A second chance

There are lawyers.

Several of them.

I know.

Try to contain your excitement.

 

There are also quite a few other people

who presumably have reasons

for being there.

I'm sure they'll become apparent.

Eventually.

 

Cassandra is looking out of the window.

She appears calm.

Of course she does.

There are few situations in which

Cassandra appears anything else.

Appearances have had a remarkably

successful career with her.

 

Everyone takes a seat.

Coffee is served.

Papers are arranged.

People prepare to say things they have

probably prepared very carefully.

How reassuring.

 

I don't know any of them.

Which is unusual.

And rather nice, actually.

For once, you and I know exactly the

same amount.

Almost.

I know Cassandra.

That seems an unfair advantage.

 

The meeting is about to begin.

Everyone seems prepared.

There she is.

A second chance

 

I stood at the window and looked out

over the city.

Cloudy today, but it did not look like

rain.

Which I took as a good sign, for now.

 

When they entered the meeting room,

I turned around and welcomed them.

One by one.

A whole group of lawyers, assistants,

managers and, of course, the investor.

 

After the obligatory small talk and

coffee, I sat down and looked towards

my lawyer.

I did not know her well.

We had hired her only recently.

She began the negotiation.

 

After a while, it went back and forth:

clauses, numbers and all the details

that sounded innocent but where often

traps were laid.

 

I did not listen too closely.

Instead, I observed them.

The way one man moved every time he

wanted to say something

but chose to remain quiet.

The way the assistant looked at one of

the lawyers when she thought no one

was watching.

The way one of the younger

accountants looked out of the window

from time to time, as if he was

wondering why he was there.

 And the investor, who commented

on every second sentence. 

 

My thoughts were interrupted when I

heard my name.

“You wrote a message stating that you

were not interested in the deal,” my

lawyer repeated.

 

They all looked at me.

“Did I?” I said calmly. “I cannot

remember that. What I do remember is

sending a message with a possibility.”

 

A man from across the table answered

immediately.  “It was an unmistakable

rejection of our offer.”

His voice was as calm as mine.

 

Underneath it, there was a tiny

vibration of something

I could not quite place.

 

He was observing me.

Sharp, intelligent dark eyes.

Precisely dressed. Not one hair

moving in the wrong direction.

Controlled.

 

His face gave nothing away.

Neutral, at best.

Not to be underestimated, I thought.

 

I looked at him.

“I am sorry you took it that way.

It was not.

But neither was it an invitation to take

what you consider valuable and leave

the rest out.”

 

I paused.

“A misunderstanding, maybe.

And if I remember correctly,

your communication became a little...

well, protected, let’s say.”

 

I had put something on the table.

And I had offered peace.

In a way.

 

Someone wanted to answer,

but he interrupted them with the

smallest gesture of his hand.

His answer took a moment longer.

“I think you misunderstood our interest

in that deal,” he said slowly.

 

Clever, I thought.

He had given away nothing.

All options were still there.

“Possible,” I answered calmly.

 

Then I paused for a moment.

“Your due diligence was not thorough

enough. Neither was mine.”

 

A small provocation.

I was sure he understood that.

And this time, his answer came

immediately.

“Ours was sufficient.

You probably had different

expectations.”

 

There was a tiny smile around his

mouth.

Not arrogance.

The thrill of a negotiation.

 

The room went silent.

No one moved. No one made a sound.

They all felt the tension in the air.

 

I took a sip of water before I answered.

Theatrics.

I was sure he saw it.

It gave him time to brace himself for

what I was about to say.

 

“I found what I was looking for. Or I

thought so.”

I gestured towards the window.

“This deal cannot and will not be done

with any of the sharks that usually

circle around.”

 

I looked back at him.

“It would be a waste.

It needs a bit of sophistication.”

My voice remained calm.

“Neither can nor will it be done with a lamb.

It has to be done with something

entirely different.”

 

I held his gaze.

“Which happens to be you.

That is why I moved towards this deal.”

I paused.

“So, are you a shark, a lamb, or

something entirely different?”

 

For a fraction of a second, I saw

surprise on his face.

It vanished as quickly as it had

appeared.

He took a sip of water and observed

me over the rim of his glass.

Giving me time to brace myself.

I noticed.

 

“As much as I would like to go into the

symbolism of this,”

he said, “and believe me, I want to,

this is not about sharks or lambs.”

He placed his glass carefully on the

table.

“This is about a possible deal. To save

time - are we still negotiating, or are we

done?”

He had put something on the table.

 

“Not yet,” I said calmly. “We will see.”

He nodded.

It was not an agreement.

Merely an acknowledgement of what

had been laid out between us.

 

“Back to the beginning,” he stated,

turning the pages before him.

“I am not interested in discussing the

past,” I said calmly.

My voice was a little softer now.

He looked up, and this time the

surprise was visible.

 

Slowly, he sorted his papers.

He took his time.

A provocation, maybe.

Or time to collect his own thoughts.

 

When he looked at me again, his voice

was sharp.

“And what are you interested in?”

I could not tell whether it was a tactic

or whether he was truly upset.

 

So I decided to find out.

“The deal,” I said with a similar

sharpness.

Then, a little quieter but not warmer:

“Or is this just market testing for you?”

 

His eyes narrowed.

“No. But maybe it is for you.

I can imagine we are not the only ones

negotiating with you.”

 

“I do not know how you normally make

your deals,”

I said. “Probably different industries.

Different rules. Different offers.”

I leaned back in my chair.

“I do not play side games.

They bore me.”

 

For a moment, the room was

completely silent.

“If a deal is worth negotiating, the

process is exclusive.

Simple as that.

I will not ask you how you handle this.

But I will also not be a number on your

list.”

 

There was no sharpness in my voice.

Only a neutral statement.

I did not give him time to answer or

counter my comment.

But he intervened.

 

“Interesting that you mention this,” he

replied.

“I think we made it very clear that we

share the same business approach.

And our interest in your assets.”

I looked at him. He had a point. 

 

“Talking about assets,” I said.

“You have a particular interest in one of

the core assets. Understandable.”

I folded my hands in front of me.

“That one was built on other assets

that were already there.

I am not willing to separate them.”

 

He watched me carefully.

“You do not need to market them, staff

them or develop them.

These channels already exist and

perform well on their own.

But from time to time, they require

attention. Not for daily operations.

More for strategic alignment.“

 

I paused.

“You made it clear that this might not 

be part of the deal.”

He made notes.

Which caught my attention.

 

Finally, he said, “You never actually

brought this up.

But to be fair, we are not sure whether

we have the skills or capacity for this.

That is a major concern and a

roadblock for us.”

 

His voice was neutral.

I looked at him.

Really looked at him.

My own voice was warmer now.

 

“You have three options,” I said.

“Option one: you call off the deal.

That is it.”

He did not move.

 

“Option two: as far as I am concerned,

I am still the CEO after the deal.

Which gives you the opportunity

to see whether you can manage it.

It comes at a cost, of course.

The risk is that it may not work out,

but the deal would already be made.

We can discuss a transition period

and of course an exit clause.”

 

I paused.

“Option three: you know the deal is

good.

There are risks involved.

There are gains too.”

I looked around the room briefly, then

back at him.

“You focus on expansion.

You start small, to get a better

understanding of the assets.

We have programmes, deep-dive

sessions to get to know them properly

and generate your ROI from them.”

 

He did not answer immediately.

Instead, he leaned back and observed

me. The room began to grow nervous.

With one sharp look to his left,

he made everyone remain silent again.

 

He was thinking.

So was I.

 

“I am not here to convince you,” I said.

“I wanted to clarify that I was not

calling the deal off with my message.”

 

I paused.

“If you did, I am not sure. Maybe.

Maybe you have already moved on to

the next asset.”

My voice stayed calm.

“Not my business.”

 

He watched me.

“You know what you get when you cross

a shark with a lamb?” I asked.

He still did not answer. 

“A wildcat. Silent hunter.

Not weak. Not entirely soft either.

Able to switch between the two ”

 

I tilted my head slightly.

“Can be both. Still controlled enough

to listen to instinct without losing

touch with it ”

 

I held his gaze.

“I think you are one of those.

Even if you tried to sell me something

else. Good tactic, by the way.

I am never wrong when I recognise one.

And this is what I am looking for.“

 

I paused.

“Whether you want it - that is a totally

different question.”

His voice was calm.

 

“Maybe you are wrong this time.” he

finally said.

“Maybe,” I replied.

“Then you can be proud that you

fooled me. Or make me the villain who

ruined your deal.”

 

For the first time, I saw him smile a little.

“Too easy,” he said calmly.

Then he added, “We made it clear from

the beginning that a deal of this size is

not business as usual for us.

It takes time and structure to do it.”

He looked directly at me.

“And a transition phase.”

 

“Yes,” I said slowly. “I understand that. It

also takes a certain amount of

adjustment on our side as well.

I am sure you understand this.”

“Fair point,” he answered calmly.

 

Finally, I stood up.

“I will leave you to discuss amongst

yourselves.”

Then I paused.

“I was here today to offer terms.

They do not include treating me like

your numbers or clauses.

I am sure I made that clear.”

 

He looked at me.

“I am glad you mentioned it.

We are here to clarify that we are not

interested in being treated like an

appendix or one of your daily briefings.

I hope I made that clear.”

I nodded slowly.

 

“One question, if I may,” he said.

“Why did you choose us for this deal?

There might be other companies that

are better qualified.”

His face gave nothing away.

But I saw his jawline tighten slightly.

 

“Because you are none of the other

companies,”

I said. “We do not deal with them.

Sharks, as I said.”

I looked at him.

“And your specific assets fit perfectly

with our portfolio.

That is a bonus. And rare.

Most others are distracted by tech

promises or financial transactions.

You focus on the core.“  

 

I paused.

“You might not see the value

in this yet. I do.”

My voice was calm.

“We look for something that fits our

brand. This is crucial for us.

You appear to do the same.”

 

I looked into his eyes and held out my

hand.

“Always a pleasure to do

business with you.”

My voice was warm.

He took my hand and squeezed it

very slightly.

“The pleasure is always mine.”

 

 

 

ALIGNMENT

VI — The Lovers

 

The Lovers.

Yes.

The corporate negotiation.

I realise this may not be what you were

expecting.

No moonlight.

No declarations.

No one running through an airport.

There were lawyers.

Several.

Humans do like witnesses when things

become serious.

 

We've become rather attached to the

romantic interpretation of this

particular force.

Two people.

One great love.

Preferably forever.

Very pretty.

Rather limiting.

 

The older force is alignment.

The moment two separate things

recognise that something may exist

between them without either ceasing to

be itself.

Choice matters.

So do values.

So does the possibility of saying no.

Less poetic, perhaps.

Much more useful.

 

And before you start looking

suspiciously at the man across the

table - no.

He is not The Lovers.

He's a man.

Quite a good one, apparently.

Cassandra certainly spent enough

time assessing him.

 

The Lovers were somewhere

considerably less obvious.

Between them.

Apparently they decided Cassandra

would understand this better as a

negotiation.

Fair.

 

The Lovers do not require two people

to become one.

One Cassandra is quite enough.

Trust me.

 

So Cassandra observes.

Tests.

Provokes a little.

Possibly more than a little.

 

And eventually informs the man that he

may be a wildcat.

In a business meeting.

I'm sure this is standard procedure

somewhere.

There are terms.

Boundaries.

Things each wants.

Things neither will give away.

And the possibility of walking.

Good.

 

Whatever this is, it won't work

if only one of them wants to be at the

table.

Then he tells Cassandra she may be wrong.

She says:

Maybe.

I know.

I noticed too.

I considered checking on her.

 

Then she offers to be the villain.

There she is.

No need to panic.

And what does he say?

Too easy.

I like him.

Don't make anything of that.

 

Then, just when everyone has almost

survived the meeting, he asks her one

more question.

Why us?

Ah.

There you are.

Not inevitable.

Not perfect.

Specific.

That's rather the point.

The Lovers are not a guarantee.

How terribly inconvenient.

They are a possibility

that still requires a choice.

 

Oh, and the man.

Dark eyes.

Quiet. Controlled.

Rather sharp around the edges.

Remind you of anything?

Something dark.

Beautiful.

Rather sharp when broken.

There you are.

I'm sure it's nothing.

 

Anyway.

The Lovers.

No cherubs.

No roses.

No dramatic embrace.

Just two people.

A table.

Some rather expensive lawyers.

And the quiet possibility of yes.