The door closes behind them. A soft click that feels louder than it should. Selah sets her phone down on the edge of her desk.
Jude hasn't moved.
For a moment, neither of them speaks. The office feels smaller than it did a moment ago.
"Selah," he says quietly. "I learned tonight that my organization, the Associated Labor Federation, is leading the certification campaign in your company."
The words land cleanly. Selah blinks once.
"What?"
Her expression shifts. Confusion first. Then recognition.
"You're—" She stops. Swallows. Tries again. The realization lands before the words do.
"You're fucking kidding me."
She takes a step back, her hand gripping the edge of her desk.
"This whole time?" she asks. "This whole fucking time?"
Jude holds her gaze.
"I didn't know until tonight."
She lets out a sharp laugh. "Oh, well that makes it so much better."
"Selah—"
"Don't."
She turns away, dragging a hand through her hair. When she faces him again, her eyes are brightly lit with something volatile.
"Do you have any idea what this looks like?" she asks.
Her voice cracks, just slightly. "Do you know how humiliating this is?"
She looks at him with an intensity that could cut through diamonds.
"And you didn't think to tell me."
Jude doesn't look away. "I'm telling you now."
She crosses her arms, her whole body tightening. Her gaze shifts toward the desk just outside her office.
"And Cindy. Was she in on this shit the whole time too?"
Jude exhales once. "I know how bad this is."
Selah lets out a short, incredulous laugh. "Do you?"
The question hangs there..
"Yeah. I do know," he says. "And I know hearing it from me like this makes it worse."
Selah stares at him, chest rising and falling. She shakes her head slowly.
"Jesus Christ."
She paces three steps toward the window, then stops with her hand braced against the glass.
"When were you going to tell me?" she asks, not turning back yet.
"I told you when I knew," he says. "But I knew later than I should have. And that's on me."
"You didn't know?" she repeats.
Jude doesn't flinch. "I didn't."
She steps closer now, the distance between them shrinking.
"How could you not know? Aren't you—" She stops, scoffs, then finishes it anyway.
"Aren't you, like, the fucking boss?"
Jude nods once. "I oversee dozens of campaigns. I don't run each one day to day."
"That is such bullshit," Selah fires back. "You're telling me that your people are invading my company and it just hasn't been your fucking day to see it?"
"It crossed my desk," Jude says. "Just not my sight line until now."
Selah shakes her head. "Un-fucking-believable."
She pauses.
"And what? Your organization came into my company, and you expect me to be fine with it?"" she asks. "Just because you're what? So fucking charming?"
"I expect you to believe that if I'd known, you would've heard it from me immediately."
She throws her hands in the air. "Why would I?" she says. "Do you understand that I don't trust you right now?"
Jude meets her gaze fully.
"So why are you here?"
"Because you deserved to hear this from me," he says. "And because whatever happens next, I'm not doing it behind your back."
Selah takes two slow steps toward him. Her eyes don't leave his.
"You're not doing it behind my back," she says. "Now you're doing it right in front of my face."
She turns away again, this time walking to the window.
"I've been walking into rooms feeling like something was off," she says. "People going quiet when I show up. Cindy not meeting my eyes. Andrew suddenly 'checking in.'"
She shakes her head once and turns partway back toward him.
"And you are the one who caused all of it."
Now she turns fully. "Who the hell do you people think you are, anyway?"
The question isn't shouted.
"Where do you get off walking into someone else's workplace. Fuck, someone else's life. And decide you know better than they do?"
Her voice steadies.
"Years of relationships. Years of trust. Years of actual work. And then you waltz in and call it 'organizing' and hand out fucking buttons and water bottles?"
Jude opens his mouth to respond, but decides against it.
"I've spent years building trust here," she says. "Years. And you people don't give a shit about any of that."
Her eyes don't leave his. "At least you took me out for coffee first."
Jude straightens. His jaw tightens.
"This right here…" He stops, then finishes it. "…is exactly your problem."
"My problem?" Selah asks. "Do tell. What the hell is my fucking problem?"
"You don't see what's right in front of you."
Jude continues, steady now.
"You're the one who's not getting it. What do you think we do all day? Sit around and throw darts at a map?"
Selah holds his gaze.
"We didn't pick your company," he says. "Your employees are the ones who came to us."
Selah doesn't blink.
"No," she says. "That's bullshit. There's no way they would do that. They would come to me."
The words land harder on the second pass. That's what Cindy said, she thinks to herself.
Jude watches her.
"They tried to come to you," he says. "And if you don't remember that… that explains why I'm standing here right now."
Selah turns to look at him again. His words settle in.
"If everything was fine at LIS," Jude says quietly, "there wouldn't be a meeting set up for tomorrow."
Silence.
Jude steps forward, closing some of the distance between them. He stops a few feet away.
"You can believe whatever you want about me," he says. "But I never lied to you. About anything."
Their eyes hold.
Then Jude turns and heads for the door.
Selah doesn't move.
Her lip trembles once, then she shuts it down.
The elevator doors close.
She stands there, staring at the space he occupied with no idea what to do next.