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“Apparently it wasn’t that much of a stretch for him, Noah, given you two had a recent meeting.” She braced herself on his desk with stiff arms and leaned toward him, her eyes flashing. “What meeting is he talking about, Noah? And why wasn’t I informed of it? What meeting?”
He stood up and came around the desk. “Maris, kindly calm down.”
“Don’t tell me to calm down.”
“All right, then, I’m asking you to. Please.”
He reached out to take her by the shoulders, but she backed away and slung off his extended hands.
“Would you like a glass of water?”
“I would like an explanation,” she said, enunciating each word. “You know how Dad and I feel about conglomerates like WorldView.”
“I share your opinion.” He hiked his hip over the corner of his desk and placidly folded his hands on his thigh, although he would have liked to wrap them around her slender neck. “That’s why I agreed to the meeting with WorldView.”
She shook her head in disbelief, as though up until that time she had been clinging to the hope that Blume was lying. “You met with those jackals? You actually did? Behind my back and without my knowledge?”
Noah sighed and gave her a pained look. “Yes, I met with them. But before you go into orbit, can you be reasonable and give me an opportunity to explain?” He took her fuming silence for permission to continue.
“Blume’s flunkies had been hounding me for months. They called until I stopped taking or returning their calls. With no regard for that blatant hint, they began faxing me until I got tired of throwing the damn things away.
“They made nuisances of themselves until I determined that the most expedient way to handle the situation was to attend a meeting and tell Blume to his baby’s-ass face that we were not interested in anything he had to offer by way of a merger. Period. End of discussion. I don’t think I could have made our position any clearer. I didn’t tell you about it because you were extremely busy and didn’t need any additional stress.”
“I’m always busy.”
“The meeting was inconsequential.”
“I hardly think so.”
“And, frankly,” he said, “I anticipated that you would react emotionally rather than rationally. I predicted that you would fly off the handle and lose all perspective. I hoped to avoid a scene such as this.”
“This isn’t a scene, Noah. This is a private conversation between husband and wife, between business partners. Two relationships that should come with an implied trust.”
“Exactly,” he said, raising his voice to match the level of hers. “Which is why I’m amazed, both as your husband and your business partner, by your apparent lack of trust in me.”
“Chalk it up to my reacting emotionally, flying off the handle, and going into orbit!”
“Which are fair analogies, Maris. You came barging in here and practically accused me of treason against Matherly Press.”
“At the very least you consorted with the enemy!”
A knock on the door brought them around. Daniel was standing on the threshold, leaning heavily on his cane. “I’m exercising one privilege of old age, which is to intrude when uninvited.”
Noah shot his cuffs.
“Of course you’re welcome, Daniel. Maris has just returned from lunch. We were having a discussion about—”
“I heard. From all the way down the hall.” Daniel came in and closed the door. “Maris is upset about the meeting you had with WorldView.”
She reacted with a start. “You knew about it?”
“Noah told me of his decision to meet with them. I thought it was a sound idea and was glad he was going instead of me. I don’t think I could have stomached it.”
“Why wasn’t I informed?”
She addressed the question to both of them, but Noah answered. “You were leaving for Georgia. Daniel and I could see how excited you were about this project and were afraid that if you knew about WorldView you’d change your plans. There was no reason to bother you with it.”
“I’m not a child.” She glowered at him, then at Daniel.
