Take a Chance on Me Read online

  Sadie nodded.

  BJ looked confused at Simon’s words, and as Alexis walked back past him, she simply patted him on the shoulder. He seemed satisfied. Sadie continued the explanation.

  ‘Plus, Bill Galloway, the CEO, said that if I could pull it off in that time then it would indicate how fast I can work. And prove that he was right about his instincts to trust me. Bill’s the inventor … and, er,’ she hesitated briefly. In for a penny, ‘Well, he told me he was a bit psychic.’

  Simon coughed again, this time a tad more uncomfortably.

  ‘And he had a strong feeling,’ Sadie went on, ‘that I was the one – the one who could make this happen.’

  Mac looked blank. A couple of his entourage looked at each other.

  ‘He told me, and the rest of his team, that he knew I was the key to achieving great things with their product. His staff told me I’d struck lucky – right place, right time – because he often makes big decisions based on hunches like that. Apparently he’s always been right.’

  No one spoke. Sadie felt a flush creeping up her neck.

  ‘Well, anyway, I’m just telling you what he said. Plus they mentioned that if I didn’t act fast, there was sure to be another party investing. Hence the timescale. So here we are now, thirty days and counting, well about twenty-four actually, to find the finance. Or they’d be forced to go elsewhere.’

  No one said anything. Sadie looked at Mac and he didn’t seem to be paying attention. He was just staring at her feet. She shuffled behind a nearby chair and suddenly felt very nervous. Oh God, less about the intuition and more about the research labs, Sadie chastised herself, wondering for the first time if she might have actually blown it. Damn being honest about psychic magic water inventors.

  Then Simon spoke. ‘Derek, I believe you have something to add. Can you shed any more light on the situation, please?’

  The young bespectacled Chinese man with sleek, trendy black hair and a garish red tie stood up for his moment of glory, cleared his throat theatrically and spoke with a perfect English accent.

  ‘Our due diligence has as usual revealed some extra information they’ve been trying to cover up. The timing is indeed due in part to their crippling shortage of cash. It seems they need an injection fast to continue building their new plant. Seems they’ve overstretched themselves. The new equipment works fine, but the plant is incomplete. Ultimately it could quadruple the output, and halve the staff. But it’s become a race against time.’ He paused to allow it to sink in then began walking round the table distributing a handout of his own, showing some charts and graphs.

  Sadie took one and sat open-mouthed. They’ve pulled this together in no time, where on earth do I fit in with a team like this?

  Derek continued. ‘So far they’ve sold off big parts of the family’s empire in Hawaii – the local hotel, the helicopter taxi firm. Bill Galloway was reluctant, but the son – Peter Galloway – appears to have pushed it through. There’s a chance they’ll stall, and they won’t be able to keep up with demand for free samples, which the son appears to be handing out to major sporting stars. Top sports teams have begun relying on their performance-enhancing water, and the word of mouth tipping point is within reach. But the freebies – without sales to back them up – well, they’re just not sustainable. As the word spreads, and more and more sportsmen are demanding their product, they’re – if you’ll pardon the pun – drowning in their success. They’re going to be on borrowed time before too long, I’m afraid.’

  The room went silent for a moment. Sadie swallowed hard.

  ‘They didn’t say anything about this in Hawaii,’ Sadie said. She felt a bit silly, going on about her unique attributes and a clairvoyant Hawaiian when really the company were in need of financial help as much as she was.

  ‘Don’t worry, Miss Turner,’ Derek explained. ‘They wouldn’t have told you. But there’s more,’ he said. ‘Graham has the details.’

  ‘Yes, indeed,’ said the similarly bespectacled young man with spiky ginger hair and a very nearly identical tie, standing up and passing Mac and BJ a memo. ‘W-we’ve just heard this morning about who is behind these new d-developments – it may mean a fly in the ointment. A s-spanner in the works, if you will.’

  ‘Please continue, Graham,’ said Simon.

  ‘It is our belief that, as of O-two hundred hours, a f-final offer was on its way from another source. An offer that apparently includes a – shall we say – f-financial i-incentive.’

  ‘A cash advance?’ said BJ. ‘A bribe?’

  ‘I have a bad feeling about this,’ said Mac.

  ‘Who is it from, Graham?’ asked Simon.

  Graham practically glowed. ‘We just had it c-confirmed by our operatives just before the meeting. I’m afraid it’s the T-Tremain Group, sir.’

  ‘Tremain!’ Mac said, incredulously. He sat back in his chair, clenched his fists and looked up at the ceiling.

  Sadie was trying hard to keep up with the information flooding back and forth, but she could tell by Mac’s face that this Tremain was bad news. She began to feel a little panic in her stomach. What if Tremain’s appearance meant Mac would back away from the deal?

  Mac was glaring at BJ, who was looking out of the window and shuffling slightly in his chair.

  ‘What else do you know?’ asked Simon.

  ‘Our West Coast sources tell us that behind the scenes Tremain Group have been putting the p-pressure on. But Bill Galloway hasn’t given in yet – he’d rather remain independent of Tremain’s demands. But there’s a w-weak link – the son, Peter Galloway. He’d sign with Tremain tomorrow, apparently.’

  ‘He’s the one in charge of the new plant, and of the complimentary sample programme,’ added Derek. ‘He’s stopping at nothing to get the new machinery operational urgently. Then he can keep signing up every top sports star that comes knocking on their door.’

  ‘Peter Galloway is a bit of a star-chaser then,’ said Mac.

  ‘Yes. So n-now that they’ve had to put the next phase on hold, Tremain’s argument is gaining m-mom-momen-m … pace,’ Graham continued, standing up to open his briefcase.

  Sadie’s mouth dropped further and further open at the wealth of information this team had gleaned – certainly not from the Internet – she’d tried. They must have contacts everywhere to gather this many facts, all done in a couple of days.

  Just when she realised her jaw was gaping like a guppy, she caught Mac’s eye and snapped her mouth closed immediately. He just looked away, turning his back towards BJ slightly.

  Now she really couldn’t tell whether it was all going terribly well, or really, really badly. She took a swig of water from one of the cut crystal glasses on the table and waited while the latest sheet of charts and graphs was passed across the table for BJ and Mac. Her iPad pinged – everyone had been sent it wirelessly, and it instantly appeared on the projector on the wall too at the next button press.

  Mac took the document and frowned. ‘Tremain Group – again.’

  ‘But how come they’re even involved?’ BJ asked, going slightly red-faced.

  ‘Look at this i-inside information. Last week they took a large stake in the biggest health food distributor on the west coast,’ Graham replied, ‘whose strategy has been w-working. Any product they wish to promote, they assign an aggressive local rep who spends hours p-persuading local stockists to take big supplies of it, then t-talking to customers in-store.’

  ‘Word of mouth,’ said Sadie. ‘Oh-oh.’

  ‘Oh-oh? What’s with the oh-oh, Miss Turner? You can’t just say oh-oh, you have to explain oh-oh.’ BJ was getting flustered and Mac touched his arm.

  Alexis was giving Sadie what appeared to be daggers. Sadie shifted in her seat.

  ‘Elucidate, please, Sadie,’ said Simon.

  ‘The advertising auth
orities don’t like it. You fall foul of them, and it’s a nightmare to recover from. If there’s nothing written, it makes it harder to prove if they’ve been making claims they had no right to. And twice as annoying for the authorities – which means you’re put on their watch list. Hence Bill’s sudden change of plan when he heard about my connection with getting proper studies done,’ Sadie replied. ‘But there’s no denying it can result in fast sales. Just not sustainable, credible ones.’

  ‘Ahh, I see what ya mean,’ said BJ, looking a bit more comfortable now. ‘A bit like the old days when the travelling salesmen would shout from a soapbox that their potions could cure baldness or cancer, but it was really just snake oil.’

  ‘Exactly that,’ said Sadie. BJ looked pleased with himself. Alexis didn’t look pleased with Sadie.

  ‘N-nonetheless their sales have as a result been stratospheric,’ Graham said. ‘Our contact says it’s given Tremain reason to be b-bullish about obtaining the contract.’

  ‘More “b-bullish” than usual,’ sneered BJ. ‘The man’s raw beef as it is. Albeit stringy, skinny runt type beef.’

  ‘They’re very aware of how weak the Galloways’ position is,’ said Derek. ‘Our sources suspect Peter is sharing more of the patented information than his father would like him to. That’s why Tremain Group are pushing forward with this brave new approach.’

  ‘Brave?’ BJ sneered.

  ‘Er – enterprising,’ said Derek. ‘Unethical, but somewhat enterprising.’

  ‘And who would be the recipient of this “financial incentive”, this chunk of change?’ asked BJ.

  ‘It seems some would be for off-the-record payments to contractors to speed up the new build,’ Derek replied. ‘And some to the family itself. Young master Peter has a penchant, it seems, for fast cars.’

  ‘And this is the company you’re wanting me to invest in?’ said Mac, drily.

  Sadie gulped. Her mouth was like sandpaper and her mind was racing overtime. What if, what if, what if … She had to speak up.

  ‘Mac, Mr Anderson, listen. All I know is that this product works wonders. Nothing else in the world has produced such results. When I was in Hawaii I did some preliminary studies, all promising. What’s more, my colleagues at the uni’s – the top three UK sports research departments – are keen to get their hands on it. And Simon seemed to think you liked the product too as you love innovation.’

  ‘Or else we were the first available money men.’

  Sadie blushed. They were.

  ‘But tell me, Sadie,’ Mac asked, lowering his voice. Everyone around the table leaned in a little nearer. ‘What do you really get out of this?’

  ‘Commission – pure and simple,’ she replied in a flash.

  ‘Commission is never pure and simple.’ Equally as fast.

  ‘Well, in my case, it will be,’ she said to him. ‘Tranche one for bringing the investment to the table from someone who can help put the plant back on its feet and fund the studies up front, and tranche two when the studies are completed. If there’s ever a tranche three it won’t come out of your coffers, but from business expansion once the new claims can be made. It should ramp up sales astronomically. And we can follow-up with more studies on hydration and reversion of plasma levels to—’

  ‘Okay, I get it. I’ve heard enough. Thank you. That’s all assuming Tremain doesn’t steal this deal out from under our noses – and from what I’ve heard, and from what I know about Tremain’s cronies, they don’t see the need for studies so they won’t need you. So unless they cut a deal with us you’re out of the picture.’

  Sadie swallowed, hard. The lump refused to budge and she felt a bit sick.

  Alexis came round and began whispering to BJ.

  Mac leaned forward onto his elbows and pressed his fingers into his temples. She watched him, and still felt torn. But she quashed the urge to go over to rub his shoulders. After all, she wasn’t in a Hollywood romance movie.

  Right now, however, she wasn’t entirely sure that she hadn’t stepped straight into a TV drama – it certainly felt that way. With a perfectly chosen cast – all except her. In fact, most of the last month had felt like she’d been living on borrowed time. Sadie wondered what would happen next. She certainly couldn’t tell from Mac’s stony face.

  Alexis took this moment to step into the spotlight, clearing her throat delicately.

  She walked round the table and stood at the other end of the room to Sadie. In fact, she didn’t walk, she glided. With a barely concealed flutter of eyelashes in Mac’s direction, she spoke, her West Coast tones making her sound like she should be in some teen reality show.

  ‘But may I make a point? Right now, Bill Galloway doesn’t trust Tremain, isn’t that right, boys?’

  Derek and Graham nodded.

  ‘And how certain are you of this new offer – can we be certain that Tremain will ever win Bill over?’

  Derek and Graham looked at each other.

  ‘Our sources do say a m-meeting is imminent,’ said Graham.

  ‘But it’s not too late? If we can move fast?’ she asked.

  ‘It’s possible, of course,’ said Derek, ‘but in all likelihood—’

  ‘In all likelihood maybe we should take this new information with a pinch of salt until we know more?’ Alexis snapped. ‘Is that possible?’

  ‘Yes, ma’am,’ the aides replied in unison.

  Then turning to BJ and Mac, Alexis added, ‘You’ve beaten Tremain before, Mac. And from reading those notes, as far as we can tell, Bill’s still in charge, and his son Peter’s nowhere near ready to take over the reins at Frish. So,’ she said with a smile, tossing her hair back with a flourish, ‘there’s all to play for.’ She looked over expectantly at Mac but he didn’t even look up. Sadie suppressed a grin.

  Graham chipped in, ‘Would you like us to do a f-feasibility study?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Derek, all fired up. ‘We could compare analysis models, and—’

  ‘Not just yet, Derek,’ replied Simon, standing up and taking charge of the room. He had a very commanding manner and everyone stopped to listen to him, including Mac. ‘Let us first be clear. As far as you have learned, Bill Galloway is a man of his word, and has given Ms Turner here the chance to win the contract fair and square? Correct, Sadie?’

  ‘Yes, he has. He seemed perfectly genuine to me,’ said Sadie, ‘And he’s a scientist himself – an engineer – he would see the value in the studies—’

  ‘And in you, Sadie,’ Simon interrupted. He opened his mouth to continue, but BJ piped up. Simon glared at him, but BJ was oblivious.

  ‘And maybe the old man wants to escape Tremain’s clutches,’ he said, breaking out in a slight sweat. ‘Especially if he could be “made aware” that Tremain himself is a … a double-dealer. And other unrepeatable words!’ BJ added, nodding towards Alexis, who nodded back and smiled knowingly. BJ winked at her. Mac seemed oblivious. Simon ignored them both and continued speaking.

  ‘So, as I was saying, with Ms Turner as our secret weapon, if you’ll pardon the metaphor, Sadie, we may still be in time to come to the rescue of one of the most exciting new products to hit the market in more than a decade. And what’s more …’ He paused to pour a little more fizzy water from a bottle on the table into his crystal glass and sipped it while everyone waited for his next sentence. ‘And what’s more, if our camp has faster access to published studies, the marketing – thanks to Sadie – could be our trump card. Ours, not Tremain’s. But we have to act fast.’

  The information dump came to an end, and Simon wrapped it up, looking at his watch. ‘The only question is whether MCA Associates is willing to take on the risk. Willing to pitch yourself up against Tremain – again – with these odds.’ And with that he looked over to Mac. And so did everyone else.

  Mac was nodding his head, tho
ughtfully. Every eye in the room was upon him, awaiting his decision. But it didn’t come.

  Simon looked a little surprised.

  Mac was wavering.

  Whoever this Tremain was, his involvement seemed to have taken the wind out of Mac’s sails. And they were already at half-mast – Sadie could tell.

  She bit her lip, terrified that last night would have blown it.

  All her hard work – her family’s future – blown out of the water.

  But she hadn’t exactly lied to him. True, she’d withheld crucial facts from him but only as he had her.

  But he was the one holding the cards.

  Or rather, he was holding the millions.

  Sadie considered the chances that she might faint if she didn’t stop holding her breath.

  Mac had a quick word with BJ. BJ started wiping his brow again and beckoned Alexis over, who passed him something Sadie couldn’t see. He showed it to Mac who whispered to Simon.

  Simon then stood up to address the room and Sadie’s heart went into overdrive.

  ‘Well done, Sadie. A very thorough presentation.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  ‘Now, will you excuse us a minute, please?’

  ‘Of course, no problem.’

  She sat there expecting them to leave, then suddenly realised everyone was looking at her. They wanted her to leave the room. Oh God, how embarrassing. Feeling like she was going to see the headmistress, she took her bag and stood up.

  She forced herself to smile genially around the room at everyone before stepping out the door, her cheeks burning.

  Once outside, she unbuttoned the tight jacket. She let out a huge breath. The receptionist peered at her once again over the top of her glasses and gestured towards the chair.

  I’m not sitting there again, Sadie thought, wafting her jacket as inconspicuously as she could, to cool herself down. She paced a little, growing impatient as seconds turned to minutes and she felt the overwhelming urge to pee. Feeling even more nervous than before, she walked towards the ladies room again, to splash some water on her face. God what a mess.