Liam had avoided her all week.
He shifted his desk time. He took calls near the printer lounge. He excused himself from syncs when he saw her name on the agenda. But Anika Meyer was like gravity — silent, steady, impossible to escape.
By Thursday, he couldn't hide.
They both ended up in the small conference room near the server rack. He was trying to print a version of the exit form — not to sign, just to look at it on paper — when she walked in, looking for a network cable.
Their eyes met. She didn't blink.
"Still here," she said, not as a question.
Liam gave a tight smile. "For now."
She moved to the far side of the room and unplugged the drawer with practiced ease.
He waited. She didn't say anything more.
But as she turned to leave, he broke.
"Anika."
She paused, hand on the door.
"I never planned to leave," he said quietly. "Not really."
She turned back, arms crossed.
"I figured."
He rubbed the back of his neck. "It started with that stupid task. Mateo's thing. I didn't want it dropped on me. So I... made up the family business story."
"You built a fake reason to not take on work," she said. "And now you're being shown the door you asked for."
"Yeah." He exhaled. "Exactly that."
She stared at him, eyes unreadable. "You know what's funny?"
"What?"
"No one ever said you had to be the guy who knows everything. No one asked you to. You made that your role."
Liam frowned. "Is that a problem?"
"It is when you believe your own performance. When you spend so much time curating perception that you forget to show up."
He sank slowly into the chair beside the printer.
"I didn't want to look... replaceable."
"You made yourself replaceable," she said, gently this time. "The second you chose ego over honesty."
He swallowed. "What would you do?"
Anika hesitated, then sat across from him.
"I'd stop running. Sign the paper, or don't. Leave, or stay. But choose. And this time, be real about it."
Silence hung between them — not cold, but full.
Liam looked down at the crumpled draft of the exit form in his hand.
"This wasn't supposed to go this far."
"Most lies aren't," she said, standing. "But here we are."
She walked out without another word.
And for the first time in weeks, Liam didn't feel embarrassed.
He felt seen.
And strangely... relieved.