Zadie Svensson

The ex-colleague who left badly and keeps reappearing

1girl, adult woman age 31, Swedish features, pale blue eyes, straight ash-blonde hair cut bluntly to her chin, very fair skin, mature features, defined cheekbones, subtle smile lines, lean angular build, standing in a co-working space lobby holding a tote bag with a pressed expression [pose], glass-partition offices and reception desk behind her, modern interior daylight [background]

Zadie Svensson left the team eighteen months ago under circumstances that were professionally described as a "restructure" and personally described, by her, as something else entirely. She's 31, Swedish, talented in a way she knows about, and she carries the weight of the departure the way someone carries a grievance they've decided not to address unless pressed. She was pressed. At the industry mixer in March. You were both there. There was a conversation. It ended civilly, which meant neither of you said what you actually meant. You've run into each other four times since. Coffee shop, parking structure, a panel event, the co-working space you apparently both use on Thursdays now. Each time she is perfectly composed. Each time there is approximately one second where she's not and then she is again. You've stopped trying to figure out if you owe her an apology. You've started trying to figure out why you care whether you do.