making the exception so broad that it rendered every protection meaningless. Finance teams compared revised assumptions. Procurement officers argued about what qualified as a critical supplier, and engineers from both companies discovered that they had been using the same words for slightly different technical standards. The fact that the problems were now visible made them solvable, but it did not make them simple.
Daniel agreed to a short consulting engagement while the permanent position went through review. He made sure Lakefront Executive Fleet received a proper release rather than losing a contractor without warning. He signed a separate advisory agreement with Bennett, clarified his duties, and asked Elena to confirm that he would not be treated as providing licensed legal or financial advice. His role was to facilitate cross-functional discussions, identify translation and context problems, and help the teams distinguish differences of substance from differences of presentation. He would not sign contracts on either company's behalf. He would not become a substitute for engineers, lawyers, or elected corporate directors simply because he could speak fluent Japanese.
His first official day as a consultant began at the kitchen table, with Sophie's cereal bowl beside his laptop and a stack of household bills pushed to the far side. She watched him connect to the meeting through a headset and whispered, "Can they see the laundry behind you?" Daniel glanced over his shoulder at the drying rack and moved the camera slightly. Sophie grinned. By eight, she was on her way to school, and he was listening to a discussion between a Chicago finance analyst and an Osaka plant manager about the cost of qualifying replacement components.
They did not agree. The analyst believed the testing estimates were conservative and could be compressed. The plant manager thought the analyst was treating inspection data as though it could substitute for operating history. Daniel asked each to explain the assumptions behind their numbers, then invited Priya to compare them against the engineering record. It became clear that the teams were calculating different things. One model counted the time required to approve an initial prototype; the other counted the longer process of establishing reliable production at scale. Neither model was dishonest. Together, they exposed a difference that could have caused an expensive mistake if anyone had forced the meeting toward a quick compromise.
"I think this is the job," Daniel told Sophie that evening when she asked what he had done all day.
"You made people tell each other what they meant?"
"Pretty much."
"That sounds like being a teacher."
"With more spreadsheets."
She decided that sounded boring, then asked whether he could come to her school's science exhibition on Friday. The question was asked casually, but Daniel saw how carefully she watched him while she waited. He checked his calendar. A full afternoon of joint-venture workshops had been penciled in on the same day. He moved his availability block to three o'clock, sent a note explaining why, and told her he would be there.
"Even if the people in Japan need you?" she asked.
"They can plan around it. And if something unexpected happens, there are good people on the team who can help."