If he hadn't had his secret plan in place, William would have been mad not to heed his advisers' advice and implement exactly what they had presented. But he'd had it all figured out for a long time. What he wanted now, more than anything, was for them to leave his office so that he could go home and check his e-mail.
When he uttered his response, "We'll continue evolving the current BP design," he could see in their expressions that they thought he was crazy. Both stared at him with incredulity. His business adviser flapped pages of figures and charts that projected the market penetration Wallaby could achieve if it were successful in getting the rumored Joey Plus computer to market within three months. According to one chart, Wallaby could begin by tapping some of ICP's largest customer accounts, which could lead to sizable market penetration over the next three years. Within five years, another chart predicted, the Joey Plus's superior design could earn half of ICP's portable computer market share for Wallaby.
William held firmly to his decision. What they were telling him was precisely what he and his secret partner, Matthew Locke, already knew. What his advisers didn't know was that their fears of Wallaby gaining monumental market share would hardly be a worry to ICP in the not-too-distant future. On the contrary, it would be cause for celebration.
Returning to his palatial home, he proceeded straight to his impressive office. He exhaled an appreciative sigh as he powered on his Wallaby Joey and sat before it, quite literally on the edge of his seat. Matthew had sent William the computer when it was introduced last year. They had made arrangements before Matthew had moved to California as to how they would communicate the progress of their secret merger plan, which the men had originally formulated here in William's home. It would stun the business world, William reflected for the hundredth time. He'd experienced so many moments of pleasant anticipation since the course had been set two years ago.
After the jolting squash match with Rolland Worthy, William had returned to his office and had his secretary cancel his remaining meetings. He asked his driver to take him to Central Park. He intended to force himself to relax and think through the possible effects that Worthy's news could have on ICP's future portable computer strategy. During the short trip, William watched the miniature television in the passenger compartment, hopeful that the commercials and nonsense soap opera dialogue would lighten his frame of mind. Just before getting out of the car, he caught a commercial that froze him in his seat for its duration. A notion flashed in his mind. An instant later, the breadth of it nearly bowled him over in its force and irony, and he was thankful to be sitting down. The spark that ignited the idea was the infamous Remington electric shaver commercial, in which Victor Kiam says, "I liked the product so much, I bought the company." William's heart doubled its cadence, and wave after wave of adrenaline coursed through his system like gasoline spurting onto an open flame. His brain was a bonfire. Of course! That was it! He would buy Wallaby, for the very same reason Kiam had wanted Remington, because he really did like Wallaby's product so much. From his car phone he placed a call to Matthew Locke's office at International Foods. Matthew's secretary informed him that Matthew was out of the office for two days, but said that she would have him call when he returned.
In his excitement he had forgotten what Rolland Worthy told him, that Matthew was in California right now, visiting Wallaby.
William spent the next two days devising a plan. Rarely was there an occasion in which he had the pleasure of acting on impulse. Everything at ICP was planned several years in advance. The jubilation he felt over the merger idea was no less than a gift from above - the first diversion to come along that was powerful enough to ease his grieving over the loss of his wife Martha, who had passed away eight months ago, after a blessedly short battle with pancreatic cancer.
After losing Martha, William had secluded himself, inviting no one into his home. His new idea would change all that. He sank into his idea with pure obsession.
Matthew Locke accepted William's dinner invitation after returning from California. The two businessmen sat with drinks in the library. Perfunctory conversation planted the seeds that they carried to the dinner table. Once the first two courses were completed, William got the real discussion underway.
"As I told you on the phone, Rolland mentioned to me that you were visiting Wallaby in California as a candidate for president."