“Yes, I have plans and my office affords us the privacy to discuss our backstory.”
This is business, not a date.Not that I thought it was—but with the way he looked at me, the wine, and dinner—it’s easy to think it means more.This man is catered to and every aspect of his life is executed seamlessly.Dinner is no exception.Where it might feel special to me, it’s an everyday occurrence to him.
“Of course.Where do we start?”
Pushing his plate aside, he clasps his hands together, all the while staring at me.“Friday is our board dinner.It will be the first time I’ve ever brought a date.There will be questions.”
“Board?I thought Rothwell Enterprises was a privately held company.”
“It is.”He pauses, smiling in a way that suggests he’s impressed with my knowledge of his business.“While we’re a family-run business, we don’t want to be myopic in our thinking.That can easily happen when you shut out the outside.”
There’s a subtle shift in his demeanor and if I hadn’t been staring at him, I wouldn’t have seen it.Sitting before me is the CEO, not the man, Zach.“We want objective feedback as to our strategic direction and other corporate matters.It never hurts to get another opinion and while we don’t always agree with their input, it has certainly helped with our continued profitability.”
“Okay, so the board members, how many are there?”
“Six.I’ll tell you more in a minute.Let’s talk about how we met and our relationship because even though this is a business dinner, they are bold and not above sticking their noses in where they don’t belong.”
He already sounds irritated with the thought of the dinner and knots form in my stomach.What have I gotten myself into?
“Let’s stick to the truth.Less chance of contradicting each other or worse, getting caught in a lie.Why don’t we tell them what I told your grandmother?I had a legal problem, you helped me.”
“Fine, that’s simple enough.We’ve been seeing each other for six months,” he says.“Any shorter than that and they’ll have a hard time believing I would invite you into the inner sanctum.”
I nod, not sure why heisinviting me into his inner sanctum, as he puts it, so soon.It seems like an awful lot of risk—he doesn’t know me—for, how did he put it, getting a chance at a business opportunity.It still isn’t clear what he gets out of our deal.
“Is that it?Do we need to give them anything else?I mean, it’s our relationship so it’s really none of their business.”
“True, but Nan will want more.”
“More?Like what?”
“She’ll want to know what we’ve done together.What we have in common.”
“Is she a romantic at heart?”
“Not a romantic.A control freak,” he says dryly.
“Okay.You’ll have to tell me where you’ve taken me because I can’t even begin to guess what you do with your dates.I don’t know what you people do.”
“You people?”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.I just mean, the filthy rich.”My tone is dry.Surely, he has to see our differences.
Ignoring my comment, he names dinners and events that we supposedly attended together.Nothing too complicated and not so many that I can’t keep it straight, but I take notes on my phone about our three faux dates, nonetheless.
“Wait a sec.Can we get called out for any of these dates and events?”
“What do you mean?”
“Were any of the board members or Nan at any of these functions or did you take someone else?”
“No.And for the most recent, the MoMA Gala is in New York City.”
Right, we supposedly went to New York City for the evening.Silly me.
“All right, I think I have it.Now for your end of our agreement.What’s happening with your lawyers and my landlord?”
Striding to his desk, he flips through folders and pulls out a black one, motioning for me to join him.“These are for you to review and if you have no changes or concerns, sign them.”I scan the papers as he continues, “One is a notice for termination of your rental agreement and the other is a letter stating you will uphold your end of the agreement for the remaining sixty days and he must do the same.If he violates your privacy, like he has done in the past, or breaks any other part of the agreement, we will take legal action.”
