Maxine continued her task of trying to understand the business and how Adrian worked. A lot of it seemed like magic to her but slowly his approach to doing business became clear.

All the time, the bid to buy the Hotel in Devon was on the table. Adrian’s lawyers tried to get a decision about the bid but for a while, they were fobbed off by the phalanx of Amercian Lawyers and Accountants that seemed to be pouring over every aspect of the UK Company’s operations. Adrian was perplexed as this should have been done as part of the ‘due diligence’ before the deal was signed. He wondered more than once if there was something in the books that was very dodgy.

Six weeks after the bid had been put on the table, the reason for the delays became obvious. Two of the former UK company directors were arrested on suspicion of money laundering and employing illegal immigrants. Jon Lord was also implicated in the wrongdoing.

Nevertheless, a week before Christmas, the bid was accepted.

[at the hotel in Devon]

“How much longer?” asked Nina for the umpteenth time that afternoon.

Belinda sighed.

“He will be here.”

“I want to know what happened.”

“We know that they accepted Adrian’s offer.”

“But what about him?”

“Nina darling, you should have realised by now that Adrian does things in his own way by now. He will tell us when he gets here. And for that we have to wait for the traffic between Brum and here.”

“I know but….”

“Yes darling, waiting sucks but we will get there just a little bit longer to wait.”

What the women didn’t know was at that very moment, Adrian was in Trowbridge picking up his assistant Maxine who had been visiting her Mother.

Two hours later, Nina spotted Adrian’s car pulling into the car park.

“He’s here,” she exclaimed.

“Good. Now will you sit down. Let the poor man get himself together before pestering him with questions ok?”

Nina glared at her lover but deep inside she knew that she was right as always.

Then Nina spied that Adrian had someone with her.
“Who the heck is that with him?”

“Nina, there are times when you need to learn to keep your trap shut. This is one of them.”
Then I added with a smile on her face.

“That must be his assistant or associate. Someone called Maxine did that report on us for him. We both recognised that it was well done when he showed it to us.”

Then Nina exclaimed.
“I think she’s like you,”

Belinda looked harder at the woman accompanying Adrian.

“I think you are right my darling.”

“We still really don’t know what he really wants from us.”

“Yes, you do my darling and so do the rest of the staff. Adrian hasn’t stumped up close to a million and a half quid out of the goodness of his heart now has he? Don’t forget that there is a lot more to come for the extension. He wants to get his money back and that is down to us isn’t it?”

“I guess so.”

“So, put on your best face and bite your tongue eh?”

“Yes Boss.”

“Good. Let us smile and go and meet our new boss or is that bosses?” suggested Belinda.

---

Adrian, ushered Maxine into the Hotel foyer.
“Don’t worry Maxine, they won’t bite.”

“But…”

“Just let me do the talking.”

Maxine shut up but followed him into Belinda’s office.

“Well, ladies we did it. We three are now the joint owners of this fine establishment.”

“But what happened to Jon?” asked Nina.

“Ah yes, him. Patience Nina. I expect that he will get his comeuppance in a day or so. The Inland Revenue will be taking a really deep and thorough look at his banks accounts especially the ones he had his fee from the takeover paid into. He does not seem to have thought about declaring the income or the tax due. Using a certain one of the banks in the Cayman Islands is going to be his downfall. It just happens to be a front for the US Tax People. They’ll gladly share all the gory details with our tax people. My sources indicate that he and two of the former directors have been laundering money through the Hotel chain for the last few years.”

“Is that all?” asked Nina.

“All? What more do you want? Half a pound of Heroin?” exclaimed Belinda.

“That would do nicely,” said Nina being serious.

“Again, my sources indicate that a good deal of that money more than likely came from the drugs trade. That is every chance that little scumbag will be serving at least 10 years in prison here. When the UK is done, the US will want to have more than a word with him. Apparently, he didn’t revoke his US Citizenship when he became a British one. As a result, he has to file a US Tax return every year. It seems that Mr Lord has not been doing that. My Tax people estimate that with all the fines and back taxes to pay, Mr Lord will be bankrupt even before the jail terms are included. They are sure that he is guilty of tax evasion.”

Nina visibly calmed down at the news.
“And to think I almost fell for his charms.”
She shivered at the thought of the past.

“You can put that behind you and maybe in time, you might even smile at it and consider it just part of life and besides, without him, you would not have met Belinda, now would you?” said Adrian.

Nina smiled at her lover. What Adrian had said was very true.

“Now ladies, this is Maxine, my assistant. You will be seeing a lot more of her in the future. She will be responsible for this place on my behalf. As you know, she did the initial report into the sale of the Hotel chain so I am totally confident that you will be in good hands.”

“But in the meantime, I think we should celebrate the birth of our partnership,” said Adrian.

Then he produced a very decent bottle of Champagne where they all toasted the future.

Belinda took Maxine aside a little later.

“How long have you been full time?” she asked.

“Almost six months,” said Maxine hesitantly.

“You are pretty good. Nina clocked you though, but that is probably because she lives with me.”

“You?”

“Yes me. I was once a man, a pretty ineffectual man but a man nevertheless.”

Maxine relaxed.

Then Maxine asked quietly,
“Will my running our end of the business be a problem with you?”

Belinda thought for a moment.

“Well, we wouldn’t all be here today if it wasn’t for you so I don’t think so.”

Maxine smiled.

“Then my first request is for you to get the builders in and get those quotes for the new wind updated. If we move quickly, the work could be finished in time for the summer season.”

Belinda smiled.

“You don’t hang about do you?”

“Why ever should we? The sooner you can start filling those rooms then the sooner you can start to own more of the business.”

Belinda could not argue with that.

“Please don’t think that this is the end of our investments in this area. However, nothing will happen without the buy-in of both you and Nina. I want our relationship to be more of a partnership than anything else. Adrian and I can see a good future for everyone in this part of the world.”

Belinda was slightly stunned by that revelation.

“Are Adrian and you an item?” asked Belinda.

Maxine smiled.
“We are but we want to keep it very much in the background until I get fully up to speed with the business. Adrian’s investments are many and varied. I am having a hard time getting my head around some of them. He does weave a complicated maze at times.”

---

[later in the car heading home]
“Well Maxine, how did you think that went?”

Maxine smiled.

“As well as could be expected. I think Belinda will begin to trust me if we can deliver what we have promised.”

Adrian smiled.

“Well my dear, that is all down to you, now isn’t it?”

“You make it sound so easy…”

Adrian laughed.

“I had to start somewhere. Don’t worry, I’ll be here to back you up.

---

Maxine spent a lot of time in Devon working directly with Belinda and Nina at the Hotel. The new wing opened in late July and was soon fully booked until late September. It was originally planned for June but some late changes to the specification put that back for one month. These changes were related to putting solar panels on the roof of the extension. The main part of the Hotel would be done in the winter during the quiet period.

Maxine had done a report on the viability of PV systems for Adrian and he’d accepted her findings without question. Alternative energy systems were an interest of his even before Maxine had joined up with him.

[At a Board meeting at the Hotel in early August]

As had become the norm, each of the three women took it in turns to chair the meeting. It was Maxine’s turn for this meeting.

“Now, onto any other business. Has anyone got anything?” said Maxine.

“I have one thing,” said Belinda.
“The Anchor pub down in the Village might be closing. The tenant is retiring and as the place needs a lot of money spent on it, the management company might not be willing to do that so it might come onto the market.”

Maxine smiled.
“And you see a possible investment there?”

“Yes. The place used to offer B&B accommodation. It was pretty basic by today’s standards but it could be a great place for our staff. God knows we have enough problems getting decent digs for them around here. Then we could offer our residents the opportunity to eat at the pub and charge it to their rooms. We could even run a minibus so that they don’t have to drive. There is a lot of scope there if we think about it.”

“You seem to have done a lot of that work, already haven’t you? What about you Nina?”

“I was surprised when Belinda brought this up, but on the surface, it looks good and could be profitable for us,” said Nina.

Maxine smiled.

“Then we need a full report with all the figures. Then we can consider the project as a whole. May I suggest that we don’t make it obvious to the management company that we are sniffing around. It might be better to let the place close before putting in an offer?”

Belinda laughed.
“That way, we can get it cheaper than if we took it over before it closed?”

“Exactly! Anyway, if we can get all the figures together. Thanks to Adrian, I know of someone who values pubs etc for a living. I’ll engage him to look at the place on the ‘qt’ and give us the costs if that is ok with you? This is your baby ladies but I’ll help out in any way I can.”

Both Nina and Belinda knew that Maxine would let them run with the project once she’d done her bit.

Maxine seized her opportunity to mention something that she’d been thinking about all week.
“I have one thing,” she said.

“I know that this might sound a bit strange but everyone here including both of you have worked wonders this year so I propose that we close the Hotel in early November and everyone and I mean everyone has a week off on full pay as a way of saying thanks for their efforts this year. It should coincide with the installation of the Solar Panels on the roof of the main building. What do you think?”

Belinda looked at Nina with her mouth wide open. Nina grinned.

“I think that it is a great idea. We can have a staff party as well. Then it will be heads down for the Christmas season. We are full right through December and most of January already,” said Nina.

“Belinda?”

“Can I come up with a cash-flow projection?”

Nina looked at her partner.

“We aren’t very busy that week. It is after half-term and I happen to think that it would do wonders for staff morale. Aren’t we ahead of forecast?”

“Yes… but… Oh heck, why not. We are already fully booked for Christmas and New Year then I can’t see how it can hurt.”

“Good,” said Belinda.
“That’s settled. Can you find a room for Adrian and me? I think another two pairs of hands might help over the holidays?”

“Eh?” remarked Belinda.

“I’m volunteering Adrian and myself to come and lend a hand here. We all know that the staff want as much time off as possible to be with their families so if we can lend a hand doing anything that can ease the burden on the staff then so much the better.”

“This is a bit unexpected but welcome,” said Nina.

“We don’t have to decide now but if you do the rotas and then do them again with us included you might be able to let those with families spend more time with them. Just trying to help out. If it means washing dishes then we are prepared to do this. But as with everything, you two are the bosses. If you say no then fine. The real reason I suggested it is that would get Adrian away from business matters for a few days. That man never relaxes. After a bit of dithering, he agreed as long as both of you are happy.”

Belinda smiled and nodded her head.

“Good. Then if there is nothing else, then I declare this meeting over.”

[Belinda’s office a few hours later]

“I didn’t see that AOB coming. Did you?” said Belinda to Nina.

“No, I didn’t but isn’t that what we have come to expect from her and Adrian. That’s the bit that I find so hard to accept. At business school, we were told all about the role that Venture Capitalists play in a business. We saw that with the sale of the chain but here we have a VC that is hands on but in a helpful way.”

“Could she be manipulating us?” asked Belinda.

“Look, if someone wants to get their hands dirty over Christmas and New Year for no reward who are we to argue. Have we reason to doubt anything that Adrian or Maxine has said or done since they took over? I can’t find one. Look my darling, I think we need to trust Maxine. I can’t see a devious streak in her. This plan to close the Hotel while the builders are in is, if you ask me brilliant. The staff will love it. She is right, we all need a break and before Christmas is perfect.”

Reluctantly, Belinda had to agree.

“Don’t get me wrong darling. You are right to try to find the negatives in this. That is only right but I think that she and Adrian really want us to succeed here. That way, they win and we win. Aren’t we ahead of our planned repayments to them? I think that we need to get it in writing from her that they closure won’t come back to hit us financially and we will be good to go,” said Nina.

Belinda looked at her lover and yet again, Nina had proven that they were a great team and that she was so lucky to have literally ‘bumped’ into Nina.

Less than a week later, Belinda informed all staff that the Hotel was closing for a week and that everyone would get paid for the break. Even Belinda was astounded at how much morale had improved after the announcement. Her only regret was that she hadn’t thought of the idea herself.

[January 2nd, at the Hotel]

“I’m glad that is over,” said Belinda to Nina as she finished the figures for the New Year.

“I thought we did well?” asked Nina.

“We did. Very well and that extra help we got from Maxine and Adrian was really useful.”

“I had my doubts but they just mucked in and got on with things.”

“Which is what they promised. Why the doubts about them?”

Nina sighed.

“I still can’t accept that they don’t have an ulterior motive for doing what they do here.”

Belinda grinned.
“I think they like us because of Maxine and me.”

“But? But that does not make business sense. Everything about them is business, isn’t it?”

Belinda leaned over and took her lovers hand.
“You didn’t see them working in the kitchen washing dishes until the small hours of yesterday morning. By all accounts they were having a great time. That does not seem to be all business now does it?”

“Ok, you win. They are the good guys.”

Belinda smiled.
“You are right to be sceptical because of the past but so far those two are more than doing their part and for that we must be thankful. Adrian and now Maxine have put a lot of trust in us. It is up to us to deliver and become the majority owners on this place.”

Nina stood up and embraced her lover.
“You are always so sensible,” said Nina.

“One of us has to be,” joked Belinda.

[Continued in Forsythe Saga – French Connection]