Vivian called Darren over with one raised hand. He came quickly, smiling too hard. “Everything okay?” “Darren,” Vivian said, “your wife and I were discussing Northstar.” The smile stayed on his face, but his eyes shifted. “Northstar?” “Yes,” Vivian said. “Specifically, the consultant who rebuilt the retention strategy.”
Claire watched the color drain slowly from his cheeks. It was the first honest thing his face had done all day. “Oh,” he said. “Right. The freelancer.” “C. Ellison,” Vivian said. Darren looked at Claire. For one second, he understood. Not everything, but enough. His mouth opened, then closed. Claire felt no joy in his panic; only a tired kind of relief.
Vivian continued, still calm. “You presented parts of that work as if you had developed the strategy yourself.” “That’s not exactly—” Darren began. Claire interrupted him softly. “It is exactly that.” A few people nearby had stopped talking. Claire did not raise her voice, but she did not hide either. “My husband is right,” she said. “I don’t work at his company, but I just saved one of its biggest accounts.”