Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Inc. ❯ Chapter 4

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Title: Inc-Chapter 4
Author: MarshAngel
e-mail:watsonma@hotmail.com
webpage: http://www.crosswinds.net/~marshangel/angelmoon.htm

Darien frowned at the papers on his desk. It was a bundle of
information on Kyler Inc. that under normal circumstances he shouldn't
have. Had kyler not brought this situation before him he would never had
taken a second look at Kyler Inc. Now that he had all the information before
him he had to admit that the idea of a merger was highly profitable. The
proposition, though confounding, was mildly attractive.

He had to wonder however, just why Kyler had chosen him of all
people. Granted they had similar modes of operation but there must have
been a good half dozen other companies that Kyler could have asked. Why
would Kyler want to hand over a company that had been in his family for so
many years to a perfect stranger?

"Hi Daddy," Serena said nervously. She had been racking her brain,
wondering just what miracle had occurred to cause her father's sudden
interest. The only ideas she could come up with is the possibility of
insanity, his not hers. She had considered her own insanity, assuming she
hadn't really called him and had imagined the whole thing up. That idea
had flown out the window when she'd walked up to his table in the
restaurant where to her surprise he'd smiled at her and kissed her cheek,
obviously she had spoken to him after all. The only other possibility had
been he had contracted a terminal illness and was making peace with
everyone in his life. She certainly hoped that wasn't the case.

"Hello, Sweetheart. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Daddy," Serena replied smilingly. She couldn't help feeling
nervous. He always had that effect on her and she had a feeling he knew it
and didn't like that very much. Today, however, he seemed to be going out
of his way to put her at ease. She had the distinct sensation he would drop
a bombshell before the evening was over. For that reason, she ordered a
gin and tonic, not for it's taste but for it's alcohol content.
…
The evening was almost to a close and still her father had not
unloaded whatever burden had caused him to invite her to dine with him.
Maybe he was really dying and had no intention of letting her know.
Instead, he hoped to make up for lost time by spending time with his only
child. Next thing she knew he would be spending time with his wife… not
likely she rethought.

Kyler was having a hard time preventing the frown his facial muscles
seemed to beg for. She was not at all what he expected. He had been
surprised when she'd ordered such a strong drink. He'd been grateful later
however, when the alcohol had taken effect and her original nervousness
melted into a far more relaxed state, revealing far more of herself to him
than she probably intended. It was almost at the end of their long meal
before he realized he never knew his daughter.

He certainly had never had a prolonged conversation with her. He
had made many assumptions about her, most of them false. She was
nothing like her mother. She was strong, charming, beautiful, amusing,
intelligent, and witty; she couldn't possibly be his, and yet somehow she
was. He was suddenly caught up in how many years he'd lost with this girl
who just would have gone off and gotten married without him ever knowing
what a wonderful girl she really was. He felt guilty, somewhat.

He had been extremely surprised that she was the one to break the
engagement. He had naturally assumed Davenport had found someone else
and Serena had felt the need to cover up for him by claiming it was mutual.
The fact that she didn't seem to be in the least bit of pain from the breakup
convinced him otherwise. Serena made her own decisions. She was, he
decided, the daughter he had always wanted and never knew he had.

It certainly made what he was about to do much harder on his
conscience. Derencourt was however the son he had always wanted, a
wonderful businessman. He would be doing Serena a favor.

"Daddy, is something wrong? You seem to have gone off to another
planet for a moment." Serena suspected that this was the moment she had
been waiting all night for. The wonderful food settling into her stomach
twisted uncomfortably into a tight ball of unease that she hoped wasn't
visible on her face.

"Serena I'm about to tell you something that I'd prefer you not reveal
to anyone."

Her big blue eyes widened with concern and fear. Dear God! He was
dying.

"It's about what you said in that board meeting the other day. Your
concerns about the company are very valid dear."

Her widened eyes returned to their usual size. She should have
known it was about business, she thought bitterly, not that she wasn't
relieved he was going to live. They had spent a wonderful evening together,
one she'd remember for the rest of her life as quite possibly the first, last,
and only times she'd received attention from the man she admired most.

"As I'm sure you know, Kyler Inc.'s stock is not as valuable as it
should be right now." He sighed. "I've worked long and hard on this
company but occasionally things happen and don't go the way we hope.
The company isn't in any real danger on it's own but I had been hoping
with some of our new ventures to recover from this momentary slow
period."

Serena digested that information easily. She had known about the
company's slow period but with the booming economy and Kyler's good
reputation with the banks for making profit, their recovery was almost
guaranteed.

"Your Aunt's husband does not, however, have any intention of
letting Kyler Inc recover before he moves in. I suspect he's already
attempting to ruin our reputation by trying to get the banks and our
stockholders to doubt our ability to profit and pay off our debts. He's
hoping that he can convince us to sell a percentage of our stock in order to
boost our profits. Even if he doesn't, he can still spread rumors that we're
having problems and cause a big enough drop in stock prices and profits
for him to attempt a takeover, which is what he's already begun."
Serena was shocked. She had had no idea that things were so
precarious.

"What are we going to do?"

"We are going to save ourselves, and I hoped you could help me."

"How can I help?" Serena questioned, surprised at the request.

"You can marry Darien Derencourt." He'd laid it all on the table. He
doubted she'd like it, but if anything she was loyal and she was a Kyler. She
would do what was best for the company and the family just as he had.
He tried to rationalize what he was doing to her. He was forcing her
to choose between her family and her own happiness. He hoped she
wouldn't quite see it that way. He didn't doubt that Darien could make her
happy. It wasn't exactly the worst deal one could be offered: marry a
gorgeous multimillionaire and save your family's corporation.

"Are you serious?" Serena all but screeched after her stunned
silence. She couldn't believe her ears. Her father had just suggested she
marry a known womanizer whose ideals rubbed her the wrong way. To do
such a thing would be tantamount to making a deal with the devil.

"Derencourt is the only one whom I'd trust to run this company the
way it needs to be run. His touch is golden. The moment the banks and the
stockholders hear that Kyler Inc. will merge with NGT, our stock would
shoot through the roof. Darien Davenport is exactly the kind of man we
need.

"You can't be serious! The man's a predator, not to mention a
womanizing gigolo. His business tactics are suspect and any moment now
the SEC is going to shut him down. He has no friends that I know of,
although he seems to have drawn Andrew into his fan club, and his idea of
good business is to intimidate everyone around him."

"I see you know him."

"We've met," Serena replied tersely.

"He's good at what he does. He's intelligent, downright brilliant, he's
attractive, he's…

"…exactly like you!" Serena surprised them both finishing and
improvising his sentence. Richard smiled.

"Not exactly. I'll take the rest as a compliment but I am not the
womanizing gigolo you think he is, besides I was heading for something
else but I see you've already made your judgment of him so I hardly think
mentioning that I think you could love him would change your mind."
Serena was stunned, a feeling she was beginning to get used to
today. She sensed a positive shift in her relationship with her father. Just
now she had shown none of the reserve she usually maintained in his
presence. She had the distinct feeling he was slightly amused but still very
serious.

While she suddenly felt significantly closer to her father she couldn't
believe he was trying to arrange her marriage. She hadn't thought him
interested enough in her life to care whom she married. Obviously she was
wrong. But of all the men in the world he had chosen the one she had just
recently developed a moral opposition to. Of course, discovering that
Darien was not the one attempting to take over the corporation did earn
him one point in her favor or was it that it took away on of the many
negative points he'd already earned?

"What in the world makes you think I could love him? Certainly you
can't have based that solely on the fact that he's good looking?" That was
quite the understatement. Derencourt looked like a dark god, like any of
the tall, dark, and handsome heroes of the romance novels she used to
read. He even brooded for crying out loud! She wasn't sure how she knew
that but she was sure it was true. Despite her dislike of him, she wasn't
immune to his stunning masculine beauty. She gulped realizing she had
spent way too much time contemplating his perfect features and staring at
his icy blue eyes in that magazine she had read.

"As I said before he's intelligent, handsome, and charming." Richard
had to admit he had no idea whether Derencourt was charming or not, all
he'd seen was a controlled demeanor and intelligence in his icy eyes. He
had a hunch that beneath all that he was as passionate as they came. He
was tempted to mention that he'd overheard a few women gossiping about
how good he was in bed but he doubted she'd appreciate that or that it was

an appropriate thing to mention to one's daughter.

"I knew his mother a long time ago. She was a wonderful woman. I
don't doubt she raised her son well."

"Why do I need to marry him? From what I understand, you've
already met with him and I don't see why the merger can't be done without
this marriage you have in mind. Also, by the way his relationships, if they
can be called that, with women have gone, he doesn't seem to have any
interest in marriage. What makes you think that he'd agree to marry me?"

"I hadn't thought much about this before I met with him, but the
more I think about it the more I'd like the company to remain within our
family and marriage is the only way I can see to do that. As for
Derencourt's relationships, maybe he hasn't really met the right woman."

"And you think I'm the right woman?" Serena asked skeptically.

"I think you could be if you put your mind to it."

"I don't think Derencourt, is very interested in a woman's mind."

Serena said sarcastically annoyed with his last statement.
Kyler smiled. The girl had backbone, he had to give her that much.
The more she argued, the more he felt she and Derencourt were right for
each other and the more he was confused by his own behavior. He felt
fatherly and cupid-like. The last thing he had expected was to find himself
playing matchmaker and he certainly didn't expect to have this grand
almost divine feeling that he was doing the right thing.

"I'm sure he could make an exception for you."

"I doubt it. You didn't take my mind into consideration before and
you obviously aren't doing so now. If I consider the fact that he is so much
like you I'll have to assume he'll want nothing to do with me!" Serena
regretted the words the instant they left her lips.

Richard's face tightened into an unintelligible expression. "I suppose
I deserved that. I can see now that my lack of attention has caused you
some pain. I am very sorry, I haven't been all I should be to you."

"I didn't mean to say that."

"No, don't apologize. It's good that you did. I needed to hear it."

"You still haven't told me why you think he'd want to marry me. I
doubt that I'm his type."

"Don't worry about it. I'll convince him. Are you willing to try this? I
wouldn't ask you to do this if I thought there would be another way of
keeping the company in this family. I also wouldn't ask you if I didn't think
you could be happy with him."

"Like you and Mom?" Serena asked bitterly.

"What happened between your mother and I have no bearing on this
situation whatsoever," he replied tersely in a tone that told her not to
broach the subject again.

"Doesn't it? Didn't your family force you to make the same choice
you're giving me now? Family loyalty or your own happiness."
She watched as his jaw clenched. He was angry but for the first time
in her life she wasn't afraid or intimidated by him.

"The situation isn't the least bit the same. Times were different, and
I wasn't given a choice then. We were both in love with other people. My
parents didn't approve of my choice; they forced me to give up the woman I
loved, it was a sort of blackmail I guess you could call it.

"She was Japanese in a time when it wasn't fashionable to be
different. Her parents owned a small business at the time, they didn't
approve either but they were good people. My grandfather had the power
and threatened to use it to run her parents out of business. If that
happened they'd be forced to return to Japan or move to Boston to live
with their friends. The business was their livelihood. I couldn't let that
happen despite how much I loved her so I did what was best and honored
my family's wishes.

"I was angry when I got married. I was angry with my family and the
world, I was even angry with Ikuko, in her despair over the ending of our
relationship, she ran away from home and last I heard she married some
musician from somewhere in Europe she met in Seattle. I guess I laid a lot
of blame at your mother's feet. She hated and feared me at first. I guess
my anger distanced us for a while. I eventually got over it, at least long
enough for us to form a decent enough relationship to produce you. Our
marriage never had a good foundation however; our relationship couldn't
stand the test of time."

"If the marriage wasn't going well why didn't you divorce?"

"I think you already know the answer to that. People in our set don't
divorce. They live separate lives, but they never get divorced."

"How Victorian." Serena spat bitterly. It seemed the privileged class
she was born into denied people their happiness just to keep the status
quo.

"Serena I don't want you to think you have to do this; you don't. I
know that coming from me this sounds ridiculous but I think you could like
Derencourt. After all, if he's so much like me you can't possibly hate him.
I've done so much wrong to you and yet you're sitting here having dinner
with me. Give him a chance; if you can have dinner with me, you can have
dinner with him, he's also better looking company so you'll have something
interesting to look at."

Serena felt herself softening and resisted the urge to kick herself and
an even bigger urge to kick him in the teeth. She knew that she was going
to say yes.

"Ok. I'll try but I'm not asking him out, you are."

"Me!" Her father sounded utterly ridiculous and it made her smile.
This was what she had dreamed of for so long, a loving relationship with
her father.

"Yes you."

"I don't think you want me to do that," he replied. Serena thought
about that for a little while.

"Well then you'll just have to motivate him to ask me because I don't
feel like embarrassing myself."

"Somehow I don't think he'll need too much motivation