Page 49 of Without Regret

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

Trevor

Although today was a work day and the first one on this acquisition job, I couldn’t help thinking about yesterday as I drove to the office building. There’d been something insanely hot about Emma on my motorcycle with me. Having her thighs grip mine and her center up against my ass and her arms around me. But it had been her laughter which stayed with me, even this morning. I’d taken her on a winding road leading up through horse country before reluctantly returning her back to the hotel.

She’d had work to do with Simon coming into town and had to go. But I’d had the pleasure of her grin, exclusive for me, along with a heartfelt thank you for taking her on the ride. I’d promised to take her out again this upcoming weekend.

Today was the day we met with the owner of Big Town Fantasy Sports, Peter Briggs, to find out what he was looking to do with his company. We knew he wanted to sell; the question was the price and what to do with the employees.

Peter was twenty-five years old and a Cal Poly graduate with a programming degree. He’d started this company three years ago, and it now had a valuation of one point eight million. At eleven o’clock he walked into the conference room where I was standing with Simon, Tom, and Emma. My first observation was that the guy had man-lights—my word for male high lights. I tried not to hold that against the him. Unfortunately, it only took him opening his mouth to cement my poor first impression.

“So, gentlemen and hot-looking lady, what kind of deal do you have for me?”

Luckily, Simon was the one who spoke up as we all took seats at the table. “That depends a lot on you, Mr. Briggs.”

“The valuation is for two million.”

“One point eight, actually,” Tom provided.

Peter grinned. “I rounded up. Sue me.”

Turns out Peter Briggs was a bit of a dick.

Simon merely moved forward. “Mr. Briggs, we’ll need to go through your financials and conduct our own audit in order to evaluate whether we wish to purchase. Do you have a financial director or controller who can help us with the numbers?”

“Yep. That’s me. I’ll get you what you need. Seeing as most of the employees can be let go, it’s really just me you’re dealing with and my software you’re buying.”

My fist formed under the table. He had forty-two employees, and it was clear he didn’t give a shit about any of them.

“Don’t you have tech people who work on the software and provide support?” I queried. The majority of his staff was just that, with the rest made up of a few people who did marketing, accounting, and HR.

“I do. However, it’s not my company for sale. Just the software.”

I was confused. “So you’re keeping your staff?”

“Only three of my programmers. You may want to keep the support staff of seven, but everyone else can go. Or you can keep them. Up to you. But you’re smart businessmen, so it makes sense to buy the software and absorb it into the large infrastructure of the Stone Group.”

He wasn’t wrong. Phillip and the Stone Group had two other large software companies, neither of which dabbled in online gaming. They could pivot and perhaps start supporting this new software if we bought it.

He continued to talk. “At any rate, I’ve already spoken with Phillip about the burden of letting people go. It’s to be your problem, not mine. Which is good. I couldn’t face someone with tears and shit.”

Since the task of informing each of these people they’d be without a job would end up falling to me, I had to avoid speaking. My words for him would not be professional.

“In that case, we’ll need to talk severance packages,” Simon said, not giving away his feelings on the matter.

Peter wrinkled his nose. “I want the minimum. Nothing, if I can get away with it. Under Texas law, I don’t need to give any notice as I’m not a big enough company.”

Now I saw Simon’s eyes narrow.

I had to speak up. “We have a company standard at the Stone Group. Although employees losing their jobs is sometimes a necessity with a purchase, we require our buyers to give a minimum of two weeks’ severance pay. Also, you’ll need to account for paying out accrued vacation. Of course, all of that is contingent on the review of the employee contracts to see if something else was spelled out.”

He heaved an exasperated breath as if he’d simply noticed a scuff on his shoe. What a prick.

“Let’s hope the attorney who helped me draw up those contracts didn’t screw me. Luckily, Texas is favorable to the employer, so here’s hoping.”

We discussed a few more logistics and gave Peter a list of items we’d need for the financial audit.

He glanced it over quickly. “Am I working with you on this?” He posed the question to Emma.

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