She shrugged, but she curled her hands into fists. Immediately flattened them against her thighs. “Dawson shook my hand and said hello.” She clenched her teeth briefly, then took a deep breath. “He asked me if my father owned Melbourne Solutions.”
“Oh, my God,” Julia exclaimed, leaning toward Zoe. “Did you straighten him out?”
“I was tempted,” Zoe admitted. “I wanted to wipe the patronizing smirk off his face. But he wasn’t worth the time or effort. And after I said my father didn’t own Melbourne Solutions, he barely glanced at me. He was too busy scanning the crowd behind me, looking for someone more important.” Zoe smiled, the kind of smile Julia had seen before. It meant ‘watch out’.
“He did ask me what I did. I told him I was in network and computer security. That’s when I saw him mentally dismiss me. He’s in computer security, too. He didn’t need me for anything. So he said, ‘nice to meet you, Zoe,’ and walked away. I don’t think he really looked at me once.”
“So he’s a self-centered jerk.” Flynn scowled.
“Just because he’s a big fan of himself doesn’t mean he’s involved in what’s going on with Julia,” Nico said. He glanced at her, and slid infinitesimally closer. “In my experience, he’s not the only successful businessmen who’s an awful human being.”
“You’re right,” Zoe said. “And I would have forgotten all about Dawson ten minutes after meeting him if our interaction had stopped there.”
Julia leaned toward her friend. “What did he do?”
Zoe laughed. “You know me too well, Jules.” Her smile faded as she shook her head. “I was saying goodbye to the party’s host and hostess -- they’re a couple who were early clients of mine. They recommended me to a lot of my other early clients, which was one of the reasons my company was able to grow steadily. They’ve become personal friends, which is why I was at their party.”
Julia groaned. “You know how to draw out the suspense in a story, Zo.”
Zoe grinned at her. “Just like you like to draw out the drama when you’re pushing me to try a new dish?”
Julia rolled her eyes at her friend, circling one finger, the universal sign for speed it up. The suspense is killing me.
Laughing, Zoe said, “Okay, my impatient friend who doesn’t appreciate the pacing involved in telling a good story.” Her laughter disappeared, and she shook her head. “I was on my way out the door when Dawson intercepted me. Told me he hadn’t realized I was the CEO of Melbourne Solutions. He told me he owned TechInnovate, and wanted to set up a meeting with me. He thought we had a lot in common and might be able to help each other out.”
“So what did you do?” Nico asked. Julia was right. Zoe was building suspense like a master.
“I agreed,” she said with a shrug. “I knew of TechInnovate, knew it filled a niche similar to my company, and had a rough idea of their products. I’m willing to talk to anyone in the business.
“We agreed on dinner the following week, and I suggested Madeline’s. He said he hadn’t heard of it, and suggested a restaurant that was the latest big thing in Seattle. I agreed, and he said he’d make reservations. He asked for my email address so he could send me the time, and I gave him the email address I use for businesses.” She smiled. “You know, the one you give when you open an account so you can buy something online. Not my personal email.
“A couple days later he emailed me. He’d made reservations for 7 at Sonoma. I was impressed, because I know reservations there are hard to come by.”
Nico shifted closer to the edge of the sofa. “What happened at your dinner?”
“He was very attentive. Complimentary about Melbourne Solutions. Said it was highly respected in the tech world. I thanked him and wondered what was coming next.” She snorted. “He had a new product coming out, and wanted to know if I was interested in beta-testing it. I barely resisted the urge to roll my eyes. You don’t ask your competitors to beta-test your products. Even a new business owner would know that. I figured he was having problems with it and wanted help fixing the bugs.
“I managed not to laugh in his face. I told him my attorneys wouldn’t let me beta-test a competitor’s product. I wondered afterward if he wanted more than having me try out his software. Did he want me to fix it for him? Or was he trying to install spyware on my computer to steal the software I’d developed?”
Zoe took a deep breath. “Plus, the whole time we talked, he was staring at my cleavage instead of looking at my face.
“So I thanked him for dinner and excused myself. I never heard from him again. I see him at parties occasionally, and I’m pleasant. We exchange a few words and I move on.”
She turned to Julia. “And just for the record, Jules, Madeline’s is so much better than Sonoma. All they have going for them is a better publicity team.” She smiled. “I’m going to make sure you get the publicity you deserve.”
Julia smiled at her friend. “Thanks for saying that, Zo. Makes me feel a little better about the hits Madeline’s has been taking.”
“So what’s the bottom line on Dawson?” Nico asked.
Zoe straightened in her chair. “This is why I didn’t want to talk over the phone.” She leaned closer. “He’s a user. And based on the way he interacted with me, someone who has a low opinion of women. I didn’t like him, and I wouldn’t do business with him. Plus, there have been murmurs in the tech company that Dawson can’t keep talented female software engineers. I hired a woman who’d quit TechInnovate, and when I asked why she’d left that job, she only said she wasn’t comfortable there. But I saw a flash of… revulsion. Fear. She didn’t have to spell it out. Although I have no proof, I suspect he harasses the women who work for him. That’s why I didn’t want to talk about him over the phone.”
“Unfortunately, that doesn’t explain why he’d be involved with Carole,” Nico said. “or why he’d help her sabotage Julia’s restaurant.”
“We’ll keep digging,” Flynn said.
Zoe studied all three of them for a moment, then smiled. “I don’t know if it would help, but I’m having a party next week. Mostly clients and friends at other Seattle companies. If you’d like to interact with Dawson yourselves, I can invite him, and you can come, too. See him in action.”
“He’s probably seen me if he’s been to Madeline’s,” Julia said with a frown. “I walk around the restaurant most nights.” She sighed. “So I probably shouldn’t come. If he’s involved with what’s going on at Madeline’s, seeing me at your party might spook him. Plus, he doesn’t know I know about him and Carole. That gives me the upper hand.”