Chapter 49 - Gerald Gets a Ribbon

The idea came to Sophie at 3:00 AM on a Tuesday, which was when most of Sophie's best ideas arrived. She had been working on the Elaine Chen Departure Tribute documentation—finalizing slide transitions, cross-referencing Kevin's decibel readings, adding footnotes to the section about the calibration war—when she looked up and saw Gerald the ficus on the windowsill, his paper judge's hat slightly askew, his plastic leaves catching the soft glow of the penthouse lights.