“Incredible. I was brought onto a team of the younger folks on staff. The lead was newish, too. Super encouraging. He was a real champion for me, and when he was given a restaurant project, I was his right hand. We worked round the clock, lots of nights.

“When it came time to present, Roger said it was a one-on-one meeting with the client.” I swirl the straw in my drink, mixing the liquid in with slush in the middle of the glass. This is the part I don’t even let myself think about. But I’ve gotten this far in the story, which is something, even if it feels like my chest is caving in.

“Have you ever fallen?” I ask. “From somewhere high enough to actually hurt?”

Wickham’s brows crease as he cocks a smile. “Can’t say I’ve had the misfortune.”

“I have. I rock climb, and in high school, I was bouldering, which is without ropes. It’s about traversing along the wall, not going up. But I went for a route higher up than I should have, and a hold gave.”

Wickham cringes.

“The sandstone crumbled. It came loose from the wall and broke into pieces as I held it. I even have a scar.” I turn up my left palm to show the faint white line bisecting it. “I’d clung to the rubble so hard the doctor had to dig it out with tweezers.”

Wickham nods, but his brows are low enough that I know my aside isn’t explaining itself.

“Feeling that rock give way . . .” I search for the words. “I knew I was screwed. And that’s almost the worst part. The anticipation. When Roger said he had to present alone, the rock broke away all over again. It was the same sensation. Something that had been secure fell apart in my hand. Pain was coming, and I’d have to wait for it.”

“What happened?”

“For one, he’d been telling our coworkers I’d tried to sleep with him—”

“What?” Wickham leans away, eyes wide. “Why would he do that?”

“Paper trail. He’d started circulating the rumor pretty early. Got it on record with HR. He timed it so that while I was having a sit-down about my ‘impropriety’ during those late nights at the office, he was presenting my work to the client as his,” I force out. “He’d repackaged it to resemble an evolution of his design scheme.”

“Damn.”

“I came out of the meeting feeling like I’d been hit by a truck. Meanwhile, Roger was getting back slaps and handshakes in the conference room.”

“And when you spoke up, it sounded like you were lashing out because of the HR thing.” Wickham’s voice is dull with shock.

“It took me a few days to piece it together.” I huff out a mirthless laugh. “At least gravity had the decency to crack my rib quickly.”