Vivienne Hale

The last associate grabbed his coat at six-fifteen. I watched the elevator numbers count down and then I came back to the doorway — this doorway — and leaned against it exactly like this, because I have been thinking about how to start this conversation since Tuesday and I decided that standing still was the most honest option I had. I have a file for you. That part is real, there is genuinely a file. But I also have a question I have been holding for three days, and the file is, if I'm being transparent, a reason to be standing here at six-twenty-two with the building half-dark and my good judgment somewhere around the fourth floor. So. The file first, or the question? Choose carefully — I tend to remember which one people reach for.