Zanne could hear Ted and Gaby’s voices chasing after each other on the other side of the wall. How could the interview be taking this long? What were they talking about? She was dying to know. Zanne tidied the desk, moving Dawn’s tin of Altoids and a bottle of hand sanitizer back a couple of inches from the mouse, then to the left side of the keyboard, then back again to the right side where Dawn would expect to find them tomorrow.

As the person currently closest to Ted, Dawn came in for more than her share of abuse. She’d committed no fireable offenses, but she had not been a stellar chief of staff, ascending to the position due to her seniority and history with the family rather than her keen judgment. If he’d ever watched his choice of words or tone of voice when he spoke to her, he no longer did. He must have imagined that her feelings could not be hurt.

Zanne knew otherwise. Dawn worshipped Ted the way some people worshipped their fathers. When she came up short, she was devastated. More than once Zanne had caught her choking back tears in the parlor, gathering herself before going back into Ted’s office to eat more shit.

But you couldn’t let yourself get distracted by other people’s troubles. They all knew why they were here. This wasn’t some factory in China with locks on the doors.

This desk was too cluttered. The Altoids were in the way. Dawn’s futile attempt to make the place feel homey was driving Zanne crazy. She opened the drawer and put the mints and the soap inside. Zanne wouldn’t let herself be diminished the way Dawn had. She busted her ass every day to make sure of it. She scanned an email from the events team. They’d gotten their hands on twenty-five ten-gallon hats for thirty servers. Dyeing was underway, and they’d keep looking for an additional five.

Rio, any thoughts? she replied, adding Holly’s stylist to the thread in case he could help bridge the gap.

She glanced at the clock. Ted and Gaby had been talking for forty-five minutes. Soon Zanne would give him another time check. She studied the calendar. At 11:15, when it would be time to pull Ted off his call with Marty, Zanne would be up at the main house meeting with Holly. She emailed the EAs and asked them to make sure Ted made it up to the main house in time to say goodbye to his son.