The meeting was at a hotel.
Not the kind of hotel Maya would have chosen herself — not the flashy new ones downtown with rooftop bars and influencers in the lobby. This one was older, quieter, the kind of place that had been expensive for so long it didn't need to announce it anymore. Dark wood paneling, low lighting, staff who moved without being noticed. The sort of place where conversations disappeared.
She had dressed carefully. Not her work clothes, not the worn blazer she'd been rotating through job interviews. She had gone to the back of her wardrobe and found the things she'd kept from before — a silk blouse, dark trousers, heels that actually fit the occasion. She looked like herself again. Or the version of herself she preferred.
The recruitment agency had sent a confirmation
