Randall and the Hostile Takeover

Randall headed to his meeting. There was something strange about the atmosphere today, and he really couldn't put his finger on it. He always noticed women--especially the attractive ones--but for some reason, there seemed to be a lot more of them this morning, especially after he'd entered the building. Once he was on his floor, there were even more new faces.

As a COO, he was used to seeing new faces without ever knowing their names...but some of these women--and they all seemed to be women, were genuine specimens. When he reached his secretary's desk, she gave him a funny look. Randall didn't like it.

"Morning, Sabi," Randall said, holding up his jacket. She took it and smiled at him slightly. "What's with the look?"

"I'm hearing rumors of a hostile takeover," She said, simply. "Do you know anything about that?" Randall looked around, making sure they were alone.

"No, but the elder's about to retire," Randall said. "I was pretty sure that's what this board meeting was about." Sabine shrugged her shoulders, her dark brown hair just barely spilling over them.

"Watch yourself, Rand. There's something going on. I see...a lot of new people." He glanced down at her blue blouse, the top two buttons characteristically open. Sabine had been his executive assistant since he was d-level, and even pushing her early 40s, she was a looker. She was also a divorcee--so he didn't mind flirting with her.

"I noticed the same thing, too," He leaned in to whisper. "And a lot of them don't look they were hired for...qualifications...if you get me." Sabine sneered.

"You lech," she smacked him, looking around before she did it. "Are you saying the pretty ones can't be smart?" Randall shrugged, smiling at her. "You're lucky I'm so unflappably loyal, sir," She said sarcastically. "And you're lucky I have more of a sense of humor than one of these entry-level assistants."

"I'm lucky you keep me in line," Randall said. "Post-board, let's have the personnel numbers again?" He asked. "I want to check out where all these new hires are coming from."

"Sure," Sabine said. "They moved the meeting, by the way. It's down on 27 now." Randall's brow furrowed. The 'blackout' room. Instead of a view of the river, he was going to be in a wondowless box this morning. Fantastic.

"No one stays awake in there," Randall said. "Who sent that change out?"

"Alyssa," Sabine shrugged, looking at her computer screen. "responding to request by three others."

"Rebecca, Celine and Jill," Randall said. Sabine shook her head.

"It doesn't say," she told him, looking over the email again. "What makes you say that?"

"Not sure," Randall said. "But I think you're right that something else is going on here." Randall counted up seats in his head and wondered. "I guess I'll head down there. You good?" Sabine nodded.

"Good luck, Rand."

He headed back down two floors, heading toward the board meeting. There were two sharply-dressed women outside the room--one of them holding a clipboard, and the other one standing next to the frosted double-door, gripping the handle.

They were attractive--intensely attractive, maybe even flawless--but there was something else about them. They were imposing. They were intimidating--though not necessarily in a bad way. They were both wearing the same navy-blue skirtsuits and dark stockings. Black pumps. Hair tied up behind them. Almost military. Randall had to stop his head before it got ahead of him.

"Are we inviting the SEC to our board meetings now?" Randall said as he approached the one with the clipboard.

"Heightened security, Mister Keats." The black-haired woman said. She had olive skin and some discernible accent, which to Randall sounded middle-eastern, though he couldn't place it. She marked something off in the clipboard.

"Did you need an ID from me or something?" Randall asked. The woman shook her head.

"Not necessary. We know who you are, Mister Keats. Please come in. The blonde holding the door swung it open, stepping aside in one smooth motion. Randall couldn't help but look her up and down. She looked like a fitness model from what he could see. Toned stocking-covered calves, strong thighs bulging under that tight navy skirt, and a blazer buttoned around her so snugly that her amazing chest was more than obvious.

When he got into the meeting, he was the second to last one there. Only the CEO was missing. He took his seat next to the empty seat at the head, with Rebecca, the CFO, across from him.

"Ready to see the future, Randall?" Rebecca said. Randall stared at her and narrowed his eyes.

"Seems like everyone knows something I don't today," Randall said. "As long I have some kind of position in whatever this future is...I guess I'm as ready as I could possibly be."

"Oh, we've got a place for you," Jill smiled, to his right. He looked down the table at the others. There was a strange quiet cast over three of the men at the opposite end. Celine and Mike, down the table from Rebecca, were looking at each other in a wholly different way, almost as if they were in their own world. Randall always suspected they were in a relationship--just based on the energy--but they generally hid it well. Until this morning.

One, two, three, four. Randall and the three silent faces at the other end of the table made four more.

"Mike, how goes it?" Randall asked, trying to break his attention from Celine. It worked. He turned to Randall and smiled at him strangely, almost hauntingly.

"Not a worry in the world, buddy," Mike said. His eyes rolled right, toward Celine, and when they met each other's gaze they both snickered. The execs on the other end of the table maintained their quiet tension, none of them meeting Randall's gaze.

"Avery, how the hell are sales?" Randall said, trying to break the ice. The man next to Mike looked up at him nervously.

"Uh, n-no complaints, Randall." Avery gave him a weak smile, and Randall shook his head. He was done putting on airs.

"Alright, seriously--what the hell is going on here?" Randall said, looking around at the rest of the table. No one immediately reacted, though the three silent men at the far end of the table all looked at him this time. "You've all got faces on like you're ashamed of something. Something I'm not privy to."

"Don't be stupid, Randy." Rebecca said, smirking at him. "You know we're being purchased." Randall made a face at her.

"What? By who?" Randall asked.

The door opened behind him, and he turned to see Paul enter. Uncharacteristic for the older man, he was carrying a dense leather binder. Randall never saw him bring anything to the boards.

"Randy, Becks..." He smiled, striding to the head of the long table. "How you doing, Jill?" She leaned back in her chair and put her legs up on the table, crossing them. Randall practically scoffed at her.

"Ready to get this meeting into gear, Mr. B." Randall noticed Paul looking at her long legs, and he felt like an alien. How was all of this okay? Were they on sedatives? Was he dreaming?

"Well, we have a lot of things going on," Paul said, settling into his chair. He seemed distracted by something--physically distracted in some way Randall couldn't put his finger on. "So--I'm going to start this meeting a little out of order, if no one objects?" Randall wanted to say something. He knew by now that he was the only one at the table left in the dark regarding what was going on, but it wouldn't help him much to complain about it now. The whole board knew something he didn't, and if Rebecca and the others had time to talk to the rest of the votes before he even knew what was happening--he'd have a hard time consolidating four more votes with his own. The three at the end seemed nervous, but Mike was obviously going to be a hard sell.

"There is an offer on the table for our acquisition by Nascent Textile, the details of which you've all received the details for." Randall fumed. He didn't see anything of the kind. "Additionally, per the expiration of the objections window assigned by our bylaws, Rebecca and I have gone ahead and arranged packaged options for all of you--whether you choose to leave, or stay with the new entity.

"I'm gonna stop you right there, Paul," Randall said--his eyes closed as he held his palm against his forehead. "Celine--we all got the details for this?" She looked left and right, and nodded at him.

"I got your return receipt the day these details went out," Celine said. Paul waved to the company secretary, making a throat-cut gesture telling her to pause the record.

"I figured that your silence on the matter told me everything I needed to know," Paul said to Randy, almost glaring at him. "Now, we know this company wouldn't be anything without you and Avery's teamwork from the beginning--but you've been out to lunch for the last two years, Randall." Randall sucked air in disbelief, looking around at the faces of the others. Only Avery looked regretful.

"I didn't receive...anything," Randall said quietly. "And I think that--" Randall bit his lips, looking back at Celine, cold and glaring. Waiting for a false accusation she could jump on. Whatever happened, it went beyond one step. He looked back at Rebecca, also watching him impatiently. He took a deep breath. "I'm--I'm sorry. If I haven't been present, that's on me. Let's just proceed."

Rebecca and Jill shared a look as Paul continued.

"Honestly, I've never seen a windfall like this out of an acquisition. Never even heard of one. Whatever your feelings," He looked at Randall, "We all stand to benefit from this in ways that will provide everyone at this table with the freedom to walk their own paths going forward."

Randall was drilling it all out in his mind as Paul went over the buyout situation and the numbers. When he finally said the purchase price, Randall snapped out of it.

"That's...that's total insanity. That's almost ten times our evaluation. How are they justifying this with their people?"

"Real estate," Rebecca said. "We have it. They need it. Distribution points are their weakness, and we have the perfect map."

"Also," Paul threw up his hands and smiled, "Like us, they're not publicly traded. There's nothing in the way of their...generous assessment of our value--and that includes the personal packages."

So...why the long faces at the end of the table? Randall wondered. What was with the tension on the far side in contrast to the apparent nonchalance on his side? There was something wrong here, and Randall didn't get it.

"Can we just vote and be done with it?" Randall asked, interrupting Paul. Paul smiled savagely at him now, shrugging.

"Yes or no on the sale," Paul said. "And even if your vote is no--you will state your preference for the three-year service or buyout package." Paul narrowed his eyes at Randall. "I reserve my vote for last. Rebecca, moving clockwise, please."

"Yes, three-year service," Rebecca said.

Celine echoed Rebecca's statement.

"Yes, and I'm going to take a buyout," Mike said, beaming.

"Um...yes," Avery said quietly, "Three-year service." He almost mumbled the last part, looking down at the glazed conference table.

"Yes," Chief counsel. "Buyout."

"Yes," Purchasing. "Buyout."

"Yes," Said Jill. "Three-year service."

And now all eyes were on Randall. He didn't know the terms of the buyout versus the three-year service--but he'd built this company's prestige on his expertise in operations.

"Mister Keats?" Paul asked, looking almost like he pitied the guy. Randall took a deep breath. Did his bourbon habit get out of hand? Was he having dissociative episodes? Did Sabine...hide all this from him?!

"Yes," He swallowed. "Three-year service." He couldn't take the buyout. A part of him wanted to shout BUYOUT and fuck off out of the conference room, but there were too many strange moving parts about this for him to walk away. The moment he said it, Rebecca shrugged, quite clearly looking at Jill next to him. There was something else to this that Randall just didn't get.

Paul clasped his hands together.

"Unanimity, then." Paul said. "My vote is yes, and--as of the conclusion of this vote, I am tendering my resignation, effective at the pleasure of our new ownership." Randall's head was spinning. Paul had been like a mentor to him for over a decade, but he was right. Randall hadn't placed the same focus on his work in the last six or seven quarters. He was in some kind of professional rut--maybe resting on his laurels and complacent about his position. There was no other rung to climb.

Still--this was so out of order. It didn't seem like a real board meeting. It was informal. Everyone's attitudes seemed so uncharacteristic. Randall seemed like the anomaly, though--even to himself.

"Now, we'd expected a 5-to-4 without any problem, given the valuation on the table," Paul said, "So I'm going to just open the floor up to the leadership of our new partners, which have arranged to be here with us."

The doors to the boardroom opened, with the two attractive, business-suited guards on either door. If Randall thought he was going insane before, he was sure he'd absolutely lose it now.

An empty pantsuit entered the boardroom, flanked on either side with two...women? The one on the right had to be nearly six feet, with oddly glossy and perfectly smooth skin, dressed in a skirtsuit. The other on the left was...translucent? Glass? It had the contours of hair, a face, and hands, but she looked like she might've been made of lucite or something. It was unreal. Randall's heart started pounding. He turned back to the conference table, trying to quickly take stock of the reaction from the others.

Paul had already stood to greet the group, still smiling. Rebecca, Celine, Mike--all smiling politely, like nothing was out of place. Avery looked a little nervous, like he was trying not to stare, but was smiling nonetheless.

Randall had already made a scene once today, and he knew it. When he looked back at the group again, Paul and the lead...suit seemed to making introductions, and Randall couldn't make sense of anything.

It was a tweed pantsuit in a tight plaid pattern, wrapped around a feminine frame that was...absolutely invisible. When Paul held out his hand, the sleeve reached out toward it, nearly meeting it. Randall watched as the skin on Paul's hand seemed to slightly deform, as if he was being gripped by a hand he couldn't see. Randall could see up into the hollow sleeve--he could make out the button stiches linking the cuff buttons.

He could see down into the blazer, too--down into the shirt, a white silk blouse with an unseen bust the curved the shirt out and bulged the jacket. Randall could hear his name, and he looked up to see Paul motioning at him to the...three(?) women. When he stood up, it was pretty much social instinct. As the COO, he knew he was the technically the second-in-command--and now the senior-ranking officer when Paul was out--at least until the new...management reshuffled things.

He could feel the blood pumping between his ears. There was no being discreet about the attention of his eyes--he went from the unseen ankles between the heels and the pantlegs to the rounded, tight thighs--shapely hips, a tapered waist, and the prominent bust that he'd already noticed. The room's sound was distilled to a low-rounded envelope, and it was a miracle that he heard Paul say the name 'Carol' when he motioned to the pantsuit.

"It's...great to meet you, Carol," Randall said to the empty pantsuit. So many neurons were pulsing for him to freeze up and ask why he couldn't see a face--or a body--in this set of professional clothing. To turn around to his peers and ask the rest of them if he was the only one seeing--or, not seeing--an invisible woman.

"I'm glad you've decided to stay on with us," the voice from the pantsuit said. It was a low, syrupy voice--sounding like a woman in middle age. When he held out his hand, he felt a soft, smooth hand grip it. "We have a lot of exciting plans," She said, "And we're going to need all the help we can get from someone who intimately knows the lay of the land in operations."

The confusion and worry over his own sanity melted away a little when he felt this invisible flesh against his own. It was warm, soft as velvet--and when the word 'intimately' came from the space above the blazer, two of her fingers stroked the inside of Randall's wrist. He was certain that he had to be blushing. How could a woman be invisible?!

"I'm, uh, interested to see how things develop," Randall said, swallowing hard. Up next to her, he could see down into the blouse without even trying. He could tell what color bra she had on.

"This is our own operations officer at Nascent, Teresa L," The syrupy voice said, pointing to her right at the woman with the glowing, flawless skin. in heels, she stood just above Randall's eye level--which meant he was right about her being about six feet tall. Her black skirt ended above her knees, and she had a red satin blouse covered by a tight black jacket matching her skirt. The smooth, glowing skin was almost unreal--like it was made of neoprene, or some other kind of plastic or rubber.

"Looks like we'll be sharing positions, Randall." Teresa said, smiling warmly at him. Her countance was uncanny, but not at all unpleasant. Randall knew he was far, far out of the loop here--but these introductions weren't what he would've ever expected from an acquisition. And these women...strange as they seemed, their decorum was professional enough.

"It's...nice to meet you, Teresa." He was impressed with himself for being able to keep it together, actually--but then, there was a lot to be said for social pressure. Randall had always been good at reading a crowd--it was trait that seemed to work well for him in his career anywhere above mid-management--and now faced with virtual unreality, it was coming in handy in ways he'd never imagined.

"And this is my executive assistant, Sky Brouillard," Came Carol's voice again from above the collar of her pantsuit. As a tweed sleeve motioned to her left, Scott could feel his quickening pace of his pulse between his ears again.

Apparently he could write off Carol appearing as an invisible woman as a simple hallucination. He could see the sheen of the Teresa's doll-like skin and not think for too long about what the rest of her amazonian body must look like--but Sky...

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Keats." He couldn't believe what he was seeing here. His suspension of disbelief was all used up. She was clear. Not invisible--but clear. Her hair, her face, her neck and her decolletage--he could see the contours and shape of all of them, but it was as if the woman was made of lucite. Like a mannequin, sort of, except that her lips moved. Her voice was resonant in some strange way. When she opened her mouth to speak, he could see an opening within it, teeth, a tongue...but when she closed her mouth, smiling--all evidence of the space inside disappeared from view, as if she was a smiling, woman-shaped bubble. Her hair--if it counted as hair--was medium-short, cast all around her head in part of the same external shape as if she was pressed in an injection molder.

"Randall, please," He said, transfixed. "It's nice to meet you, too." Brouillard. Cloud? He tried to remember his French. No, not cloud. Mist. He held out his hand, and instead of taking hold of it, her translucent fingers seemed to flow into his palm, feeling as frictionless as a soap bubble. Softer than he expected.

Not lucite. Certainly not lucite at all. She squeezed his hand, holding it up a bit at the wrist and taking him along. He was probably holding onto her too long. He knew it, and he couldn't help it. At first this meeting seemed like a nightmare--but now he wondered if he was hit by a car on the way over and if this was the afterlife.

What was he seeing here? Magic? His own insanity? Most of the room seemed at ease, especially Paul and the women--but the two men at the far end who had taken their buyouts, and Avery, who was staying...they showed some reasonable human level of uneasiness. It wasn't so much a 'what the fuck is going on here' uneasyness, though. It was more of an established dread.

Apparently Randall had let go of Sky's hand within a socially acceptable amount of time, because she smiled at him as Paul continued with the introductions around the board. As expected, the ones taking a buyout package were polite but unenthusiastic, save for Mike, who seemed as charmed by these three women as he was with Celine.

Avery was the most skittish. Jill, Celine and Rebecca seemed the most comfortable--even excited. Paul was at peace. He seemed proud of himself--happy about the arrangement to sell to invisible, glass-like, plastic-skinned robot ladies. Vivitex was his baby, really--and though Randall had been around since the earlier days, Paul held the greatest piece of the pie.

"You're handling this pretty well, never having seen us before," Sky whispered in his ear as the new and old staff began mingling. Randall smiled a little, turning away from the crowd and facing the glassy visage.

"You've met everyone else?" Randall asked. He'd been on vacation, but...

"In groups of two or three each," Sky said. "I came with Carol when all this was being planned out. I guess you weren't here." The gleaming, see-through face cocked to its side, thoughtfully. "You didn't even know women like us existed, did you?"

Randall wanted to laugh hysterically. He kind of wanted to rip his hair out and throw himself through a window--but there weren't any.

"If I'm being totally honest," Randall said, "I wondered if I was hallucinating." Sky shook her head. She pulled a phone from her pocket and typed something out. Randall's phone buzzed.

"Sky," Came Carol's voice out of the ether of mingling. "Tell Rebecca about your friend in accounting, would you? Her assistant is retiring, and she's going to need some talent." Sky raised her clear eyebrows at Randall and waved. He smiled, waving back.

"Staying, Keats?" Linden. Chief counsel. He put his arm around Randall, walking him away from the group and looking back to make sure he wasn't heard. "You know what you're getting into here? You know what they are?"

"I think someone's been hiding my e-mails from me, Lin," Randall said, narrowing his eyes. "That's not...legal, right?" Linden shrugged.

"I'm out, my man," Linden gritted. "You might want to take it up with a hovering Louis Vitton briefcase, or whoever or whatever it is they get to replace me." He chuckled, but the look of disdain on his face said that he was serious.

"I don't understand," Randall said. "Who are they, Linden?" Linden squinted at him, shaking his head.

"Have you been living under a rock, Randall? It's been happening for months now, but they won't let it go public. Not yet." Randall shrugged. He didn't really watch the news. He stayed out of the mess of social media. "I figured you for the more observant type." Linden's turn to shrug now. "I'd pay attention, if I were you. They're the future, Randall." Linden patted him on the shoulder. "Good luck, buddy."

Randall looked at his phone. There was a message from Sky.

Let's fraternize before I'm officially in the command chain, the text read. I can help get you up to speed, if you like. He looked over at Sky across the room, who was talking to Rebecca. She glanced over at him and smiled. Randall smiled back, going back to his phone.

"Mister Keats." It was Paul, extending a hand toward his. Randall shook it. "I know you well enough to know something's bugging you--but even under pressure you're still fantastic with people. Thanks for everything. For helping make this day possible." Randall smiled a little, but he was still hurt by Paul's comments earlier.

"I'm...I'm sorry if I haven't seemed completely here lately, Paul--but there's something else going on outside my inattention," Randall admitted. "This--all of this is a total blindside to me." Paul looked confused.

"What...part of it, exactly?"

"The sale, the...nature of the staff--the fact that everyone seemed to know something but me," Randall said.

"You knew we were looking for buyers--" Paul started, cut off by Randall's response.

"No, no--don't get me wrong--I'm with this...I don't feel like you left me out or anything, but I think on my end--through my office, maybe--someone was hiding contact from me. Making details and communications disappear. It sounds crazy, but--I don't know, Paul. Everyone knew about this--about them--but me." Paul's brow furrowed now, and he looked deep in thought.

"Not...Sabine?" Paul asked. "Randall--you were responding to emails.

"Really?" Randall asked. "I don't know that's it's Sabi. Maybe she saw what you saw and figured the same thing, but--I don't know," Randall said. "I really don't get it. It's at least half my fault for not paying closer attention, for not double-checking these things, but...I know this is mostly wrap-up for you now. Just...pass it discreetly onto Carol, would you? I'm...I'm happy for you, 'Big Paw'. You built something big, and it looks like it's about to get bigger...but I'm sticking around, and if someone's gunning for me--" Paul raised a hand.

"I knew you didn't seem like yourself," Paul said. "We'll look into it, I promise. I...feel terrible, Randy. For what I said in the meeting, I mean. You helped get this bird off the ground, and--"

"Don't," Randy smiled. "I get it--and, honestly--I'm good. From the looks of things...you put us in good hands." Randall looked over at Sky and Carol, still talking with Rebecca. "I've got a couple people who are going to catch me up."