When he entered the kitchen, nobody dropped a spoon, nobody whispered, nobody even breathed too loudly. The cook lowered her eyes. The gardener stepped backward. Mrs. Herrera folded her hands in front of her like a woman awaiting judgment.
Rodrigo did not look at any of them.
He looked at you.
Only for a second.
But in that second, you felt the weight of three years of grief staring through a stranger’s face.
“You’re the new one,” he said.
“Yes, sir.”
“Name?”