The first step in a successful negotiation is the easiest: know what you want. Ask yourself, "what is it I really want from this person or situation?" It's the easiest, but that doesn't mean it's not hard sometimes just knowing what it is you want or hope to accomplish. You may think you want one thing and then find out that it was about something totally different all along. Which isn't necessarily bad or anything, it just might mean you walk away from the table with the thing you only thought you wanted and not the thing that you later found out was what you really wanted. So before you even bother trying to get something, make sure it's the thing you really want.

Step two is to decide how much it's worth and then how much more you're willing to pay for it or in other cases, how much less you're willing to accept for it. Everyone has their price, but you're not always going to get it. That's a given. So instead of just this single price, you have to come up with a range. If someone makes you an offer that falls within said range, then great. You've got a deal. If they fail to meet even your lowest of expectations, then walk away already. Sometimes the walking away part is what makes them eventually decide to make you the kind of offer you can't refuse.

Three is to make your offer. You know what you want, you know what your limits are as far as the negotiating process goes. Now it's time to make a play for it. Sometimes this step is also known as getting an offer. It's the same thing really, it's just less legwork for you because they're doing the asking. The offer stage is really a crucial one. It can determine if you walk away from the table right then and there, either because you got what you wanted or because you know for a fact you're not going to. Which means that step four may or may not apply.

Step four is to make a counter-offer if necessary. Common practice is to low-ball it, because you can always go higher but the same isn't quite true in reverse. You can't exactly start offering someone less than what you've already offered. Usually at this point, things go back and forth a little while and most of the time in any serious negotiation, the parties settle right around this stage. But if not...

Five: Fight like Hell. Let's face it, sometimes you've gotta get your hands a little dirty. Sometimes it's not enough to have a solid plan and to stick by it. I may not be the most business minded person in the world, but even I know how to play the game. So if Victoria thinks for one second that she's really going to take my company from me, she is sadly mistaken. Because this isn't even a negotiation anymore.

It's war.

Brooke Davis
One Tree Hill
497 Words

Current Mood: determined

Nothing.

I know I probably shouldn’t even be answering this question since it seems hinge on what you would change rather than the fact that you wouldn’t change anything at all, but hear me out. See, it used to be that I really wanted to change who I was up until about my sophomore/junior in high school. I was unapologetically a party girl. I don’t deny it and I never would. It’s who I was. But then all these other amazing things started to happen, and I just really wanted to be the kind of girl who deserved those things. I wanted to work to earn them. I wanted to have them, knowing that they really belonged to me and weren’t just some fluke of the universe where a couple of good things happened to land in my lap.

As it turned out, people were way more appreciative of the person I became knowing the person I had been. It makes for great evolution. No matter who you are, personal development is so crucial. And I think anyone who doesn’t change that much from the time they’re twelve until the time they’re twenty-two really hasn’t been that honest to the process. ‘Cause in ten years, you should be a totally different person. It means something, to grow. It sucks and it’s all too painful most of the time but it’s worth it to one day be a better version of yourself knowing it completely could’ve gone the other way.

Maybe I should want to change it. After the little stunt that Victoria pulled when I was trying to adopt, maybe I should really want to erase the record of all my mistakes, all the things I was that I never should have been. But the thing that I know that my mother doesn’t is that those things, the ones she tried to use against me, are all the perfect examples of why I do deserve to be a mother myself.

It’s proof positive that I’m going to be a million times the mother that she never was and I wouldn’t change anything that proves that.

I’m just gonna go on record here with a little thing I informed Lucas of a long time ago. It’s a relatively simple concept, but you’d be surprised at just how many times people get it mixed up or confused. Or worse yet, they just don’t get it all.

A kiss always means something.

Don’t ever say; ‘oh, it was just a kiss, it didn’t mean anything!’ because you’re a liar and you know that it did. I mean, unless you’re playing Spin-the-Bottle in which case you’re at the mercy of velocity pretty much and then that doesn’t count. But every other kiss? Each one planned or unplanned, accidental or purposeful, heartfelt or hateful – it all means something. There’s always a reason, and like it or not, that reason is always somehow tied to a feeling. It’s okay. We’re only human.

Lucas had a good alibi, I’ll tell you that. Peyton kissed him the day of the school shooting as she was bleeding out from a gunshot wound to her leg in the library. Now, I know what you may be saying here. You may be thinking; ’but, Brooke, maybe they thought she was dying! it was a good-bye kiss.’ First of all, do we even know each other? Second of all, that may have been true if it hadn’t been their long history together and a previous history of betraying me. Also, the idea that it was just some tragic good-bye kiss is lame. We’re not living on the set of a movie. We’re talking about real people, with real feelings. And real people are responsible for their actions.

Anyway, I’d have been right regardless. Feelings – mutual feelings – were later revealed that had been there all along. And no matter what either of them tried to tell me about that kiss, it was irrelevant.

The kiss was evidence of something I should have known all along.

1. The very first thing I am looking forward to is Caleb graduating from Harvard and us finally moving in together. Long distance relationships suck. They do. And if there hadn't been an end in sight for this one, if I hadn't known all along that our roads would one day merge, I don't know if I would have been able to do this. It's been so hard only getting to see him once or twice a month, and it's even harder every time I have to say good-bye. I miss him. And I can't wait for him to be a part of my every day life and vice versa. Don't get me wrong, playing house with Peyton is great and all. But I'm ready for the real thing. I want the real thing, and I want it with him. I'm a lucky girl. 'Cause he wants it with me too.

2. This one might be kinda scary for Caleb, but I'm looking forward to being a mother. I don't know how near or far into the future that is, but it is there. I've known for awhile now that this was maybe the thing I wanted to do most. And I know that people are gonna think that this is misguided. I have everything I could ever possibly want. More money than I could ever spend in this lifetime, two beautiful homes, cars, my own company with a clothing line, a magazine, and actual boutiques. And don't get me wrong, it's great. It is everything I could have ever dreamed of and then some. But it's not as fulfilling as I'd thought it would be. I want a family. I want the family I never had. And I know everyone says that, but maybe it just means that there's something we're all missing. Maybe having a child won't fill the empty space in me that leaves me so hollow, even with having everything. But I want to be the mother I never had to a child who has a mother like I did. People have always told me I was going to change the world. I think this is the way that was meant to happen.

3. The last thing I'm looking forward to is for my best friend Peyton to be happy again. This whole thing with Lucas and the wedding that never was but he still said he did, and her time in L.A. and the reality of what the recording industry really is, it's all got her really down. And Peyton Sawyer is too good to be down. Something good is bound to happen to her. It has to. She deserves it so much, and so right now, most of all, I am looking forward to life being half as good to my best friend as it's been to me.

Brooke Davis
One Tree Hill
472 Words

Featuring me & caleb_danvers.

( I am in love with you, you set me free. I can't do this thing called life without you here with me... )

Current Mood: loved

theatrical_muse #222 - Sleeping on the couch.

The best part of any day lately has been coming home and seeing Rachel. Usually she’s curled up on the couch, but occasionally I’ll find her out on the deck, or in the kitchen. But she’s there, you know? At least she was. And that’s all that mattered. ‘Cause I think about what might have happened if I hadn’t found her at my place in the City that day. She was as good as dead. She ODed. And if no one had been there, if I didn’t…God, she could just be dead. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to her. It was my fault she went as far down as she did. What kind of person fires their own friend? Especially one who has done as much for me as she has? There weren’t really any other people lining up to take a bullet for me back in high school. Mostly, there were just these people aiming them at me.

I know that some people question me bringing her home with me. I know, she should be in rehab, and I can’t help her the way that they could, and I’m just not qualified for something like that. Maybe not. The thing is, Rachel didn’t wanna go to rehab. She didn’t want to be alone. I thought I owed to her to keep that from happening. I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could return her the favor of being saved. Just like she saved me.

But I guess maybe everyone who questioned my decision was right. Even Victoria. ‘Cause there’s a big difference between taking the fall for someone who cheated on a Calculus test and taking the fall for someone who almost killed themselves because they’re addicted to drugs. Worst case scenario, I might have had to repeat my Senior year. Worst case scenario for her? She might have died.

Now she’s gone, along with the full cash return on my investment in Peyton’s record label. I know, stupid. I should have never left all that cash right there. Not when I knew how down she was and how close to falling off that proverbial wagon. I’m a terrible friend. It’s true. There’s really no denying it now. I will never, ever forgive myself if she doesn’t come back, safe and in one piece. And it’s not even about the money. I’d give ten times the amount she took just to come home and see her sleeping on my couch again.

Brooke Davis
One Tree Hill
414 Words

Current Mood: worried

Random questions thingie from goaskmalice

( I'm sure Lucas will think something in here is TMI... )

Current Mood: bored

thetenspot 036. TEN places I’ve had sex with Caleb Danvers and why.

1. My loft in New York City – because we were there.
2. His dorm room at Harvard – see above.
3. LaGuardia airport – because he was leaving.
4. The new house in Tree Hill – my new bedroom needing breaking in.
5. Peyton’s office at Tric – the bathroom was taken?
6. The Four Seasons – Rachel was crashing at my loft.
7. Backseat of his Mustang – because I had to greet him the old school way.
8. The Luxor – we were in Vegas for Valentine’s Day.
9. Clothes Over Bros’ boutique in Tree Hill – because it was hot.
10. His parents’ house in Ipswich – see #1.

Brooke Davis
One Tree Hill

Current Mood: naughty

"Uh, Millicent?" I called out from behind the counter as I sat on my knees in a skirt that was really too short for kneeling on the floor. "Have you seen my Day Planner?" I asked. I couldn't find the damn thing, and the truth was? It was very vital to my sanity. More so even than my BlackBerry. I wasn't much for digital schedules. I needed every thing spelled out for me, on paper, where I could see it more easily.

"I think I saw Victoria carrying it." Millicent admitted quietly, probably already aware of what kind of reaction that was bound to get from me.

"Oh, isn't that fabulous." I said dryly, whimpering in frustration when I forgot to pay attention and smacked my head on some sort of shelving apparatus used for storing shopping bags as I was leaning back up to pull myself to my feet. "What does she need with it anyway?" I whined, picking up my latte and taking a sip of it.

My assistant frowned a little bit, like she wasn't sure if she should even go there. I just simply raised an perfectly sculpted eyebrow in her direction, letting her know that she'd better go there. She sighed. "Victoria said that you didn't have the attention span to manage a Day Planner that covered more than just an actual day." It was my turn to frown.

"You know what? I am getting so sick of what Victoria thinks. This isn't even her company!" I added, slamming my nearly empty cup down on the counter beside the register hard enough to split the plastic seams of the lid. It was true though. My mother was ruining my life just because she didn't trust me not to ruin my company. And no one was immune from her wrath. Especially Peyton. That was what was making it even harder to deal with. She didn't just stick to the company. She was trying to run my personal life too.

"I'll go see if I can find her," Millicent offered, though honestly, she probably wanted to deal with Victoria less than even I did at that point. Which was really saying something, considering I wanted to put my own mother on the first plane back to New York and then call in a fake tip to the airline and have her placed on that No Fly list thingie.

"Do that." I said, feeling myself losing patience by the second, but knowing that my assistant didn't deserve the potential fall out that was coming. I watched her disappear out the glass doors of the boutique before heading back behind the counter and placing my hand to my forehead. She was really going to make me fire her one of these days, wasn't she? My mother, not Millicent. Every day, it was the same thing with her. Any way she could find to undermine my authority or to make me feel incompetent, she'd do it in a heartbeat and then spend the rest of the day trying to convince me of how it was for my own good. The days were falling in to a sort of predictable routine where the only thing that surprised me any more was my own tolerance level.

That and...

"Cordelia?" I said, glancing up as I noticed the customer who'd just entered also happened to be my long last half sister I'd just found out about last year. With everything in New York, I hadn't seen her yet since I'd been back in time to open the Clothes Over Bros branch here in L.A. We'd kept in touch, mostly through e-mail and the occasional phone call, but I definitely wasn't expecting her to show up here today. Moving back out from behind the counter once more, I moved over to give her a small, tentative hug before pulling away.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, attempting to contain the little rush of excitement I got from seeing her again. Don't get me wrong, I'd always really wanted to be an only child, so finding out I had an older sibling wasn't exactly the most joyous occasion of my life. But as far as older sisters went, she was definitely someone I could have seen myself following around and trying to emulate so really, it just made sense. And anyway, it could've been worse. The first person Peyton met who was supposedly her long lost sibling turned out to be a psychopath.

Cordelia...

theatrical_muse 219 - Headlines

So, here's the thing about being famous: people think they know you. It's easy to see why they'd think that. You suddenly become this person of public interest and then the next thing you know, someone's stealing your trash so they can post your grocery store receipt on the Internet for all to see and dissect you accordingly. Like anyone can tell anything about you from your diet of sparkling water and chicken salads with the occasional cheesecake.

And like they can tell anything more from looking at pictures of you that some ruthless paparazzi with a complete lack of morals snapped of you and some guy, claiming you to be a couple. When the truth is, you don't even know the guy, you can barely remember his name because your agent or publicist or whoever arranged the whole thing. It's good publicity for him, it's good publicity for you, but like everything else in this business that's fake, it's much ado about nothing. 'Cause you're not even interested in the actor, the basketball player, the musician who writes tortured love songs that everyone speculates or just blatantly assumes were written about you because they once saw a picture of the two of you attending some black tie event or having coffee on the sidewalk outside some little cafe.

They don't know about the one that you don't want them to know about. And the truth is? He's the only one that matters. And that's why no one will ever know about him. Because a lack of privacy kills relationships. Plus there's this thing where you've found something amazing and you kinda just want to keep it all to yourself and not share. Especially with the entire world.

The truth is, no one knows you. Not your friends, 'cause you have to pretty much bail on them at every turn to keep working your ass off to reach just a little bit higher. Not your family, because the only thing they want is a piece of you. Whichever piece they can get. And definitely not any of your entourage, who basically get paid to tell you 'yes' even when they should be telling you 'no'.

It's lonely, and definitely sad that you find yourself thinking that if it weren't for all those fake, orchestrated headlines? It's like no one would know you existed at all. It just may be that no one will ever know the real you, or the you that you've become. But at least it's better than no one knowing you at all.

Brooke Davis
One Tree Hill
424 Words