Adrian asked quietly.
She nodded.
"The first one was nine months ago.
What happened?"
"My schedule changed."
Her voice stayed even, but her fingers tightened around the pitcher handle. "I went from five shifts a week to three."
"When I asked why, Vanessa wrote that I was having trouble adapting to the service direction." Adrian studied her face.
She was frightened, but not uncertain.
"Why did you stay?"
Maya looked toward the annex, at the nurse, the technician, and the others seated where staff believed fewer people would notice them.
"Because if everyone who knows leaves, there won't be anyone here to tell guests they're not imagining it."
The answer carried no heroism, only fatigue and a stubborn sense of duty. Adrian folded the paper and slipped it into his pocket.
Before he could ask more, Vanessa appeared.
Maya returned to the podium.
Her eyes dropped briefly toward Adrian's glass.
"Employees are prohibited from sharing internal material with guests."
"She brought water," Adrian said.
Vanessa's gaze stayed on Maya until she walked away.
Adrian turned toward the man at the coffee station, who was still complaining while an employee prepared a replacement drink. "Are black guests more likely to be described as confrontational here?"
Vanessa's face tightened.
"We don't see race.
We evaluate behavior."
Adrian pointed toward the main room.
"Where is his behavior report?"
Vanessa followed his hand.
The white traveler struck the counter lightly with his palm and demanded to speak with someone in charge. The attendant continued apologizing.
Vanessa looked back at Adrian.
"You seem determined to find problem in everything." "I'm asking whether the same behavior receives the same name."
She gave no answer.
The lounge door opened before the silence could deepen. Leonard and Gloria Bennett entered together.
Leonard, a tall black man with silver hair, leaned carefully on a cane. Gloria stayed close enough to steady him without making the gesture obvious.
Their passes scanned green.
Vanessa looked first at Leonard's cane, then at Gloria's plain travel coat, then across their faces. She did not welcome them to the main room.
"Seat them in the annex," she told an attendant. "It will be more appropriate."
Adrian looked beyond her.
Several window tables remained empty.
Leonard and Gloria Bennett were led to a table two rows from Adrian.
The aisle narrowed near the partition, forcing Leonard to turn sideways and lift his cane over the wheel of a service cart. His face tightened for a moment, not enough to become a complaint, only enough for Gloria to notice.
She placed one hand lightly beneath his elbow and guided him through.
The annex Vanessa had called more appropriate was harder for him to enter, harder to cross, and too cramped for him to extend his injured leg. Gloria looked toward the main lounge where several window tables remained empty.