The Corner Office
The Mentor's Shadow

The Warning

August 25, 2026 · Part 6 of 10 · 2 min

Naomi found Talia still at her desk at seven, eyes red-rimmed from staring at a spreadsheet too long.

"Can we talk? Somewhere private."

They ended up in the same supply closet from before, which felt darkly appropriate.

"I need you to hear something, and I need you to not immediately decide I'm crazy."

"Okay..."

Naomi told her everything — Celia, the metadata, the old file, the pattern of names stretching back nearly a decade. Talia's face went through disbelief, then discomfort, then something harder.

"Gerald got me this job," Talia said finally. "He stayed late three nights a week for a month teaching me how to build a pitch deck. He's the only person in this building who's ever actually fought for me."

"I know. He did that for me too. That's exactly how it starts."

"You're basically telling me the nicest person I've ever worked for is secretly trying to destroy me."

"I'm telling you to watch what happens tomorrow. That's all. Just watch."

Talia didn't answer. She gathered her bag, said a stiff goodnight, and left Naomi standing alone among the boxes of printer paper, wondering if she'd just done something unforgivable or something necessary — and unable, yet, to tell which.

Naomi stayed another hour, unable to focus, unable to go home. Around eight-thirty, walking past Gerald's office to grab a folder she'd left there earlier in the week, she saw his light still on.

The door was open a crack. His voice carried, warm and low, the phone-call voice he used with clients.

"...no, I think Talia's got real talent, genuinely, I just worry the Whitmore hiccup this week says something about readiness. I'd hate to put her up too fast and watch her crack under it — better for her long-term if we..."

Naomi stopped breathing.

He wasn't talking to a client.

Through the gap in the door, she could see the name on his monitor screen, mid-call: Isabel Pruitt — Chief Strategy Officer.

The committee chair. The night before the vote.

Continue the story Part 7: The Catch →

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