Hostile Takeover Ch. 01

"Charlotte, your father had a Mustang when he and I got together. That's what I meant about loving these cars. I think I was more upset than he was when we had to get rid of it," said Amanda.

I slapped my hand over my chest, as if I was in pain, and then realized that my joke was kind of insensitive considering the situation we were in. "What possible reason would anyone have, for getting rid of a Mustang," I asked in mock shock.

Amanda smiled and looked at me. "That's exactly the way Sam looked, when he found out he had to give it up," she said. "But I gave him a very good reason, and I always told him that someday we'd replace it. We just never got around to it."

"What was the reason," I asked. I guess I wanted more to keep the conversation light and keep it going on, than really needing to know the reason. I really wanted to give Amanda something else to think about other than her husband lying in a hospital bed fighting for his life.

"Who cares," hissed Charlotte. "It doesn't matter. Daddy gave up his car four hundred years ago yada yada yada."

"I'd say you matter, to both your father and me very much. And to Preston as well wouldn't you," said Amanda. "And it did matter. Men become very attached to certain things, like certain kinds of cars. Your father loved his very much, but when you came along we didn't have the money for two cars, and the back seats were even smaller back then."

"Preston, when are we getting married?" asked Charlotte changing the subject. "Can I start planning the wedding now, or do I have to give you time to get a ring and actually ask me. If you want me to, I can go on the internet and find the engagement ring I want, to save you some embarrassment, or I could just go with you when you shop for it."

Amanda and I just looked at each other. "Preston, you do know that I don't want a diamond, don't you?" droned Charlotte. "Everyone gets diamonds. My ring has to stand out. It also has to fit my looks and my personality. Remember when you told me about how beautiful my eyes are? That's why I want a big assed Emerald instead of a diamond. If you want, you can surround the Emerald with a bunch of diamonds, but that's what I want."

Over the next few days, Sam clung to life with a tenacity that astounded everyone. I visited and sat with him every day. Even though he wasn't conscious, I could tell that he somehow knew I was there. Often Amanda was there and we sat together and watched the steady rising and falling of his chest. We both also leapt up at every change in the rhythm of the machines that monitored his status.

We also talked a lot to help the time pass while the man we both loved recovered. I found out a lot of things that I'd never thought to ask. Sam was 68 years old, Amanda had just turned 50. They'd been married for 32 years. That old Billy-goat had robbed the cradle. He'd just snatched her from the loving arms of her parents.

"That explains it," I said laughing.

"That explains what?" she asked. It was good seeing her smile come back even if it was only temporary.

"That explains why you're so hot," I said.

"I am not," she said.

"Are too," I replied. She pursed her mouth into an almost unreadable expression but ended up smiling.

"Preston, how can I, be hot? You're 27 years old. I'm nearly twice your age. I'm going to be your mother in law very soon," she said. I could tell by the way she was turning red that she was very flattered.

"Even if you did think that, it's not a good thing to say it," she whispered.

"Why not?" I whispered right back.

"Uhm, what if someone heard you?" she said.

"They'd probably agree with me," I smirked.

"I don't think Charlotte would," she said. "My daughter has a lot of issues. That's why Sam and I are so glad that she has you. We had often wondered what would happen to her when we're gone, and now we don't have to worry."

"Why would Charlotte be jealous of her own mother?" I asked.

"Charlotte has a very strong personality," Amanda said. "She loves me, but not nearly as much as she loves her Dad. He was her entire world until you came along. She always saw me as a rival for his affection. But now that she has you, she has her own man, and she wouldn't like hearing that you found someone else attractive. I'm not exactly sure what she would do. But it wouldn't be pretty."

I whistled and shook my head. "I guess not," I said.

"I'm sure you heard about her exploits or some of them. What most people don't know is that Charlotte isn't really a slut. She just uses what she has to get what she wants. In most cases, what she wants is her daddy's attention," said Amanda.

"Think about it, even the thing she did, the summer she turned 21, with the salesman who quit. That was Charlotte's way of letting Sam know that she was a full grown woman, and could take a much older man away from his wife and kids. She didn't even think about how badly she devastated the poor man. She just teased him until he gave in, and then humiliated him by following him around until he cracked and quit. Sam never would have fired him, but I guess Anson just couldn't take it anymore."

"And Charlotte?" said Amanda, shaking her head. "She never gave it a moment's thought later on. The only thing that bothered her was the fact that she needed a new car. She didn't even consider that she had caused a man to break his marriage vows and possibly destroyed his family. She also never considered that she had ruined a $60,000 automobile out of negligence. She just wanted another car to go out and hang out with her friends in."

Usually I'd go and visit Sam in the mornings before work. When Amanda got there we'd talk for a while and I'd go to the plant. I'd often bring her lunch and sit with her again. And finally when she went home in the evenings, I'd sit with Sam until visiting hours ended. The evening hours were my time to talk to Sam about the business and other things. Even though he wasn't conscious, I talked to him anyway.

News of Sam's condition had travelled beyond the hospital and plant, and a meeting of the board had been called to discuss it. The meeting was set for Monday morning at 9:00 a.m. and I was asked to be there.

I remember when I told Amanda about it. I was very worried and she just smiled and told me it was a non issue. Things would go on as they always had, and I shouldn't worry about it. She asked me to have Charlotte give her a call, since there were some things they needed to discuss. Neither of us mentioned that Charlotte hadn't been to see her father since the first day.

While visiting Sam at the hospital I'd met a patient named Annalise Carson. She was there being treated for a kidney disorder. She was remarkable. She was often in a lot of pain but she had the same type of glow and compassion that Amanda has. She had to be at the hospital three days a week for dialysis treatments and was on the list for a kidney transplant. I typically went in and spent a few moments with her if I saw her. And she came and sat with me at Sam's bedside a few times too. She was probably one of the kindest people I ever met. She always had something pleasant to say, no matter how bad her pain was.

Annalise was beautiful, but not in the same way Charlotte or Amanda was. It was just different. Charlotte was a hot young woman in the prime of her life. She oozed vitality and fun. She was flashy, perhaps a bit trashy even, but no man would ever turn her down. She had relatively large boobs for her frame but they didn't move, because they were implants. Her hair was a bright red and her eyes were a fiery green. Everything about her was tight and in your face.

Annalise on the other hand, was far more understated. Her hair was very long and full. It was a very warm Chestnut brown. Her eyes were brown as well. Her features, though beautiful, didn't stand out at all. She didn't have a megawatt smile, like Charlotte's. But you felt warmth and a glow from her that was beyond youth and vitality. If Charlotte was the girl that everyone wanted to fuck, and tell their friends they'd had her, then Anna was the girl they all wanted to marry and have kids with.

Amanda on the other hand was grace, and class personified. She had a little bit more meat on her bones than the other two, but it was well shaped meat. She was nowhere near fat or even chunky. She was just older and more substantial. Her breasts were larger than both her daughter's or Anna's and they fit her frame well. But you'd never see them because she has far too much class to ever dress in a way that displayed them. Her ass is very nicely shaped, but very few ever think to look because she always wears jackets. Amanda is very sneaky in that respect. I didn't realize how well she was put together, until I'd gone swimming with Charlotte at their family pool. Let's just say that I spent most of my time looking at Amanda even when Charlotte was there. Amanda in a one piece swimsuit made Charlotte's bikini look tame. I think part of it was the way her body moved. Her breasts seemed to jiggle under the suit, and it sent a very primal message directly to my gonads. Her ass swayed gently with each step, and I found it mesmerizing.

Amanda's hair is inky black and very silky. It falls about halfway down her back and is cut straight across her forehead. Her eyes are the same shade of green as Charlotte's but with less intensity. Of the three, If Charlotte is the one you want to fuck, and Annalise is the one you want to marry, then Amanda is the one, you dream of.

The Friday morning before the board meeting, Sam finally gave up the battle for his life. While Amanda and I sat talking, with her holding his hand as he often did, he squeezed her hand one last time and then slipped away. It was as if the squeeze on the hand was his way of thanking her for a lifetime of love, and also to tell her everything else he had to say. The only way we knew he was gone was the cacophony of alarms and warning sounds when he passed. The room filled with medical technicians and doctors but we all knew that the fight was over and we'd lost.

I took Amanda in my arms and we both cried. We needed to just let go of all of the feelings we'd been holding in. We didn't cry for very long because we both knew that Sam wasn't big on weakness, and there were things that had to be done. Annalise came in and hugged us both and offered to help us make any arrangements that were necessary. She had met Amanda once before and offered her condolences. While we were talking my iPhone rang. I answered it, Charlotte was calling to tell me that there was an emergency at the plant and I needed to call Charlie immediately and get my ass over there. I put the phone on speaker, and started talking. I guess that I was thinking that if there was an emergency at the plant Amanda should know about it because she was the owner now.

"Charlotte, I'll call Charlie," I said. "But I won't be able to come for a while. I need to drive your mother home."

"My mom does know how to drive a fucking car, Preston. I wish you'd stop trying to suck up to her. You aren't her fucking butler, you know," snapped Charlotte. "You aren't even her God Damned son in law yet. I'm the one you should be sucking up to. I'm here at this noisy place all alone, checking on all of this boring crap for you. I'm trying to show you that I can be serious, so get your ass in here. Besides I'm on the internet and I found out where we're going on our honeymoon."

"Charlotte, your father died a few minutes ago, I'll talk to you later," I said, and hung up the phone.

I called Charlie and asked him what the problem at the plant was. It was minor, but I had to handle. It was the main controller for all of the robots on the B line. They'd upgraded the firmware, which necessitated shutting all of the power off to reboot the system. When the system was rebooted everything went back to its default operating state. We'd changed several offsets in the robotic controller's coordinate system. They needed to be redone so they'd work with our machines. It would take me about an hour to do it.

"Charlie, Talk to all of the managers. Tell them that Sam has passed. Give everyone the rest of the day off, with pay. Amanda wants to have the funeral on Monday at 1 p.m. That way we can take care of the board meeting and find out who's going to be in charge and all of that. Give everyone Monday off too. Tell them to call the switchboard, and we'll post the funeral arrangements there for those who'd like to attend.

Annalise was a life saver. She stayed with Amanda and helped her take care of all of the Funeral details, while I handled other things, like contacting the insurance companies and making other arrangements. On Saturday Anna even showed up at the funeral parlor to sit with Amanda and I, while final preparations were handled before the viewing Saturday evening.

Monday morning was the worst for me. I was nervous about the funeral, but even more nervous about the board meeting. I'd tried to get the board meeting pushed back to another date, but no one would listen to me. Obviously the board was trying to exert some type of control. When I told Amanda about it she laughed, and said that we needed to have a talk when all of this was over. She told me to go ahead and have the meeting to get it out of the way, but to please be on time for the funeral because she needed me to be there to give her strength.

At exactly 9:00 I walked into the conference room. There were a lot of older men wandering around. Some were talking on cell phones others were drinking coffee. When I walked in they all got quiet. One of the men called the meeting to order. He asked if there was any new business, and immediately Alan Ellington, stepped up and proposed that we begin the search for a new COO. "With the untimely demise of our founder, we cannot afford to let operations cease or become static," he said. "We need strong experienced leadership at the helm."

The older man who had called the meeting to order reminded him that I had pretty much been in charge of the plant for over a year. He also told them that during that year we had modernized operations and become even more profitable. He also said that he was a personal friend of Sam's and was sure that Sam had intended to put me in charge anyway. He saw no need to fix something that wasn't broken. About half of the men there agreed with him about giving me a chance. Slightly more seemed to think that I was too young for the job. They decided to vote on it.

A small man wearing glasses and a cheap suit stood up and walked to the head of the table. He took the gavel from the chairman and banged it loudly.

"Gentlemen, excuse me," he said. "I need to stop you before you make an illegal action, or at least an un-necessary one. My name is Hiram Berkowitcz. Many of you know that I am the attorney for the late Samuel Stevenson and his wife. In keeping with Sam's wishes the reading of his will, is to occur this evening after his funeral. To keep us all from having to do this meeting twice, I feel that I must reveal several important facts before you initiate a worthless vote. "

"Mr. Stevenson amended his will last year. It is already filed and witnessed by a friend of his who is a municipal court judge. In his will he left instructions for how to distribute his stock. If you remember Mr. Stevenson wanted his wife and daughter to be taken care of for life. He left his wife twenty percent of the company's stock. He left his daughter another 17 percent of the company's stock. His original intention was to sell the remaining 17 percent publicly. He changed his mind last year and gave the remaining 17 percent of the stock to Preston Collins." I was floored. I couldn't believe that Sam had given me a piece of the company.

"Until the reading of the will this evening, Mrs. Stevenson will control all of Mr. Stevenson's stock. She votes to allow Mr. Collins to operate the company as he sees fit. Furthermore it is her wish that Mr. Collins will vote for her portion of the stock at future board meetings for the foreseeable future. Mr. Collins is also in the process of marrying Mr. Stevenson's daughter, which according to Mr. Stevenson's will gives him voting control over her stock as well. Are there any questions?" The room was as silent as a tomb.

"You guys can still vote if you want to," he said. "It just won't matter. All righty then, have a nice day." He packed his briefcase and left the room leaving me staring at a lot of old men. Some of them looked on approvingly. Others looked as if they wanted to kill me.

Sam's funeral was supposed to be a very stately event. The service was performed at a very large church that he'd made several very large donations to over the years yet had never attended. We drove to the cemetery for the burial in a fleet of silver Lincoln MKZs. Everything was very classy and understated, with the exception of Charlotte's crying and attempting to throw her self into the open grave when the casket was lowered into it. She nearly had to be sedated. Annalise and I, were there to support Amanda, who despite her pain conducted herself as usual with class and dignity.

In the days that followed, I got all kinds of offers from board members who wanted to be my mentor, or advisor. They were especially helpful when it came to questions about raises or perks for board members. I talked everything over with Amanda, and she agreed that we should stay with Sam's original guidelines. One third of all profits got reinvested in the company to keep our equipment on the cutting edge. One third was saved for future downturns or unforeseen problems and the remaining third went to dividends and profit sharing bonuses for the employees.

My wedding was a huge event. We had to limit the guest list for the ceremony and allow the rest to come to the reception. After a two week cruise through several Polynesian Islands, Charlotte and I came home to settle into Domestic bliss.

Neither, Amanda or Charlotte seemed to care about the day to day operation of the company. I did keep Amanda updated of course, but Charlotte just didn't want to know. "You can handle it, honey," she always said. After our honeymoon Charlotte basically quit coming to work. She preferred to spend her time shopping, lounging and other important things. I was not complaining though because she often met me at the door, stark naked and ready for sex. More than once I'd come home exhausted to have her fire me up with one of her sloppy blow jobs. Just the sound she made slurping on my dick like it was a Popsicle, gave me more than enough energy for a few hours of non stop sex.

She was very inventive too. Like her fruit salad idea. She called me at work one day and told me that she was worried about my diet. She wanted me to eat more fruit, so we were having fruit salad for desert. When I got into the house she called me from upstairs. "I want you to eat this whole fucking salad she screamed. When I got to our room I noticed that Charlotte was naked and had fruit covering her body except for her head arms and legs. "Start from my neck and eat your way to the cherry" she said. I looked around and didn't see a cherry but I went for it. The cantaloupes covering her breasts were great. The line of grapes and watermelon chunks on her torso were delicious. The slices of strawberry she'd carefully placed over her bald pussy were delectable. "Charlotte, where's the cherry?" I asked.

"Inside me," she laughed.

"That was gone, long before we met, Charlotte," I deadpanned.

"I got another one," she replied stretching her inner labia apart. "You have to get this one out using only your tongue."

I gave it my best effort, but I came up short. Other parts of me were coming up long and hard. Finally Charlotte took mercy on me and spread her legs and pumped her hips. The cherry flew out of her and I caught it.