Chapter Four - Continued Blog Date 060106

Cedar Rapids 19April05 1430

Melanie opened the door and greeted Carmondii, "Hello, Anthony. Sorry that I can't say that I am happy to see you, but I'm sure that you understand."

"Always good to see you too, Melanie," he replied as she shut the door and lead him to the library.

"I just opened a half gallon of real grapefriut juice," said Melanie. "Care for some?" This small indulgence was a remnant of Melanie's West Coast days. She hated the frozen juices sold in most of the local stores. This came from a health food place in Iowa City.

"Yes, thanks," he said with a wry grin. "Just like home."

She poured him a tall glass and they sat down, she in her favorite wingback chair and he in the loveseat facing her. Their drinks rested on convenient end tables. Anthony seemed slightly distracted and Melanie could tell that he wished that he was elsewhere, tending to other business. He had only been to see her in Iowa twice before, both times to obtain her signature on time-sensitive corporate documents for Cyberware. He did not make these trips without a major reason. This would definitely be interesting.

"Melanie," he began, "I need some time on this dividend thing. I'll get you your money, but I'm in a bit of a bother right now and Cyberware's 90 day cash flow projection is negative. We were notified just last week that payment on a big contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) got rolled over to the fiscal year beginning October 1st and that has really put a crimp on things."

"That's original, Anthony," responded Melanie. "Blame it on the government. Are you running for office?" She had expected a song and dance, but this was a pretty pathetic effort for a guy whom she knew was a financial expert. She wondered what the real story was, so she pressed further, "You flew here today thinking I would buy that story? You'll need to do better than that."

Carmondii was not surprised by Melanie's reaction. She had worked for several years in the Family Practice section of the Carruthers Finch law firm and she was far from naive when it came to fabricated explanations. But his curiosity to test her current level of savviness after several years of being out of practice had made the FEMA story an inexpensive trial balloon. He had also wanted to witness in person her demeanor in repsonse to what he knew was an outrageous story, or her reaction to his darker message, if it came to that. Well, he thought to himself, Plan B was really the plan anyway.

"Okay," said Carmondii, "here's the deal." His tone turned cold, almost evil. "Cyberware can't pay you the cash today. Unless certain things fall into place, you won't get another dime out of Cyberware or me. If you want to play hardball with me, your share of the company will be worthless when the restrictions on the sale of your stock expire in August. You may own half of my company, but if you turn this into a public legal battle, or you get the Department of Justice involved, I can assure you that you will end up without a pot to piss in."

Melanie was speechless. Her heart raced.

Carmondii stood and walked from the room, but stopped and turned before reaching the foyer. "Melanie, there are some people involved in this thing who have lots of money at risk. They have given me a very small amount of operating space and a limited amout of time to complete a financial restructuring of the business. If you stir up a mess, they will be very unhappy."

She watched him leave and close the door. She was afraid. And alone.