Ten minutes later, Marcus came into the hallway holding a tablet.
“The footage confirms the sequence you described.”
Nora exhaled so hard her shoulders dropped.
“It doesn’t capture everything clearly,” he continued, “but it shows Ms. Varrone leaning over the guest, raising her arm, and you stepping in. It also shows you releasing her immediately.”
“Am I fired?”
Marcus stared at her. “No.”
The word felt unreal.
“Am I suspended?”
“No.”
“Then what happens?”
“That depends partly on the foundation.”
Nora frowned. “Why?”
“The gala is theirs. Ms. Varrone is one of tonight’s principal sponsors.”
Of course she was.
Nora looked toward the ballroom doors.
“Will they ask me to leave?”
Marcus’s jaw tightened. “If they do, it will not be because our company believes you acted improperly.”
That answer was careful enough to frighten her again.
Before she could respond, the doors opened.
The elderly woman rolled through, pushed by the waiter who had brought her water.
“I asked them to bring me to you,” she said.
Nora straightened.
“Are you all right?”
The woman smiled faintly. “You keep asking me that.”
“It seems important.”
“It is.” She held out one hand. “My name is Marian Bell.”
Nora took it gently. “Nora Vale.”
“I know.” Marian glanced at the gold badge. “Someone made quite a point of it.”
Nora smiled despite herself.
Marian’s expression sobered. “I want you to understand something. I do not need you to be grateful that I am telling the truth.”
Nora blinked.
“You did not rescue me so I could rescue you,” Marian continued. “You saw a person being treated badly and you interrupted it. I am simply refusing to let the consequence fall on the wrong person.”
Nora swallowed.
“Thank you anyway.”
“That is allowed.”
The waiter laughed softly.
Marian asked to give her statement in the hallway rather than return to the ballroom. Marcus arranged it. Nora sat twenty feet away while Marian described the incident to security and a foundation representative who had arrived with a notebook.
The representative’s expression grew tighter with every sentence.
When she finished, he asked whether Marian wanted to make a formal complaint.
“Yes,” she said. “About the sponsor’s conduct. And about accessibility.”
Celeste, who had followed into the corridor with one of her friends, stiffened.
“Accessibility?”
Marian looked at her. “I asked for water three times because the service station was blocked by a display table and I could not reach it myself.”
The foundation representative turned toward the ballroom.
Nora had not noticed that detail. She felt ashamed for missing it.
Marian saw her face. “You brought the water. Do not borrow responsibility from everyone else.”
Celeste laughed with open contempt. “This is becoming a theater piece.”
The representative closed his notebook.
“Ms. Varrone, the foundation chair has asked that you leave the event tonight.”
Celeste stared at him.
