She began noticing the other visitors. A founder in jeans waited with a presentation model balanced on his knees. An older woman wearing practical shoes arrived to discuss a nonprofit investment program. A young man in a delivery uniform carried several packages toward the service desk, and a Cole Ventures employee stopped to help him find the correct loading entrance instead of treating him as an annoyance. Nobody asked which visitor was wealthy before deciding how to speak to them.
At noon, Victoria ordered a bouquet from a nearby florist and wrote a note asking Darien to accept her apology. Lisa agreed to forward it but did not suggest that flowers would change his schedule. A few minutes later, Priya called from the executive floor and asked Lisa to tell Victoria that Darien had received the request. He was considering whether a meeting would serve any useful purpose.
Victoria sat beneath the tall windows and examined her own reason for staying. She had left behind a company with eleven weeks of cash, senior employees who needed decisions, and people working to repair the damage she had caused. Waiting was not a virtue simply because she was now willing to endure it. If Darien did not want to see her, she would have to return to San Francisco and face the consequences without him.
Just before two, Lisa approached. "Mr. Cole can offer fifteen minutes this afternoon," she said. "He has asked that you meet him in conference room B."
Victoria stood so quickly that her knees felt weak. She thanked Lisa, then caught herself about to ask whether Darien would be alone. She understood that he had no reason to provide information about the meeting beyond the invitation itself.
Conference room B was ordinary by the standards of a firm with billions under management. There were six chairs, a screen, a jug of water, and a table marked with the faint scratches left by years of careful use. Darien sat at the far end, dressed in a charcoal shirt and jeans. Maya and James occupied chairs to one side, their notebooks closed until Victoria entered.
"Ms. Ashford," Darien said. He did not rise. "Please sit." Victoria lowered herself into a chair and placed her handbag on the floor, suddenly conscious of how much money she had spent on an object that could not help her say the right thing.
"Mr. Cole, I am deeply sorry," she began. "Yesterday was chaotic, and I didn't recognize—" Darien lifted one hand. "I need to stop you there," he said. "You've used that explanation in every message. I want to know whether you understand why it's not sufficient."
Victoria clasped her hands. She had come prepared to explain how important Cole Ventures was to Ashford Technologies. She had also prepared an account of how overworked she had been, how exhausted she felt, and how a series of misunderstandings had escalated quickly. Darien's question made all of those explanations sound like attempts to turn her own decision into an accident.