Ethan answered, “Home and grumpy, which apparently means recovering.”
The woman smiled at Lauren without missing a beat.
No one acted like she was charity.
No one acted like she was a secret.
Ethan took her into a glass-walled room with a round table and set down two coffees.
“I guessed cream, no sugar.”
She stared.
“How did you know?”
“You order it every Tuesday.”
Lauren almost laughed.
“I didn’t know anybody noticed that.”
He sat across from her.
“People notice more than we think.”
That felt true in too many directions.
They talked for almost an hour before anyone mentioned salary.
And that was the first sign it might be real.
He asked about her old projects.
Her favorite part of software work.
The kind of problems she liked solving.
What had frustrated her.
What had energized her.
Where she wanted to grow.
He didn’t talk to her like she was broken.
