âOY GEVEH!â Saul Karsh muttered before lighting the end of his cigar, the kind for which the Club Macanudo on the upper east side of Manhattan was famous. âYouâre mishega!â
âActually, Iâve never been more sane,â Gabe Corbin countered. He should have sold his company two years earlier. âAside from Sam Poon whoâs already acting CEO, youâre the first person Iâve told in case you want to buy me out. That gives you five days before I approach anyone else.â
âWhatâs the hurry? Youâre only thirty-six!â
âIn my case thatâs already too old.â
When Saul could see that Gabe wasnât about to enlighten him, he took a few more puffs on his cigar before he spoke. âIf youâre selling a billion-dollar company thatâs been operating in the black for years and is growing every day, then your reason must be personal.â A hint of alarm entered his eyes. âYouâre not dying are you?â
âOf a disease? No.â Gabe finished off the rest of his drink. âSend your people around tomorrow if you want to see the books. Phil Rosenâs my chief accountant. Heâll show you everything.
âTry to make a decision before Monday. By then Iâll be gone and youâll be dealing with Sam.â
Saul, the CEO of Karsh Technologies Inc., dealt in twenty-first century computers used for medical research and the Space program. The acquisition of Corbinâs Business PCâs would give him another playing field altogether, one heâd wanted for quite a while if Gabeâs source was right.
Saul was tough and aggressive, but Gabe knew of his reputation for fair business ethics. Of the five American entrepreneurs in the country who could buy Gabe out, he trusted Saul to be good to the employees and keep the company going in the right direction.
They stared at each other. Finally Saul muttered, âStan Abrams and his team will be there at nine to take a look.â
Those were the words Gabe had been waiting to hear. âExcellent.â He put two twenty-dollar bills on the table and stood up. âItâs nice seeing you again, Saul.â He shook the older manâs hand. âI hope weâll be doing business together.â
âGabe? I have a son who isnât much younger than you. If he were contemplating anything this enormous, Iâd be worried. Are you absolutely positive you know what youâre doing?â
The manâs concern went a long way to prove to Gabe that Saul had been the right man to approach. âI know what Iâm doing.â
He left a bemused Saul sitting there puffing on his cigar. After exiting the bar, he climbed into the waiting limo.
âBenny? Take me back to the office.â
âYes, sir.â
Now that Gabe had a probable buyer, there was work to be done. He rang Phil and Sam on his cell phone and asked them to come back to the office as soon as theyâd finished dinner. In all probability theyâd be working until midnight.
The process of divesting himself of the international business Gabe had built over the last fourteen years was a complicated one. But with Saulâs people coming in the morning, Gabe could see light at the end of the tunnel, thank God.
As Gabe stood in the lobby waiting for an elevator to take him to the floor of his office, Bret Weyland, his North American sales manager, emerged from another one. For once Andrea Bauer wasnât with him. That was a surprise considering Bret had intimated he and Gabeâs attractive chief software engineer, had been living together for the last three or four months.
Gabe could rarely find Andrea alone because Bret was always right there exhibiting a proprietorial interest in her that bordered on the possessive. It was a miracle Bret got any work done, or Andrea for that matter. But amazingly enough they did. Gabe had no room to complain.
He nodded to Bret. âWhereâs your other half tonight?â
âCooking dinner at our apartment.â
A vision of the two of them together behind closed doors doing anything and everything besides eating food disturbed him a great deal more than it should have. He wasnât walking away from his company any too soon.