Free Out of control by John Dysart Page B

your company twenty four hours a day for two weeks if I understood your phone call correctly.”
    “Ten days,” I corrected her.
    “That sounds a bit more reasonable. I’m not sure I could last a full two weeks.”
    She was grinning and her eyes were twinkling mischievously. She got up and came over to sit and snuggle up beside me on the sofa. Her head dropped onto my shoulder. There are sometimes things that are more easily said or discussed when two people are not looking directly at each other.
    From down below my left ear I heard her soft voice.
    “And what put this idea into your head?”
    “Pierre actually, believe it or not,” I replied.
    “Pierre suggested we go on a cruise to Norway?”
    “Not exactly. Pierre, in the role of older brother, told me that I should make up my mind soon where you and I are going. He suggested that just seeing each other occasionally was perhaps not being fair to you.”
    She snuggled closer.
    “And….?”
    “And so I said to myself that we wouldn’t broach the topic at all this weekend but perhaps a ten day cruise would be nice.”
    “You’re a bloody great coward, Bob Bruce.”
    “True.”
    There was quiet for a few moments and then she said,
    “So Pierre thinks we should decide where we’re going?”
    She put her hand on my knee for a few seconds then lifted it up and with two fingers started walking north up my thigh.
    She looked up with a grin. “But I know where we’re going.”
    “Do you?” I said with a certain nervousness.
    Her fingers reached their objective, lingered there for a few seconds then she started to get up.
    “Yep! To bed. Come on. We’re too old for the rug in front of the fire.”
    *
    It wasn’t long after breakfast the next morning when Helen Mackie called.
    “Mr. Bruce?”
    “Yes.”
    “Helen Mackie here. I’m sorry to disturb you but have you a moment?”
    Her voice was softer than the last time we had spoken - almost apologetic. I told her to go ahead.
    “First of all I wanted to apologise for being a bit short and unfriendly at our last meeting but I hope you can understand that I was pretty upset at the time.”
    “That’s alright. What can I do for you?”
    “Mr. Bruce, this is perhaps a bit of an imposition but perhaps I can explain.”
    I waited for her to continue.
    “I’m a scientist and a bit naïve in the world of finance. When my partner and I started Bioscope and I was trying to raise money I met a very helpful man at Albion Venture Capital, one of our investors, who I’ve been able to turn to whenever I needed advice but he has now left the company and something has happened that I’m puzzled by and not at all happy about.
    “Because you told me that you had been a finance man I made a few enquiries and the feedback that I got was very positive so I thought I’d take the risk and call you to see if, in spite of what has happened, we might possibly meet and discuss my problem. I know it’s an imposition and I’d understand if you said ‘No’, but I’d like to ask your advice about what I should do.”
    Being naturally curious I asked her what had happened.
    “Albion has been approached by M. Dugain of LyonPharma with an offer to buy their shares in Bioscope.”
    “Good heavens. That seems a bit strange.”
    “I know. I agree. And as you know what happened I thought I’d call you.”
    What could be the reason behind that? It didn’t seem to make much sense at first. However, I’d think about that later. More important was the reaction of the Venture Capital company.
    “What did Albion reply?”
    “Well, as I told you, the man I’ve been used to dealing with and who knew the company from the beginning has left the company and a new man has taken over his portfolio. He told me that the price offered represented a decent return for them and, bearing in mind that we had missed out on our patent application, he thought he would be recommending to his board to accept the offer.”
    “What percentage of the