Chapter 9

I then said to Him, " then where is Mrs Diamond. I would like to meet with her. in fact I demand it!" He replied very coldly" Mr Vale, I know You are a Man who is used to being in control but You are not in this case and My advice is for You to listen and listen carefully. Mrs Diamond is in charge now and You will meet her soon enough but for now, You are dealing with Me!"

With that He turned and walked out of the board room leaving all of U/us in stunned silence...

As soon as He left the board room and W/we all sat quietly for a few minutes finally the silence was broken by Dale. He said to Me" I'm sorry David. I never saw this coming. I should have taken it more seriously."

I was still in shock but knew this was not His fault. However, I did need answers as now this was very serious. I was stunned more than anything I needed to find out why Duncan Chambers would hand over control of a company He loved to a total stranger. I looked at Dale and said" Dale, no one is blaming you at all. You tried to tell Me years ago when the stock was being bought up. I am not holding it against you. What I need to do is talk to Duncan. Duncan wouldn't have handed over His shares without a damn good reason... More importantly... He would have given Me first option to buy Him out if He had wanted out... Something is wrong!"

Dale replied" David, Duncan is an old man. Perhaps He just wanted out... After all Hes not getting any younger." I looked at Him and said" I don't know but I'm going to find out!" and with that I picked up the phone in the board room and placed an overseas call to Europe to Duncan Chambers.

When Duncan got on the phone He sounded much older and very tired. I immediately told Him of the events that happened and asked Him what it was all about. He replied to Me" David, I know this comes as a shock to You but I think its probably the best thing to happen to U/us... You can now focus on other things and maybe rather than work all the time find Yourself a woman."

I didn't even go into the fact that kimberly and I were now together. I answered Him" Duncan, I don't understand. You know I love the company... Are You mad at Me... Have I not been a good partner for You?"He replied very calmly" David, You are a wonderful partner. You are also like a son to Me... You know that. I am just a tired old man who wants some freedom and I want some freedom for You as well. All You do is hide behind the clubs. You need someone special in Your life perhaps the lilone You have in Your care. Perhaps if You were able to focus on her, You may find there is something between Y/you."

I shot back" Don't give Me that Duncan. I want the truth and I want it now please!" Finally Duncan let out a sigh of pain and His voice seem to get older as He spoke to Me then" David, I had no choice. Someone I love was threatened. I had to do it!" and before I could get answers He hung up the phone.

For a moment I sat there in silence... I then tried to call Him back and it was victoria who picked up the phone and I noticed her voice was very strained when she answered. Then it dawned on Me, it must have been victoria who was threatened... Duncan loved her with E/everything in Him so I now could see why it was so easy to hand the clubs over to a Mrs Leo Diamond. I asked if I could speak to Duncan and her reply was" Master made it clear to me that I wasnt to bother Him if You called again." I tried to explain it was important but she was determined to do as her Master said and as much as I didn't like it... I wished her well and said goodbye.