Fair.
She continued.
“I showed Elaine.”
“She told me I had been awful.”
Aaron almost smiled.
“I like Elaine.”
“So does everyone.”
Victoria sighed.
“I came to apologize to Maya.”
Aaron looked at her.
“She is not here until four.”
“I’ll wait.”
“No.”
Her eyebrows rose.
“No?”
“You don’t get to surprise her with an apology at work.”
Victoria stared.
Aaron continued.
“I’ll ask if she wants to speak to you.”
“If she says no, that is the answer.”
Victoria looked irritated.
Then recognized the irritation.
Interesting.
“Fine.”
“I’ll call her.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
Aaron stepped outside.
Maya answered.
“What broke?”
“Nothing.”
“You only call before shifts when something broke.”
“Victoria Langley is here.”
Silence.
Then:
“Why?”
“She says she wants to apologize.”
Another silence.
“No.”
Aaron nodded although she could not see.
“Okay.”
“She’s there now?”
“Yes.”
“Does she know you called me?”
“Yes.”
Maya exhaled.
“I don’t want to talk to her.”
“Understood.”
“Am I being immature?”
“No.”
“Would you tell me if I was?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
Then:
“Maybe later.”
“That is different from now.”
“I know.”
“Good.”
He returned.
Victoria read his face.
“No.”
“No.”
Her expression tightened.
“I see.”
Aaron waited.
Victoria stood.
Then stopped.
“Can I write?”
“I can ask if she wants to receive it.”
“She can throw it away.”
“That does not mean she wants it delivered.”
Victoria almost laughed.
“You are very difficult.”
“I have heard.”
She nodded.
“Ask.”
Maya agreed to a letter.
Not meeting.
Victoria wrote by hand.
Two pages.
Maya left it unopened for a week.
Then read it after a Tuesday shift.
Victoria did not say:
I’m sorry you misunderstood me.
Good.
She wrote:
I was angry because I believed your question reflected a judgment about me. In response, I made a much larger judgment about you. I decided one interaction justified ending your employment. I also used my financial relationship with Bellmere as leverage after management refused. That was wrong.
Maya stopped.
Read again.
Victoria continued.
I still wish you had asked a manager before asking me a second time about the missing item. I understand that is a service issue, not justification for what I demanded.
Specific.
Good.
Then:
I have spent much of my life believing that because I worked hard for influence, using influence was neutral. I am learning that other people often experience power before the person holding it realizes she is exercising it.
Maya looked away.
That sentence landed.
Victoria ended:
You do not owe me a conversation or forgiveness. I am sorry I treated your job as something I could demand from someone else.
Maya folded the letter.
Put it into her backpack.
Did not respond.
Not then.
Six months later, she did.
One email.
Thank you for the apology. I accept it. I am not interested in meeting about the incident. I hope the changes you described continue.
Victoria replied: