CHAPTER NINE

1937 Words
ZARA   As if it hadn't been enough hassle to put up with that i***t with his pretense of greatness for ten agonizing minutes , in the last few days I have had to put up with his father calling , sending gifts , and leaving messages , not counting the many emails I have received with hundreds of apologies.   Finally , today I decided to give a second chance to Mr. Dawson , the asshole's father , and I will meet him for a quick lunch at a restaurant near the office , but I only do it with the intention of telling him that we have already closed the deal with another company , to see if they finally stop bothering me.   Tom got my new phone number I don't know how , and he texted me after the disaster at the meeting , asking me if I was okay and congratulating me on facing the jerk in such an 'epic' way , in his own words.   It was a nice gesture , but I cannot let that affect me too much or I will end up giving in , and that is something that cannot happen in the near future , for now , my only interest should be the company , because it has already been more than proven that Frederick was right when he said that it would not be an easy task , what he was wrong about was predicting that I would not be able to perform well and would return crying to my uncle , because I am determined to make him swallow his words.   " Miss Arlington , thank you very much for agreeing to see me" Mr. Dawson greets me as soon as he sees me approach the table.   Albert Dawson , the CEO of a quite popular restaurant chain across the country , who plans to create an app so that his customers can order online choosing the ingredients of each dish , is an educated , intelligent , friendly man , who built his company from the ground up , and grew it in just a few years , if only he had attended the meeting alone , I might have agreed to sell him our algorithm.   " Mr. Dawson , have you been waiting long? " I ask while shaking his hand , as I am sure I arrived just in time.   " No , I just arrived a little early to make sure they gave us a good table," he replies with a friendly smile.   " Well , I would like to start by telling you ... " I start to say , but he politely stops me.   " Wait a minute , please , before we start talking business , we should order the food , and then if you will allow me , I would like to apologize properly, " he tells me , and I am stunned for a second , but then I agree.   So , after ordering , Mr. Dawson asks that they bring us some glasses of white wine , and although I refuse at first , he insists that it be just one and I end up giving in.   “ First of all , I would like to offer you my sincere apologies for my son's embarrassing behavior , I am really ashamed to think about the way he treated you , and I want you to know that his behavior does not reflect the spirit of our company at all, " He tells me with a sad face , and I feel sorry that a person as kind as him has been so unfortunate to have a child of that kind.   But before I can answer him , he continues: “ And , I also wanted to thank you for putting him in his place , when they told me what happened , I was very upset by the way he acted , but later I was happy when they told me the way in which you responded , you are the first person who has done it , I am ashamed to say that it is not the first time that he behaves in that way , but no one had dared to challenge him for the mere fact of being my son , however , you did it and in what way! " he tells me laughing out loud , which makes me smile and relax almost totally.   " Mr. Dawson , I thank you very much for your words , but I regret to inform you that we have already closed the deal with another company to purchase the algorithm," I reply , and he nods without a hint of anger or sadness.   " I know , gossip runs fast in our circle, " he tells me.   “ So why did you asked me to meet you here today? I thought you wanted to convince me to make the deal, ” I tell him , and he slightly shakes his head.   " No , as I told you before , I just wanted to personally apologize and thank you for putting my son in his place , now thanks to that, he has been controlling his temper , and I hope he continues like this, " he replies , and I feel huge sympathy for the man in front of me. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - After lunch , which was quite pleasant , for Mr. Dawson is not only a kind person , but also wise and tells the best anecdotes , he gave me a lot of advice , but not in the patronizing way that other older men do , but in an almost fatherly way , which is nice , because it reminded me so much of my father in his good days.   When we said goodbye , I did so with the promise that I would develop a new algorithm that would better suit the needs of a company like his , and that of course, he would be the first to get it; So , when I got to the company , I ask Susan to call the head of web development to come to my office right away.   And of course , he came along with Tom , who from what I heard is his new favorite , which did not surprise me at all , given Tom's intelligence and great abilities , also , deep down I expected him to bring him along , because these days I have been so busy that I haven't had time to see anyone outside my office.   The meeting was short , because I only had to give them my idea about the algorithm for an application that can be used for a food chain , and Tom in less than five minutes already had a fairly clear idea of how to achieve it , so they both began to discuss how they were going to get started and James , the division chief , looked quite impressed with Tom.   This is a huge relief , as I was afraid that Tom's favoritism was due to the fact that they had seen him speak closely to my family and were trying to win their favor in the company , however , it is clear that this is an achievement that he has accomplished with his own effort and performance.   Once the meeting is over , Tom stays behind , and waits until James is far enough away to start talking:   " How have you been? " he asks me with an expectant and sweet look that makes my heart jump.   " Fine , thanks for asking, " I reply.   " Apparently you were able to make your peace with those people, " he tells me , clearly referring to Mr. Dawson and his son.   “ Only with the CEO of the company , and I made it very clear that from now on I will only do business with him, ” I reply , and Tom nods.   " Sounds perfect to me , I don't want that asshole anywhere near you again, " he tells me in a slightly overprotective tone.   " You don't have to worry about that , I can take care of myself, " I tell him , and he smiles.   " I know , it's been pretty clear to me, " he says with a sly smile that makes me smile too.   " Are you going to Joshua and Lucy's engagement celebration? " I ask him suddenly , and I have no idea why I said that to him.   " In fact , yes , they invited me , are you going to go? " he asks me with a hopeful tone.   " Of course , it's my brother’s engagement, " I reply , and his smile widens considerably.   " Okay , then I will see you there tomorrow, " he says with an expression that seems to indicate that he expects a lot to happen there , and I can't help the weird feeling that settles in my stomach. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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