Chapter 8 - The Meeting Before the Decision

The meeting took place in an office overlooking Manhattan, far from the dining room where Victoria had thrown money across the table. Nora arrived with Amara and a folder containing the original artwork, the evaluation agreement, the registration record, and the correspondence that followed. They had organized the material in chronological order. Nora did not want the discussion to depend on her ability to deliver a dramatic speech. She wanted every claim tested against something that could be checked.

Victoria entered with Grant and two company representatives. She wore a tailored black suit instead of the red evening gown, but she carried herself with the same certainty Nora remembered from the restaurant. Her first glance went to Nora's folder. She looked almost irritated that it was there.

“I understand there are concerns,” Victoria said. “But my company paid for the work.”

Amara placed the original evaluation agreement on the table. “It paid to examine samples. The agreement is specific about what it does not authorize.”

Grant did not dispute that wording. The company's internal review had already found that the subsequent assignment had not been transmitted to Nora's known email address. Nor could it establish that she had accepted the payment. The beneficiary account was under examination, and the company had withdrawn reliance on the transfer as proof of her consent.

Victoria folded her arms. “The design department told me the rights were cleared.”

Nora looked at her. “Your own message says you didn't want me contacted until after the launch.”

A long silence followed. Grant turned toward Victoria without speaking. She seemed to search for a way to distinguish approving the paperwork from knowing what that paperwork meant.

“I was being pressed to deliver a collection,” she answered. “There were investors, sponsors, a full production schedule. People tell me things are handled every day.”

“You were told I had not agreed to the terms,” Nora said. “You wrote that yourself.”

Victoria's expression tightened. For a moment, Nora saw the instinct to respond with another threat. It was the same look she had seen when the waiter’s tray stood between them. Here, however, no restaurant manager was waiting to carry out her wishes. There were attorneys and company officers, and the records were already in their hands.

Grant explained that the board had appointed independent counsel to review how the false account was created and why payment instructions had been approved despite the mismatch. He stated that the disputed garments would remain off sale and all associated marketing withdrawn until the matter was resolved. The company was prepared to negotiate with Nora over compensation for unauthorized preparation and use of the artwork, but it wanted to avoid further public conflict.

Nora had expected an offer. Amara had prepared her for one. What mattered was not simply how much money appeared on the first page. She wanted an acknowledgement that the underlying art had never been assigned away, the company to stop circulating the false document, and a transparent record of what had happened. She also wanted June and other freelancers paid for work already performed, without penalties for cooperating with the review.

Victoria looked surprised by that last request. “Their invoices have nothing to do with your design.”

“They worked on it,” Nora replied. “One of them was asked to remove my name.”

The company representatives agreed to review outstanding production invoices separately. Nora knew she could not negotiate employment terms for people who had not appointed her to represent them. She could, however, make it clear that her own settlement would not be conditioned on the silence or punishment of witnesses.

The meeting ended without a signed agreement. Amara recommended taking time to review the proposed terms. Victoria rose abruptly, apparently frustrated that the problem had not been settled by her willingness to pay. As she turned toward the door, she looked back at Nora.

“You could have come to me without making a scene.”

“I tried to reach your company,” Nora answered. “Three times. You made the scene at dinner.”

Victoria left without responding. Nora did not enjoy the exchange as much as she once imagined she might. It was satisfying to state the truth, but the work of repairing what had been damaged remained ahead.

In the hallway, Grant approached Amara with an additional piece of information. The board had learned that the executive assistant who arranged the false signing address had used a service account accessible to only a small number of people. Technical logs identified the workstation from which the account had been registered. The assistant acknowledged following Victoria's instructions but claimed not to know the signature itself was unauthorized. Independent counsel was reviewing her account alongside Marianne's documents.

Amara thanked Grant and said any further evidence should be exchanged in writing. Nora understood why. An informal hallway conversation could be misremembered or later disputed. Written records had already made the difference between a boast and an accountable claim.

Back at her apartment, Nora opened the latest settlement draft. It offered a sum that would eliminate her immediate financial worries. In return, it demanded broad confidentiality and required her to acknowledge that the company had acted in good faith. It also allowed the label to keep using the blue-and-silver print without identifying Nora as its creator.

Amara had warned her the first offer might look like that. Nora read the pages slowly, then closed them. The company was still trying to buy the convenience of the original false story, only this time it was asking for her actual signature.

She called Amara. “I won't sign this version.”

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“I didn't expect you would,” Amara said. “We'll answer with terms that match the evidence.”

By the next morning, the company’s sponsors were asking why the disputed print had vanished from planned retailer promotions. The board could either correct its public representations or defend an assignment it could no longer substantiate. Nora was not the person who would choose for it. She had finally placed the question where it belonged.