Booking Glory-Chapter 99: Tricks Of The Trade

Hey Folks!!!

Wish you all a Happy Christmas!!!

*****

"What you said makes sense," Rob nodded falling into his thoughts once more.

No one interrupted him as the other three began to chat, leaving him alone to mull things over. Brent, in particular, was excited to meet his idol face-to-face and was relentlessly talking her ear off. Dacey bore it gracefully and answered any questions he had. Mr. Walker chimed in from time to time to give break to Brent’s intense fanboying.

In the end, Rob felt that he still didn’t have all the details. So, after about five minutes he looked at Mr. Walker and asked the one question that has been bugging him.

"Mr. Walker," Rob began a little nervously. "You have had some dealings with big corporations. I just wanted to ask this. Say, if I refuse to sell and intend to keep these stocks," Dacey and Mr. Walker were startled a bit, but Rob raised a hand and calmed them down.

"I am just saying. Say, if I refuse to sell, what should I watch out for? Will there be any problems with it down the line?"

"What problem is going to be there?" Brent snorted from the side. "It is your stock. Whether you sell it or not is up to you."

"Are you really going to miss out on this opportunity to become a millionaire?" Dacey asked in surprise from the side as well.

However, it was Mr. Walker’s reaction that Rob was watching. Mr. Walker didn’t say anything for some time. He watched Rob intensely for some time causing both Dacey and Brent to look at the duo in confusion. The tension between them slowly rose.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Mr. Walker let out a loud guffaw and leaned back laughing loud.

"Good! Good!" Mr. Walker said excitedly leaning forward. "Son, you have good instincts. Not many people will think of asking these kinds of questions. Their eyes will only be on the million-dollar deals or the potential profits. Very few people will think of the repercussions. It is very good of you to even ask about them. Learn from him, you dumbass!" Mr. Walker said to Brent causing Brent to blush.

"It is good that you thought of this. Let me tell you what I suspect will happen if you refuse to sell your stock," Mr. Walker said turning serious. "Do you think others will let you go just because you don’t want to sell your stocks? Naïve. They will never let you go."

"They will send person after person to harass you relentlessly. It will make you feel irritated. They will call your phone, your office, meet you on the streets, wait for you in parking lots, even follow you to the restroom until you agree to sell."

"But, isn’t that harassment?" Dacey asked in confusion.

"It is, what are you going to do about it? File complaints? Drag people to court? Do you have time in your life for it? Do you have money in your bank to do it if you don’t sell your stocks?"

Dacey was dumbfounded by this shameless hooligan-like tactic.

"So, what happens when you lose your temper and beat them up one day? You will be sued and you will have to go to jail or even worse get dragged into a court case for years. By then, you will be completely fed up and agree to sell your stocks. But the price they will be buying will be below market price," Mr. Walker said causing Brent and Dacey’s jaws to drop open.

"And it is just not him that will face this. What happens when they shift focus and harass you or him?" Mr. Walker asked Brent and Dacey causing them to be a little surprised.

"What if they send a girl to harass Rob? A sexy beautiful woman? Do you think you can remain stoic when you see a sexy beautiful female throwing herself at Rob constantly? Will your relationship survive that?" Mr. Walker asked Dacey mockingly causing her face to turn pale.

"These are just a simple tactic that these capital groups will employ," Mr. Walker said partaking in some snacks. "There are even more insidious things they can do. They can slowly influence companies to dilute your stocks. They can slowly collude with your stockbroker and undermine your stocks. They can do a lot that you can do nothing about."

"This is the dark side of the stock market that doesn’t come to light more often. There is a saying, the stock market will never let you leave with your money. Even if you sell your stocks now, you will have to pay your stockbroker’s cut, your taxes, and other kinds of fees that come up. By then, you will only be left with half of your million."

"Isn’t this too cruel?" Dacey asked aghast.

"Too cruel? You spent $30,000 and want to make off with a million. Who in the world is going to be charitable enough to allow that? To them, you are a fat sheep that can be sheared whenever they want. It is a mercy if they leave you alone with your underpants," Mr. Walker chuckled seeing the devastated looks on Brent and Dacey.

Moving his eyes towards Rob, Mr. Walker saw that he wasn’t moved by his words a bit. He was merely listening intently and noting down the details he said. It was refreshing to see one so young being this steady. If only his nephew could learn this poise... sigh, there is no use crying over spilled milk.

"So, they would never allow me to hold this stock?" Rob asked with a grave face.

"I am sorry, son. But, this is the lay of the land. You can’t break the rules just because you want to. Actions have consequences. Normal people like us can never go against these big crocodiles in the industry," Mr. Walker gave Rob a sad smile.

"You should actually count yourself lucky," Mr. Walker sighed and looked at Rob with a complicated look. "There was a friend of mine, I won’t name names. He refused to sell a promising stock just like you. Within the next six months, he had sold off his stocks and was living in his car with no money in his bank. They utterly ruined him. I don’t want the same to happen to you."

Rob nodded gratefully and fell into thoughts once more. He already had some inclination of doubt regarding his ability to hold this stock. But, after listening to Mr. Walker it became clear how unrealistic it was. There were a million ways for him to screw something up and these corporations will pounce on him.

"Is there no way for me to hold to some of this stock?" Rob asked after some time as he was still reluctant to let go of this gold mine.

"Hmmm, there might be a way," Mr. Walker said thinking a bit. "The problem here is the number of stocks you hold. That is a major chunk. No one will allow someone who has no background like you to hold it. But, if you sell most and keep a little, you can get away with it."

"I want to hold a minimum of 500 stocks. I still feel that IndiSoft’s potential is yet to be dug out," Rob said determinedly.

"We can negotiate with that as one of our base conditions," Mr. Walker said nodding.

"I assume you have someone waiting for a call. Can I take it that someone from Flower Capitals has already contacted you to facilitate this deal?" Rob asked confidently.

It was clear from the manner Mr. Walker talked. Mr. Walker had already made some promises before coming here. That was the reason he was startled when Rob said he wanted to hold this stock.

While the advice he gave him was true and filled with experience, Mr. Walker had an underlying goal as well. It wasn’t hard for Rob to figure out what it was. At least, the man seemed to look out for him as well.

"Yes, I can ask them to come and meet us with a phone call. It is better if this deal was finalized today," Mr. Walker smiled a little sheepishly.

As a lawyer, he had a thick face. But, even he felt a little embarrassed being called out like this by Rob. Moreover, Rob was a friend of his nephew and in a way his junior. So, it was embarrassing for him to convince him to sell.

"No issues," Rob said nodding. "As long as the price is reasonable, we can make this deal. Should I call Graham now?"

"Let’s wait for now, we still haven’t finalized the deal. We still have a trump card to play," Mr. Walker smiled mysteriously causing others to look at him curiously. "Things are not as bleak as you think. If we play this right, we can score more than what others might imagine."

"Do tell," Rob leaned as he realized that this old fox had one more hand in his sleeve. Dacey and Brent leaned forward in interest as well.

"I will ask the representative from Flower Capitals to meet at Brent’s office. Rob, you have a trump card that no one has. It is Brent over there. If we use him right, we can rip off Flower Capitals really good," Mr. Walker smiled broadly. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Me!? What can I do?" Brent asked in surprise.

"If this idiot had called me to look at his new project before I sold the stocks, I wouldn’t have sold it now. I could have earned a lot if he hadn’t delayed informing me," Mr. Walker grumbled a bit and shook his head. "Here’s what we are going to do..."

Mr. Walker slowly laid out his plan causing Rob’s eyes to shine brightly. What Mr. Walker said was really doable. If they succeeded, then with Brent’s help they can sell this stock for a huge amount. By the time he finished, Brent and Dacey were staring at him with wide eyes.

There was only one key ingredient to pull off this scheme... Brent Walker and his office.

*****

For this plan made by Mr. Walker to succeed, it needs a good negotiator with a hard-ass attitude to be the front. Mr. Walker stressed that the negotiator can’t back down easily or the plan might not work out as well as they hoped.

Mr. Walker was obviously out of the equation as the middleman. Brent can’t be brought in as he had another role to play. Even if he was free, neither Rob nor Mr. Walker was confident in him to pull off what was required.

It either left Rob to negotiate directly or Dacey to be Rob’s proxy. Discussions regarding including Graham in the plan took place, but his allegiance was not clear and Rob didn’t want to risk it.

In the end, the job fell to Rob after Dacey decided that she didn’t have enough knowledge about computers or the consumer market to come off as knowledgeable.

The person who sits at the negotiation table must exude confidence and they have to act as if they were knowledgeable regarding computers and their future impact. If not, the representative of Flower Capital may not buy that person’s words.

From setting up the location to picking the negotiator, Mr. Walker had a meticulous plan in place for everything. He had taken care of planning for each and every eventuality and coached Rob on how to respond to them.

It was evening by the time the representative of Flower Capitals arrived at Brent’s office. He was dressed smartly in a business suit and had a secretary following behind him. She too was dressed in business attire. They exuded the temperament of business folk as they walked in.

Walking in, the representative was at first stunned by the large number of computers present and the people working on them. His eyes quickly drifted about taking in all the details. Despite his initial surprise, being a businessman, he was able to quickly mask his surprise.

However, his secretary who followed behind couldn’t help but gawk at the busy workplace. She had never thought a computer company would be this busy. This was an eye-opening experience for her.

"Hello Mr. Williams, my name is Baron Tucker. I am a senior manager at Flower Capitals. I assume Mr. Walker has spoken to you of our arrival?" the representative introduced himself smoothly as he saw Rob peeling off from a worktable to join them.

"Welcome, welcome," Rob smiled amicably. "It is nice to meet you two. Forgive me, we are a little busy. I actually forgot the time. This place is a bit crowded. How about let’s retire there? We can have our chat on the sofa over there."

Rob welcomed them and led them to the sofa in the periphery.

"Sorry, when Mr. Walker told me that you guys wanted to meet me, I didn’t expect you guys to turn up so soon," Rob smiled taking his seat as Mr. Tucker and his secretary took a seat nearby.

"Well, we didn’t feel the need to drag this much longer than it was needed. We would like to conclude our business as soon as possible," Mr. Tucker smiled amicably and looked at Rob.

"No issues, it’s just that things are a little hectic recently. We wanted to capitalize on the bill that was passed yesterday and thus we are working a bit overtime," Rob said gesturing vaguely.

"Mr. Williams seems knowledgeable about computers," Mr. Tucker probed slightly.

"Well, I think computers have a bright future ahead. Within two years you will see a huge revolution happening in the market," Rob said a little excitedly.

"But, the computer industry is just emerging, right? Whether it has potential or not is yet to be determined," Mr. Tucker pointed out sharply.

"That is why I said two years," Rob smiled in reply. "Look, if you ask me about technical stuff, I don’t know much. It’s Brent, the owner of this place, who takes care of this stuff. I just help with some design and general ideas. Brent is the nephew of Mr. Walker, by the way. If you want the nitty-gritty details, he is the man to go. I can call him over," Rob offered with a big smile and tried to rise to call Brent.

"No need, Mr. Williams. I am not technically savvy just like you. I am just a businessman. I only know about the market," Mr. Tucker said self-deprecatingly, but Rob understood the hidden meaning.

The man only cared about market trends and not about any technological advancements. So, showing technological advancement to him will be like playing a violin to a buffalo. Moreover, with such a man heading negotiations, Rob can’t use the advancements in computers to increase the asking price.

Mr. Walker had warned of this happening and had told Rob not to be in a hurry. The reveal must come slowly. If not, things would become dicey.

"That’s fine. That’s fine. We can discuss about our stuff first, then I can call Brent over to give you a tour," Rob said chuckling.

"That’s doable," Mr. Tucker smiled amicably.

"So, what’s your offer? I think it is better we both don’t beat around the bush much. We both know what we are here for. Why bother to talk around it?" Rob said straightforwardly catching Mr. Tucker off guard.

Mr. Tucker looked taken aback at first, but he quickly schooled his features and smiled in return.

"That’s certainly one way to do things," Mr. Tucker said retrieving and opening the briefcase his secretary had carried along with her.

Mr. Tucker retrieved a contract and gave it to Rob.

*****

A/N: Hey folks!

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