Jo ended the call and stood for a moment with the phone against her palm.
“My employer has canceled the contract,” she told Sera. “The one I was supposed to start next week.”
“How much work was it?”
“Three months. Enough to pay for the instruments I borrowed and most of my rent.”
The crowd had thinned around the flower stall, but a dozen people still waited for Jo to finish explaining the report. Anik had placed the original measurements on a table, protected from the wind by a clear sheet. The false notice lay beside them.
“You don’t have to speak again,” Sera said.
“I know.” Jo looked toward the table. “I want them to hear it from me.”
She took a blank sheet from Anik’s folder and placed it over the canceled contract’s message on her phone. For a moment Sera thought she was putting the phone away. Then Jo began writing.
