FAT, BARREN, AND REJECTED
I moved through the files methodically, uncertain exactly what I was looking for, though some instinct kept pulling my attention toward a folder tucked toward the back, slightly out of alignment with the others, as though it had been handled more recently and returned without quite the same care.
The folder had no label. That, more than anything, made me open it first.
Inside, I found a series of documents that took several long moments to fully parse — correspondence dated roughly fourteen months ago, references to a private venue booking, a payment authorization for what the document described only as “discreet consultation services,” and, tucked toward the back, a single handwritten note