CASUAL MEETING IN THE boss’s office. The whole team likes to congregate around Val, sipping coffee or water. They start out brainstorming, riffing on each other’s ideas, and they end up joking around. Then someone takes it too far, they resort to childish name-calling, then that blows over and they’re be back to joking again.
But something’s different today.
Everybody’s looking at Alisha.
Usually, she fades into the background. No one takes notice of her. She laughs along with the jokes, and recedes when the name-calling begins.
Today, the others are looking at her. Too much.
No, wait, they’re not looking at her. They’re specifically not-looking. That over-the-shoulder glance when someone wants a glimpse of you without being caught.
When the meeting breaks up, Val asks Alisha if she
