She’d dressed professionally again—straightening her hair and pinning it up, wearing a very business-y outfit, even carrying a briefcase-type bag instead of the orange designer tote she usually took to client meetings. But the strangers sitting around the boardroom table made Rohan’s normal workday attire look like casual wear. Even Rohan himself, who was sitting near the end of the table, looked extra buttoned-up today. Had he slicked his hair back? Kamila’s blue pantsuit was brighter than everyone else’s, and she immediately regretted the teal blouse with the oversized bow at the neck. She’d thought it would be fine since Anil hadn’t seemed too conservatively dressed when he’d come to Emerald. But the look she got from the suits around the boardroom reminded her of when she’d shown up to Model UN in high school in sweatpants and a Spice Girls T-shirt. She did not fit in here.

Also, she probably should have been on time, but there was traffic. Smiling apologetically, Kamila took the empty seat next to Rohan.

Anil was standing at the head of the table and beamed at her. “Kamila, great. You’re here. Let me introduce you. This is the Aim High board of directors: Ayesha, Derrick, Rajesh, Marlene, Shayla, Robert, and of course, you know Rohan. I’ll let them tell you their areas of expertise on their own time. Kamila’s firm is handling the start-up financial administration…and Kamila herself is a fundraising maven, so she agreed to come on board as a volunteer, too.” Rohan nodded at Kamila and poured her a glass of water.

Anil and the others started discussing their fundraising needs, which evolved into talking about the dearth of funding in rural versus urban ventures to coaching and resiliency after significant trauma so fast that Kamila would have had significant trauma if she had tried to keep up. For the second time since she walked in, she was sure she was in way over her head.

She peeked at Rohan. He was participating in the discussion actively along with the others, talking about the psychological impact of escaping a war zone as if he were an expert on the subject. Huh. He’d said Kamila shouldn’t be underestimated, but clearly Rohan was more than the average tax lawyer. Maybe because she spent so much time with him in his albeit very fancy pajamas, she often forgot how brilliant, knowledgeable, and accomplished Rohan was. Why exactly were they such good friends? He leaned close after the topic shifted yet again. “Everything okay, Kam?”

She nodded.

He smiled in return. But this wasn’t a normal Rohan Kam-you’re-incorrigible smile, but a completely different one. Weirdly…professional. Was this his corporate-self smile?

Was it a touch condescending, or was she imagining it?