Page 48 of Negotiating Tactics

I wasn’t in the mood to hear his opinions about what I might choose to consume.

And even more than that, I wanted to save the money.

Thinking about that, I decided to redirect the conversation and share my great news.

“Did I tell you that I’m going to buy the building?” I asked, my smile brighter.

“What building?” he said around a bite of the sandwich.

I kept my smile plastered on my face, as I said, “You remember? That one we met at a few weeks ago. The landlord agreed to terms. So, all I have to do is get the earnest money. Then it will be mine,” I said.

“No mortgage?” he asked as he sprinkled some black pepper on his sandwich, then took another bite of his meal.

“Yes, there will be a mortgage, but the business is going to be successful. I just know it,” I said.

“Yeah, you can make it happen,” he said.

He took another bite of sandwich, and I tried to ignore that feeling that crept over me, like I was a puppy being dismissed.

It wasn’t lost on me that my father didn’t seem nearly as excited about my building as he had seemed about the boys’ team, but it was okay. They were kids, and even though he and their mother had only been dating a little less than a year, I was happy to see him involved.

It seemed to make him happy too.

Happier than anything I had done.

I shut that train of thought down, though I again had that regret.

Especially when I saw the couple I had seen a moment ago sit down and smile at each other.

I looked away from them and back at my father, reminding myself that wouldn’t ever be Noah and me.

Sure, I had seen a lot of Noah over the last couple of weeks and had plans to see him tomorrow. Even despite that, Noah and I didn’t have the kind of relationship—ugh, I hated that word—that involved lunch dates, though Noah had offered more than once.

“I think I’m going to take a day off for my birthday,” I said to my dad.

“What, the day after tomorrow?” he asked.

I tried to be happy that he got the day right and ignore the fact that it had been a question at all.

“Yeah. I like to do that. It’s a tradition to take a day off work for my birthday. Mama always said it was a day worth celebrating,” I said.

He didn’t acknowledge my reference to my mother, but he just nodded.

“You enjoy it. I would say we should get together, but you know, I’ll have a thing with the boys,” he said.

I nodded quickly, so quickly that I could feel my hair bobbing.

“Yeah. Some other time,” I said, telling myself the tremble in my stomach was just hunger.

I knew what Aunt Clem, and Birdie for that matter, would say.

In fact, Birdie was taking a trip so Aunt Clem had tried to convince me to get together with her for my birthday, but I told her no, deciding to keep the day open just in case my dad wanted to see me.

My reasoning had seemed logical. It had been years since my father had been in town on my birthday, and that merited special acknowledgement.

So I told myself I wasn’t disappointed that we wouldn’t see each other.

I could use a day to relax and restore anyway.

---