Dale cornered him in the faculty kitchen, which was, Josh had learned over twelve years of friendship, exactly where Dale conducted every conversation he'd decided needed to happen regardless of whether the other person had agreed to it. There was something about the smallness of the room, the forced proximity of two people waiting on the same coffee machine, that made avoidance structurally difficult.
"You went back," Dale said, without preamble, watching the coffee drip with theatrical patience. "To the thing. The mood. Whatever we're calling it."
"I don't know what you mean."
"You do, though. You had about a week and a half there — right around the innovation track deadline, if I'm reading the timeline correctly, which I am, because Priya mentioned the review sessions ran late a few
