Connexion

Part 57

Amanda shook her head. "Darling, you know we all love you, but sometimes, you are your worst enemy!" Amanda knew that she and her husband had some responsibility for Sophie's personality. And they all knew that Sophie was stubborn. "And thankfully, you rarely have tantrums!" Her mother held up a finger to stop her daughter who was about to speak, "I know that you have good intentions, but this plan and your behaviour, is terrible."

"Will see." Sophie shrugged.

Amanda took another route, "Darling,  for my sake, and in my opinion, please  call Sally, and then just apologise for your behaviour and get the cake that you want for your wedding. Or your wedding will not have cake at all!"

Again, Sophie shrugged. "Well see." 

Amanda shook her head. "Sophie!" She could see her daughter had no intention of taking any advice for this matter. "Sophie, darling, just think about this. Your plan is not going to work for you. This is going to blow up in front of your face."

"Don't worry, mum. Just wait and see. Bet it works!"

Again her mother shook her head. "Darling, it would be better if you simply told your brother and Jena what you noted, about their behaviour. Caleb likes people who are up front and honest."

"I know, mum. That is why I like Ms Silva. And she is perfect for Caleb."

But while Sophie might have a good understanding of what made her brother tick, she had not reckoned on Jena's behaviour. Jena did not show up, or contact Caleb. Instead, Jena phoned Sophie.

Jena started with the normal protocols, "Hello Sophie, Jena Silva here."

"Hello Ms Silva. Thanks for phoning." Sophie smiled at the phone.

Sophie thought her plan was working until Jena went to the crux of the matter, "Sophie, you came to us because you trusted us to create your wedding cake!" Jena was pretty certain there was something else going on. And her one and only meeting with Sophie had not suggested someone with tantrum throwing tendencies, so Sally's description of her first meeting with Sophie was odd. Apparently Sophie was a diva and Sally did not want anything to do with Sophie! Sally said, nothing was good enough for Sophie. Everything Sally suggested was demolished by Sophie who said Sally's ideas were ridiculous. Then Sophie went on to say that any decisions were not possible without any input from Jena. At which point Sally put an end to the meeting. "You did not cooperate with Sally. You were rude, apparently."

"I told Sally I wanted to work with you." Sophie stated flatly. "I want the best. That is why I want you." Her plan was starting to reap fruit. Sophie was ready to suggest a meeting at home, with Caleb present.

"That's not possible." Jena sighed, and wondered just why every member of Caleb's family thought she could simply down tools and return to the making, baking and icing aspect of her business. "Trust me, Sally is our best. She's the artist who takes the designs and makes them happen. She is amazing."

"May be so, but, well she's not you..."

"Being me or not, has nothing to do with this." Jena was ready to yell, instead she took a breath, "I know, you know that Sally is our best. You told me that yourself when you were conning me into taking your order for your wedding cake. You'd done your homework, you knew my team, knew what we'd done recently, knew our signature cakes. And the fact that Sally was the genius behind the cakes."

"Yes. I know that." Sophie glanced at her fingernails, she frowned, as her attention was on the fact the false nail on her thumb was nearly detached.

"So while I might have been gullible, moved things around to allow us to cater for your request, but don't try to fool me into believing that you are not happy with Sally taking on this job and making your cake. You know that Sally is one of the very best in this field. You should be counting your blessings that Sally has agreed to take on this cake! At short notice."

Sophie feigned a sigh, and ignored her thumb issue, inspected her other fingers, and said confidently, "Can we talk about this face to face?"

"No." Came the blunt response.

"No?" Sophie blinked. Utterly bemused, Sophie blinked again. She thought Jena would support her decision, after all, this was a business matter. And surely, making a cake for Sophie, the sister of a celebrity, would help Jena's company. Free PR. 

"No." Jena repeated bluntly then took another breath. "I've explained." Jena thought she should have simply emailed to say that her company would not do Sophie's cake due to differences and attitudes! Instead, Jena reiterated the issues, "I do not have the time to get involved here." She knew her voice showed her frustration with Sophie's attitude. "We have worked pretty hard to juggle things to ensure that Sally is available for your cake." She knew her voice showed her irritation. "But I'm not going to allow you to manipulate us in this way." Jena waited. Nothing from Sophie, because she was in shock. Jena continued, "If you want this cake, talk to Sally." Jena stated flatly. It was about time she took a stand, it was one thing to be 'persuaded' to fit Sophie's wedding cake into an already hectic schedule, but it was quite another to keep pandering to the woman.

Sophie decided to take a hard line, clearly Jena was not being her romantic self today! So Sophie took another route,  "I'll ask our solicitors to have a look at the contract."

"What?" Jena glared at the phone. Clearly she had misunderstood this particular diva! All members of this particular family had a despot-gene. Or power-trip genes, and they expect everyone to follow their orders. Enough, thought Jena. "Good. Do that!"

Sophie tipped her head, despite the fact that Jena couldn't see her when Sophie said, "Remember the contract." Sophie said with confidence, "You signed a contract."

Jena interrupted her instantly, "Yes. I did. The contract is fair and easy to understand. It..."

Sophie cut in, with her tone suggesting her demands were fine and the Jena's behaviour was the problem. "It does not say I have to accept whom you decide should make my cake!" She knew, from watching her brother, all you have to do: stick to your position.

Jena inhaled. Sucked in a breath. She was close to blowing her fuse, "Sophie..."

Sophie, like her brother, obviously shared the same power-genes! Steamrollers. 

Sophie smelled success, so she said, "We need to sit down and talk about this. Shall we say, dinner, Wednesday night." Sophie studied her nails trying to decide whether she needed a manicure, because on her to-do list, she had just ticked off the Caleb-Jena issue by arranging a dinner for Caleb and Jena. Perfect.

At the other end of the phone line, Jena inhaled. She was counting to ten, because she was tempted to scream at this diva. Jena was busy, her company was inundated with work, and dealing with a diva was not on their to-do list.

Blithely, Sophie continued, " I realize you are busy during the day, and probably have a date for the weekend." Sophie paused, waiting to see if her fishing expedition garnered results. She wanted to know if Jena was in a relationship, but finding out that information was rather difficult.  Her limited searches online had secured limited information about Jenaqueta Silva, other than information about her work and her company.