With my mother off my back for now, I scan the crowd until my gaze lands on the large, bald head of Fred Hinkle, President and CEO of Voltaire Telecom. The shine bouncing off his head is like a North Star guiding me home. My feet immediately start moving, my eyes scanning the periphery to avoid being trapped into another conversation with Kristy.

Fred Hinkle and the acquisition of his company, Voltaire Telecom, will secure SCM’s place at the top of the media industry. To the company it was when my father was running it. It’s the only goal I’ve had for the past seven years. Every meeting, every deal I’ve made, every acquisition I’ve completed has been in pursuit of restoring SCM’s legacy. Now, I’m so close. There’s no way I can take my eyes off the ball now.

The shiny, gleaming ball that is Fred Hinkle’s scalp.

“Fred.” I place a hand on his suit-clad shoulder. He turns from the group he’s talking to, his jovial smile dropping when his eyes recognize me.

Fred doesn’t like me. He thinks I’m an arrogant businessman buying and gutting other businesses at the expense of the hard-working people who have made them what they are.

It would be hearsay but he told me that himself when I tried to book a meeting with him.

‘A vulture preying on the weak’ is what he likened me to.

He’d be right. I have had to make decisions along the way that cost workers’ jobs but it wasn’t personal, it was business. Decisions that were right for my company in the long run.

He also does not want to sell Voltaire Telecom voluntarily. His company is in trouble. Banks are calling on their loans, investors want payouts and his stock is plummeting. He’s desperate for a cash injection. A takeover is inevitable, and I’ve put SCM in the perfect position to do it. Fred has a crumbling empire, but he’s got enough time and wherewithal to be able to choose who is going to pick up the pieces. I need him to choose me.

But there are plenty of other companies that are jockeying for the same position.

The man talking to Fred is Ryan Shaw.

If I’m a vulture, then Ryan is a leech.

His company, Shaw & Graham, is SCM’s biggest competitor. Competition is healthy. That’s not my issue with him. But, whenever I’m at the table with a company for a deal or merger, he’s on my heels trying to beat me to it. The man doesn’t have an original idea. He waits for me to make my intentions known, then tosses his hat into the ring.