Victoria came through the door carrying two paper plates from the staff lunch service. She offered him one with a sandwich and a small apple. "Your daughter?" she asked.
"Science project. I forgot her folder."
"I heard something about batteries."
"They're indispensable to modern civilization. Especially miniature pedestrian crossings."
Victoria smiled and set the plate on a side table. "I have two sons. They're grown now. When they were young, I convinced myself that every missed school event could be made up for with a better vacation later. Most of the time, it couldn't."
Daniel looked at her carefully. "Did they tell you that?"
"Eventually. They were kinder about it than I deserved."
He said nothing, because this was not a problem he could solve with an elegant sentence. Victoria looked through the glass. "You know, after this morning, I thought I had found a remarkable piece of unused talent inside our organization. But listening to you talk to your daughter made me realize there's a difference between someone wanting to be discovered and someone wanting to be allowed a life."
"I didn't come here looking for my old career," Daniel said.
"I know."
"I can't go back to being absent for two hundred days a year."
"I understand."
"People say that sometimes when they really mean they understand until the first emergency trip."
Victoria did not look offended. "Then don't take my word for it. Judge us by what we actually do. It seems a fair standard for everyone in this building today."
Before Daniel could reply, Monica Vale, the communications director, came down the hall with her tablet pressed against her chest. She did not look as though she was bringing good news. "Victoria," she said, slowing only when she saw Daniel. "We have a leak. It's already on the business wires."
They went back inside. On Monica's tablet was a headline claiming that Japanese investors were preparing to abandon the Bennett Global partnership. Below it, a reporter cited unnamed sources and described emergency discussions in Tokyo. Market commentators had begun repeating the story, turning the phrase preparing to abandon into the firmer words deal in danger. The stock price had dipped in morning trading. Evan Bell looked as though he had just heard a glass break in a room full of expensive equipment.
"Issue a denial," Grant said. "Immediately. Tell them negotiations remain on track."
Daniel looked at the headline. "They were preparing to leave. A denial that makes that fact sound impossible will create a worse problem if the reporting becomes more specific."
"And confirming it could hurt us financially," Monica said.
"You don't have to confirm a private conversation," Daniel replied. "You can say negotiations remain active, both sides are working in good faith, and you will respect the confidentiality of the process. It's true without pretending everything is resolved."
Watanabe, who had overheard the exchange, considered the wording. "That would be acceptable to us."