Chapter 30: Scones With Dillon
Cassandra’s POV
The next day, I pulled up to the café to meet with Dillon. I was a bit nervous as I walked through the door. I didn’t know why I was nervous. Was it because I had to tell him we wouldn’t be moving forward with the collaboration?
Or was it something else?
I did my best to shrug it off. This was a business meeting, after all.
Dillon had chosen the café. He said it was one of his favorite places, and raved on and on about pastries or scones or something. Originally, I’d wanted to meet in his office, since that felt far more ‘business-like’, but he’d persuaded me.
He was already there, seated in the corner of the small café. He was wearing a crisp white shirt, rolled up at the elbows with a couple of the top buttons undone. He looked casual and comfortable, like usual.
He saw me and waved, a huge smile breaking out onto his face.
I went over and he motioned to three coffees on the table.
“I took the liberty of ordering a coffee for you,” he said. “But I didn’t know what you wanted, so I ordered three.”
“What?” I asked, surprised by the kind gesture.
“There’s a latte, a cappuccino, and a house roast. Take your pick.”
“Oh, uh, the latte please,” I said, taking a seat.
“I thought you might be a latte girl,” he said, proudly placing the coffee in front of me.
I chuckled and smiled at him. I held up the coffee and tipped it in the air, to say thank you, but I accidentally spilled it.
“Shit,” I said, trying to mop up the mess with a napkin.
Dillon laughed, the corner of his eyes crinkling. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you how to drink coffee?” he teased.
“Apparently not,” I said, embarrassed.
We soaked up the rest of the coffee. Then his eyes turned serious.
“So, lay it on me,” he said. “You’re not going to collaborate with us, are you?”
He said it more as a statement than a question. It caught me off guard.
“How did you know?” I asked.
“Intuition,” he shrugged. “I have to admit though, I’m disappointed.”
“I know,” I said. “But Stella and I discussed it thoroughly. Our company just isn’t big enough,” I explained. “Given our smaller scale, we just don’t feel that we can adequately meet your firm’s conditions.”
“I can negotiate,” he interrupted.
“It’s not just your conditions, though, Dillon. You have a board to answer to. I have a feeling they won’t be so willing to negotiate.”
He pressed his lips together and nodded. He knew I was right. Dillon’s company had shareholders and he was accountable to them. He could negotiate and revamp the conditions of the contract, but it still had to be approved by a board of directors. The decisions weren’t just up to him; there were a lot more people involved.
“Besides,” I continued, “that’s not the only reason. We feel that our business directions don’t’ fully align with yours. We feel this could lead to potential conflicts in the future.”
Dillon was silent for a moment. I was worried he’d be offended, or upset, or feel that we’d wasted his time.
But instead, he sat back and crossed his arms behind his head
“Well, like I said,” he replied, “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed. I truly feel we have a lot to offer you. However, you brought up some valid points. And at the end of the day, it’s your company. And only you know what’s truly best for your own company. So, I respect your decision.”
That was easy! I smiled brightly, relieved that it had gone this smoothly.
“I’d also like to offer my support, Cassandra. You can reach out to me in the future if you’re having any difficulties. I can offer guidance, mentorship, connections. Whatever you need. I’m your man.”
“That’s very generous of you,” I said. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”
“Well, now that that’s out of the way, can I interest you in a scone?”
“What?” I asked, confused.
“My mantra is business first, always. We wrapped up the business part, so let’s have a scone and chat. If you have time, of course,” he added quickly.
“Oh,” I replied. I wasn’t really sure what he was asking. Did he mean, like a lunch date? It was tempting. I really did enjoy talking to Dillon. But I still had something I needed to ask him. It wasn’t exactly business, per say, but it wasn’t ‘casual talk’,
either.
“They have blueberry,” he coaxed, his eyes flitting over to the counter.
How could I say no.
“Fine, yes. Let’s have a scone. There’s actually something else I wanted to talk about.”
Dillon jumped up from the table. “Fabulous!” he exclaimed. He marched over to the counter and I watched him order a couple scones. He came back, balancing the plate on his hand like a waiter.
“Your scone, Miss,” he said in a mock-formal voice. I giggled and took the scone from the plate.
Once he had settled back in, I broached the subject.
“Dillon, I need help with my divorce agreement.”
“Oh?” he asked, biting into his scone. “With what? I drafted it myself. It’s pretty iron clad.”
“I need a revision,” I told him, also taking a bite of the scone. It was delicious. I hadn’t even realized I was hungry, but my stomach rumbled as the flavors hit my mouth.
“A revision?” he asked.
“Yes. In the previous version, my last name is listed as “Taylor”. Since that was the fake maiden name I gave to Jordyn. Cameron arranged my fake identity years ago when I married Jordyn. But I’m worried about the legalities of that, since it’s not actually my name. Should we change it? To Stoneworth? I would hate for the divorce agreement to be invalidated.”
“Well, that won’t affect it,” Dillon said. “But if you want more assurance, that’s fine too. But Cass, aren’t you worried about Jordyn seeing that your name changed?”
I shook my head. I’d thought about that, “Not really,” I said. “I highly doubt he’ll ever look that closely at the agreement again. He won’t even notice. I’m sure of it.”
