"This isn't about a missing form."
He sighed.
"Come on."
She shook her head.
"People used the company's aircraft for movements that weren't properly authorized. Expenses were charged to the wrong accounts. And your name appears repeatedly in communications supporting those arrangements."
Edmund looked away.
She continued.
"We have obligations to employees, investors, clients, and the organizations that trust us."
He laughed bitterly.
"Everything's an obligation with you now."
Naomi stared.
He continued.
"You used to know how to take risks."
Her voice remained steady.
"I still do."
"Then why are you making such a big deal out of something that didn't hurt anybody?"
For a moment, Naomi felt anger rise.
Then she took a breath.
"Because the absence of an accident doesn't prove the absence of wrongdoing."
Edmund looked toward her.
She continued.
"And because people should not have to wait until somebody gets hurt before we take an integrity problem seriously."
He was silent.
Naomi looked toward the window.
Then back at him.
"You know what Richard called me?"
Edmund's expression tightened.
"I heard."
"He called me a waitress."
Edmund sighed.
"That was stupid."
Naomi nodded.
"Yes."
He shrugged.
"Richard's from another generation."
She stared.
For a moment, she couldn't believe what she'd heard.
Then she asked quietly, "And what does that mean?"
Edmund looked confused.
"What?"
"Does being from another generation make it acceptable to humiliate somebody?"
"No, butβ"
"Because my mother worked in aircraft catering."
Edmund stopped.
Naomi continued.
"She did honest work. The kind of work that helped pay for my education."
Her voice grew firmer.
"And Richard treated that job as though it were something shameful."
Edmund looked toward the floor.
Naomi took a breath.
"Then he tried to use my aircraft for a trip I hadn't authorized."
She looked directly at him.
"And you helped create the conditions that allowed him to believe he could."
For several seconds, the room was silent.
Edmund finally whispered, "I didn't think it would come to this."
Naomi nodded.
"Neither did I."
He looked up.
For the first time, he seemed genuinely exhausted.
"Are you ever going to forgive me?"
The question surprised her.
She considered.