The studio had been open for four months when I hired my second employee.
Her name was Priya, which was a coincidence that amused me every time I introduced her, because I had spent a year walking past Marcus's assistant of the same name with a carefully neutral expression. This Priya was twenty-six and had opinions about materials that made me like her immediately, and she argued with me about tile choices in a way that suggested she did not need my approval, only my direction. I hired her on the spot.
Kezia and Priya did not get along for the first two weeks. Then they became the kind of colleagues who complain about each other constantly and would defend each other to anyone else. I recognized the dynamic. I had seen it in every functional team I had ever worked in.
The studio was a
