Adna knew the meeting would be uncomfortable as soon as she saw the rule book on the desk, open at a page nobody had read before. Mirela, the editor in chief, offered her water. Then she mentioned the producer Damir and their dinner at the hotel near the station.
They were both single, but they had kept their relationship from the newsroom. Damir was choosing the team for a new documentary, and Adna had applied for the lead reporting role. She could explain why they had not disclosed it. She could not explain why everyone else should trust that the selection would be fair.
"I'm taking you off the project," Mirela said. "And I'll request a disciplinary warning." Adna accepted that she should withdraw from consideration until another panel reviewed the selection. The warning felt like a punishment already written before the conversation began. She asked to see how similar cases had been handled.
Mirela smiled. "We haven't had any." At that moment, she opened her bag and a hotel key card fell out. On its own, it meant nothing. But beside it was a dinner receipt charged to the company of their new major advertiser, a man Mirela had spent weeks describing solely as a business partner.
Adna did not photograph the receipt. She picked it up and handed it back. The editor blushed before anyone asked a question. "We've been together a long time," she said quietly. The advertising contract had been signed the previous month. Since then, two critical reports about his business had been postponed without a clear explanation.
Adna could easily have proposed mutual silence. Judging by the way Mirela closed the rule book, that was exactly what she expected. Instead, Adna opened a blank notebook. "If I disclose our relationship, you disclose yours. Let the same people review both cases." She did not ask to be put back on the team.
The conversation lasted until dark. Afterward, they went together to the director. Adna remained outside the selection process for that documentary, while Mirela withdrew from decisions involving the advertiser's company. Another editor took over the delayed reports. The newsroom did not become free of gossip, but at last everyone knew who was deciding what.
Damir waited outside the building with two coffees. He said he was sorry about the project. Adna took the warmer cup and admitted she was angry with both him and herself. Then they went to dinner at the restaurant across the road. This time, they chose neither a table behind a partition nor a bill made out to the company.