Chapter 11
My company completed its internal review.
I returned to work six weeks after the slap.
Walking back into that conference room felt harder than I expected.
The table was clean.
My tablet had been replaced.
No photos.
No papers.
No screaming woman.
Still, my body remembered.
Daniel met me at the door.
“Ready?”
“No.”
“Want another room?”
I looked at the conference table.
“No. I want this one.”
So I presented the revised budget in the same room where my reputation had been dragged across wood.
My voice shook at first.
Then steadied.
When I finished, Maya started clapping.
One by one, the others joined.
It was awkward.
Corporate applause always is.
But I accepted it.
Afterward, Daniel said, “You shouldn’t have had to prove yourself again.”
“I know.”
“But you did.”
“Yes.”
May you like
I hated that truth.
Loved it too.
