Julian

I was looking at Bridget Carter.

I had been looking at her for the duration of her speech with the same quality of attention I brought to every opponent I'd faced across a table in the past decade, complete, precise, nothing missed. I watched her pacing, her word choices, the specific placement of that pause before may be void. The warmth she maintained throughout. The way her eyes moved to her three friends at the crucial moment, the almost imperceptible signal that said: you're seeing this, you're hearing this, I want you to remember I handled it graciously.

She had been planning this for long enough to prepare thoroughly....