Wind had blown her hair across her face.
Daniel remembered the day.
They had been moving inventory themselves because the delivery company wanted money they did not have.
He touched the corner of the frame.
“I’ll be home by dinner.”
Then he drove to Mercer Industrial.
Forty-five minutes later, he sat outside the conference room hearing people discuss his “sentimental attachment” as an obstacle.
Eventually, Daniel stood.
He did not feel angry.
Not exactly.
Anger was hot.
What he felt was colder.
Recognition.
He opened the conference room door.
Conversation stopped.
Twelve people sat around a long walnut table.
Several Daniel knew.
Several he did not.
Richard sat near the center with a tablet in front of him.
A large screen displayed a slide titled:
WORKFORCE PRODUCTIVITY AND STRATEGIC REALIGNMENT.
Daniel noticed the phrase before anyone spoke.
Richard rose halfway.
“Daniel.”
Daniel stepped inside.
No one told him where to sit.
He walked toward the empty chair at the far end and pulled it out himself.
Then he removed his watch.
He placed it on the table.
The ticking became strangely audible.
Richard cleared his throat.
“We were just…”
“I heard.”
Silence.
Richard sat.
“I wasn’t aware you were waiting.”
Daniel looked at him.
“I know.”
That answer unsettled Richard more than accusation would have.