Margaret heard about the department chair meeting from Reese, who'd heard it from Zarina, who'd told them both in the flat tone of someone reciting facts because reciting them plainly was the only way to get through the recitation at all, and Margaret felt something cold and guilty settle into her stomach before Zarina had even finished the sentence.
She waited until Zarina left to grab something from the printer down the hall before she said anything to Reese, keeping her voice low.
"I might have done this," she said, and felt the words land with a specific, ugly weight once they were actually out loud instead of just circling in her head since yesterday.
Reese looked at her sharply. "What do you mean."
"I was talking to Priya. Weeks ago, before the panel, before any of the finalist s
