Free Annihilate Me 2: Vol. 1 by Christina Ross Page A

I
might have bought a few new baubles.”
    “You deserve it all.”
    “Are you sure you want to go out
tonight, Alex?   I’m worried sick
about you.   You look tired.”
    “I just need to drink this martini,
close my eyes for a good hour, and take a hot shower.   Then, I’ll be ready to go.   Promise.”
    “Earlier, you said that you wanted
to discuss a few things with me.”
    “I do.   The board demanded a second meeting
after the stock started to slide,” he said.
    “Ann told me.   What did they want?”
    “Answers.   Solutions.   We’re now down over two billion in
market share.   Today, Stephen Rowe
was the most aggressive he’s ever been.   Of course he was—he was the one who demanded the meeting.   He challenged me on every decision I’d
made leading up to this day.”
    “What does he want from you, Alex?”
    “My job.”
    “How did the other board members
react to that meeting?”
    “Those who have been with Wenn for
years—the men my father brought on board—said nothing.   They just listened to Rowe and his
rant.   The other two board members I
brought on myself—Mike Fine and Diana Crane—also were mostly silent,
though they did have some questions for me, none of which were as hardcore as
Rowe’s.   What they want is a quick
fix, but I can’t offer them one.   I
may have voting rights, but if the pressure builds for me to step down—and
if the board demands it—I might have no choice.   Rowe would go public with that
information.   He’d use it pressure
me, and our investors would likely agree with him.   With this phone, I may have made a grave
mistake, Jennifer.”
    “We’ve sold over two million
units.   Wenn is nothing if not
diversified.   I’m sure you talked to
the press about all of that today.   So, what’s the issue here?”
    “The numbers,” he said.   “It always comes down to the
numbers.   We’ve lost a hell of a lot
of money.   Nobody can seem to get past
that—especially Rowe.   He’s
out for blood.”
    “Numbers rebound.   Even if he’s against you, the rest of
the board knows that.   Already, some
are starting to call Wenn a ‘buy’ at this point.   By the end of the week, this could be
behind you.”
    He looked at me.   “What if it isn’t?”
    “Historically, it can take
time.   But even the hardest hit
corporations have risen to new heights just when it looked as if they’d reached
new lows.   Look at Apple, for God’s
sake.   Do you remember when they
were trading at just seven dollars a share?   That wasn’t so long ago.   And then came the iPod.   And then the iPhone.   And finally the iPad .   Now, they’re trading at about
one-hundred-fifty dollars per share.   And they’re hardly alone—many other corporations have gone through
the same growing pains.   Why isn’t
this just being treated for what it is—a temporary situation?”
    “Because Rowe wants me out.   I’m convinced that he does.   If he goes public with his concerns
about my leadership, I could be finished, regardless of my voting rights.   Everything my father and I have built
will fall apart.   To save that
legacy, I’ll need to do the right thing and step down.”
    “I’m going to ask you something.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Will you do me that favor
tonight?”
    “Which favor?”
    “Introduce me to Rowe.   And to the rest of them.”
    “Why?” he asked.
    I took a sip of my martini, and
felt a slow boil start to grow in my gut.   Nobody did this to the man I loved—at least not if I could do
anything about it.   And if I was
lucky, if I could do what I had in mind, I might be able to get in front of
this and turn things around in Alex’s favor.   But I’d need to be clever about it.   I’d need to choose my moment, and act
upon it with sheer aggression.   I’d
need to be at my very best if I was going to pull any of this off.  
    “You’ll see,” I said.

 

 
 
 
 
    CHAPTER EIGHT

 
    Later that