Catering to the CEO

Chapter One

“Consider this our final meeting.  I’m
done.
”

It was a statement
not a threat but as the words hung in the air, Cassie Jacobs watched Adam Lawrence’s face turn to stone.  She was used to his demands, his tirades, his cold and brutal treatment of people around him, but today she’d had enough.

Adam stood and walked around the antique mahogany desk that overpowered his dark and masculine office.  “We will be done, when
I
say we are done, Cassandra.  Not the other way around.”  It irritated him to no end that she kept her back to him as she packed her briefcase. 

He watched as Cassie’s trim figure bent slightly over the leather chair she had recently vacated.  Adam knew her to be organized and so it was no surprise that she was being painstakingly slow in putting all of her paperwork away. 

With her heart racing and hands that were shaking, Cassie was determined to compose herself before turning around.  Luckily she had plenty of paperwork to put back together to keep her busy but she could feel Adam’s presence behind her, his tension rolling off of his Armani clad body and on to hers.

It wasn’t as if today’s meeting was any different from the dozen or so before; as L.S.S. International’s caterer and event planner, Cassie had dealt with Adam, and his attitude, on multiple occasions.  After all, this was
his
company.  But as she sat opposite him today, listening to his condescending tone as he changed the menu for the eighth time – and
after
she had already began placing orders with her distributors – she had snapped.  If Adam wanted to fire her, he was welcomed to.  Sure, she needed this account but not at the expense of her sanity.

Slowly, Cassie collected her briefcase and turned to face Adam; she smoothed her long chestnut hair and kept her expression cool.  “I’d say we are more than done, Mr. Lawrence.”  She was proud of the fact that her voice sounded steady and that she had her temper under control.  “CJ’s has enjoyed providing our service for all of your events for the last two years but this is one time that I simply cannot meet your request.  It’s unreasonable of you to ask that we change the entire menu on such short notice.  If you’d like to find another event planner and caterer that is your prerogative.”

Adam stared down into Cassie’s face.  It wasn’t hard to do; he towered over most people.  But looking into her midnight blue eyes he saw determination when he should have seen fear or at least apology.  That look earned Cassie some of his respect, and he didn’t give that often. 

“I don’t want another event planner, Cassandra.  We have a contract; one that states that changes can be made…”

“Up to two weeks before,” she cut in with frustration. 

“The L.S.S. Fall Retreat is two weeks away,” he replied mildly, clearly believing to have the upper hand.  His confidence tipped a bit when he noticed Cassie had her own triumphant smile as she reached into her leather brief case
again.

Pulling out her day planner, Cassie opened to September’s calendar and turned it to face Adam.  “Today is the twelfth; your retreat is on the twenty-third.  That is eleven days, not two weeks.  For emphasis, she snapped the day planner closed and placed it back in her case before turning and facing Adam with her shoulders squared, ready for the consequences of going up against him. 

If he was going to fire her, she could only hope that he’d do it quickly and let her leave with some dignity.   Truth be known, Cassie needed Adam’s account to keep her catering business going and growing.  Losing this would put a big dent in her five-year plan of paying off the loans she took to start the business.  If Adam Lawrence wanted to toss her out on the street, Cassie would have no choice but to start cold calling on other companies in the area for business; something that she hadn’t had to do up until now.  She could only hope that the man wasn’t going to be spiteful and try to ruin her reputation and kill her business. 

One eyebrow arched as Adam continued to stare at her as if he could clearly read her mind.  That thought unsettled her for a bit.  She needed to be confident.  She needed to not appear needy or desperate.  She needed him to say
something!

With more bravado than she actually felt, Cassie stepped around Adam.  “I believe that settles it then.  If you have any other questions or concerns, your assistant can call me at my office, otherwise, I will see you on the twenty-third.”

She almost made it to the door.

“If you leave this office, Cassandra, consider your contract with L.S.S. terminated.”  Adam let his words hang there for a moment and felt confident that she would fall in line and do what he wanted.  To his surprise, however, Cassie didn’t turn, she simply stopped.  For the merest of seconds he was sure that she would turn around, smile her lovely, serene smile that she always gave to him and apologize for making things difficult.  But she didn’t.  Before Adam knew it, Cassie walked out the door and closed it quietly behind her. 

Cassie had to stop herself from looking over her shoulder as she walked away from his office to make sure that Adam hadn’t called security to chase after her like an angry mob, banishing her for all eternity.  The thought made her chuckle but did nothing to put her mind at ease. What had she done?  She could not afford to throw away her biggest client!  Maybe a couple of years down the road she could have that privilege but not right now!  

Riding down in the elevator Cassie had to talk herself out of a panic attack; all was not lost yet.  Maybe Adam would calm down.  Maybe he would have his assistant call and they would pretend as if the whole nasty encounter had never happened.

Maybe she would sprout wings and fly home.

Not knowing what else to do, she pulled her Blackberry from her case and dialed her office.  “Hey, Kate’s, it’s me,” she said when her sister answered.

“How’s it going, boss?  Are all the plans finalized for Satan’s retreat?”

Her first instinct was to laugh at her sister’s nickname for Adam, but Cassie just couldn’t sum up the energy to do so.  With a sigh of regret, she related the details of her meeting.  The good thing about having your younger sister as an assistant was that they were overly sensitive and in-tune to your needs, Cassie thought. 

“Just come back to the office, Cass.  It’ll be okay.  We’ll work it all out, okay?”

Hanging up the phone, she wished she had even the first clue as to how to turn this mess around.  Sure
, she could cave in and give into Adam’s unreasonable demands and eat the profits on this job to make him happy, but she couldn’t seem to do it.  It wasn’t right; it was high time that somebody stood up to the mighty Adam Lawrence.  Not that he’d care; he probably had another caterer on the phone right now drooling over the opportunity to do this job for him on such short notice and swoop in to save the day. 
Dammit
.

Climbing into her sporty Honda Accord, she tried her best to wipe all ugly thoughts of replacement caterers aside and focus on getting back to her office and finding something to eat.  She had been so nervous this morning before meeting with Adam that she’d skipped breakfast; now all she wanted to do was draw the shades and curl up on her sofa with a large pizza and some ice cream and forget the rest of the world for a while.

The music chiming in from her cell phone broke into her pizza-pity-party fantasy.  “Hello?”

“Hey, pumpkin!  How’s my favorite chef today?”

“Hey, dad,” she said, feeling a sense of comfort just from hearing Stephen Jacobs’ voice. 

Knowing his daughter well, he asked “What’s wrong?”

“I just came from the worst meeting with my biggest client and I think,
I think
, I might have quit.”  She waited for the reprimand or the unwanted parental advice but instead got an invitation to dinner.  “Tonight?  What’s the occasion?”

“Does a dad need an occasion to see his daughter?”

“No,” she said, feeling lighter than she had in the last several hours.  “What time and what am I making?”  She knew her dad well and knew that as much as he was inviting her to his house, the man couldn’t cook to save his life.

“You know I’m not partial to any one thing, sweetheart. You decide but…make enough for, say…seven people.”

“Seven people?  Who’s coming?”

“Well, your sisters will be there and your brother, of course.  Oh, and I’ve invited some friends that I’d like you to meet.  Will six o’clock work for you, Cass?”

Honestly, she hated to say no to her dad for anything.  The man had been a rock for his family after Cassie’s mom had died of ovarian cancer ten years before and there wasn’t anything that he wouldn’t do for his kids.  Unfortunately, after the morning she’d had, the last thing she felt like was a family dinner with the added perk of entertaining strangers.

“Sure,” she lied.  “Six will work.  Maybe I’ll do some of that Greek chicken that you like so much.  How does that sound?”

“Like a treat,” he said.  “I’ll see you later, sweetheart.”  And then he was gone and Cassie was alone to agonize over something other than Adam and her soon-to-be-doomed business. 

Within minutes, she pulled up in front of the building that housed CJ’s Delights office, kitchen and showroom.  She gave herself a glance in the vanity mirror to make sure that she didn’t look like a fright after her hellish morning.  Luckily, her hair was still in place and being that she refused to give in to tears, she did not have raccoon eyes.  Locking the car with the remote, she walked in through the front door and smiled at what her sister had done. 

Dressed in her best server’s attire, Katie stood next to one of their mock-up tables that was set with some of their best china and crystal.  Candles were lit and there was a beautiful bouquet of silk wild flowers in the middle in various shades of pinks and purples.  Somewhere in the background came the strains of classical music.  Cassie took her seat where her sister instructed and in front of her was a large silver covered plate.  With great fanfare, Katie placed a cloth napkin in Cassie’s lap and reached for the lid.

And revealed a tuna sandwich.

“It’s all in the presentation,” Katie deadpanned and then pulled up a chair for herself after grabbing her own sandwich from a nearby table.  “So,” she began, “family dinner tonight.  Won’t that be fun?”

Cassie finished chewing and nodded.  “Oh, sure.  Nothing says relaxing after a really bad day than cooking for seven people and getting grilled on why I did what I did and how am I going to fix it.  And who are these friends that Dad invited?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Dad said that we were going to be seven for dinner; all of us and two friends.”

“I have no idea.  He hasn’t mentioned anyone to me.”

“I guess we’ll find out soon enough,” Cassie sighed.  “I told him we’d do Greek tonight.  Do we have everything here or do I need to take a trip to the supermarket?”  Once dinner plans were discussed and lists were made, Katie ran to the store while Cassie sat in her office to try and figure out how she was going to make her world right again.

The phone ringing was a wonderful distraction some minutes later.  “CJ’s Delights, this is Cassie, how can I help you?”
      “Cassie?  It’s Grace Clark, Adam’s assistant.  How are you?”

She actually cringed.  There were so many different ways this whole situation could play out that Cassie was afraid to get too far ahead of herself and dare to hope that Grace was calling with good news.  Sitting up straight in her chair, she finally found her voice to answer. 

“I’m fine, Grace.  Thanks.  How are you?”

“Oh, Cassie, please!” Grace began, her Southern drawl becoming more pronounced.  “You walked out of here as if the hammers of hell were after you and I didn’t know what to do.  I wanted to stop you and talk to you but then Adam barked for me to come in to his office.”

“Barked?” Cassie laughed.  The image of Adam as an Ogre came to mind and had her sympathizing with his assistant.

“You know what I mean.”  She lowered her voice, as if afraid for anyone to overhear her.  “Are you really okay, Cass?  I’m so sorry that it all worked out this way.  I have loved working with you and I really consider you a friend.  Is there any way that we can make this right?”

While Cassie appreciated the offer, deep down she knew that she had to stick to her guns; otherwise her word would be useless.  “Honestly, Grace, maybe it’s all for the better.  Adam was being unreasonable.  The contract clearly states…”

“I know, I know,” she interrupted.  “Believe me, I deal with him every day and I know how unreasonable he can be on just about everything.  He’s had me calling caterers ever since you left and no one is willing to take on an event of this magnitude on such short notice.  He is having a fit!”

“Enough of a fit that he’d apologize?” Cassie asked hopefully.  That would solve all of her problems.  If Adam were the one to call her and put the event back on with CJ’s, then Cassie would have her dignity.  She most certainly did not want to go crawling back and have to jeopardize her ethics for that man.

“Please, the great Adam Lawrence does not apologize to anyone.  You’d have better luck parting the
Red Sea using your lipstick.  It’s never going to happen.”