The moment we stepped out of the elevator, the atmosphere of the executive floor pressed in, thick with unspoken questions. The quiet awareness from the ride solidified into something tangible, a third presence walking between us. I could feel the weight of every glance from the assistants we passed, the subtle tilting of heads, the way conversations dipped just a fraction in volume before resuming at a more careful pitch. They were watching, and they were drawing their own conclusions. Let them. It was all part of the landscape now, a terrain I was learning to navigate.
