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“We can decline.”

“What happens to the work?”

“We stop offering it.”

“Lost revenue.”

“Manageable.”

“You built the service because there was demand.”

“You built it.”

I looked at him.

“Me?”

“Your idea. You designed the storage. Chose the inventory. Made it profitable.”

A strange grief rose inside me.

Another version of myself had created a life I no longer knew how to occupy.

“Do you want me to do it again?”

“No.”

The answer came too fast.

I studied him.

“Boss answer or partner answer?”

His jaw tightened.

“Partner.”

“And boss?”

“Not now.”

“That is different.”

“Yes.”

I waited.

Reid rubbed both hands across his face.

“As your partner, the thought of you driving alone makes me sick.”

Honesty roughened his voice.

“I know that is my fear, not a rule for your future.”

I said nothing.

“As your boss, I would not authorize any employee to resume field work with your current fatigue, concentration limits, and driving restriction.”