Around the table, something shifted. The laughter hadn’t stopped exactly, but it was thinning at the edges.
Raymond still hadn’t noticed.
Leah looked up at him and said, very softly, “NorthRiver Claims Solutions?”
Raymond smirked. “That’s right.”
“You started recently?”
“A month ago.” He picked up his fork. “Why?”
Leah didn’t touch her dessert. “Because if you’re in a senior operations role there, you might want to be more careful about discussing your title publicly.”
Trevor frowned. “What does that mean?”
Raymond gave a short, dismissive laugh. “She wants attention.”
Denise shot Leah a look that contained years of instruction. Leah saw it clearly. She simply declined to follow it.
“I’m not trying to ruin dinner,” Leah said. “I’m trying to understand why someone in regional operations is announcing his role so casually at a company currently dealing with a serious compliance investigation.”
The room went quiet.
Not gradually. Immediately, the way rooms go quiet when something has been said that cannot be unsaid.