LEILA
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I was standing behind the podium, my hands gripping the edges as if it were the only solid thing in a suddenly tilting world, the cool wood a small anchor in the rising heat of my shock and the crumbling weight of my composure.
My team stood behind me, a unified front moments ago, now frozen in place, their faces reflecting my own stunned disbelief, although they didn’t know who he was to me, but they were shocked that he was here.
Everyone knew him of course.
Sophia was seated with other Veridian staff observers, her eyes, I knew, fixed on me, a silent broadcast of concern across the expanse of the room.
I was at the final segment of the presentation. The crucial closing remarks, the articulation of the vision that had brought us to this pivotal point.
My voice was c
