Sophie nodded.
“No further details.”
“No anonymous clarification,” I said.
Richard looked offended.
“I do not authorize anonymous clarifications.”
Brent became intensely interested in the grain of the table.
Richard followed my gaze.
“Something you would like to contribute?”
“No.”
“Excellent.”
The meeting ended twenty minutes later.
Not because anyone felt satisfied.
Richard had another appointment, and I had stopped providing new things for him to reject.
Legal collected the unused drafts.
Brent left without his coffee.
Rachel took that too.
Sophie stayed behind, gathering pages into the navy folder.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“For the interview or this meeting?”
“Both.”
“The interview was partly my fault.”
“You gave me five words.”
“You turned them into several paragraphs.”
“I became enthusiastic.”
“You became nationally quotable.”
She clipped the folder shut.
“I should not have called Claire wardrobe.”
Her name landed softly.
“No.”
“I thought if I made the explanation boring, people would stop looking.”
