Chapter 36: Another Offer

Clarissa’s guests started to drift off home after about an hour in the conservatory—it was a school night after all. And even though Clarissa wanted me to stay the night with her now that we had her mother’s permission, I didn’t have a change of clothes with me for the next morning. Or any pyjamas to sleep in (mind you, Clarissa said I wouldn’t need them). Or my toothbrush. I did, however, agree to stay another couple of hours and leave at around half eleven so I could get to bed for midnight.

At around half nine, we’d just settled on the sofa in the living room to watch a DVD, when the doorbell rang.

“I bet that somebody’s forgotten something,” Clarissa said, pushing herself up off the sofa. “Probably Grace. She can be stupid like that sometimes.”

I got up to follow, expecting to be able to pull someone’s leg about their memory lapse, but when Clarissa opened the door, it wasn’t quite who she was expecting.

“Mr Brown? Mr Williams? What are you—?”

“Oh, good, you’re here,” Clarissa’s mom said from behind us. She’d come out of the kitchen and was wiping her hands with a towel. “Shall we go into the lounge?”

“Wherever you think is best,” said Will, “But...” He looked at me. “Are you sure this is a good time?”

“What’s this about?” Clarissa asked. “Why are you here?”

“It’s about your inheritance,” Christine said. “Why else would they be here today? It is your birthday. You are eighteen now.”

“But ... But...”

“Which is why this might not be a good time,” Will said, again looking at me. I got the message.

“I should go. I’ll call you later.”

“NO!” Clarissa blushed then continued more quietly. “I don’t want any secrets from you, Paul. You’ve told me everything. I want you to know everything too.”

“Are you sure about this?” Will asked.

Clarissa nodded. “Paul stays. Just like last time.”

We went back into the lounge, Clarissa and me sitting on one sofa, the three trustees of her father’s estate on the other.

Clarissa switched off the television, threw the remote on the coffee table and said, “So, what’s so important that it couldn’t wait.”

Will looked at the other two and then said, “Obviously, we here to tell you about your inheritance. And as I’m sure Paul’s already told you, if he’s told you everything, there are a great many forms that need your signature.”

“Well, yes, I expected that, but can’t they wait until the weekend? I’m not in any rush. It’s not like I’m dying to go out and spend it all or something.”

“True,” said Christine, “And most of it can wait. Right, Will?”

He nodded. “In fact, I’ve already arranged to come back this weekend.”

“So why are you here?”

“Because,” said Will, “there’s one form that cannot wait.” He opened the small leather briefcase he had with him and took out a thin brown file which he then held out for Clarissa to take.

“The company?” she said after looking inside. “Why? What’s so important? What’s the rush?”

Will looked at Pete Williams, who nodded and took over.

“Clarissa, the company isn’t doing as well as some people in the town think.”

She looked surprised, but I already knew what was coming next. “He’s right,” I said. “I saw a copy of the company accounts for last year the other week, so I know he’s right.”

“Where did you get that from?” she asked.

“Companies House in London. They have a website and you can order copies of the accounts of pretty much any company. Will told me about it. I’ve been looking at a lot of company accounts recently. Well, the ones I own shares in at any rate. Liddington-Phipps made a loss last year. Two and half million.”

She was shocked. “Really? But ... I mean...” She shook her head. “How?”

“The recession has hit hard,” said Pete, “but really, the company has been in a bad way for some time. It’s the reason Andy brought me in originally. Before his death. Both he and Ben were keen to make reforms. The product is still second to none, but the factory is operating with outdated machinery and work practices from the dark days of the seventies. With people spending less in this economic climate, it doesn’t matter how good the product is, people just aren’t buying it. And that’s when the inefficiencies in production hurt the most.”

“So, what are you saying? Is the factory going to go bust?”

Pete pressed on. “The problem both your fathers had in trying to implement reforms is that twenty per cent of the company is owned by the Worker’s Trust. And The Trust represents the employees. Well, technically the employees are The Trust, and they’ll be damned if they are going to let any reforms take place that cost jobs. And cutting jobs is the only way to make the factory more efficient. It’s no good buying new machines that can be operated by half the number of people if you still employ the same number of people to operate them.”

“So is the company going to go bust?” she asked again.

Pete sighed. “It’s a possibility. If the economy recovers quickly then it might be okay. As I said, they still make top quality products that people will want to buy when they can afford to buy them. But if things don’t pick up...” He shrugged. “Bigger companies in other industries have already gone to the wall in this recession. No company has a get out of jail free card.”

“Oh my God!” I said, almost jumping out of my seat. “I know what this is about!”

Clarissa turned her gaze back to me. “What?”

“Someone wants to buy the company!” I looked at Will. “I’m right, aren’t I? There’s been an offer made. But as trustees, you can’t make the sale—or don’t want to. You’re leaving the decision to Clarissa.”

“But that’s crazy,” she said. “Why would anyone want to buy a company if it’s losing money?”