Falling For You Page 8

  Gabriel: “Hi, Leiliana. Just wanted to let you know that I had a grand time last night.”

  Leiliana: “I had a wonderful time, as well. How’s your meeting going?”

  Gabriel: “Quite well. I’m expected to be back in London in about a week. If you’re there, I would love to take you out. I’ll choose the place this time.”

  Leiliana: “I’ll look forward to that.”

  She really was looking forward to it. She liked him a whole lot. He was charming and wildly attractive. She couldn’t help thinking, though, of another time in her life when she had fallen for someone who was all the things Gabriel was. And how badly that had turned out. She had to proceed with caution this time.

  ~*~*~*~

  Leiliana was able to finalize the proposal as planned. Her father approved it the next day, and she immediately sent it by courier to JJ Inc. Two days later, she received a phone call from JJ Inc.’s legal counsel.

  “Ms. Lamport, Jack Stevens here. I represent JJ Inc.”

  “How are you, Mr. Stevens?”

  “I’m swell, ma’am. The reason I’m calling is to advise you that we received your offer for JJ Inc.”

  “What do you think of it?”

  “Well, it was a surprise. My client, Dot Judd, is certainly interested. We have a couple questions, though.”

  “Go right ahead.”

  “Can you tell me what attracted you to my client’s company?”

  Leiliana weighed her response carefully. “Well, I believe that JJ Inc. is a manufacturer of quality products. I appreciate the company’s culture and values and believe that they have been instrumental in its success. Lamport Holdings has a subsidiary company, Lamport Electronics, which has similar products. I think that incorporating the strengths of both companies would be beneficial to Lamport Holdings. As you can see, we are offering a generous price for the company. Above market value, I might add.”

  “Miss Lamport, you should know that we have another offer on the table.”

  “May I ask from whom?” Leiliana asked.

  “We are not at liberty to disclose that information. However, we wanted you to be aware that this has now become a competitive bidding process. Your bid will be considered against the other we received and any others we do receive. As you can appreciate, my client, Miss Judd, wants to ensure that whoever takes over operations will do honor to the Jonas Judd legacy.”

  Well, at least it was good news that Miss Judd was interested in selling.

  “What are the criteria for determining success?” Leiliana asked.

  “The most attractive financial proposal primarily. The next consideration would be your plans to grow the business and, finally, the treatment of staff.”

  “I believe that I adequately addressed the last two concerns in my proposal. Concerning the first, how about we agree here and now that Lamport Holdings will go 5% higher than anything the competing bid proposes.”

  “I’ll need that in writing, Miss Lamport.”

  “Actually, we will submit an amended bid that will include an escalation clause. That will allow you to automatically raise the bid by a set amount when a competing offer is made up to a maximum limit,” she replied.

  ~*~*~*~

  Gabriel stood, hands akimbo, looking across the site of the housing project in Belfast. It was different from most such projects in that it was for the development of energy-efficient homes. The concept was based on his research and experience in the area. It also aligned with what he was doing for his own residence.

  It hadn’t been easy to convince the authorities to work with him. The scandal of Barry Walsh and Company had done him no favors. What had been in his favor, though, as strange as it might seem, was that he was a son of the soil. He had met with the government official responsible for the project. When the man heard his accent, he immediately asked where he was from. When Gabriel told him he was from Howth, Dublin, the man told him that he originated from there as well. As their conversation progressed, the man revealed that he had been one of the beneficiaries of Gabriel’s grandmother’s free meals.

  “She had a beautiful daughter, a few years older than me,” the man commented wistfully. “Mary, I remember her name was. I used to fantasize about marrying her when I grew up. Whatever became of her?”

  “That was my mother. She died soon after I was born,” Gabriel had said. In shocked dismay, the man expressed his sympathy. Things had gone smoothly after that. The government official promised Gabriel he would support the project. Gabriel would just be responsible for financing. The government would make input by leasing him the land and allowing him to purchase material tax-free.

  That had been a few months ago. Things were going very well. Then, some of the residents adjacent to the site earmarked for the wind turbines began to complain about them being placed so near to their properties.

  Despite all that, the construction project was on track and expected to be completed in another few months. Gabriel was fully confident that the sale of these homes would give him the cash injection he desperately needed.

  The architect, Phil Stevens, came to stand beside Gabriel as he watched men constructing the internal and external brick walls. He shook Gabriel’s hand and surveyed the area.

  “Are you pleased with the progress thus far, Mr. Walsh?”

  “I think it’s going great. On time and to budget. How often can you say that on a project site? You lads are all doing a good job.”

  Phil nodded. “The engineer Craig Hill and I are working closely with the contractor to keep them on track. I must say it isn’t every time I work on a project where everyone seems to catch the vision. You chose your team well.”

  Gabriel nodded his thanks. It hadn’t been easy. He had spent months critiquing the team members, but it looked like it was paying off.

  “This type of project is ahead of its time,” Gabriel remarked. “As you know, our goal is to be at least 95% off the grid, which is quite revolutionary.”

  Phil nodded. “What you’re creating here is a predictable, cost-effective solution to living that can change the future around the globe.”

  “I couldn’t have put it better myself. Do you think we can use that in our marketing copy?” Gabriel asked with a laugh.

  Gabriel spent time walking around the site and having discussions with the site foreman as well as some of the construction workers. When he was finished, he felt confident that things were going as well as they appeared. The contractor, Horace Bates, was on a call when he passed by his trailer, so he just waved his hand and didn’t bother to interrupt.

  By the time he headed to his car, a short while later, he was whistling a merry tune. He felt really upbeat. He couldn’t help it. Business was going well, and his personal life seemed to be showing some promise.

  He really felt a connection with Leiliana like he’d never felt with anyone before. Not even Dot. He found it so easy to talk to her. He messaged her at least once a day now, just to say hello. She always responded. He had even assigned a special conversation tone to her messages to ensure that he didn’t miss any of them. He couldn’t wait to fly over to London for the weekend to see her.

  As these thoughts were running through Gabriel’s head, someone yelled his name. He turned to see Horace jogging towards him.

  “What’s going on?” Gabriel asked when the man reached him.

  “I just got a call from someone in the office. We’re having some trouble with the building permits. I have assigned someone to deal with the planning department on the issue. I just thought I’d let you know.”

  “What kind of trouble?”

  “There were claims that this area isn’t approved for wind turbine technology.”

  Gabriel felt his adrenaline race. “That’s not true! That was cleared months ago. We wouldn’t have commenced the project without that.”

  “I know. We sent them copies of the approvals last week. I was just on the phone with Daniel. Apparently, the decision to grant is now bein
g reviewed.”

  “At this stage! When we have already invested millions?”

  Horace shook his head helplessly at him. “They have indicated they will be issuing us a notice to cease the construction of the wind turbines until the review process is complete.”

  Gabriel drew a hand through his hair. “I will meet with them myself. Don’t worry. I’ll deal with this.”

  Gabriel climbed into his car on autopilot. As he started the ignition, his phone rang.

  “Walsh,” he answered, steering the car across the dusty, gravelly surface.

  “Mr. Walsh. My name is Jack Stevens. I’m the legal counsel for JJ Inc.”

  He was instantly distracted from his troubles. “Good day, Mr. Stevens. Have you called to accept my offer?”

  “Not quite. I called to inform you that we received another bid to purchase the company today.”

  Gabriel almost swerved off the road. “What? Who?”

  “I’m not at liberty to share that information.”

  “Is the bid higher than mine? Can you share that?”

  “As a matter of fact, I can.” Mr. Stephens told him the amount the other company was willing to pay. A quick calculation revealed that it was about 2% higher than Gabriel’s. “The other company has included an escalation clause in their bid, and you may want to do the same.”

  Several things went through Gabriel’s head at once. Who was the other bidder? How high was this other company willing to go? An escalation clause sounded risky. He could end up in a bidding war and pay far more for JJ Inc. than it was worth. He couldn’t afford for that to happen. At this point, he had stepped out in faith. He could only secure the 10% deposit with his current cash reserves. It had been his hope that while negotiations were taking place, he would be able to find a lender to loan him the remaining 90%. He needed to speak to Patrick some more on his private lender proposal. Despite his initial reservations, it sounded very good right now. If he increased his bid by too much, it would put him in a very tight spot. But walking away was not an option. He had been struggling to lift Walsh Enterprises out of the ashes, and he was almost there.

  “Thanks for notifying me. Yes, I would like to include the escalation clause.”

  “You’ll have to send an addendum to your bid proposal or send an amended one to include the escalation bid price.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll do that.”

  When Gabriel ended the call, his previous cheerful mood was dead and gone.

  ~*~*~*~

  Leiliana was having a bad day.

  It had begun with her attending a particularly hostile meeting with a company threatening to sue Lamport Holdings over mineral rights issues. She had been trying to negotiate with them, but the CEO was wholly uncooperative.

  She left that meeting feeling as though someone had taken a jackhammer to her temples. She succumbed to the temptation to take two pain killers and left the office early.

  Once home, she sunk into the sofa in her living room, kicking off her shoes in the process. Just then, her phone began to ring. She picked it up to silence it when she noticed that the call was from JJ Inc.’s attorney Jack Stevens.

  “Hello?”

  “Miss Lamport, the bid price on the other proposal we received just went up 5% higher than yours. This triggered the escalation clause.”

  “For heaven’s sake!”

  There was a pause. “What would you have me do?”

  “My apologies, Mr. Stevens, I’m having a bit of a bear of a day. Your news did not help.”

  “I’m sorry to add to your distress.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Thank you for informing me. Yes, please proceed as agreed.”

  Let’s see what the other competitor’s answer to that was.

  Chapter 8

  A couple of days later, Gabriel sat across a large conference table in Belfast with his team on one side and government officials led by the minister of planning on the other. He was trying to get to the bottom of the wind turbine issue.

  The man was grandstanding, and he allowed him the space to do that.

  “First of all, this is government land. Land belonging to taxpayers. The land use impact of the wind power facilities in this area is great. I’m aware that the wind turbines must be spaced approximately five to ten rotor diameters apart. Thus, the turbines themselves and the surrounding infrastructure will occupy a good portion of the total area of a wind facility,” the minister stated.

  “That’s not true in this case,” Gabriel corrected, sitting forward. “When we submitted our original application, we indicated that we would be using the least amount of space for the project. Also, the remainder of the land can be used for a variety of other productive purposes, including livestock grazing, agriculture, highways, and hiking trails. If you prefer, the wind facilities can be sited on abandoned or underused industrial land or other commercial and industrial locations nearby. That would significantly reduce concerns about land use.”

  “That’s not the only issue, though, Mr. Walsh. Sound and visual impact are the two main public health and community concerns associated with operating wind turbines.”

  “The overall sound levels depend on turbine design and wind speed. If you read our report, you would note that we took that into consideration, and it's being addressed to lessen that issue. Technological advances, such as minimizing blade surface imperfections and using sound-absorbent materials, will reduce wind turbine noise. I can share the design plans for the customized residential wind turbines with you.”

  “That would be useful, but it doesn’t address another concern I have. I’ve been informed that under certain lighting conditions, wind turbines can create an effect known as shadow flicker. You know what that is, of course.”

  “I’m familiar with the term. Again, there are ways to minimize this effect, for example, through careful siting, planting trees, installing window awnings…those types of things. We would be willing to explore those options.”

  “Look, Mr. Walsh, let me be blunt. When it comes to aesthetics, wind turbines can cause strong reactions. To some, like you, they represent clean power resources. To others, they are an intrusion. My constituents represent a large part of the latter group.”

  “This process has to be managed carefully by a PR plan, and that has been built into our project planning. A communications firm has been working on the PR component. It’s set to be rolled out in a week and will sensitize people on the issues and how they can be minimized. It will be emphasized that this is to benefit the community above all. My company has a wind turbine farm here in Belfast and we dealt with those issues. Through PR, the surrounding community saw the benefits for themselves in the reduction in electricity cost and they accepted the wind turbines. This can happen in this case, as well.”

  “Every community is different.”

  Gabriel shifted impatiently in his seat.

  “My company has already invested a significant amount of money in purchasing the equipment based on the approvals. If you try to rescind your decision, you will have to reimburse us for these costs. If you don’t, we will take you to court.”

  There was thick silence at his words. Finally, the man said, “Mr. Walsh, it’s not that we don’t like the idea of wind turbines. It’s risky. That’s what concerns us. We want to be sure that this is the right thing for this project. We need to review this.”

  Gabriel released an exasperated sigh. “Fine. I’ll give you two weeks to conduct your review and get back to me. After that, my company will take action to protect our interests.”

  He was climbing into his car when his phone rang. It was JJ Inc.’s lawyer.

  “The other bidder just raised the price by 5%, Mr. Walsh. We raised your price by 5% as you instructed,” he was informed.

  Gabriel asked how much that was in dollars. When he was told, he closed his eyes and released a long sigh. “Thank you.”

  He had a problem.

  He immediately dialed Patrick up and told hi
m the costs they were looking at. “Can we afford this?”

  “No. We don’t have that kind of money, Gabriel. Are you sure JJ Inc. is worth all this?”

  It was worth all this to him. There was so much on the line.

  “We can afford the down payment. We will get the rest in time.”

  “You think a company is going to sign a letter of intent with us without assurance that we have the remaining funds? Seriously?”

  Gabriel ran a hand through his hair. Patrick did have a point.

  “You were speaking to me the other day about a potential source of funding. These private lenders.”

  “Right. So, I’ve done my research and A.L. Finance seems to be a company out of Russia. Their clientele runs the gamut from experienced well-qualified borrowers to borrowers who have been refused by traditional financial institutions. They are the ones who match rich lenders with projects they want to fund.”

  “I guess we can go with them. I plan to pay them off as early as possible anyway once the housing project is finalized.”

  “I’ll send you the documentation tonight. We just have to submit the application and some other pertinent information and they can approve it online.”

  Gabriel still didn’t feel quite at ease, but he was desperate now.

  “Okay, I’ll lookout for the information.”

  ~*~*~*~

  After Leiliana hung up from JJ Inc. lawyers, she felt like she really wanted someone to talk to. She absently caressed the phone. Truthfully, she wanted to speak to Gabriel. What was he doing right now? She knew he was in Belfast dealing with business. She really didn’t want to interrupt him, but a quick call couldn’t hurt. Before she could talk herself out of it, she dialed him up. The phone rang a few times. Just as she was about to hang up, a gruff voice came online.

  “Walsh!” it barked.

  Leiliana paused. It sounded like she had caught him at a bad time. “Hello, Gabriel.”