" "Yeah, I know," I sighed." "Yeah, I know," I sighed. "I guess we need to see if we can reach an agreement about my rates that would allow me to stay with your agency." I vowed that I wasn't going to let her charm me into settling for less than what I wanted, although I had to admit myself that her ample charms would be hard to resist. "Uh-huh," she said cheerfully. "So, Al, what would make you want to stay with us?" "More money," I smiled. She smiled back. "How much more money, Al?" With that, we lept into the negotiations. The new contract paid me $200 a day more than my current one. Although the headhunter had told me that Rachael wouldn't give me that much of a raise, I asked her for it anyway. Sure enough, she replied that she couldn't afford that much and offered me much less. I rejected that offer and we fell into some old-fashioned horse trading. After a while, Rachael gave me what she said was her final offer: we'd split the difference, and I'd get a $100/day raise. Now, this was enough for me, and I was more or less willing to accept. However, I didn't want to seem to eager, and I really wanted to get away from her and think about it alone before I made my final decision. So, I told her I was leaning towards accepting, but I wasn't sure. With that, she said, "I understand, Al. |