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Watching him move with practiced ease, Sara placed her slim briefcase down andon the end nearest the armchair, she fully expected him to sit in the chair, but was somewhat nonplussed when he sat next to her on the sofa While his proxi
Ignoring the slight crackle of tension in the air, she turned to look at him as he spoke
“So I presume Chris mentioned the issues that we had with our previous caterer, right? We appreciate your patience during the vetting and negotiation process I hope you can understand ere so gun-shy to sign a long-ter”
Redirecting her thoughts back to the matter at hand, she winced and confirmed “Yes He did mention the listeria incident While I can assure you that the Edible Innovations kitchen follows food safety laws to the letter, the process will be a lot easier tofrom your kitchen in most cases Frankly, I was surprised to learn you had an industrial kitchen on the preh”
With a slight wave of her hand, she added, “By the way, call me Sara”
With the barest hint of that se, he nodded and said soent, and his s into perspective for us And you’re right We’ll bepretty closely for the first little bit I’m sure you understand?”
“Absolutely,” she agreed with a nod, “If you have any questions about anything you see once the food prep begins, I’ll be happy to address any concerns Would you like to take a reement as is?”
She took that opportunity to extract the contract from her briefcase and place it on the table next to them
As he adjusted his body to face her estured to the paperwork on the table, he asked, “Sara, I know you and Chris hashed the contract out already, but I’d like to e to it if possible?”
She cleared her throat, tilted her head, and asked, “What sort of change did you have in mind?”
“Nothing drastic,” he assured her “Just the portion where it indicates Chris will be doing ht I had a little bit of experience working in a restaurant kitchen back in college I feel like I ht be a bit more qualified to spot any potential food safety hazards Plus, he’s going to be traveling a bitweeks It’s kind of difficult to oversee and be a point of contact when you’re not here Is that all right?”
He looked at her expectantly
She allowed herself to s a little aard, perhaps, but it wasn’t a deal breaker She nodded in understanding
“That e I want to make sure everyone is coree else you wanted to discuss?”
He shook his head, rose froestured back to the paperwork on the table, then asked, “If you’ll just e and e-natures and have it couriered over to your office?”
Deacon walked over to his desk, grabbed his business card and handed it to her
She nodded in agreeathered the paperwork and her briefcase, she said easily, “It’s a quick change I’ll have the updates over to you this afternoon You can sign it, fax it back You don’t need to have them couriered towas scheduled for next Tuesday, right? I can just pick the originals up when I co the menu on Friday”
As he stepped around the table and headed toward the door to his office, he said, “Sure Let me walk you out?”
She gave a single nod, and smiled affably as he opened the door and followed her back to the lobby She felt his scrutiny, but kept walking forward She tried not to focus on the fact that he was probably exahly as she had examined him on the way into his office
Having reached the reception desk, he turned briefly to her and held out his hand As she reached for it, he said, “Sara Thanks for coo over the co
ntracts withwith you”
She gave a polite s with you too, Deacon See you next week”
With that, she straightened her shoulders and walked toward the door She could feel his eyes on her back still, so she calh the lobby doors and made her way toward the elevator As the office doors closed behind her, she pressed the down arrow for the elevator and waited