“You could have had someone check the records.”
“I did.”
“And?”
“They said everything was fine.”
The single father looked toward the unlit route sign.
“Clearly.”
“Yes.”
His voice became harder.
“So you came to prove them wrong.”
“No.”
The woman shook her head.
“I came to find out whether I was wrong to believe them.”
That stopped him.
She continued.
“I didn’t want to enter the audit assuming fraud.”
“I wanted facts.”
“Today gave me one.”
He stared.
“One?”
“This stop.”
She touched the bench.
“Your termination may be another.”
The single father looked away.
“May be.”
“Yes.”
“You don’t believe me.”
“I believe you are telling me what you believe happened.”
He turned sharply.
“That’s corporate language.”
“Yes.”
She did not flinch.
“Because if I decide everything after hearing one person at a bus stop, I am doing the exact thing I’m angry at my executives for doing.”
He opened his mouth.
Then stopped.
She continued.
“If records support you, I will say they support you.”
“If they don’t, I will say that.”
He sat again.
Not as far from her this time.
“That’s frustrating.”
“I know.”
“But fair.”
“I hope so.”
The single father stared at the rain.
“Do they know you’re here?”
“One security officer knows.”
“Where?”
“Two blocks away.”
He turned toward her so fast she heard the movement.
“You have security?”
“Yes.”
“And you’ve let me stand here thinking I’m responsible for keeping you safe?”
She smiled.
“You were.”
“What?”
“My security aide was instructed not to interfere unless I called or was in danger.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“It is a controlled test.”
“In freezing rain.”
“Yes.”
“While blind.”
“Yes.”
He rubbed his face.
“Your board must hate you.”
“Frequently.”
Despite himself, he laughed.
Then the woman’s phone vibrated again.
She felt it against her coat pocket.
This time she did not ignore it.
She answered through her headset.
“Yes.”
A man’s voice spoke rapidly.
She listened.
Her posture changed.
The single father noticed immediately.
No longer a stranded passenger.
No longer a woman deciding whether to trust the stranger beside her.
Something quieter.
More controlled.
Authority without performance.
“Yes.”
she said.
“No, do not send a car yet.”
Pause.
“I am safe.”
Another pause.
“Who approved the 63B status report?”
The single father’s head lifted.
The woman listened.
Her face hardened.
“When?”
Silence.
“Send me the original, not the summary.”
Another pause.
“No.”
Her voice sharpened.
“Do not alert operations.”
The single father stared.