Lena

The email arrived at 9:47 in the morning.

I was at the kitchen table with my gala materials and a second cup of tea, working through the speaker briefing documents that Diana had sent over the night before. Detailed notes on each of the four women who would be presenting at the event, their backgrounds, their specific areas of expertise, what they needed from the venue in terms of accessibility and setup. The kind of reading that required full attention and got it, because these were real people with real histories and the preparation they deserved was actual preparation, not a skim.

My phone was face-up on the table...