Over the next few days, Kiara and Mike slowly began pulling back from the negotiations with Stratos. They canceled meetings, delayed responses, and subtly shifted their focus to other projects. It wasn't long before Stratos started to notice.
John Davenport, Stratos's head of strategy, reached out to Kiara several times, his tone increasingly urgent with each message. But Kiara played it cool, responding with polite but vague emails that hinted at Robinson Enterprises exploring other opportunities.
By the end of the week, John called Kiara directly, his voice tight with frustration. "Kiara, we need to talk. I'm getting the impression that Robinson Enterprises is losing interest in this partnership. Is there something we should be aware of?"