Steve was pleased with the completed package. He smiled widely as he surveyed the glittery surprise. Not too shabby at all, he thought. He picked up the package and headed off to the kitchen.
* * *
The bright green digital readout on the microwave clock in the kitchen read seven twenty-three. Steve smiled when he read the time. He was two minutes ahead of schedule. He was always at his best when he was ahead of schedule.
Now don’t forget anything, he thought. Steve slowly started to mentally review the details of the next events of the morning plan in his head.
7:25- Begin cooking breakfast
7:45- Christy wakes
7:47- Christy enters kitchen
7:48- Open anniversary gift
7:50- Christy finds engagement ring
7:52- Ask Christy to marry me
7:55- Celebrate with breakfast
On any standard workday, Christy and Steve would both start their day with a light breakfast. Something that was quick and easy to prepare. A cup or two of strong black coffee, sometimes three, a low-fat granola bar, pink grapefruit, when they were in season. Sometimes a low-fat muffin, if Steve remembered to pick them up from the bakery shop around the corner.
Today’s breakfast would be different from the usual and the simple. Today was a very special day and today required a very special breakfast.
Steve opened the large stainless steel Viking refrigerator. He began to unload the makings for Eggs Benedict ala Steve. This was Christy’s favorite breakfast. It was a must for a special occasion such as an anniversary and an engagement.
Within several minutes, the aroma of fresh brewing hazelnut coffee permeated the kitchen air, followed by the strong smell of frying ham. Steve’s stomach began to rumble with a low growl. The morning aromas were beginning to work their magic.
The special anniversary breakfast was taking shape. Steve selected a ripe avocado from a selection of three and sliced it in half. He gave the pit a quick whack with the knife then gave it a slight twist and expertly lifted it out.
One half of the avocado was sliced lengthwise into fourteen equal slivers. Seven slivers were fanned out on each breakfast plate. They were a tasty and colorful garnish to sit alongside the Eggs Benedict. The other half of the avocado was scooped into a food processor. The avocado was puréed with a dash of heavy cream and a pinch or two of salt and pepper. The mixture would be used later in the making of Steve’s special Eggs Benedict sauce.
The preparation of the breakfast helped to keep Steve’s mind focused and his anxiety in check. He loved to cook. Fourteen years living as a bachelor allowed him the time to finely hone his culinary skills.
Steve and Christy had been living together for a little over two months. Steve did all of the cooking. He also performed most of the clean up afterwards. Christy didn’t like to cook at all. She really did not like to perform any activity involving the kitchen. Her preference would be to eat out.
The last few drips of fresh hot coffee fell into the awaiting carafe. The coffeemaker gave a loud click as the red glow of the brew light faded to black. Steve grabbed his coffee cup. He was already anticipating his first sip.
Steve was a caffeine junkie, up to ten cups of coffee throughout the day. He carefully sipped the steaming black brew as he went about completing the breakfast.
The eggs were added into a pot of steaming salted water. The heat was turned off under the ham. Steve removed the saucepan containing the extra buttery and rich hollandaise from the burner and placed it on a hot plate. The pureed avocado mixture was folded in to complete the final special touch to the sauce. The special breakfast was nearly complete.
Steve’s empty stomach let out another loud groan. He could not control himself any longer. He dipped his finger into the avocado sauce and gave it a try.
It’s just the way Christy likes it, he thought. He nodded his head with approval and smacked his lips. “She is going to love this,” he said aloud. “I think I outdid myself.”
Steve removed the small pot containing the poached eggs from the stove and strained off the water. A small pad of butter was added over the eggs. It melted quickly and coated the still steaming eggs. The thin coating of butter would keep the eggs from sticking to the pot as the remaining drops of water were wiped out with a paper towel.
Another one of Steve’s secrets for terrific Eggs Benedict was to be sure to get all of the water off of the eggs to prevent soggy English muffins. Steve knew Christy hated soggy English muffins as much as he did.
Steve could hear the faint sound of pop music coming from the master bedroom. The clock-radio had sprung to life. Anticipation of Christy’s arrival started to build. His heart raced faster.
Steve placed the toasted English muffins on the plates next to the fanned out bright green avocado garnish. He slid on the thick slices of ham. The eggs were carefully scooped from the pot and placed on top of the ham. The special avocado sauce was then generously spooned over the eggs. The special breakfast was complete.
“Right on time,” Steve murmured. “Everything is ready. Everything is going to be perfect.”
Chapter 3 - Uprising
The attendees of Tim Burke’s boardroom meeting at Peterson Software sat in quiet anticipation. They waited eagerly for Tim to provide the financial details of the IPO proposal. Each of the attendees couldn’t wait to find out how the scheme was going to affect them, and more importantly, their bank accounts.
Tim had all of his bait fully prepared. Everything was by his side. He was ready to get underway with the presentation. All the facts and figures were documented. Everything needed to play upon the group’s greed had been assembled well in advance.
Tim hoped he had properly anticipated the group’s questions and their self-indulgent emotions. It was time to go fishing, he thought. Tim retook center stage at the head of the table and began to discuss the monetary aspects of the plan.
“Everyone in this room will be in line for a substantial number of stock options and outright shares of stock as part of the IPO proposal I have assembled with the help of an outside consulting firm,” Tim said. “To put it bluntly, everyone in this room is going to end up being very rich.”
Tim’s words were direct and to the point. He knew what was needed to sell the plan. He made sure he spoke about what the people wanted to hear.
“This plan is going to be exceedingly generous to the people in this room,” he continued. “You will all have more money than you ever imagined.”
Tim now had the undivided attention of the entire group. He reached down and grabbed the stack of bound reports sitting on the table in front of him. He gave the stack a slight shake to help work up the crowd. A grin started to appear. The tone of his voice became more energetic.
“All of the details of the plan are right here in this document. It spells out the way the stock allotment is broken down. The way the plan is laid out has everyone in this room getting between 10,500 and 50,000 shares of outright company stock. By federal law, all of these numbers will be public knowledge so nothing can be hidden. Nothing is secret, and nothing can be changed once the plan is put in motion.”
Tim worked the audience like a well-trained snake oil salesman. He emphasized the monetary aspect of the plan and played to the group’s weaknesses. He worked to arouse their inbred sense of greed. He knew what to say to play on their emotions.
“All of you will be getting stock options. The entry-level allotment is set at 20,000 shares. We expect the stock would enter the IPO at fourteen to fifteen dollars a share. From there, who knows? We missed the bull market because of Steve Peterson, but the stock will have a huge amount of growth potential. The financial consultants that I spoke to all agree there will be a lot of upward potential especially if Peterson Software continues to perform like it has in the past.”
Tim pulled out several professionally prepared, full color graphs from the piles in front of him. He dealt the charts out like playing cards around the table. The dazz
ling prop documents were created with one intention: to win over the crowd.
The charts displayed information built from a consensus of three software industry analysts. They graphically illustrated how the analysts predicted Peterson Software stock would perform based on company history.
“Even in the short term we should see extremely good increases in the value of the stock,” said Tim. He held up a copy of the chart and repeatedly pointed to the stock values. “These increases are a lot better than the current industry average. We could be talking stock values in the high-twenties to low thirties within a period of a year.”
Tim pointed to a thick blue line that ran diagonally upwards across the chart. “Follow the growth line for yourself. Check the values,” said Tim. “These are the numbers given to me by the analysts. They are the people that know.”
The blue line illustrated the anticipated stock growth over a three year period. The line reached to nearly the forty-dollar level within two years. It closed in on the fifty-five dollar mark in three years.
Tim smiled at the group. He could see their interest was building. The expense of the charts turned out to be money well spent.
“As you can all plainly see, the monetary gain will be quite substantial for each one of you. And you should keep in mind that these numbers are on the conservative side. The actual returns could be much higher than what is shown.”
The group intently stared at their charts. They traced the blue line with their fingers and studied the numbers that ran up and down across the page. They multiplied numbers in their heads and drew circles around the totals. They scribbled more numbers. They smiled.
“Wow, I did not realize it could be this much money,” exclaimed Taz rather loudly to the rest of the group. “This is quite unexpected.”
Tim could feel the group biting on the lure of some quick cash. For Taz, the dollar value of the company stock alone was almost three times his yearly salary. And that was at the low entry-level price.
Tim knew Paul and his wife recently had their third child. Paul was looking to make a move into a larger home. Money was a big concern for him. Tim glanced over to see Paul jotting down some figures on a small notepad. He could sense that it was just a matter of time before the entire group would throw their support to his plan.
Paul completed his notations and performed some simple math equations. He tallied the figures. He smiled. “There is some pretty substantial money here,” muttered Paul. He intently reviewed the scribble of numbers on his notepad.
Tim picked up on Paul’s comment right away. He tried to control his emotions but an involuntary smile appeared. Tim could feel the excitement in the room. He was winning them over.
“And you said this stock and the money is all guaranteed?” asked Taz with a twinge of excitement in his voice. “How can we be sure we will get everything you are talking about if we decide to support the plan?”
Tim decided the group had enough time to bite on the lure. Now it was time for him to set the hook. Now was the time to make the deal.
“Everything we discussed is guaranteed in the proposal,” began Tim. “And, in addition to the outright shares of stock, there are stock options. You will each be entitled to at least twenty thousand options at the initial offering price. The exact allocation numbers are outlined by employee name in the proposal. And remember, this information will be in the public domain. It is all out in the open. It can’t be taken back. As a group we will need to review the entire proposal today. You will all have a chance to question any part of the content.”
Tim picked up the top copy of the proposal from the stack in front of him. He held it out for all to see. The pages fluttered in the air as he gave the booklet a little shake.
“Again, it is all outlined here in this proposal. It is extremely clear, in plain English. There will be no guessing with this. Nothing will be left to chance. This plan will provide each one of you with more money than you will ever see in a lifetime from Steve Peterson.”
Tim scanned the faces around the room and began to interpret their revealing expressions. He could see they had taken the bait and the hook was set. Time to reel them in, he thought. Tim was starting to look relaxed.
“The plan would offer the entire stock package with no vesting period at all,” Tim began. “On day one, all of the stock shares and stock options are yours. There will be no waiting. Not like the eleven years that Steve is offering to his senior staff. Everything is yours on the day the IPO proposal goes into effect.”
Tim grabbed up another full color chart and held it up. The chart showed projected value of the stock options over the next ten years.
“For the stock options, every dollar of increase in the stock share price equates to a minimum of twenty thousand dollars in your pocket. The money will be available immediately if you wish to invoke the option and sell the shares. These dollar amounts are real and they are tangible. It is that simple.”
Tim passed copies of the chart to everyone around the table. Tim scanned the crowd as they studied figures on the page. The smiles around the table grew wider.
“Does anybody have any further questions or concerns about the plan?” Tim asked.
Prior to the meeting Tim reviewed all of the figures. He calculated the limits of how high he could go with the stock offer to Paul and Taz. The numbers could be manipulated to give them each up to 50,000 shares of stock options. Tim had quite a bit of room to sweeten the pot if it was needed to guarantee the backing of the IPO proposal. Tim could also increase the number of outright shares being allotted if it came down to it.
Tim knew each person around the table could be bought. He knew they each had a price. The only question that remained was how high the price would be.
Tim scanned the faces around the table. He was looking for some kind of a sign. Did they buy? Will I have to go with a higher offer? His questions would soon be answered.
The room remained silent. There were no more questions or concerns and there were no more raised hands. All of the scribbling and adding of numbers had come to a halt.
The worries about the plan being unfair to Steve Peterson had been washed away with the promise of some cold hard cash. Tim looked out at his audience and saw only eager nodding heads and big excited smiles.
The answer from the group was in. It didn’t take long. The silence of the group became deafening and the answer appeared clear as crystal to Tim.
The purchase price for Taz and Paul’s participation turned out to be relatively low. It was quite a bit lower than Tim had expected. He was pleased with the result, but he now wished he had started at a lower dollar amount at the start of the negotiations. That way, there would have been more money left for him.
Tim leaned onto the table and looked intently at Taz and Paul. He pressed his lips together and sharply raised his eyebrows. He paused for a few seconds for effect.
“This is the last call everyone. Are there any more questions?” Tim asked. “It is time to speak up now if any one of you has any concerns. Feel free to bring up anything at all. There will be no turning back from here. No second chances. No second thoughts. From here on out it will be sink or swim for all of us.”
“Nothing here Tim,” replied Taz. “It was all pretty clear to me. You explained the plan very well. Your presentation was very comprehensive. I think I understand all of the details,” said Taz with a wide grin.
Paul was back to staring at the jumble of numbers written across his yellow notepad. “I don’t have any other questions either,” said Paul, as he bobbed his head at the numbers.
The selling of the plan was easier and cheaper than Tim had expected. A grin slithered across his face. He realized his victory was in hand. Finally, after almost a year of planning, it was all starting to come together.
Tim had started outlining his treasonous plan eleven months ago. His mind started to whirl when Steve Peterson first told him of his thoughts to turn over some of the company ownership and some of his
responsibilities to the senior staff members. Steve explained he wanted more time to himself to pursue other options and his charity work.
Tim started to push Steve into turning over full voting privileges to the group right from the start. He explained that the senior staff could become much more involved with the company. They would be able to contribute more to the company. Steve would end up with more time for himself. Tim’s words sounded genuine. Steve listened.
Tim then planted a small idea in the mind of each member of the senior management team. He nurtured the idea and manipulated the group into joining his uprising, his mutiny. Now, they were all willing participants in the scheme. Each one of the group around the table was now willing to stab their boss and their friend in the back in order to get their hands on some quick cash. Tim’s plan was working out beautifully.
Tim looked around the boardroom table and focused in on the group of smiling faces and bobbing heads. What a pathetic group of losers, he thought. Not a single original thought in the collective mind of the whole damn bunch. Steve Peterson deserves everything he is going to get for putting this inept group in charge in the first place.
Taz and Paul started to excitedly discuss the potential windfall of the plan with the other thrilled attendees. Tim heard their words and sensed their enthusiasm. Tim stepped up and decided to join in the discussion. He triumphantly raised his arms in victory at the end of the boardroom table.
“Great, then we are all in agreement. We will move forward with the plan. The decision is unanimous,” beamed Tim. “Together, we will approach the plan with a united front. We will approach it as a single group. We will approach it as a team. We cannot, and we will not, be defeated if we all stick together. We all need to remember that.”