Dangerous Company

1

( police sirens )

( police radio chatter )

Pauline...

Pauline,

are you all right?

Are you okay?

It's all right, baby.

This your wife?

Yes--yes, it is.

Ma'am, what are

you doing out here?

I--I don't know.

I was in bed.

I got up a couple of

hours ago and she was gone.

I was scared to death

something happened to you.

Sir, I'm calling paramedics.

Please, just help me

get her back home.

( dance music playing )

( phone ringing )

Morning.

Morning.

Freddie, what are

you doing here?

Isn't your wife

due any minute?

Yes, Mary's sister

flew in to be with her.

You know, I'd be a wreck if

I couldn't keep myself busy.

Look, I appreciate

your dedication

but I am personally gonna

kick your butt out of here.

Family first.

Got it.

But there's a problem with

our vendor in Spokane.

So, let Ray handle it.

Where is he?

Have you seen him

this morning?

Yeah, he's been

looking for you.

Uh, they're back

in the conference room

with the managers,

some kind of big meeting.

Pauline!

Hey.

Hey, good morning.

You okay?

Everyone's waiting.

Elizabeth, it's only

five to nine.

The meeting was

called for 8:
00.

No. No.

Maybe I should go back

to giving you a hard copy

of your schedule.

No--no--no, I've got this.

Um, is that Roth woman here?

Um...

Oh, God, speak of the devil.

Good morning.

Good morning,

Anne Marie, how are you?

I'm well.

Got a new offer.

Where do you find

all these suitors?

What can I say?

In this economy, your

company's very attractive.

So this is not

a merger proposition,

like the Keener Brothers?

The Keeners are

family owned, like you.

And a merger would've

been mutually beneficial.

I'm sorry you

turned them down.

And today's proposal?

An acquisition.

You don't care what

happens to us, do you?

As long as you get your

commission.

Mrs. Mitchell, there's a

great opportunity here.

I'm sure you'll find

many reasons

to say yes this time,

I know it.

- How long 'til we start?

- Two more minutes.

Thank you.

Oh, we're just

happy to be here.

Ray, I see you're

showing some samples

from our new collection?

Welcome.

I--I hope you can appreciate

the true quality of Wendy Blue.

Actually, um, Mrs. Mitchell,

uh, these aren't ours.

Pauline, can

I introduce my client?

Pauline Mitchell,

Chan Shi Huang.

( speaking foreign language )

Mr. Chan asks what you think

of the quality of his products?

Please, sit.

Please.

Mr. Chan, what higher

compliment could I give you

then to believe that these

were made by our company?

Well, since we're running late,

I'll get straight to the point.

Mr. Chan has assembled an

international investment group

and has prepared

a genuine opportunity

for the future of Wendy Blue.

Well, I've already

had a sneak peek and,

Mr. Chan, your offer is

very impressive,

but I should remind you,

as we consider this,

ours is an American company,

all American designs...

( speaking foreign language )

...all manufactured in

our factories in

Idaho and Kentucky--

Precisely why we are

here, Mrs. Mitchell.

We've done our homework.

Well, I just want Mr. Chan

to know that we have rejected

past offers for those

who thought

they could only

buy our reputation.

We're not interested

in selling the company,

only to see our product

outsourced abroad.

( speaking foreign language )

I made a promise

to my family that

I would not let that happen.

Mr. Chan's group is

prepared to purchase

at four times market value.

Four?

Mm-hmm.

( speaking foreign language )

Mr. Chan admires greatly

the work and reputation

of your company, and he thinks

that your decline in sales,

over the last three quarters,

could be easily remedied

by the kind of cash

infusion he is proposing.

The financial arrangements

Mr. Chan has assembled

are time sensitive.

The deal will only

last ten days.

Should your board decide

to accept,

everyone of your

family employees

will enjoy job security

and will soon discovery

what it's like

to be quite wealthy.

( chuckles )

Mr. Chan, thank you.

( speaking foreign language )

So, you'll submit Chan's

offer to your board?

Of course, all legitimate

offers, I'm obligated.

Good.

But if we were to vote today,

I think you know what

my answer would be.

Well, that's not exactly

what your sister thinks.

Wait, you called Deanna?

Just keeping it

in the family.

Ann Marie.

We'll see if we can

bring her around, okay.

Thank you.

( phone rings )

Ray, we have had offers

like this before.

Like this, really?

Deanna.

Hey you, long time.

Why the hell are you

talking to Ann Marie Roth

about a takeover offer?

I'm fine, Pauli,

thanks for asking.

Damn it, Dee, you promised

you wouldn't meddle.

Just stay out of this.

Am I not entitled

to my opinion?

Okay, tell me, what

would an over-inflated stock

do to the long-term

growth of our company?

( sighs )

What, no opinion?

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Good-bye, Dee.

Yes--yes, I understand.

Hey, honey, you home?

Listen, I gotta go,

Pauline's home.

How'd it go?

- ( sighs )

- That bad?

Ann Marie brought in this,

way too good to be true offer

from some Chinese

investment group.

You know, she called Deanna

to see if she could

drum up support.

Oh-boy, no wonder

you're upset.

So who's their front man?

It's some financier

from Hong Kong.

Here.

Chan Shi Huang?

Well, never heard of him.

Hmm.

Um, well, he must not be

that big of a player

if he's not on your radar.

Did you hear from the job?

Yes and no.

It's not gonna happen.

They hired a 27-year-old

Wharton Grad, younger, hotter,

probably smarter and a whole

lot cheaper than this old dog.

Certainly not hotter.

Ahh, honey, I'm so sorry.

Yeah, me too.

Second one this month.

And I know your numbers

at work are down again.

( sighs )

Listen Pauline...

I think we need to do

a little more

belt tightening around here.

Now, maybe, getting Emelina

back full-time

isn't such

a great idea right now.

Aaron...

Don't worry--don't worry,

we're gonna be fine.

I moved some things around

in our portfolio.

I'm gonna get us back to

where we were, I promise you.

You sure you don't want

to go back

and look at

that merger proposal

from the Keener Brothers?

It was a generous offer.

Listen, if you like,

I'll look over the deal

points on this new offer.

Yeah--yeah, I can just

forward it to you.

I, um, had Elizabeth

download it to my--

Your cellphone?

I had it earlier.

God, I have been misplacing

stuff like crazy lately.

You know, it took me

20 minutes to find

my car keys this morning.

It's no big deal,

I do it all the time.

Yeah, this is Aaron.

Yeah, sure.

( phone ringing )

( ringing continues )

( ringing stops )

Did you find it?

Yeah, you were right,

no big deal.

I see you defrosted

pork chops.

I did, I put them

in this morning.

And I got Emelina's recipe.

Unless you want

something else.

No--no, but I thought

you told me

we were meeting

the McBride's tonight,

Rotini, Apian.

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