Chapter Six

Val groped blindly toward the source of the blaring sound that woke him. He found his cell phone on the dresser and, eyes shut, silenced the alarm.

Rolling over onto his back, he laid there for a few minutes, not quite awake but no longer asleep. Finally, he summoned the will to sit up and open his eyes.

The room was still dark; the sun wouldn’t rise for another two hours. He switched on the bedside lamp and instinctively raised a hand to shield himself from its brightness.

After a few moments, he reached again for his phone, this time to check emails. As expected, messages had come in overnight from the Israelis. Their workday had started over four hours ago.

There were three emails this morning—one was from Yaakov Goldman, the GC of FiberTech and one of Val’s closest contacts at the company, and the other two were from Gideon Krantz, the president and CEO of FiberTech.

He read Yaakov’s email first, which was short and blunt:

What the hell is going on, Val? Krantz called me into his office and said that a key member of your team just quit to go work for Pierce. Give me a call when you can.

The emails from Gideon Krantz were a little more formal:

Dear Val,

Hope all is well. I received a voice message from Michael Elburrow of Pierce Industries last night. He said that Kurt Donovan is leaving your company and going to work for Pierce. Is this true, or is it just a ploy by Pierce to disrupt the progress of our deal? Perhaps a telephone conference is in order? Let me know your availability.

Regards, Gideon

Gideon’s second email, sent only an hour later, was even more to the point:

Val,

Let’s talk when you get into the office on Tuesday. 9 a.m. your time works for me.

Gideon

Val had known he would need to tell FiberTech what happened with Kurt today, but he hadn’t expected Pierce would be so bold as to call FiberTech and tell them Kurt was making the switch the same day Kurt gave his notice. Bastards.

He responded to Gideon’s second email and then Yaakov’s email, then got dressed and ready to go to work.

Val’s throat was noticeably less sore than the previous morning, but he stopped at the grocery store on the way to work to pick up a box of mint green tea anyway. Who knew how his throat would feel as the day wore on? Plus, the stuff Alex had given him the day before actually hadn’t tasted half bad.

He was in the office by seven, well before anyone else. Val preferred at least an hour of peace and quiet in the morning to finish the tasks left undone the night before.

The first thing he did was to call Yaakov Goldman to get the inside scoop on what was going on. According to Yaakov, who, to his credit, was very candid with Val, Gideon Krantz was more than a little disturbed that Kurt Donovan was no longer working for Val. In fact, Gideon was questioning the whole deal. Apparently, Gideon was under the impression that Kurt Donovan was the heart and soul of the engineering operations at Span Global and that without him, the product would fall apart.

“You know that’s not true, right, Yaakov?”

“Yeah, Val, I know that, but this is Krantz we’re talking about.”

“Kurt wasn’t even part of the deal. He wasn’t going to go over to FiberTech after the sale.”

He could hear Yaakov sigh on the other end of the line. “I think he was planning to talk to you about that.”

So, the whole value of his company was tied to one guy, and that one guy had decided to quit yesterday. Val could feel his blood pressure rising.

“You know Pierce’s products are crap, Yaakov. Their technology is at least a generation behind ours, and they hold half as many patents as we do. We have more experience with fiber optics, we use better materials, and we have better contacts with vendors and customers. I don’t understand how Kurt is even a consideration. This is not a one-man show. It never has been. Was he good, yes, but we’ve got twenty other engineers who are just as good. Gideon just hasn’t met them.”

Yaakov was sympathetic and at least outwardly agreed that Kurt’s leaving shouldn’t affect the deal. But then there was the reality of human psychology and perception. There was the reality of Gideon Krantz, and in the end, it was Gideon’s recommendation that would be relied upon when FiberTech’s board of directors voted on whether to sign off on the deal.

“What if I came and met with Gideon in person? Would that help?”

Yaakov was silent for a moment as he considered Val’s proposal.

“Yes, Val. Yes, I think that might help. But bring someone with you. Someone who can make a good impression on Krantz. Someone he can trust.”

Someone he could fall in love with more than he was obviously in love with Kurt Donovan, Val added silently as he finished the conversation with Yaakov.

At nine o’clock, Val got the call from Gideon Krantz. Gideon was pleasant enough on the phone, but it was obvious the man was concerned. Val explained the capabilities of his engineering team and the superiority of their optoelectronic components, trying to impress upon FiberTech’s CEO that Kurt’s departure had not diminished the value of the company. Gideon listened patiently and asked questions, and Val answered as well as he possibly could.

At the end of the conversation, Val offered to come to Israel to meet with Gideon and answer any other questions, and Gideon seemed receptive to the suggestion.

“When can you come?” asked Gideon. “Your holidays start tomorrow, don’t they?”

“Yes,” replied Val. “Our office is closed at noon tomorrow for Christmas Eve, then all day Thursday and Friday. But we can fly out Friday night and be in Israel Saturday afternoon your time, if we can get the same flight through Munich that we took the last time we came. Are you available to meet on Sunday at your Tel Aviv office? Perhaps we can take you and Ayala, and Yaakov and his wife, Mara, to dinner Sunday night, as well. Would that work for you?”

Gideon thought for a moment before answering. “Yes, I believe so. I will check with Ayala and confirm, but I think that would work out. Who will you be bringing with you?”

Now it was Val’s turn to think. He had to bring someone who would appeal to Gideon, someone Gideon could trust. Val quickly ran through the list of senior engineers in his head to see who might fit the criteria, but none of them seemed to stand out. Could it be that Kurt really was the only one on his staff who could bridge the gap between technical aptitude and social grace?

Alex Weaver. Her résumé, and if Val was being totally honest, her face, came immediately to mind. He had read through Ms. Weaver’s résumé again the night before and had been pleasantly surprised the see that she held an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering. True, she only worked as an engineer for a couple of years before going to law school and knew very little about his company, having been there for only just over a week, but her combined engineering and legal training was a major benefit. Her acumen for languages would likely prove useful, as well. If Val wasn’t mistaken, Gideon grew up in France, and there was no faster way to trusting someone than hearing them speak in your native tongue. All those qualities, coupled with charm, personality, and work ethic, made Alex seem like the obvious choice.

“I have someone in mind, but I need to make sure she would be available, it being the holidays and all.”

“A woman?” said Gideon. “My wife will like that.”

Ten points for Span Global, thought Val, smiling.

After finishing up with Gideon, Val immediately went out to talk to Judy.

“Judy, can you check on flights to Tel Aviv leaving on Friday and arriving there on Saturday? Try to see if we can get the one through Munich. Two tickets, coming back Monday or Tuesday, at the latest. See what’s available. Please.”

“Sure thing, hon. Emergency meeting with FiberTech?”

“Yes. Let’s see if we can’t salvage this thing.”

Judy finished taking notes on the flights and looked up at him. “Who are you taking?”

Val hesitated for a moment, wondering how it would look to others that his newest, least experienced, and most attractive female employee would be accompanying him. “Alex Weaver. I have to see if she’s available, though. It’s not exactly the best time of year for a spur-of-the-moment business trip.”

“Good choice.” Her response surprised him. “She’ll make a great impression, and that’s what you need right now, in my humble opinion.”

“We’ll see,” replied Val, secretly relieved to have Judy’s approval.

Val went down the hall, past the break room, to Alex’s closet-like office, which was unoccupied at the moment. Val sighed. His employee’s habit of not being around when he needed her was starting to get old.

He walked down the hall to Records, hoping she would be there.

“Records” consisted of an interior maze of narrow hallways created by rows of tall metal shelves, upon which were stored boxes upon boxes of documents, some of them dating back to the creation of the company eleven years ago. Val couldn’t help feeling sorry for the enormity of the task Alex had been hired to handle.

He spotted her a few rows in, standing on a step stool, reaching over her head to the top row and trying to ease a box off its dusty shelf. The pencil-length dark purple skirt and matching silk blouse Alex wore flattered her fine figure, or perhaps it was the other way around.

Val cleared his throat. “Can I help you with that?”

She spun around to look at him, eyes wide as the step stool wobbled beneath her. “Oh my gosh, you scared the crap out of me. Again. You’re like a ninja or something.”

He laughed. “Not really. It’s just these sound-dampening carpets we have.”

Abandoning the stubborn box, she stepped down to ground level, smiling at Val. “Were you looking for me?”

“Yes.” At that moment, Val couldn’t help noticing how unconcerned he felt about the very serious issues his company faced.

“How can I help?”

“First, let me help you. Do you need to get that box down?”

Alex nodded. “Tax records from 2015.”

She moved aside as he got up onto the step stool and brought down the heavy box of papers. “We should have gone paperless years ago, but everyone is so against it. It’s just difficult to get people on board with such a new and different process, you know?”

Smiling in agreement, Alex took the box from him and set it down on the ground. Then she looked back over at Val, waiting patiently to hear the purpose of his visit.

“So,” he began, “this thing with FiberTech is coming to a head. They’re being courted by Pierce, Kurt’s new company, and FiberTech’s CEO is concerned that Kurt’s leaving here is an indication that we’ve got some fundamental problems, that he shouldn’t buy us.”

Head already shaking and eyebrows drawn together in annoyance, Alex put her hands on her hips and huffed. “Figures. That’s exactly what Pierce wants.”

The fact that this whole thing pissed her off was unbelievably gratifying.

“What are you going to do?” she asked.

“I’m going to go meet with him, the CEO. In Israel.”

“That’s a good idea. People like it when you go out of your way to make them feel important. And Israel is pretty out of your way.”

Taking a quiet breath, Val got to the point of his visit. “I’d like you to come with me.”

Alex just stared at him, her lips parted slightly. He imagined that if she were a cartoon, her jaw would be stretched down to the ground and her eyes would be popping out of her head.

“Why me?” she asked bluntly.

Val sighed. “Because you have an engineering degree—”

“I never worked more than a couple of summers as an intern doing that, and my job before law school can hardly count as a real engineering position,” she countered.

“I know, but you have other skills I think would be useful, and I think you’ll make a good impression. You’ve got both legal and business training, in addition to your engineering degree. You also speak French, and the CEO is a French native. Plus, you’re well-spoken, you can think on your feet, and you know how to make people feel at ease.”

“You know all these things after meeting me just yesterday?”

“Half of it is on your résumé, and the other half isn’t too hard to figure out.”

She smiled, blushing slightly.

“The problem is,” Val continued, “we would have to fly to Israel on Friday afternoon, the day after Christmas. I don’t know what your plans were for the holidays, but I’m sure they didn’t include international travel.”

She thought for a moment. “The timing won’t be a problem. My boyfriend’s folks live half an hour away, so that’s as much traveling as we had planned on doing. I have a valid passport. Do we need a visa or anything like that?”

“No. A passport is all we need. I’m glad you have one. That would have thrown a wrench in the works.”

“I can take a stack of your vendor and customer contracts with me and summarize those on the plane and in our downtime,” she thought out loud. “I think I can still finish everything by the deadline. When are we coming back?”

“Monday or Tuesday. Judy’s checking on the flights now. So, does that mean you can come?”

She smiled again. “Yes. I’m glad I can help. I’ve always wanted to make use of my French. And I can pretend to be an engineer for a couple of days. Plus, I’ve never been to Israel before, or anywhere in that region.” Pausing briefly, she added, “Is it safe?”

At this, Val hesitated. “It’s not the U.S., but it’s not a war zone, either. There are some parts we’ll want to stay away from, but we won’t be near those areas, anyway. We’ll probably stay at the Ritz-Carlton in Herzliya, which is less than twenty minutes away from FiberTech’s offices in Tel-Aviv. Herzliya is a small beach town. It’s quiet and tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the city. I think it’s better than staying in Tel-Aviv. And the Ritz is relatively new and very nice. You’ll like it.”

“Sounds like a vacation, not work,” she said, tucking an errant lock of hair behind her ear.

“It’ll be work,” Val assured her, “but there’s no reason why we can’t try to enjoy ourselves while we’re out there. I’ll have Judy send you your itinerary once everything’s all settled. Where do you live?”

“On the south side of the city, about five miles out, in a townhouse.”

“I can come by and pick you up so we can ride to the airport together, if that’s all right with you.”

Alex nodded. “You did a pretty decent job driving me to the parking lot last night, so I’m okay with that.”

He laughed. “Good. It’ll be easier that way, I think. Thanks for agreeing to this on such short notice. I really do appreciate it.”

“I know,” she replied, softly. “You don’t have to keep thanking me. I just hope it all works out.”

“We’ll give it our best shot. That’s all we can do.”

Val tried not to grin as he turned to make his way out of the labyrinth of shelves and into the hallway to head back to his office. To take his thoughts away from his traveling companion’s captivating looks and sweet disposition, Val began listing in his mind all the tasks yet to be accomplished. Sufficiently sobered, he sighed.

There was a lot to do before Christmas.

****

Alex had a lot to do before Christmas if she was going to be flying halfway around the globe to Israel on Friday.

She knew she was grinning like an idiot carrying the box Val had retrieved back to her office, but she couldn’t help it. He’d asked her to go with him. The fate of the company was in the balance, and of all the employees at his disposal, he had asked her. It was unbelievable.

Entering her cramped office, Alex set the box down on a pile of papers at the corner of her desk and sat down. After absently staring at the darkened computer screen for a few moments, she reached for the phone. She was about to dial Billy’s office line when she reconsidered.

How would Billy react to her agreeing to travel to Israel the day after Christmas with a man she barely knew? Billy had been none too pleased with her staying late at the office the night before. She doubted he would take this news any better.

Putting the phone down slowly, Alex logged back onto her computer. She would send Billy an email and see if he could spare a half hour for lunch. It would be easier to explain the situation in person. That way, Billy would see how excited she was to be doing something useful, to be contributing at work, and it would offset any negative feelings he might otherwise have about being left alone in their townhouse for a few days or Val’s intentions.

Everything would be fine.