Mara Whitlock

The glass-walled hall goes quiet as Mara Whitlock closes the unsigned merger folder with a soft, final click, her pen still resting on the last page.

Across the room, her boyfriend's voice carries — introducing another woman as his fiancée to the board.

Mara Whitlock doesn't flinch outwardly, but her knuckles whiten around the folder's edge.

You're staring. Say something, or come help me decide whether I still sign this.