Teresa came back with a paper cup of water. "It's not the good glass," she whispered, mortified. "I'm sorry."
Loretta took it with both hands. "It's the same water," she said again, this time with a smile that reached her eyes. She noticed that Teresa's fingers were shaking, not enough for someone at a distance to see, but enough that the water trembled in its cup. People in positions like hers were often asked to make a choice between kindness and their paycheck, and Loretta had never believed that was a fair choice.
At 9:37, an elderly maintenance worker rolled a cart through the lobby carrying fresh plants for the conference rooms. His name was Benjamin Price, although almost everyone called him Ben, and he touched the brim of his cap when he passed Loretta. She asked how long the building had been open, and he told her that the original structure was almost thirty years old. They talked briefly about the elevator renovation, the way the newer lobby had been designed around the old marble, and the difficulty of keeping a revolving door clean in rainy weather.
"They never ask the people who clean it whether the design makes sense," Ben said, smiling toward his cart. "They just tell us how beautiful it looks."
"And then you make it beautiful again every morning," Loretta replied.
Ben looked up at her, surprised by the recognition in her voice. Loretta was still talking to him when Bradley returned at 9:45, carrying a takeaway coffee in one hand and a polished metal travel tumbler in the other. He stopped beneath the abstract painting. "You're still here?" he asked, with a disdainful amusement that made several people in the lobby look up.
"My appointment was for nine," Loretta said. "I thought I'd give you the opportunity to keep it."
"You want me to have them carry you out, chair and all?"
There was a brief silence. Ben froze beside his cart, Teresa stared down at the reception counter, and Hayley's lips parted as though she wanted to say something that might cost her job. Loretta closed her notebook and slipped it into her canvas bag. "No need," she answered. "I filled a whole page."
Bradley snorted. "A whole page of what?"
"Things I wanted to remember."
She stood, adjusted the strap of her bag, and thanked Teresa by name for both cups of water. Before going through the front doors, she stopped beside the desk and took a plain business card from her wallet. The card had no company logo and no title, only the name LORETTA SIMMONS and a direct telephone number printed in dark blue ink.
"If you ever need anything," Loretta said to Teresa, "you call me."