My name was still beside Thursday.
For almost a full minute, I let myself believe the meeting would be short.
Then Tessa put the new maintenance notice over the lower half of the booking sheet.
"We lose the late session. The supply valve has to be replaced before the next cycle."
Mira leaned forward. Kara swore under her breath. Across the table, Irena took out the page on which she had carefully copied her available hours.
I looked at Thursday again.
The ink beside my name had dried days ago. That made it feel more secure than the requests in the margin, though we'd agreed the margins mattered when someone had a fixed assessment.
Tessa moved the notice far enough that we could see the dates beneath it. She hadn't crossed anyone out yet.
"Is the repair confirmed?" Kara asked.
"Yes. This is the confirmed notice."
Kara read the top line and sat back. Nobody wanted the valve left as it was. We were going to have to find an answer among our own bookings.
