(Zara)
Friday came the way bad weather comes, slow and then all at once.
The meeting itself went well. Too well, maybe. My three campaign directions landed, the room debated them like they mattered, and by the end the team had chosen mine as the one to build on. People I'd met four days ago nodded at me like I belonged. Even the senior manager who'd dismissed my idea on Monday admitted the third direction had teeth.
Marcus said nothing the whole time. He sat at the far end with his arms crossed and let the meeting happen around him, and somehow that was worse than if he'd argued.
Sebastian ran it all without once making it strange. He praised the work, not me. He kept his eyes moving around the table like everyone got the same share of his attention. If I hadn't known better, I'd have
