I sat with that.
Not the managed apology. Not I apologize in the controlled register. The actual account — what it cost him, what he had chosen and then not chosen, said plainly without the organizational structure that made hard things easier to handle.
"Tell me when you do it again," I said.
"I'll try not to—"
"You'll do it again," I said. "You're a person, not an initiative. Tell me when you close. Don't wait for me to build up three weeks of quiet before we have this conversation."
He held my gaze.
"All right," he said.
"I'll tell you too," I said. "When I track exits instead of being here. Same terms or no deal."
The corner of his mouth. Arriving slowly — the real one.
"Same terms," he said.
"Move the meeting," I said.
He blinked. "You said—"
"I'm not upset anymore," I sai
