She did not jump from one word to accusation.
She looked for structure.
The document remained open.
She refilled the French attorney’s glass.
One line above the word:
La présente cession des droits de vote est irrévocable et survivra à toute résiliation du mandat administratif pendant la durée de détention des titres concernés.
Her chest tightened.
That was not ninety days.
The assignment of voting rights was irrevocable and survived termination of the administrative mandate for the duration of ownership of the relevant shares.
That could be years.
Possibly permanent unless the shares themselves changed ownership.
The waitress straightened.
Still.
Not her business.
She hated the phrase now.
How many bad things survived because someone standing near the table decided the table did not belong to them?
But another voice answered inside her head.
You are not counsel.
You do not know the whole deal.
Correct.
So she stayed quiet.
For another seven minutes.
The French investor asked about governance again.
The businessman repeated:
“Ninety days.”
The waitress returned with dessert menus.
The businessman was speaking louder now.
Not because the room was loud.
Because people who wanted to end negotiations often became louder when they sensed hesitation.
He tapped one page.
“Everything you need is there.”
The French attorney looked tired.
The general counsel beside the businessman stared at the table.
That bothered the waitress.
Why would his own counsel refuse eye contact during the most important explanation of the evening?
She set the menus down.
The businessman noticed her looking.
Not because she had been staring.
Because he was the kind of man who constantly monitored whether anyone beneath him forgot their place.
“What?”
The waitress looked up.
“Sir?”
“You keep looking at the documents.”
“I apologize.”
The correct hospitality answer.
Enough to end the moment.
He could have let it go.
Instead, one of the American executives chuckled.
The businessman smiled.
“You speak French?”
The waitress hesitated.
“Yes, sir.”
The table shifted slightly.
The French investor looked at her with more interest.
The businessman raised his eyebrows.
“Really?”
“Yes.”