31: The Real Reason

“I’m not sure how this is going to help with our meeting,” the sponsor says dismissively. “Look, I’m a very busy man. Can we just wrap this up? I’ve said everything that I need to say.” I had expected the sponsor to do something like this. It’s typical for men to make power moves like this during negotiations. Normally, it forces the opposing side to either give up or retaliate with more anger. Neither of those has ever been my typical approach. Instead, I’ll hit him where he’s most vulnerable. “I’m sorry, sir,” I say, “but we would really prefer to continue discussing this deal. Blaze has been a staple of the Statford Freeze’s branding for quite some time. I hold a deep admiration for your company. I would love to give this topic more time for discussion if it wouldn’t be too much trouble.” As I expected, stroking the man’s ego is an immediate success. He puffs up his chest slightly in response to my words. “Well… I can hardly blame you for that…” He glances down at his watch, clea