Close To Home IV

Chapter 14





“Come in, Brian,” Marty Ryder said.  He held the door to his office open while Brian wheeled himself in.  Then he closed the door making sure it was firmly shut.  “Would you like some coffee?”

“No thanks,” Brian replied.  “I want to talk to you about purchasing the Ryder Agency.”

“Getting right to the point, I see.”

“What’s the sense in beating around the bush?  I’m sure your minions have filled you in on the inquiries that I’ve been making.”  Marty nodded.  “Are you ready to sell?”

“You do believe in asking the hard questions.”

“I’ve always done that.”

Marty tilted his head in respect to that statement.  Then his face grew hard.  “What makes you so sure I want to sell?”

Brian chuckled derisively.  “This company was wallowing in mediocrity before I returned.  You were losing clients right and left, with little or no prospects of gaining any new ones.  You were about ready to give the agency away, or shut the doors and slither off into the night.”

“I don’t like your tone…”

“Fuck my tone!  You know I’m speaking the truth.  This company is nothing without me, and I want to own it.”

Marty sucked in a breath.  “What are you prepared to offer?”

“I’ve looked carefully into the finances of the company and I think you’ll find this offer eminently fair.”  Brian handed Marty a folded piece of paper with the figure he was offering written on it.

Marty unfolded the paper slowly.  He frowned when he saw the figure.  He seemed about to say something, and then changed his mind.  He studied the piece of paper.

Brian watched, trying to assess what Marty might be thinking of his offer.  When Marty didn’t reply, Brian decided he might have to change his tactics a little bit.  “It’s a fair offer, Marty.  You know that.  But, I’m prepared to give you till tomorrow morning to think about it.  I’ll be here at ten for an answer.”  Brian turned his chair, ready to leave.  “Oh, if you decide to turn down my offer, I will be leaving Ryder and starting my own company.  Have a good morning, Marty,” Brian said pleasantly as he opened the door of the office.  He pulled his wheelchair through and started down the hall to his office.  Cynthia fell into step beside him.

“How did it go?” she asked.

“Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly,” Brian replied as he headed into his office.

Cynthia followed him and shut the door when they were inside.  “What happened?  Did he accept your offer?”

Brian shook his head.  “I was going to force the issue, and then I realized that he might just refuse the whole thing if I pressed too hard.”

“So what did you do?”

“I gave him till tomorrow morning at ten to make up his mind.”

“Do you think he’ll bite?”

“He fucking better.”

Cynthia sighed.  “I thought this was going to be finished today.  Shit!”

“I know what you mean, but this has been Marty’s company for a long time.  I thought he deserved at least twenty-four hours to consider what he wants to do.”

“What if he doesn’t take the offer?”

“Then I’ll be starting my own company someplace else.”

“Wh…What?”

“You heard me.  If he turns me down, I’m leaving and starting my own company.  I told him exactly that.”

Cynthia drew in a deep breath.  “Brian…”

“Want to work for a new up and coming ad agency?” he asked with a little smile.

“You know I’d follow you to the ends of the earth, but…”

“You’d rather work for an established company rather than a Johnny-come-lately, untried company,” Brian said completing her sentence.

“That’s not what I was going to say.  I just think it would be so much easier if we had all Ryder’s clients instead of starting from scratch.”

“You are absolutely right.  If that wasn’t true, I wouldn’t be trying to buy Ryder out.”

“Do you think he’ll take your offer?” Cynthia asked.

“I honestly don’t know.  I kind of thought he’d jump at it, but when he hesitated, I thought maybe I had misjudged the whole situation.”

“Is that why you gave him the extra time?”

“Yeah, if he’s smart, he’ll think it through and take my offer.”

“Then let’s hope he’s smart,” Cynthia said.


*****


Brian spent the rest of the morning catching up on phone calls and messages for the couple of days he had been absent.  Cynthia got them lunch and they ate together in his office, going over some of his clients’ files and trying not to think about what Marty Ryder’s decision might be.

Once they were done, Brian left the door to his office open, wondering if he might hear any tidbits of gossip about the company, or more specifically about what he and Marty Ryder had been conferencing about earlier in the day.  Brian knew how office grapevines worked, and he was pretty sure some of the more astute workers would have figured out what was going on.

A little after two, Kip Thomas stuck his head in Brian’s door.  “Got a minute?” he asked.

‘And so it begins,’ Brian thought.  “Come in.  What can I do for you, Kip Thomas?”

“Are you trying to buy this agency?” Kip asked directly.

Brian chuckled.  “You don’t waste any time, do you?”

“Not when my job is involved.”

“What makes you think I’d want to by this for shit company?” Brian asked, deciding to play it coy.

“For that very reason.  It is a for shit company.  I know it’s seen better days, and things have picked up since you came back,” Kip admitted grudgingly.

“I’ll take that as a tribute to my advertising acumen,” Brian said with a smirk.

“So are you buying Ryder out?”

“I don’t intend to answer that question,” Brian stated.

“But you are trying to buy him out, aren’t you?” Kip persisted.  “Did he turn you down?”

Brian didn’t reply.  He merely looked at Kip and kept his mouth shut.

“So you won’t tell me?”

“That’s correct.”

“You’re a fucking asshole, Kinney.”

“I’ve been told that by finer people than you, Thomas.”

“If you buy the company, are you going to fire us all?” Kip had to ask.  That was why he had come into Brian’s office in the first place.  He, and everyone else, wanted to know what was going to happen to their jobs.

“Why don’t you wait and see what happens,” Brian said calmly, much more calmly than he was feeling.

“Why don’t you go fuck yourself!” Kip retorted before he stormed out the door.

Brian chuckled to himself.  Everybody knew that he had made an offer on the agency.  They were all quaking in their shoes, wondering what Brian was going to do with them and the company.  Brian leaned back in his chair.  This was going to be a long day, and then a long night, until Ryder made his decision.

Some time later Brian felt the urge to call Justin.  As he was about to pick up the phone, his computer told him that he had received a message.  He hit the link to open it.

BB: Hey, PP, what’s the score?  Did you make your pitch to Ryder?  What did he say?

PP: There is no score.  Ryder listened and then couldn’t make a decision.  I gave him until tomorrow morning to make up his mind.

BB: Wuss!

Brian chuckled to himself.

PP: Sometimes one has to be a wuss.

BB: What the fuck is that supposed to mean?

Brian thought for a moment about how to answer that question.  Then he decided that honesty was probably the only way to answer it.
PP: I really felt if I pushed him, he was going to turn me down.  I thought if he had a bit more time to think about it, he would come to the sensible conclusion that he is better off with a huge amount of my money, than a dying company.

BB:  Then you did the right thing.  I’ll hold the victory dinner until tomorrow.

Brian laughed out loud.

PP: That would be a good idea.  See you in a couple of hours.


*****


When Brian arrived at work the following day, he hoped he didn’t bear too many marks of the restless night he had spent.  He hadn’t slept much.  He knew a lot hinged on Ryder’s decision.  Brian fully intended to do what he had told Cynthia.  He was either buying Ryder out or he was leaving.  If Ryder turned him down, he would try to start his own company.

As Brian rolled into his office, he thought about how Justin had tried to calm him down when he got home.   Justin had tried his best to make everything better.  There was a nice dinner, not a celebratory one, but a nice one nonetheless.  Then there was sex, and a shower and more sex.  Brian smiled to himself.  He could only imagine what the sex would be like this evening when he owned Ryder Advertising.

Brian smiled broadly.  Somehow he knew deep inside that he was going to be successful, that he was destined to own the company.  Marty Ryder could pretend all he wanted, but they both knew that his company wasn’t worth much without Brian.  Brian just hoped it didn’t come down to Brian going out on his own.  He really didn’t know if he had the stamina for that.

“Brian,” Cynthia said from the doorway of his office, “Ryder just arrived.”

“Thanks, I’ll head on down there.”

“Give him a minute to get a coffee.  Don’t rush him.”

“I thought you were the one who couldn’t wait,” Brian snarled.

“I couldn’t wait yesterday, because I was all geared up to have it over with.  But I spent last night thinking about it, and I really agree that you did the right thing giving him this extra time.  I think it’s going to go your way.  There’s no point in rushing him at this point.”

Brian smiled at Cynthia.  She had good instincts, good instincts about business and good instincts about people.  She was probably right about this too.  “Okay, I’ll wait for him to call me in.”

Cynthia nodded and went to get Brian his own coffee.

About ten minutes later the intercom buzzed and Marty Ryder’s voice came through.  “Brian, I’ve made my decision.  Could you come to my office?”

Brian smiled slightly.  “Sure,” he said.  “I’ll be right there.”

Brian wheeled himself out of his office and started down the hall.  Cynthia was at the front reception desk.  She gave him a thumbs-up as he went by.

Brian knocked on Marty’s door and was told to enter.  He placed his chair across the desk from his boss who in a few minutes might become his former boss.

“You’ve made you’re decision?” Brian asked.

Marty nodded.  “Before I tell you what it is, I have something that I want to say to you.”

“Oh?  What’s that?”

“When you wanted to come back to work here, I was a little worried about what image you would project as it related to my company.”

“You mean what image my wheelchair would project,” Brian said bitterly.

“Yes, I admit it,” Marty said slowly.  “I wasn’t sure you could do what you used to do … before your accident.”

“That makes two of us.”

“Huh?  You mean you were worried.”

“I was fucking scared shitless the first day I came back to the office.  Working from home was one thing, but dealing with the public and my co-workers and potential clients, it was scary as hell.”

“No one would have suspected that.”

“Then I guess I did a good job of covering it up.”

“That would be a resounding yes.”

Brian nodded.  He was pleased to hear that.  “I intend to carry on with what I’ve been doing and how I’ve been doing it.”

“Then I guess my company will be in good hands.”

Brian drew in a breath.  “Are you saying that you’re selling it to me?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”  Marty smiled.  “I talked to my wife last night.  I really don’t have the passion for advertising that I used to.  You were always the best ad exec I had.  You’ll have some good people to work with, but there are a few that you may have to weed out.”

“Care to list them?” Brian asked, wondering if the names would match with those he had already mentally categorized for possible dismissal.

“I imagine you probably already have a pretty good idea of who they are.”

Brian nodded.  Enough said about that.  “So we have a deal?”

“That we do, for the sum you handed me.  I’ll be happy to sign the papers as soon as you’re ready.”

“I’ll have them finalized by tomorrow.  Are there any conditions that you have?”

“I had thought of asking you to keep the Ryder name.  That way my legacy, such as it is, would live on.  But I realized that is hardly fair to you.  It will be your company and you should name it whatever you like.”

“Hm,” Brian replied.  “I hadn’t really thought about a new name.  I’ll keep the one we have at least for a while.”

Marty smiled.  “I’d like that.  Bring in your papers tomorrow and we can finalize the deal.”

“I will.  Oh, the rumors have been running rampant since our meeting yesterday.  Do you want to say anything to the peons?”

Marty chuckled.  “The peons have a right to know what’s going on.  I think we should tell them.”

“I’ll ask them to assemble in the conference room.”

“Good.  We’ll go in together in about ten minutes.  I’d like to speak first if that’s okay.”

Brian tipped his head in agreement.  “That will be an interesting meeting.”

“I agree.  I can hardly wait.”

Brian turned his chair to leave the office.  “Brian?”

“Yes?”

Marty held out his hand.  Brian took it and they shook heartily, friends, colleagues, the past and the future.

“I’m glad it’s you,” Marty said as he released Brian’s hand.

“I’m glad too.”


*****


Brian went back to his office where he was joined by Cynthia who insisted on hugging him.  Then he kicked her out and got on the computer.  He knew he could call Justin, but he suspected that his lover would be waiting by the computer as that had been the method of communication that had brought them together.

PP: I now own an advertising agency.  Chill that champagne for when I get home.

Brian hit send and didn’t have long to wait until a message appeared.

BB: Way to go!  That power pecker of yours is hitting on all cylinders.  I’ve got our celebration all planned.

PP: I knew there was a reason I kept you around.  I have to go tell the serfs that the lord of their manor has just changed.  I’ll be home early.

Brian didn’t wait for Justin’s reply.  He wanted to make his entrance with Marty Ryder.  Cynthia would have rounded everyone up for them.  He closed his computer and headed out the door … to the new future that waited him as the owner of the Ryder Advertising Agency.