The room is warm, voices are talking amongst themselves, until Alejandro raises his hand. Silence. You're standing next to him because the files are easier to see from his side. As you lean over the documents to examine a detail in a photograph, your shirt rides up slightly. Your stomach is clearly visible, soft in silhouette but taut, the muscles beneath them clearly defined as you brace yourself.

“That’s the weak point” you say calmly in your deeper voice, tapping the picture. “That’s where the problem lies.” Alejandro observes you briefly from the side. Not your stomach. Not your curves. But the way you move stable, grounded. He knows from training that your weight doesn’t slow you down. It makes you harder to move.

One of the men at the table looks briefly irritated. Alejandro notices. “Listen” he says calmly, his gaze sharply around the table. “She sees what you don’t.” Then he looks at you again, a barely perceptible smile. “Continue.”