She had been at her desk for six hours when he said it.
The morning had moved the way good Mondays moved when the work was real and the problems were solvable and the hours had the particular quality of time that was being used properly rather than simply passing. She had handled the Harken follow-up correspondence, drafted the clarification addendum for legal review, managed three calls that required judgment rather than just routing, and started on the preliminary research for the Thursday board materials that Gerald had flagged as a priority.
At half past three she heard his door open.
She did not look up immediately. She had learned not to look up immediately because looking up immediately every time he emerged from his office was a habit she could not afford to develop and she was
