Yuri may have left before Rebecca returned, but Everett stayed. He didn’t want to make Rebecca feel like everyone abandoned her to her own devices. They believed her worth so little, only when she was absent. They didn’t give her a second thought.
She hadn’t returned yet, and he couldn’t get his mind to forget the image of her lying on the bathroom floor. He checked if she had collapsed or left the meeting before Yuri. What he found eased his mind. Rebecca returned, at least for her things, with coffee in her hand.
Did he use the men’s room? I brought coffee.” Rebecca entered the room, expecting them to have done nothing while waiting for her. At least, she tried to fix things with coffee. She appeared surprised when Yuri didn’t wait for her return.
“He left saying he had things he needed to do. He believed you should go into this blind for the most authentic response you could give.” Everett couldn’t help himself. He must have informed her about Yuri’s true na
