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Josh nodded, fingering the check more seriously now. “Funny,” he said, letting it fall back to the table as he admired the magnificent sunset outside their floor to ceiling window. “And I thought you brought me here for the view.”
“Well,” Rahm said, trying to keep the boredom out of his voice. “That too.”
“Are you a music fan?” Josh asked, turning back to him.
“Not really,” Rahm confessed with an absent shrug. “But I’m a fan of opportunity, and the more I read up on your company, the more opportunity I saw for you, for myself, and acts like this one…” They both admired the trio, three older gentleman in tuxedos.
Josh chuckled. “We typically deal in younger, more mainstream acts,” he confessed.
“Then you’re denying yourself opportunity, Mr. Seigel,” Rahm said, eyes narrowing across the candlelit table. “The world is as old as it is young, and to limit your older audience is to cut profits in half.”
Josh sat back, nodding as if impressed. For once, Rahm couldn’t blame him. In the 48-hours since Carly had seduced him – he could think of no better word for what had happened that savory, sultry night – Rahm had spent the time alternately waiting for her to call and assuring himself he’d been had.
As the minutes ticked into hours and the hours to mornings, afternoons and evenings – two full cycles of them – his curiosity turned to impatience, his impatience to frustration and his frustration into determination.
Revisiting the SoundCloud account, the one Carly had clearly made her next acquisition, Rahm grew more and more determined to get back at her by stealing it from her. For two straight days he poured over every bit of intel he could get his hands on, from internet searches to technology magazines, to stock market analysis to profiles of the company’s founder and CEO, young Josh Siegel. For once, he had done his homework. For once, he had found a reason for his own company, Platinum Dunes, to scoop it off the market. And, for once, he could have cared less.
All he wanted was for Carly to walk through that door, green eyes fiery with determination, red hair flowing, high heels clattering on the marble floors, eager to “negotiate” one more time. Instead Josh merely picked up the check with one hand, winked and offered the other hand in agreement.
“Sounds like the company will be in good hands, Mr. Farzik.”
“Please,” said Rahm, voice smooth as his silken shirt as he reached for Josh’s grip with one hand and waved the photographer he’d hired over with the other. “Call me Rahm.”
Fifteen
“That son of a bitch!”
Carly glared at the computer monitor where a beaming Rahm sat, shoulder to shoulder, with Josh Siegel. Her Josh Siegel, the one she’d been courting for at least two straight weeks. She stood in her office, pacing between leaning down at her desk to peer at the front page of TechnoTimes.com, where she’d just read the news that Rahm had bought SoundCloud for a staggering $27 million.
Her valuation of the company was far less, of course, as was her offer of $4.3 million. The one Josh said he was “seriously considering”. The one they’d been scheduled to talk about at their meeting in less than an hour. She stood in her lucky suit – black pinstripe slacks, high at the waist to match her silken white blouse and pencil thin grey jacket – and peered out the floor to ceiling windows at the ocean two blocks away.
“Son of a bitch!”
Clenching and unclenching her fists, Carly approached her desk once more. Pressing the speaker button on her phone, she pounded out Josh Siegel’s private line and was surprised when he actually picked up. “Carly,” he said, voice cocky and full of $27 million worth of bravado. “How nice to hear from you.”
She counted to ten before replying, deciding that rather than ranting and raving, playing it dumb was to her strategic advantage. “Yes, well, I’m looking forward to our lunch date at Cicero’s within the hour. Are we still on?”
There was a slight pause before Josh replied, voice tinged with disbelief. “Are… are you serious?”
“Absolutely!” Carly cried, enjoying the game as she peered out at the crystal blue Atlantic Ocean just down the street. “I hear the antipasto is to die for!”
Her declaration was followed by a long pause. “Haven’t… haven’t you read the trades this morning?”
“Why no,” she lied, laying it on thicker than ever. “I got to the office late this morning and just walked in. Is there… something I should know?”
There was a smattering of paper and the clicking of a pen, as if she’d caught Josh in the middle of something. “Well, actually,” he hemmed, as if deciding how best to break the news. “I got a better offer from Platinum Dunes.”
Despite already knowing all of the above, hearing the words hit Carly like a sucker punch. She sank into her leather chair, turning toward her desk and clicking the monitor off to avoid seeing Rahm’s beaming smile. “Is that so?”
“Carly, I know we’d been in discussions all week, but… their offer was incredible. Like, too good to pass up.”
“What about his plans for the company, Josh?” Carly huffed before thinking clearly. “What could Rahm offer you that I couldn’t.”
“Rahm?” Josh chuckled. “You… know Mr. Farzik?”
Intimately, Carly wanted to blurt, but kept her cool. “Who in South Beach doesn’t?” she said instead, recovering slightly from her earlier outburst. “I thought we were discussing logistics that would appeal to your Millennial demographic?”
“We were,” Josh confessed, his impatience growing. “But Rahm brought an even older, even larger audience to the table that you simply didn’t seem to understand.”
