The Merger: Part 1
by M.C.
A beautiful female CEO takes on men at their own game and beats them - literally as well as figuratively.


The tall, attractive woman moved in and landed a quick series of jabs to her
larger, stronger male opponent; then darted back before he could retailiate.
He did throw several punches at her but the nimble woman easily blocked or
avoided them. Dressed in a sexy, one-piece bathing suit and wearing a pair of
pink boxing gloves, the female boxer circled around the large man, gracefully
dancing on the balls of her feet while her long, beautiful brown hair bounced
up and down behind her. When the large man swung and missed with a hard right
hook, she closed in again and landed several more lightning quick punches
before retreating out of range. He approached her and tried to connect with
several jabs but the woman blocked them all. He then threw a wild haymaker
which passed harmlessly over her head. She punished him for leaving himself
wide open with more well placed blows. As their sparring match continued, the
man became more and more frustrated as the woman's superior boxing ability
became obvious. "Come on big boy," she said," surely a big, tough guy like you
can give me a better workout than this can't you?"

Furious with her teasing, the powerful man threw a wild right hook which
didn't even come close to hitting the elusive female, leaving himself - yet
again - wide open for her to counterattack."THUD! THUD! THUD!" The sound of
the woman's pink boxing gloves slamming into his muscular body reverberated
around the gym. She quickly followed these up with more punishing blows to his
head and began to drive him backwards. As she did so, a smile began to appear
on the woman's beautiful face...she had him now.

This was the time that Helen Warner enjoyed the most. With her gruelling
twelve-hour workday over, the athletic woman could now work off all of the
frustrations that had built up inside her during the day - and work them off
she would. After all, being the Chief Executive Officer of a large company
isn't easy...even for an extremely gifted woman like Helen. "POW! POW! POW!"
Three more solid punches from the muscular, five foot - ten inch, 175 pound
woman pounded into the outclassed man and sent him staggering against the
ropes.

"Donna," Helen said casually to her secretary and former teammate on her
university basketball team who was standing just outside the boxing ring,"did
you set up the meeting with our lawyers that I requested?" She was bouncing up
and down on her feet in the center of the ring, giving her opponent time to
recover. Although Helen was sweating slightly, her breathing appeared to be
almost normal; as if she was just out for a brisk walk.

"Yes I did Helen. It's set for 10:00 A.M. tomorrow morning."

"Good. I want to settle this merger once and for all."

The man, clearly not used to being 'womanhandled', became furious now as he
watched Helen calmly engage in a conversation with her friend after battering
him around the ring. He rose and charged forward, throwing wild punches as he
did. Helen easily avoided them and, after ducking under yet another wild right
hook, began to pound his face and body with a series of hard rights and lefts
which sent him realing back into the ropes again."I want to close this deal
before the weekend Donna; we can't keep our stockholders in limbo forever."
She then hit the six-foot two inch, 225 pound man with a hard right uppercut
to his jaw and followed it with several more stinging blows to his face.

"I agree Helen. But merging with a multimillion dollar company is always a
sticky business as you well know; especially if they're being...well,
uncooperative."

"I know Donna," Helen calmly replied as she ducked under another errant blow
that her hapless opponent threw,"but I really think enough is enough. That's
why I've arranged a meeting with my counterpart for this evening; to
straighten him...I mean, to straighten things out." She began landing blows
almost at will now, reducing her opponent to nothing more than a large
punching bag. As her pounding continued, the pathetic boxer could do nothing
more than try to protect himself from her onslaught.

"You mean you're meeting Bradly Wilson of Wilson Enterprises this evening?"

"That's right Donna, at 8 PM." Helen glanced up at the clock on the wall and
sighed,"I guess I'd better finish this then." The beautiful brunette drove her
opponent back against the ropes again with a series of devastating punches.
She then sank her left fist deep into his gut and connected with another right
uppercut to his jaw that seemed to lift him completely off the floor. He
slammed into the ropes with such force that he was propelled forward - right
into Helen's waiting right cross. "WHAM!" her punch spun him completely around
before he fell, unconscious, to the canvass. "This merger has been dragging on
for way too long," Helen frowned.

Donna climbed into the ring and helped Helen remove her boxing gloves. "I
heard this Bradly Wilson is a pretty tough cookie. But if your meeting this
evening goes well, then we should be able to close the deal tomorrow. Is there
anything else you'd like me to do Helen?"

The powerful woman looked down at the battered man sprawled out on his back
before her. "Maybe you could ask around the local gyms and see if there are
any more *tough guys* willing to be my sparring partner."

"I'm afraid they're getting more and more difficult to find Helen," Donna said
with a grin,"after all, you've probably beaten up just about every tough guy
in the city by now."

"Oh I'm sure there are still a few that I haven't...yet," she smiled," we'll
just have to look harder." The two women shared a giggle as they climbed out
of the boxing ring. "When this macho man comes to, pay him the amount we
agreed upon and see if he requires any medical treatment. I've asked the
company doctor to stay late - just in case."

"Will do Helen. But can we really afford to pay for all of this overtime
(giggles)?"

"If not, then I'm not doing a very good job of running things am I?" Helen
winked over her shoulder at Donna and then began to make her way through the
company's gym towards the showers. An hour later the 27 year-old CEO,
rejuvinated after her shower and massage, got into her sporty, blue BMW
convertible and drove out of the parking lot; heading for the country club
where her showdown with Bradly Wilson was to take place. As she whizzed down
the highway at a crisp 80 MPH - her long, beautiful brown hair flying behind
her in the wind - Helen's thoughts drifted back to the events that made her
what she is today.

All her life Helen had been a teriffic athlete and a brilliant student. An
expert gymnast when she was a girl, Helen switched to basketball and softball
in high school. When not competing in sports and racking up straight A's in
school, she found time to earn herself a black belt in karate. An honors
student and star athlete, the precocious woman had little difficulty getting a
scholarship to a prestigious university. Helen recieved her B.A. in business
administration in just three years, leading her women's basketball and
softball teams to league championships in the last two. One year later she
earned her MBA. Such was Helen's reputation as a competitor and a winner that
businesses were standing in line to grab her as soon as she finished her
degree.

Instead of a large corporation however, Helen chose a small software company
where she felt she could better make her mark. Within four years, the hard
driving female executive succeeded - through her business acumen, hard work
and sheer force of will - in turning the fledgling business into a major
player in the computer software world; becoming the company's CEO and majority
stockholder in the process. As her company's fortunes increased, Helen began
acquiring other firms and, at the ripe old age of 27, the beautiful brunette
found herself in control of a rather large business empire. This brought her
into direct conflict with Wilson Enterprises, one of her main competitors.
Rather than engage in a costly competition with them, Helen decided it would
be a much better idea to simply merge the two companies together.

The only problem was that Bradly Wilson - the son of the company's founder and
majority stockholder - was dead set against the idea. Helen, acting through
intermediaries, was unable to bring the elusive Mr. Wilson to the negotiating
table. Always being one to grab the bull by the horns, the determined woman
decided the best way to deal with this situation was to meet with him
face-to-face and settle the matter between them. She arranged a meeting with
him to sort things out. If Helen could pull this off it would be the crowning
achievement of her career; all five years of it.

When she reached the country club Helen turned her BMW over to the large,
powerfully built valet. "If there's one single scratch on my car when I get it
back I'll tan your hide Bill," she said in a semi- serious tone of voice. It
wasn't an idle threat either. Six months earlier, Bill - a lineman on the
local Jr. College football team who works as a valet for the country club in
the off season - did damage the front fender of her car while he was parking
it (Bill was notorious for driving sporty cars very fast through the parking
lot). When he returned Helen's car to her, he lied about how it happened -
saying someone must have bumped into it. Helen then invited the six foot-four
inch, 250 pound athlete to go for a private walk with her and have 'a little
chat'. Bill didn't show up for work for the next few days, calling in sick.
When he did return, he had a black eye, a very swollen jaw and several
prominant bruises over his body. Bill never told anybody what happened to him
but one couldn't help but notice that he seemed to drive the cars much more
carefully after that.

"It'll be safe in my hands Ms. Warner; I guarantee it."

"I'm sure it will be William," Helen said, smiling now as she handed him a $20
bill," I'm sure it will be."

Having a few minutes to spare, Helen entered the lady's room of the country
club and took out her hairbrush; she wanted to look her best for the meeting
with Bradly Wilson. As she did so, Helen noticed that she still had the thin
leather gloves that she uses for hitting the heavy punching bag inside her
purse; she usually leaves them in her locker at the gym. Was this an omen? She
had heard about how tough Mr. Wilson was...or thought he was. Helen smiled to
herself but hoped the negotiations would go well and she wouldn't have to
resort to *that*. Still, it was nice to know they were there if she needed
them. Helen brushed her beautiful hair, put on some eye shadow and added touch
of lipstick. Then she entered the main hall of the country club, prepared for
the most important confrontation of her life.

End of part 1