a stall.

I was just washing my hands and adjusting my hair when Elena walked in.

“Isn’t it so like us girls to do bathroom break together?” she said as she stood beside me and adjusted her own hair.

I smiled but didn’t respond. I wasn’t a girl and didn’t ask for her to accompany me.

“That’s a nice very conservative dress,” she said and adjusted her bodice, which revealed her ample breasts. She gave me a once over. “I guess that now that you’re a mother, the dresses you used to wear are off-limits, am I right? Are you back to your pre-pregnancy weight yet?” She stood back and tilted her head, looking at my midsection. “Are you breastfeeding?” She leaned forward and put her hand on my arm. “My sister said her breasts were never the same afterward. Plus, she said she had zero libido. They divorced soon after and he found a younger woman. It can’t be good for a healthy marriage.”

I didn’t know what to say in response. Each one of her comments was a clear barb directed at me and my desirability, now that I was a mother and had given birth and was breastfeeding.

“Excuse me,” I said and brushed by her, not wanting to say what I really thought so I didn’t cause any problems with the deal. “I need to get back.” I gave her a smile and left the washroom.

I arrived back at the table and the men were courteous enough to stand when I arrived, and Luke held out my chair. I sat and smiled and then picked up my virgin Pina Colada and took a big sip, wishing it was the real deal instead of virgin. I needed it after my brief encounter with Elena Marakova.

Soon enough, she arrived back, and the men likewise stood for her.

I had to admit she looked like a million bucks. Her dress was very expensive and sexy, showing off her obviously inflated breasts and her lipstick accentuating her filled lips.

She smiled at me, raising her shoulder just a bit like she was coy.

She was a hateful bitch.

I saw right through her, familiar with her type in high school. I didn’t let them get to me back then, and I certainly wasn’t going to let one get to me now.

She was clearly jealous. Why else be so mean? I didn’t think she was just unaware of how she had put me down so many times in the washroom.

She had to know.

Did she have a thing for Luke? Or did she just resent any happy marriage where the woman had a baby and was a stay-at-home mom?

“So, what’s on the agenda for you, Alexa?” Ken asked. “What are your plans now that you’ve just had a baby? I hear you’re doing your PhD in International Relations at Columbia.”

I turned to him and smiled. “I’m going to finish my dissertation once things settle down with Leif and I get into the swing of things. Once I’m finished and have defended my dissertation, I could get a post-doc and work somewhere, teaching or I could work in the NGO field. Maybe work for a politician as an advisor. That kind of thing.”

“Will you want to stay in New York, or will you want to move somewhere else?” Felicia asked.

“I’d think she’ll have to locate wherever Astra is located, considering Luke’s position as CEO and Chairman of the Board,” Elena said. She gave me a quick smile. “Isn’t that right?”

“The future is open for Alexa,” Luke said and put his arm around my shoulders. “Once she’s ready, I’m sure she’ll get a position she wants in the field. If that’s New York and she’s at the UN, that works out fine. If she’s in Paris or Brussels, so be it. Luckily, we’re pretty flexible and can travel and I can still run Astra from wherever we live.”

“Speaking of which, there are a few details that have to be worked out,” Ken said. “I think once they are, we will be able to go ahead and put the merger in place.”

“Merger?” Luke said, and we could all hear the surprise in Luke’s voice that Ken used that term. “You mean joint venture, right? Astra and Seneca will remain privately owned, as I’m sure Campbell will. We’ll simply be offering Hanson a share position in the consortium with seats on the board. I thought that was understood.” Luke turned to John, frowning. “That was the offer, right?”

John turned to Frank, Elena and Adam, who leaned forward.

“That was my understanding. Ken,” Adam said. “Why don’t you tell us why you think there was going to be a merger?”

“I thought it was understood. I want Astra and Seneca to come under the Hanson umbrella as two of our subsidiaries. Luke and Adam will remain CEOs, but Astra and Seneca will be part of the Hanson empire. I think having one large corporation at the helm will be so much better for this project than a consortium. Too much red tape. Too many competing interests.”

Luke shook his head. “That wasn’t my understanding. I wouldn’t have agreed to this if it had been. I want Astra to remain my company. John’s and my company. We want investors who will partner with us, not buy us out. I’m sure Adam feels the same.”

Adam shrugged and held his hands up. “I’m not quite sure what to say. This is a surprise.” He turned to Elena, who tilted her head to the side, acting all innocent.

“I can assure you that it’s a very sweet deal,” Ken replied.

“I’m not doing this for the money,” Luke said.

Ken leaned back and glanced around the table. “There seems to have been some kind of misunderstanding. I think we’ll need to do some more work on this before we can talk further. My apologies if this wasn’t communicated properly.”

With that, Ken stood up, placed his napkin on his plate, and nodded in Luke’s direction and then Adam’s. “Luke, Adam, I’ll have my people call your people. We’ll meet again, hopefully once it’s all cleared up.”

He nodded to me and the rest of the group and then left, heading out the door without looking back.

“Well, that was a big fucking waste of time,” Adam Pierce said. “I want to know who’s responsible for this fuck up.” He stood and pulled out Elena’s chair, who also stood. “Let’s go. Luke, I’ll be talking to you tomorrow.”

Both Elena and Adam left the restaurant, leaving me with Jack Tate, Frank Campbell and his wife, all of whom appeared flustered.

“Did you know about this?” Luke asked Jack.