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Amber
Part of me didn’t want to go to work the next morning, but when I checked my work calendar after waking up, I saw that a company-wide meeting had been scheduled for first-thing that morning. The meeting notes were vague, but it mentioned how attendance was mandatory because an important vote would be held.
If the Hindenburg is going to crash, I might as well be there to see it,I thought as I got ready for work. It was a melodramatic analogy, comparing a deadly crash to a corporate acquisition that would make me a very rich woman, but I couldn’t shake the dread that something terrible was happening today.
On the CalTrain to work, a thought came to me. Furio owned forty-five percent of the company. So did Jude and Owen, combined. The remaining ten percent was owned by the employees. That ten percent could be the deciding factor.
If the employees vote no, then the sale fails!
I walked into the office with a candle’s worth of hope. The building was already more full than it ever was. No conference room was large enough for the nearly two hundred employees that now worked at ACS, so it was held in the big, open room between the stairs and the kitchen. Lots of people stood around in the space, chatting excitedly. Even more crowded around the balcony on the second floor, overlooking the big space.
I found Nancy, first. “Can you believe it?” she said. “I spent all night reading the offer letter.”
“I know, it’s awful,” I said. “I’m shocked they want us to step down. I won’t do it.”
Nancy barked a laugh. “For the severance package they offered? They can have whatever they want. Dave and I can take a cruise around the world for ayear.”
I winced, and moved on to Will Crawley. “What do you think about this? It’s a pretty embarrassing offer, right?”
He frowned at me. “Um. I don’t know. It seems like a lot.”
“But they’re lowballing us!” I insisted. “We’ll make a lot more when we go public.”
“Our stock options are restricted, boss. We can’t exercise them for a period of three years. But with this buyout, we get paidimmediately. That’s a good deal to me. I have a lot of stock.” He cocked his head at me. “You’ve been here longer than I have. You aren’t happy with how much you’ll walk away with?”
“I’m not happy with things changing,” I said weakly.
“Things are always going to change,” he said. “At least this is a change for the better, right?”
Will Won had a similar opinion. So did Sarah, and Burton. Andy thought I was making a joke when I suggested voting no. “Are you fooling me, Ms. Moltisanti? I’d vote yes even if this was atenthof the amount! I’m gonna buy a boat!”
I was feeling dejected about the vote when I found Melinda over by the stairs. She was leaning against the railing and twirling a pen between her fingers.
“You voting yes too?” I asked bluntly.
“Of course,” she said. “I have as many shares as you do. I don’t need the money, but it will be nice to taunt my boyfriend with.” She let out a weary laugh.
I laughed with her, but I didn’t understand her joke. Last I had heard, her boyfriend was unemployed. What kind of person flaunted such a huge amount of money to their out-of-work partner?
I looked around the room at all the happy, eager faces. The vote would certainly go Furio’s way. And I was a fool for thinking it might ever be any different.
They don’t care whether they work for Owen and Jude, or some Google executive. And honestly, I couldn’t blame them. I might feel the same way if I wasn’t sleeping with the bosses.
My throat tightened up, but I clenched my jaw to stop myself from tearing up. I wouldn’t cry in front of everyone. Everything else was falling down today, but I could retain my dignity.
All the chatter and individual discussions faded away and a hushed silence came over the huge room as Furio, Jude, and Owen walked inside. There was a man with a leather briefcase with them, one of the lawyers the company had on retainer.
“Good morning!” Owen said, raising his voice to address the entire room. Today he was wearing a shirt and tie rather than jeans and a T-shirt. He looked every inch the leader. “By now, all of you have hopefully read the email with the details of this vote.”
“Hell yeah we have!” someone shouted from the balcony above. A few other people added their voices to the cheer. Owen laughed and patted the air to calm the room.
“It’s a good deal,” he said. “What they’re offering is a fair price. Every man and woman in this room owns a stake in this company, so you have a lot to gain from this potential acquisition. Mr. Albacor will explain the rest.”
The lawyer began to address the room, but Jude stepped up before he could.
“I just want to say one thing,” Jude announced. His voice wasn’t as naturally loud as Owen’s, but it was every bit as passionate. “Whichever way this vote goes, it’s a massive success for everyone in this room. That a company like Alphabet wants to acquire us is a testament to all of your hard work, whether you’ve been here six months or six days. Voting yes, and agreeing to the sale, makes a lot of sense for everyone.
“But,” he said, glancing at me for a split second, “if the vote fails? I want each and every one of you to know that Owen and I will work our asses off to make this company the best version of itself it can be. So that if we eventually go public,whenwe eventually go public, we’ll make so much money that some of you will have to buy second homes just to store all of it!”
