Negotiating Skills

by Laurel Cremant

  Negotiating Skills

  By

  Laurel Cremant

  Smashwords Edition

  COPYRIGHT © 2012 by Laurel Cremant

  eISBN 978-0-9858234-0-5

  Cover Art and Design by Ravven

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales, is entirely confidential.

  All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  www.laurelcremant.com

  Dedications

  To my amazingly loving and supportive husband who has always pushed me to do what I love and never let me settle when it comes to my dreams.

  A heartfelt thanks also goes out to all of my family and friends who were still willing to speak to me even after days, weeks and months of me being sequestered away with only my laptop unplugged from the net and a cell phone switched definitively off.

  CHAPTER ONE

  It all came down to odds, thought Veronica as she sat in the plush waiting room of Nile Enterprises. All she needed was one good break to tilt the odds in her favor.

  “Just one big client,” she muttered to herself.

  She glanced down, checking her watch for what felt like the thousandth time. She had been waiting for almost thirty minutes—and the longer she waited the more tightly wound she became.

  She was waiting to meet with Victor Rossi, the owner and CEO of Nile Enterprises a company that specialized in property management and owned a slew of properties throughout Florida and the East coast.

  According to her sources, about a year ago the company hired on a team of developers to build a software application suite meant to help the individual properties manage their billing and accounts. The application was nicknamed CLEO. Unfortunately, the lead developer and software architect recently quit and took all of the code with him.

  The company was desperately in need of a new lead developer to finish the project and she was hoping to fill that spot—if only temporarily.

  “He’ll only be a few more minutes.”

  Veronica glanced up to see the woman who had first greeted her re-enter the room from an adjacent office. She assumed the office belonged to Rossi.

  “He had a conference call that ran a little over,” the woman said as she took a seat behind her desk and began typing on her computer with cool efficiency.

  “No problem,” said Veronica smiling briefly at the woman and trying not to let her impatience and nervousness show.

  This job would be the break she needed. Ronnie had moved down to Miami over a year ago after deciding to finally leave her position as lead developer at a big software firm in New York. She had grown tired of waiting for the opportunity to manage her own projects. Unfortunately the programming world was still very much male dominated, and despite being one of her firms best programmers she was passed up several times for promotion.

  She made the move to Miami hoping to break away and start her own custom software application development firm.

  Thankfully, the start-up costs for programming were relatively low. All she needed was her computer and a desk to get started. She had picked up a steady amount of work within the last year, but not enough to get her to the next level.

  She needed to land an account big enough to give her enough wiggle room financially to hire on a junior developer. She knew that once she had additional help she could start pursuing larger accounts. Unfortunately it still took getting that one big break.

  She was hoping that she could convince Victor Rossi that he didn’t need a new lead developer—that what he needed was a dedicated software firm to handle the project.

  Veronica had been working on her pitch since she first heard that Nile Enterprises was looking for a developer. She knew her numbers were solid and that she could handle the job. The trick was convincing Rossi.

  “I’m ready now Marie,” said a disembodied voice, startling Veronica out of her thoughts. She struggled not to leap from her chair and sprint straight to the adjacent office door and babble her proposal to Rossi in an excited jumble.

  Instead she looked up calmly to see his assistant, Marie rise from her desk and open the adjacent office door. She signaled for Veronica to enter.

  “He’ll see you now,” she said.

  “Thank you,” said Veronica rising from her chair and walking towards the door.

  She took a deep calming breath before crossing the threshold. Time for your “A” game, she thought before smiling widely and entering the adjacent room.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Victor was surprised to see his assistant usher a young woman into his office. He was scheduled to interview a software programmer who could hopefully take on the task of completing an application suite for the company.

  His conference call ran late, and he had already kept the man waiting. He needed someone one on board as soon as possible and wanted to get the required interview over with.

  Taking a quick appraisal of the young woman walking in, Victor had to admit that she was a beautiful distraction. She had smooth caramel skin and features that alone would be considered just pretty but coupled with her high cheekbones and pouty mouth were visually striking and deserved more than a second look.

  As she approached his desk Victor couldn’t help but wonder if the curves beneath her boxy pant suit were as rounded as her lush lips. His appraisal stopped at her feet and he fought back a surprised lift of his brow.

  The woman was wearing the boxiest suit he’d seen since the 1980’s but had on the sexiest pair of black pumps.

  “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me Mr. Rossi. I really appreciate your time,” she smiled at him and reached out her hand.

  Victor frowned slightly as he took her proffered hand, wondering if Marie had made a mistake with his schedule.

  “My pleasure, Ms....”

  “James, Veronica James,” she replied quickly an impish smile quirking her lips.

  “Ronnie is short for Veronica,” she continued at his confused look.

  “I got the nickname early in my career and it just kind of stuck professionally, “she said with a slight upward shrug of her shoulders.

  “Ah. Yes well please have a seat,” said Victor gesturing towards one of the custom acrylic chairs facing his desk. He watched as she sat down and noticed the quick look of surprise cross her face as she settled into the chair. He was used to the look from first time visitors to his office. The chairs were a clear acrylic, buffed to look like glass. Most people assumed they would be hard and uncomfortable, but although he was a big fan of minimalist design, he was an even bigger fan of comfort. He had chosen the chairs himself appreciating their clear sleek look and liking their comfortable design.

  “Again thank you for agreeing to meet with me on such short notice,” she said settling into her seat.

  “Yes, well I’m hoping to fill this position as soon as possible,” said Victor glancing down at the resume on his desk.


  “So, tell me about yourself,” he queried.

  “Well first of all, I’d have to tell you that I’m not here to interview to be your new lead developer,” said Veronica in an apologetic tone.

  “Excuse me?” asked Victor, quirking an eyebrow at her.

  “I’m not here to interview to be your lead developer,” she repeated as she flipped open her portfolio case and withdrew a presentation folder.

  “I don’t think what you need is a new lead developer,” she continued as she flopped open the folder and placed it in on the desk in front of Victor.

  “I’ve got an entire project time line that would disagree with you Ms. James. I don’t have time to waste on useless meetings,” he said frowning.

  Victor didn’t bother to not let his irritation show. He was working against a deadline and didn’t appreciate anyone wasting his time, no matter how attractive the distraction was he thought as he slid his gaze over Veronica’s face.

  “I don’t plan on wasting anyone’s time,” insisted Ronnie.

  “I propose that you out source the entire project. I’ve outlined the details in this report,” she said leaning forward and tapping her finger on the report open in front of him, a report that he had yet to glance at since she placed it on his desk.

  Victor merely shook his head at her still not looking at the report.

  “I’m a firm believer in keeping my business local. I see no point in sending work outside of the states when there are perfectly capable workers right here,” he said as he pushed the report back towards Veronica.

  “I’m not talking about outsourcing to another country. I’m talking about outsourcing the project to outside of Niles Enterprises,” she said pushing the report back to Victor.

  “Right now you’re suffering from not having a dedicated application development department,” she said, leaning back in her chair.

  “You hired a developer with no oversight and no one on your management team able to decipher his jargon and double speak. I’m proposing a different approach,” she said calmly but firmly.

  Victor leaned back in his chair and stared at the woman in front of him. She seemed to have conviction in what she was saying.

  Thinking about how he was blindsided when Brian his old lead developer jumped ship and took a year’s worth of work with him, Victor gave a mental shrug and decided to at least hear the woman out.

  “What do you have in mind?” he asked finally.

  Ronnie released a mental sigh of relief. She was glad that Rossi had gotten past his initial annoyance at her deception. She just hoped that she was able to convince him that her proposal was worth trying.

  “I propose that you contract with an established developer to handle the project. A contract will be worked up guaranteeing full rights to the application to your company,” she said launching into the speech she had rehearsed for hours.

  “Specifically my company,” she said throwing out a quick smile before she continued.

  “And why would I want to use you?” asked Victor slightly amused by her show of confidence.

  “Why shouldn’t I just go with a more established company?” he continued.

  “Because you wouldn’t get top priority there,” she said leaning forward in her seat again.

  “I can offer you complete exclusivity,” she said earnestly. “You would be guaranteed that all billable hours would be dedicated to only you.”

  Victor quirked an eyebrow at her bold statement. He wondered if she realized how tantalizing her statement was and how easily it could be misconstrued. Although he had to admit she had a point.

  He had considered going to an outside company when the idea of developing an application for the company had first arose. However, after interviewing some software companies he wasn’t satisfied that his project would receive the appropriate amount of attention.

  Finally looking down at the proposal on his desk, Victor began flipping through the pages. After a few minutes of reading in silence he had to admit that the woman had done her research. He actually began to hope that the project might be salvaged after all. After a few more minutes of review he glanced up at Veronica and held her direct gaze.

  “You have my attention, Ms. James,” he said before glancing down at his watch.

  “You have twenty minutes to convince me that you’re worth the risk,” he said leaning back in his seat and folding his hands across his stomach.

  Veronica left Victor Rossi’s office over an hour later, a wide smile stretching across her face as she made her way out of the building and back to her car. Although Rossi had originally given her only twenty minutes for her pitch.

  They’re meeting extended to over an hour. Once she began her presentation, time had flown by as they discussed the pros and cons of her proposal.

  To her surprise, Rossi had asked well informed questions, leading her to believe that he had at least some background knowledge in software programming. His knowledge of programming wasn’t the only thing that surprised her. When she first walked into the office, his appearance surprised her.

  She had expected a much older man. Instead, Victor Rossi didn’t look to be any older than thirty-five, maybe forty at the most.

  He had dark almost black hair with a trim goatee and green eyes that stood out dramatically against his pale skin. His strong Roman features spoke of a Mediterranean or perhaps Middle Eastern heritage.

  When he first stood to greet her, she couldn’t help but notice how his suit jacket pulled tautly against the solid muscles of his chest. He wasn’t overly tall but at about six feet tall he easily towered over her five foot three frame.

  Veronica was woman enough to admit to herself that she found him attractive, but was smart enough to push it aside and ignore the attraction. Her priority was to wow him and win his business not jump in his pants.

  After his twenty minute declaration she launched into her presentation. He had let her speak virtually uninterrupted for those first twenty minutes. But once she finished her presentation, he voiced a series of pointed questions.

  At first she feared that he was merely building a case to deny her proposal. However, she soon realized he was actually negotiating with her, determining the best way to implement her ideas into the framework of his project.

  “You’ll still have to pass a background check.”

  “Not a problem.”

  “And I expect work to begin immediately.”

  “If you can get me access to the right files today and a meeting with the remaining team I can get started today,” she said, a smile stretching across face.

  “I expect you to be available for all meetings and all questions.”

  “Consider me already on speed dial, I did guarantee complete exclusivity.” she said her smile growing.

  “Well, then I guess we have a deal Ms. James,” he said as he pushed his chair back and stood, reaching his hand out to shake hers.

  Veronica sat and stared at his outstretched hand for a few seconds. Despite spending the last hour discussing and defending her proposal and beginning to hope that Rossi would give her a chance, she was still slightly shocked when he agreed. Realizing that she still sat there staring at him, she quickly stood and shook his hand.

  Her palm tingled where it met his. She looked at him and her smile became a fully fledged grin.

  “Thank you. I promise that you won’t be dissatisfied.”

  He stared at her for a few seconds not releasing her hand.

  “I’m sure I won’t,” he said before releasing her hand and sitting back down.

  “Speak to Marie on your way out. She’ll see about getting you access to the necessary files and meeting the rest of the team,” he said as he turned to his computer.

  “Of course, no problem,” she said as she bent to pick up her bag. When she glanced back up she saw that he was already busy back at work, looking through his email client and responding to messages.

  I guess I’ve been dismissed, she thought as
she turned to leave.

  “Ms. James...”

  “Yes?” she replied stopping in her tracks and turning back to face him.

  “I want a full analysis, scope of work and project timeline in my hands by the end of the week.”

  “Not a problem,” she said with a smirk as she turned and continued out of his the office.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Six weeks later, Veronica was sitting back in the Victor Rossi’s waiting room swinging her crossed leg impatiently. Rossi was late-again. After working with him for the past few weeks, Veronica was used to his tardiness.

  In all honesty, she couldn’t really fault him. The man ran a multi-million dollar company and held meetings at all hours of the day and night. Veronica understood that her concerns and emergencies were just part of a much longer running list that Rossi dealt with on a daily basis. However, glancing down at her cell phone to check the time, Veronica could barely tame her excitement.

  She was eager to meet with Rossi and discuss her progress on the project. Tucking a stray curl behind her ear, she tried to ignore the fluttering of her stomach, telling herself that she was just eager to go over the progress of the project; the fluttering had nothing to do with meeting but with Rossi himself.

  Veronica was honest enough with herself to admit that she found the bossy CEO attractive. She would have to be deaf, blind, and the most hard core lesbian on earth not to find the man attractive. The man just plain oozed sensuality.

  Working in a predominantly male dominated field, Veronica always made sure to never mix business with pleasure. She had enough difficultly proving her skill without people insinuating any strides she made was based on her skills in bed.

  Before working with Rossi, she was never tempted to re-evaluate her personal rules and unfortunately, this project was too important for her to let a little attraction stand in her way.