A couple of days after the family fight in the The Gift story, Larry spends hours into the night hesitating and thinking about the prospect of losing both his parents support and the financial rewards of being the new owner of the family business. He finally gives in and reluctantly accepts his parents gift without consulting with Joan, his fiance. Upon hearing the news, Joan is hurt, furious, and hopelessly disappointed at Larry to the point of reconsidering her upcoming marriage with him. A few hours later, she calls her best friend, Aisha, who for having taken Dr. Rofougarans course on negotiation and conflict resolution recently, tells her about the class discussions, Difficult Conversations, Beyond Reason, and the The Seven Elements of Integrative Negotiation. Joan borrows and reads both books avidly and she spends a few hours thinking about possible ways to use the tools provided by those sources to talk with Larry. Empowered by the new light shed on resolving conflicts, she decides to use the insights she has gained in order to negotiate a way out of the impasse. Please, write an essay explaining how Joan might prepare for her difficult conversation with Larry.

Scenario:
Larry, a 26-year-old man, and his fiance, Joan, visit his parents for Christmas. Larrys parents, Jack and Alice, have met Joan before and like her very much. Generally, it is a positive situation all around. They all get along fine.

During the dinner, Jack announces, We have a big gift for you this Christmas!
You do? says Larry suspiciously.
We want to entrust the business to you, Larry and Joan, Jack replies proudly, and have you move to Billings and run it!
Larry gasping for air, says: Oh, uh, thanks.
I dont think that would work for the two of us, Joan says.
Alice becomes nervous. She says: More pie, Larry? and Joan, would you like some more turkey? Alice continues to fill the silence with: Jack, what do you think about this new gravy?

And a family fight follows.