Page 63 of Degrees of Acceptance
I look down at the incoming message on my phone.
Message:Text me his phone number.
Chase is watching me, and his eyebrows rise in question. I smile. “Mom wants his phone number,” I say.
“Indeed. I talked to Carlos yesterday, and he is anxious to speak with her, too,” he says.
I look up in surprise. “What were you talking to him about?” I ask, curiosity getting the better of me.
“You, your mom, mostly future plans to ensure his family accepts you and your mom when the time is right. I invited him over Saturday evening for dinner,” he says, gauging my reaction.
“He’s coming to Chicago?” I say.
“He wanted to see you again, and I would prefer you not do that in New York until we have plans in place.”
Chase is apparently taking control again.Why does this surprise me?I walk around the table and give him a kiss. “I love you very much and thank you for inviting him. I told Jenny I would meet her at Torzial. How long do you think before we can let Jenny know what’s happening with the news story? She’s my dearest friend, and I hate the fact that someone is intentionally trying to sabotage this project. It affects both of the companies.”
“Not long, Baby. Just give me a bit,” he says, kissing me soundly on the lips. “I’ll let Jay know that we’re heading into the city in a couple hours. Now go and get your shower before I decide we should cancel the work day and spend it in bed.”
Jay drops me off at Torzial and by the end of the day, Jenny and I have finished the structural proposal for the Prestian Corp division of Torzial, the positions, job descriptions, and organizational reporting structure. “I’ll send Chase a note and find out when he wants to meet and go over the proposal. I think we’ve got a solid plan,” she says.
Chase is in his office when I get back to Prestian Corp, and someone is talking on the speakerphone. He waves for me to come in and close the door. “We’ve reached out to the state to find out why the plans are not back yet, but haven’t received any response. I contacted an old colleague of mine that works on the approval committee, and while he couldn’t say much, he did confirm plans are being held up due to the union unrest. Whoever leaked the national expansion project knew it was worth millions of dollars the unions would want or else they’re working for the unions. Any word on who yet, Chase?” the voice on the speakerphone says.
“Yes, we just found out this morning, Brian. I need to talk to Katarina before we proceed, but I’ll get back to you later this afternoon,” he says before disconnecting.
“You found out who leaked the expansion information to the unions?” I ask hesitantly.
“We did. Katarina, it was Ty... Jenny’s boyfriend,” he says.
“Chase, that can’t be right. Why in the world would he want to do that to Jenny and to us for that matter?” I say, trying to make sense of the situation.
“Katarina there are millions of dollars of opportunity in operations such as these. The unions want their share, and he knows it, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The information he leaked about the drug costs being combined into part of the patient cost and not a separate fee was not unintentional. The pharmaceutical companies make billions of dollars in profit each year on each medication they sell, and you can be sure they have a few politicians in their back pocket. Ty is a shrewd attorney, and he makes millions by watching out for the larger corporations. We’re going to need to meet with him and Jenny,” he says.
“Chase, she is going to be devastated when she finds out. She actually cares a great deal about him,” I say.
“I know, Baby. There’s really no easy way to do this, but she needs to be in the room when I confront, Ty.”
“Were you able to complete the structural proposal?” he asks.
“We did, in fact, she was going to send you a note later in the day to see if you wanted to meet and review it.”
“Good, then I’ll schedule a meeting and include Ty since he’s the attorney that participated in the last agreement. In the meantime… I know it’s going to be hard for you not to say anything, but I’m trusting that you won’t,” he says.
“I won’t say a word, but it makes my blood boil just thinking about it,” I say.
I’m going to send Jenny a note to see if they can meet with us this week. I need a couple days to gather more information and mitigate the damage he’s done,” he says.
Jenny and Ty are already in her office when Chase and I arrive. Jay and his crew are posted outside the suites. Chase pulls out a chair for me and greets Jenny and Ty. “Jenny it’s good to see you. Ty, thanks for taking the time to come. Jenny sent me a draft of the structural proposal for the Torzial Division that will be focused on the Prestian Medical Facilities. I think it looks like a sound business plan, and I would like to proceed. I’ve drafted a contract that includes the terms and conditions that she and I spoke of previously,” he says, handing a document to Ty.
“I have to say I’m a little surprised that you’re moving so quickly. I’ve been following the newspaper and the unions don’t seem to be backing down on the pressure now that they know it’s not just a couple of facilities in Chicago they’re losing out on,” he says.
“I think after today the unions will have nothing to worry about, Ty. You see I met with the union leaders this morning, and they were led to believe that none of the Prestian Corporation facilities would be using union labor. It was easy to set the record straight after I read the email that you sent to them,” he says.
“I don’t think I understand what you mean, Chase.”
“On the contrary, I believe that you know exactly what I am talking about, Ty. The letter that you emailed Frank Cohen last month divulged details of an expansion that only myself, Brian my COO, Katarina and Jenny knew about. You used information obtained from Jenny’s computer to create a burning platform for the unions that did not exist. You traded information to profit knowing it would mean drawing a halt to all future expansions and that the success of Jenny’s company was riding on it. You knew that and still you sold out. The five million dollars transferred to your account was easy to trace, Ty. It wasn’t as easy to deal with the pharmaceutical companies. We are still in conversations about creating a package that will ensure all patients receive medicine they need, and that pharmaceutical companies continue to be well compensated for putting that money back into further research. To date, you have been given a five million dollar check from each of the three largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, based on false information. I believe they would like this money back and can be quite persuasive,” Chase says.
“Jenny I am sorry you had to hear it this way. I needed to meet with the unions this morning before I knew that we could move forward with the facility expansion. Feel free to review the contract and contact me in the next week or so. Please do understand, however, that I will ask that you retain a different attorney and have made a note of this in one of the clauses,” he says, pulling my chair out for me and guiding me out of the room. Jay, Matt, and Sheldon follow us into the elevator. Jay takes the earbud out of his ear, and Chase reaches into his suit pocket and hands Jay a small recorder. “Just in case Ty got out of control,” Jay assures me, seeing my look of surprise. “It’s not every day you get told that you just lost twenty million dollars,” he says.
