Chapter 16: Just In Time

It took longer than expected to secure a quorum for the emergency Board meeting at Vance Holdings headquarters.

By the time the last director finally took his seat, Alex had gone through the reports enough times to know exactly where every unpleasant number was waiting for him.

Unlike yesterday’s quiet conversation over coffee with Giovanni Mercer, there was nothing remotely friendly about this room.

Not that he’d expected there to be.

The Chairman sat at the head of the polished conference table, while Alexander occupied his usual seat as Chief Executive Officer. Around them, directors and senior executives reviewed the reports distributed before the meeting.

At least no one had opened with questions about his love life.

Small blessings.

Legal went first.

They reviewed every agreement with Sebastian Group, from financing arrangements to strategic partnerships. Any suspension, withdrawal, or termination would proceed strictly within Vance Holdings’ contractual rights.

No retaliation disguised as corporate policy.

That much was straightforward.

Finance was not.

The Chief Financial Officer projected the company’s exposure onto the screen.

"Several joint projects remain vulnerable. If replacement partners aren’t secured within the next quarter, we should expect delays."

Alex had known this was coming.

Knowing didn’t make it particularly pleasant to have the consequences projected several feet high while the entire Board stared at him.

"Mr. Vance."

Alex turned toward Director Castillo.

The older man hadn’t bothered disguising his displeasure since entering the room.

"I understand that yesterday was personally humiliating."

There went the small blessing.

"But you aren’t sitting here as an abandoned fiancé. You’re sitting here as Chief Executive Officer of Vance Holdings."

The room became very still.

Castillo tapped the report in front of him.

"You publicly declared the end of a relationship tied to years of strategic planning before consulting this Board. Now Finance is telling us that several projects may be affected by that decision."

His gaze hardened.

"Did you consider the company’s position before making that announcement, or were you simply angry?"

Alexander felt several pairs of eyes settle on him.

That was considerably more direct than he’d expected.

The Chairman didn’t intervene.

If anything, his silence told Alex he wanted the answer too.

Alex closed the folder in front of him.

"The engagement was personal. The consequences aren’t."

Castillo’s expression didn’t change.

"Every major collaboration between Vance Holdings and Sebastian Group depended, at least partly, on the assumption that the alliance between our families was stable. Yesterday proved it wasn’t."

"And your solution was to announce its collapse immediately?"

"My solution was to stop pretending nothing had changed."

Castillo leaned back.

Alex continued before the man could interrupt.

"Sebastian Group’s CEO failed to appear for a legal appointment tied to that alliance, became publicly unreachable, and allowed the situation to develop into a reputational crisis before making his own position clear online. By then, the instability already existed."

That finally drew the Chairman’s attention away from the report.

Alex met his gaze.

"I didn’t create that uncertainty. I acknowledged it."

The Chairman regarded him for a moment.

"That doesn’t answer the concern about timing."

"No," Alex agreed. "It doesn’t."

A few directors looked up.

He wasn’t going to pretend he’d handled yesterday according to some beautifully prepared corporate contingency plan. He’d been furious and humiliated too.

But that didn’t automatically make the decision wrong.

"I announced before consulting the Board. I accept responsibility for that. But I won’t accept that preserving the appearance of an alliance after its foundation had already collapsed would’ve protected this company."

Silence followed.

Then Castillo asked the question Alex had been expecting.

"So what protects it now?"

There it was.

Because ending an alliance was easy compared to replacing what came with it.

Castillo pushed the financial report slightly toward him.

"You’ve told us why Sebastian Group can no longer be treated as a stable strategic partner. Fine. What I want to know is what you intended to put in its place."

Before Alex could answer, the Head of Business Development cleared his throat.

"As it happens, Director Castillo, we may already have something worth considering."

Castillo frowned.

The executive reached for several folders beside his seat.

"We received these less than an hour ago."

He began passing them around.

The first folder reached the Chairman.

He looked at the cover.

Then looked again.

"Mercer Group?"

That got everyone’s attention.

Director Castillo immediately reached for his copy.

"The Mercer Group?"

"The very same."

Alex said nothing.

He recognized the logo.

And apparently Giovanni hadn’t wasted any time.

The Head of Business Development opened his folder.

"Following preliminary discussions between Mr. Vance and Giovanni Mercer yesterday, Mercer Group has formally expressed interest in several collaborative ventures."

Castillo turned toward Alex.

"Yesterday?"

"Yes."

The answer changed something.

Not much.

But enough.

The Chairman was already reading.

"What are they offering?"

"Infrastructure development and integrated logistics, among others. There’s also a joint procurement framework that could offset some of our current exposure."

Pages began turning around the table.

The skepticism didn’t disappear.

It simply found a new target.

"Mercer has rejected collaboration with us before."

"Repeatedly," another director added.

"Which makes this considerably more interesting," the Chairman said.

He continued reading.

"Competitive pricing. Shared exposure."

Another page.

"Defined performance obligations."

Then he stopped.

His eyes lifted toward Alexander.

"This wasn’t prepared yesterday."

"No."

It couldn’t have been.

The proposals were preliminary, but they were far too detailed to have been assembled between Alex leaving Giovanni’s penthouse and this morning’s Board meeting.

Whatever Giovanni had sent over, Mercer Group had clearly considered at least some of these possibilities before Alex ever asked.

The Chairman looked toward Business Development.

"How quickly can your team assess these?"

"We’ve already started."

"Finance?"

The CFO reached for a folder.

"We can model the strongest proposals against the projected Sebastian exposure."

Director Castillo, who minutes earlier had been asking whether Alex had allowed humiliation to dictate corporate policy, was now halfway through the logistics proposal.

His tone was noticeably different when he spoke again.

"If these numbers hold, the transition cost may be substantially lower than projected."

Alex almost smiled.

Almost.

Apparently, nothing improved a Board’s opinion of its CEO quite like discovering he’d walked into an emergency meeting with one of the company’s largest competitors already knocking on the door.

The Chairman closed his folder.

"Mr. Vance."

"Yes?"

"You approached Mercer yesterday?"

"I did."

"Before or after your announcement?"

"Before."

Castillo looked up sharply.

That answer mattered too.

Alex hadn’t waited for the fallout before considering what came next.

The Chairman studied him for another moment before giving a slow nod.

"Then I may have been too quick to assume yesterday’s decision was made without regard for what followed it."

Not an apology.

Chairmen probably had those surgically removed upon appointment.

Still, Alex would take it.

Castillo didn’t offer even that much, although the accusation had disappeared from his face.

"What did Mercer ask for in return?"

"Nothing has been agreed upon," Alex said. "These are proposals, not commitments."

"Good."

The Chairman pushed the folder toward Business Development.

"Treat them accordingly. Legal will continue reviewing every Sebastian agreement. Finance will assess our exposure, and Business Development will evaluate Mercer alongside any other qualified alternatives."

No one objected.

Twenty minutes earlier, Alexander had been explaining why he hadn’t endangered Vance Holdings by ending the Sebastian alliance.

Now the same directors were discussing whether Mercer Group might leave them in a stronger position than before.

Interesting how quickly the temperature of a boardroom could change once the numbers did.

The Chairman looked at Alex again.

"I assume you’ll handle the preliminary discussions with Mr. Mercer personally."

"I will."

"This Board will expect considerably more consultation before any commitment is made."

There was enough emphasis on considerably more that Alex knew the reprimand hadn’t vanished entirely.

Fair enough.

"Of course."

The Chairman nodded.

"But if Mercer is serious, I suggest you find out just how serious."

Alex glanced at the folders scattered around the table.

Yesterday, Giovanni had promised him proposals.

Today, they had arrived just in time to keep Alex from being roasted alive by his own Board.

"I intend to."

"Good."

The Chairman stood.

"If there are no further matters, this meeting is adjourned."

Chairs began moving almost immediately.

Director Castillo remained seated long enough to finish the page he’d been reading.

Then he closed the Mercer proposal and looked at Alex.

"Next time, Mr. Vance, inform the Board before you decide to dismantle a strategic alliance."

Alex nodded.

"Understood."

Castillo picked up the folder.

A beat passed.

"But don’t lose this."

He tapped the Mercer logo once before walking out.

Alex watched him go.

Well.

That was certainly a different tone.