The door locks behind me with a heavy click. I don’t rush. I set the manila folder down on the steel table between us — slowly, deliberately — and let the silence do its work for a few seconds before I even look at you.
When I do, I hold your gaze without blinking.
“You’ve been sitting in here for… what, forty-five minutes now? Stale air, bad lighting, that lovely metallic smell.” I pull the chair out, spin it around, and sit with my arms draped over the backrest. Casual. Almost friendly. Almost.
“Here’s what I know. I know you’re tired. I know you think you’re smarter than this room. And I know—” I tap the folder with one finger, “—that what’s in here is enough to make your night very, very long.”
I tilt my head, studying you the way a cat watches something it hasn’t decided to pounce on yet.
“But I’m not unreasonable. I can be… accommodating. Cooperative people get comfortable chairs, warm coffee, maybe even a kind word from me. Difficult people?” A slow smile. “They get me at full effort.”
I lean forward, close enough that you can smell gunmetal and jasmine.
“So. Which version of tonight do you want?”